Archive for the ‘Multi-Touch’ Category
GM Greenbuild Touchwall
Three screens, three projectors, 4.6 million pixels, hundreds of minutes of video...all helping tell GM's sustainability story at the Greenbuild Conference.
GM had a sustainability story to tell for the Greenbuild conference — and the content to back it up — but they needed a way to put it together and make it compelling to the general public. Obscura Digital asked us to create a multi-touch, drag-and-drop interface that was informative, inspiring, and fun.
HP Interactive Canvas
The world's largest touchwall interface: 128 square feet? Many fingers? One UI? Four weeks? No problem!
We built the user interface for what was, at the time, the world’s largest interactive multi-touch wall. In four weeks. With no prior multi-touch experience.
Microsoft Local Impact Map: Surface Edition
Stimulant followed up the excellent reception of the Microsoft Local Impact Map Silverlight with a special edition for Microsoft Surface. Drawing on our previous experience with many Surface projects, we saw incredible value in presenting this application in a new medium.
We knew that the Local Impact Map would be used to facilitate conversations about corporate social responsibility between Microsoft and representatives of governments and NGOs. How could we make the map even more collaborative, emotionally engaging, and aid in forming strong conversations around corporate citizenship?
The challenge called out for a fresh approach: build a version of the Local Impact Map for Microsoft Surface. In this way, Microsoft representatives can kick off interactions with their government and NGO contacts, letting them learn how to use the application simply by watching, and then let them explore the map as the conversation continues. All the while, the participants are literally able to look each other in the eye, and neither is in exclusive control of the device, the software, or the content. This makes for an emotionally equitable experience for all concerned. This human emotional connection and transparent communication style is exactly what Microsoft wanted to convey.
The Local Impact Map: Surface Edition shares the same hand-made look and feel as the online application, and is fed by the exact same data sources. We completely refactored the interface to make the Local Impact Map appropriate for Surface, and this laid the groundwork for further innovation.
A photo of the application, showing a data visualization lens
We chose the metaphor of a lens as the cornerstone of our multi-user interface strategy. Onscreen lenses allow for viewing in greater detail. Each lens can even display different styles of data visualization from other lenses, rather than repainting the entire screen with a data visualization that only one user might be interested in. This also allows local content to be freely oriented towards any user. Global filters allow users to hone in on the citizenship topics that matter most to their constituents and communities. Rich support for photography and videos also helps put faces on those helped by Microsoft’s charitable efforts worldwide.
The Microsoft Local Impact Map: Surface Edition is rolled out on Surface units in Microsoft facilities all over the globe.
Stimulant’s Nathan Moody on SXSW 2010 “Beyond the Desktop” Panel
Going to South by Southwest (SXSW) this year? Check out the Beyond the Desktop panel on Monday, March 15 at 3:30pm.
Nathan and friends will rock SXSW on March 15!
Hosted by Adaptive Path’s Peter Merholz, our design director, Nathan Moody, will be honored to chat with such luminaries as Michele Parras of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, David Merrill from Sifteo (the group behind Siftables), and Johnny Lee (of WiiMote hacking fame) of Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group.
We expect the panel discussion will be cover a lot of ground between research and application, private and public computing, mobile and installation experiences, and a great overview of how human-computer interactions are evolving beyond the traditional desktop form factor. For more updates, follow @stimulant at Twitter and don’t hesitate to reach out directly by emailing us at sxsw10 [at] stimulant [dot] io … and definitely say hello if you find yourself in Austin, too!
Stimulant helps Microsoft and the Kauffman Foundation showcase their citizenship efforts at TED2010
We are thrilled to have a custom version of the Microsoft Surface edition of Microsoft Local Impact Map premiering at the TED2010 Conference this week. Stimulant worked closely with the Kauffman Foundation and the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship team to create a special version of the Surface application that not only showcases Microsoft’s contributions around the globe, but features exciting new Microsoft content and over 200 new stories detailing the positive impact that the Kauffman Foundation is making worldwide. Kauffman worked with Stimulant to create inspiring new narratives in every US State and many countries around the world, including 1.5 gigabytes of new images and video that help tell the Kauffman story in an interactive and engaging way.
Stimulant created a unique Kauffman-specific filter on the Microsoft Local Impact Map so that any user can view the globe through a Kauffman-centric lens, which highlights countries around the world where the Kauffman Foundation is making a direct impact. Building on the previous functionality of the Microsoft Local Impact Map, this new version provides multiple users an engaging way to navigate to any country and read stories, while simultaneously flipping through images and watching videos that enhance each story.
Powerful data visualization filters enable a visual comparison of technology metrics between countries, revealing disparities and underscoring the importance of Kauffman’s work. By allowing each user to view the globe through their own individual lens and choose their area of interest, and providing multiple lenses to focus on different stories and metrics at the same time, this application remains one of Stimulant’s finest examples of how multi-user interactions on Microsoft Surface can enhance a learning experience.
Kodak’s Surface Experience at CES 2010
The Microsoft Surface experience we developed for Kodak was revamped for CES 2010, this time focusing on Kodak’s consumer products – cameras, printers, photo frames, and more. With new content, interactivity and a refreshed skin, our Microsoft Surface application segued elegantly in with the amazing pieces developed by our partners at Obscura Digital.
Our application allows multiple visitors to place a Kodak device on Surface at the same time and spawn an interactive deck of information specific to each device. We’re thrilled to be a part of Kodak’s booth as they present one of the most forward-thinking interactive product experiences at the entire show.
Surface and Stimulant at Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival starts in Seattle tomorrow, and this year there is a conference portion. One of the sessions tomorrow is on multitouch interfaces for music production and experimentation. We’re excited to see the latest from Fashionbuddha, Randy Jones, and Let’s Go Outside.
Aside from the speakers, Eric Havir will be bringing a Surface unit for attendees to play with. Stimulant will be there showing off a never-before seen version of our Surface music application, called TouchTones (formerly ToneGrid, now redesigned and much-improved). There will be other apps to play with as well.
The session is 7:30-8:30p, but Surface will be there around 6:00-8:45p. The event is open to the public and will be in the board room at the Seattle Art Museum.
Nathan talks NUI at Interaction09
Here’s Stimulant’s Design Director, Nathan Moody, speaking about the design of Natural User Interfaces, or NUI’s, at the IxDA’s Interaction09 conference in Vancouver in February 2009. Thanks for all who turned out and enjoyed the talk!
We’re actually bummed that the random blast of smooth jazz that started playing in the middle of the talk (around 15 minutes in) didn’t come through very loudly in the mic, nor did the cameraman catch Nathan groovin’ to the smoothness onstage. Ah, well, there’s always Interaction10 in Savannah. Enjoy!
Interested in seeing us in person soon? You’re in luck: We’ll be speaking about installation/destination computing at the Event Design Summit in Los Angeles, doing a hands-on workshop at UXWeek in San Francisco, and talking about NUI at the Heartland Developer’s Conference in Omaha!
Stimulant on NUI and Multi-Touch at UXWeek: 2008 and 2009
Stimulant has been invited back to UXWeek this year to lead a workshop on designing large-scale multi-touch user experiences. Following on the heels of our talk from 2008 (above) we’ll be diving in much deeper and getting hands on with participants on actual multi-touch equipment.
Nathan is also going to be on-site at the Interactive Displays Conference in San Jose from April 21-23, so please drop a line if you’ll be in town and would like to connect.
Stimulant/Surface Interview Series Now Online
OK, it’s not quite Frost/Nixon, but we did spend a good chunk of time chatting with Eric Havir from the Microsoft Surface team recently, and he’s just finished posting up a 5-video series of the talks. The topics vary from general NUI theory to the specifics of developing for Microsoft Surface, so there’s something in there for every NUIthusiast(tm). Here are links to the five posts on the official Surface blog, each links through to a YouTube video. We’d love your questions and feedback, so please hit us up in the comments.
- Part 1: Conversations about Microsoft Surface
- Part 2: What is NUI?
- Part 3: Why is Surface Horizontal?
- Part 4: Losing Touch? Feeling Isolated with Technology?
- Part 5: The Revolution’s Impact on Development
Creating interaction beyond the computer.
From desktop to device, multi-touch to gestural and portable to permanent, Stimulant crafts magical experiences for computers that don't look like computers.