Stimulant makes iMedia Connection’s “2011 West Coast Agencies to Watch” List

iMedia Connection released their 2011 West Coast Agencies to Watch list today, featuring 25 forward-looking firms on this side of the Mississippi. We’re honored to be in such excellent company!

Stimulant named Surface Premier Partner

Stimulant is proud to have been named a Surface Premier Partner by Microsoft! We’ve been working with Surface since the release of v1, showcased the first integration between the iPhone and Microsoft Surface, developed the first application to be Certified for Microsoft Surface (and the first third-party freeware app for Surface), and are excited to continue our commitment to the platform. We’re ready to roll with Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface — in fact, we collaborated with Microsoft to design and develop Bing for Microsoft Surface, which ships pre-installed on all Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface units, as well as Social Stream for Microsoft Surface.

Here’s to seeing what the future brings with the radical evolution of this one-of-a-kind platform!

WIND Mobile Multi-User In-Store Experience

Stimulant, in partnership with Trapeze, helped WIND Mobile extend their core brand philosophy of “The Power of Conversation” to the in-store experience with a Microsoft Surface-based assisted sales application. Surface lives in the heart of the store in most WIND Mobile retail locations, providing delightfully simple access to key product information and facilitating two-way conversation between employees and customers.

As a consultative tool, the Surface table allows customers to compare devices and plans side-by-side, helping to identify the options that work best for them. Information is made available quickly, clearly and in one layer of engagement. Stimulant worked closely with Trapeze to bring the WIND Mobile brand alive on Microsoft Surface, leveraging custom sound design, playful 2D physics and object recognition, all carefully blended into a seamless and engaging experience. The application leverages Stimulant’s proprietary product comparison engine, as well as a custom content management system to enable easy updating across all stores. Like all of our projects, extra care was taken to ensure scalability and stability for years to come.

Subsequent versions of the application will focus on the customization of services and devices directly from Surface.

Kodak Product Explorer for Microsoft Surface

Kodak, a stalwart exhibitor at the annual Print tradeshow, did something different in 2009. They bucked the industry practice of bringing truly massive commercial printing presses to the show. Instead decided to attract attendee interest with final printed samples, and use a nearly all-digital environment to tell the story of the Kodak technology used to bring these printed materials to life.

Working with Kodak’s marketing firm Partners + Napier, exhibit design firm Mirrorshow, and our old friends Obscura Digital, Stimulant created software for Microsoft Surface that allowed trade show attendees to simply pick up a printed sample or object, place it on Surface, and have Surface reveal details on that object’s printing methods and what Kodak products were used in its manufacture. We created a byte tag recognition system that’s more robust than is typical, so that even large objects could be only partially placed on Surface but still be recognized by the system. Traditional “attract modes” were replaced with local “attract messages” to entice attendees to use the table even when another user was already doing so, leveraging the inherent multi-user capabilities of Surface. Our team also externalized all content so that the client could manage all content themselves, even after the trade show doors opened.

Hundreds of trade show attendees and booth personnel used six Surface units in the Kodak booth without a hiccup during the entire show. Sales personnel found it invaluable to have such information at their fingertips without requiring printed collateral, and trade show attendees could follow along or even acquire knowledge on their own, given the utter simplicity of Stimulant’s nearly-invisible interface, based on their own interests and needs.

Stimulant’s MIX11 Sessions up for vote!

We’ve got sessions up for a vote at this years MIX11 conference, centered around our recent work on applications for the new version of Microsoft Surface and for Windows Phone 7. Hope to see you there this year!

Understanding the Metro design language:– from Zune to mobile to Microsoft Surface and beyond

The Metro design language has made a huge splash in the device space, but it?s not just for mobile any more. Microsoft Surface v2 has gone Metro, and this shift requires a thoughtful reconsideration of how to apply Metro thinking in a large-format NUI context. This talk will explore the tenets of Metro and how they translate, or don?t, to this unique form factor. It will also discuss how these design guidelines can be applied in other contexts, like the Web, to improve usability and create elegant, engaging experiences on all devices.

Microsoft Surface v2: – designing for the new form factor

Surface v2 ushers in a new era of surface computing, with 1080p resolution, a larger screen, and a significantly more compact form factor. With great power comes great responsibility, however. This talk will dive deep into the implications of these improvements, and explain how both designers and developers need to change the way they think about this unique device. From interaction design to code samples to performance optimization, we?ll look at two real-world apps, Bing for Microsoft Surface and Social Stream for Microsoft Surface, and discuss updated best practices for NUI design and development on the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface.

The Microsoft Surface MVPs present: Natural User Interfaces, Today and Tomorrow; an interactive discussion and demonstration

The Natural User Interface (NUI) is a hot topic that generates a lot of excitement, but there are only a handful of companies doing real innovation with NUIs and most of the practical experience in the NUI style of design and development is limited to a small number of experts. The Microsoft Surface MVPs are a subset of these experts that have extensive real-world experience with Microsoft Surface and other NUI devices.This session is a panel featuring the Microsoft Surface MVPs and an unfiltered discussion with each other and the audience about the state of the art in NUI design and development. We will share our experiences and ideas, discuss what we think NUI will look like in the near future, and back up our statements with cutting-edge demonstrations prepared by the panelists involving combinations of Microsoft Surface 2.0, Kinect, and Windows Phone 7.

TouchTones

It’s musical, it’s magical, and it’s free. Stimulant is thrilled to announce the release of TouchTones as a freeware application for Microsoft Surface.

TouchTones (formerly ToneGrid) is a multi-user collaborative music maker that doesn’t require any musical knowledge in order to make something beautiful. Just tap the colored spheres to get them started and change the melody in real time! TouchTones has a range of innovative features:

• TouchTones features four sounds and a four-octave “grid,” which acts like a keyboard.
• Up to four people can use TouchTones at once.
• Symmetrical controls on all sides let any user control any sound.
• Holding down a colored button while tapping an arrow with another lets the user play the grid like an instrument. You can even play chords!
• Volume control, reset button, and integrated help video makes learning and playing a snap.
• No written instructions are needed to learn how to use TouchTones!

TouchTones is being made available for free for any Microsoft Surface running Service Pack 1 or higher. If you’re interested in having Stimulant visually reskin the application, replace the stock sounds with something custom, or want additional features, just ask. TouchTones is designed to be fully customized to meet your specific branding goals. Feel free to contact us for any general inquiries regarding TouchTones.

To learn more about TouchTones, or to download the installer, visit Stimulant’s Product Page.

Stimulant develops 2 applications for next generation of Microsoft Surface

Stimulant, a leader in the design and development of custom multi-touch and multi-user software and a Microsoft Surface strategic partner, proudly collaborated with Microsoft Corp. to develop Bing for Microsoft Surface and Social Stream for Microsoft Surface. These applications take full advantage of the latest iteration of Microsoft Surface, Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface, which was unveiled at 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 5, 2011.

Both applications enable multiple people to simultaneously interact with rich content using both physical objects and fingers. Bing for Samsung SUR40 marries a rich natural user interface with the power of Bing, giving users the ability to search the Internet for images, browse locations on a map and get directions, and find nearby businesses and attractions. Social Stream for Samsung SUR40 lets Microsoft Surface owners create customized Twitter, Flickr and RSS-based news feed searches, and enables multiple users to interact with an animated stream of real-time feed items. Both applications use Microsoft Tag technology to let users take content with them on their mobile device.

Here are some recently released videos of Surface v2 from CES, featuring some footage of Bing in action:

• Engadget
• Microsoft

“We’re thrilled to see the progression of Microsoft Surface, and are excited to once again collaborate with Microsoft to bring amazing multi-user experiences to life,” said Stimulant president, Darren David. “With greater resolution, a more compact form factor, wider availability and a lower price, Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface continues to energize our efforts to create intuitive and magical digital experiences for a wide variety of customers.”

Stimulant has been a premier provider of applications for Microsoft Surface since the platform’s first release. With over 3 years of experience in the next-generation user interface field, Stimulant is uniquely positioned to build rich multi-user applications for all industry verticals.

Stimulant joins the Society of Digital Agencies

We’re extremely pleased and proud to announce that Stimulant was one of 5 agencies invited to join the esteemed ranks of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) in 2010. SoDA serves as a voice for digital marketing professionals worldwide with a mission to advance the industry through Best Practices, Education, and Advocacy. Also in our freshmen class are Fluid, HUSH, Phenomblue and Achtung.

All five new members will be joining an industry leading group comprised of: AgencyNet, B-Reel, BEAM, Big Spaceship, BLITZ, Colmeia, Colossal Squid Industries, Deep Focus, Domani Studios, Effective UI, Enlighten, Evolution Bureau, Exopolis, Firstborn, Fjord West, Fuel Industries, Fullhouse, Geary Group, GRAPE, Great Fridays, Gringo, HUGE, IE, IQ Interactive, Made by Many, Magnani Caruso Dutton, Mekanism, Obscura Digital, Odopod, Perfect Fools, Profero, R/GA, Rain, Reactive, Resn, Rockfish Interactive, SOAP Creative, Soleil Noir, Struck/Axiom, Terralever, Unit 9, Funtank and Zemoga.

We’re incredibly honored to be a part of this amazing group, and look forward to playing our part in advancing the causes and efforts of digital agencies worldwide.

Stimulant’s SXSW 2011 Talk Submissions on Panel Picker

We’re hoping to return to speak at SXSW in 2011 for our third year, and have two talks in the running. There’s a lot of content in these, and we’re planning to cover some new territory with respect to our previous talks. We’d love to hear what you think, and get your input on how we might address specific questions and concerns you have. Let us know, and, of course, vote!

S, M, L, XL: Scales of User Experience

It’s an era of unprecedented choice for those who design and develop software experiences. Desktop, laptop, or mobile? Personal or public installation? Wall or table display? Single-touch or multi-touch? User experience design needs to be molded to fit the right task on the right device in the right context, and making smart decisions around these issues. This panel will explore the challenges in designing, developing, and even testing applications on the biggest screens to the smallest. Topics will include resolution and legibility, physical zones of control, multi-user experiences (even on the same device) and social moderation of control, ergonomics and human factors for virtual objects, and how to make decisions around what devices make the most sense for what contexts. Not only will eye-popping and successful examples be shown, but also horribly embarrassing mistakes along the way. This intersection of disciplines is still being figured out, and best practices are still being written, and the entire audience will be inspired to fan out and help define what works, and what doesn’t, in this age of increasing overlap between public and private, solo and shared, large and small…and, of course, keyboard and touch.

‘Til Postmortem Do We Part: Bizdev for Creatives

The most creatively rewarding relationships are the ones where your partners are just as engaged as you are. But how do you find the clients and projects that are right for you? How do you sell them on your agency and win their business? And how do you prioritize which pitches to spend your efforts on? This talk will focus on the business development and account management side of interaction design. These skills range from selling an agency’s ideas, work and process to the client, to managing expectations and creativity on a deadline, to navigating political issues in large corporations, and surviving long enough to reflect upon about how to do it all better the next time. Attendees will walk away with tools to help them to assess clients and their needs from the first meeting, mitigate risk by reducing iteration time and cost while managing client expectations, rapidly assess cost and scope, and calculate the ROI of inspiration and creative magic.