Digitally-enhanced tabletop speakers integrate seamlessly with wireless devices
As fans of the big speaker sound engineered into Audyssey’s compact Audio Dock, the launch of their new Lower East Side Media Speaker is even more tech-enhanced music to our ears. The LES produces precision sound with low bass, warm mids and clear highs using the same type of digital acoustics that the brand uses when they design sound for IMAX theaters and Jaguars.
To take advantage of all the “Smart” electronics inside, the speakers include an optical input that plugs directly into Apple TV, giving you the freedom of AirPlay-enabled audio in a speaker small enough to fit next to your computer. With its clean, simple lines it won’t add to the clutter on your desk, and, inspired by the music scene in the NYC neighborhood from which it takes its name, Audyssey’s LES speaker just begs for late-night jam sessions at the office.
How one software maverick is pioneering the future of digital publishing
by Meghan Killeen
Digital design prodigy Mike Matas combines the ease of navigating the physical world to create lifelike interfaces that feel so unobtrusive you hardly notice you’re using complex technology. Motivated by the desire to do things on a computer more like in reality, Matas set out to create virtual interfaces driven by touch. “If you want to do something [on a computer] you should just be able to reach out your hand and do it, no buttons, and no user interface required,” concludes Matas.
Near the end of high school, Matas along with genius coder Wil Shipley founded the proprietary software company Delicious Monster, creators of Delicious Library, a media cataloging application for Mac OS X. The system enables users to visually categorize their multimedia library by placing photo-realistic icons of the products on a simulated bookshelf. Extending the library theme, Delicious Library also offers barcode scanning capabilities via the Mac webcam software, iSight, and allows interloan connections with friends.
The ingenuity and authenticity of Delicious Library earned it the coveted Apple Design Awards “Best Mac OS X User Experience” (2005) and “Best OS X Leopard Application” (2007), catapulting Matas’ design talents into the spotlight. He reflects, “It was a pretty radical departure from what most software looked like at that time and people reacted very positively to it.”
At the mere age of 19, Matas captured the attention of Apple and was invited to join the company’s Human Interface team. Anticipating the design of Apple’s desktop computer operating system, Matas quickly discovered that he would instead be working on an innovative, covert project—the iPhone. “Working on the original iPhone was a lot of fun because it was a completely new product where nothing was off limits,” states Matas. Capitalizing on its multi-touch conventions, Matas went on to design interfaces for the iPhone’s interactive maps and camera applications, including the iPhone’s phosphorescent green battery screen.
After just four years with Apple, Matas left in 2009 to partner with friend and fellow Apple alum, Kimon Tsinteris. They launched Push Pop Press, a publishing company offering dynamic digital solutions without the fuss of labor intensive and pricey programming. Approached by publishing firm Melcher Media, Matas began to develop the first full-length interactive book for iPad, “Our Choice,” the sequel to Al Gore’s cautionary environmental tale “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Matas demoed the digitized book at the recent TED conference, highlighting its specialized pinch-and-place navigation, culminating in a mind-blowing demonstration of Matas powering an animated windmill on the screen with his breath. “You can navigate the entire book this way, without any extra computer interface to stumble over and distraction from the content. The technology disappears and you can get lost in the content,” explains Matas.
Push Pop’s watershed title release is as revolutionary as it is rudimentary, bringing a human touch to touch-screen technology. Matas’ eye for design and interaction is also revealed through his stunning photography. Armed with a backpack full of lenses, Matas captures lush images of nature and documents his globetrotting travels through beautifully rendered time-lapse videos. His photo talent also graces the food blog he runs with his girlfriend, called My Cooking Diary.
Balancing functionality and emotion are key elements for pioneering the future of digital publishing, however, Matas also predicts its potential. “I think digital publishing is going to look less and less like a scanned printed book under glass and more like its own thing that was born to be digital.”
The Audi Icons series, inspired by the all-new Audi A7, showcases 16 leading figures united by their dedication to innovation and design.
Stunning explorations in physical interface design from an MIT Media Lab student
by Meghan Killeen
Boasting a list of innovations of sci-fi proportions, designer and researcher Marcelo Coelho paints a future that is both accessible and immediate. Referencing daily materials and human behavior, Coelho creates objects that feel technologically tailored and socially integrated. After completing his BFA in Computation Arts at Montreal’s Concordia University, Coelho relocated to Cambridge, MA, where he is currently a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab as a member of Fluid Interfaces Group. Focused on enhancing the human-computer relationship, Fluid designs interfaces that are as informational as they are experiential by seamlessly integrating digital content with the physical world.
Projects include luminary technology like Coelho’s magnetic lighting installation, “Six-Forty by Four-Eighty,” created in collaboration with studio partner (and co-creator behind the Rube Goldberg music video for OK Go) Jamie Zigelbaum for the 2010 Design Miami/Basel forum. The 220 pixel-tiles that comprise the installation are modified in color, wall placement and lighting speed, with the human touch serving as an inter-connective conduit between each tile. By bringing the pixels off the screen and on the wall, the focus is on “the materiality of computation itself”—an innovative concentration that earned Zigelbaum + Coelho the 2010 W Hotels Designer of the Future Award.
Merging the fundamentals of technology with edible essentials, Coelho (in collaboration with Amit Zoran) have pioneered the culinary futurism of “digital gastronomy” with a conceptual design called Cornucopia. Featuring four prototypes, the project examines the fusion of ingredients in harmony with new cooking modalities. “Cornucopia emerged from a desire to imagine what it would be like to cook with the aid of computer-controlled machines, which could not only help with the food manipulation process but also bring in massive amounts of information,” explains Coelho. Ranging from a customizing candy maker (The Digital Chocolatier) to a 3D food printer (The Digital Fabricator), each prototype encourages experimentation with food.
Coelho proves that the discerning palate isn’t just relegated to cooking with his Art-O-Meter prototype, a device that evaluates the artistic taste of an attending audience at an art exhibition. Using a sensor, the Art-O-Meter records the amount of time that the viewer stands in front of the artwork, which is measured against the total length of time for the exhibition. Despite the ingenuity of the product, Coelho indicates that the response was divided into two camps—”the people who loved it because now they could finally tell the good art from the bad art, and people who hated it because they believed that now science was able to measure the quality of an artwork in a quantitative way.”
Again mixing organic materials with scientific application, Coelho creates computers out of a substrate of paper and circuit boards using a method dubbed “pulp-based computing” Coelho says this project “shows how we can create artifacts that behave in computational ways but still carry with them the physical and cultural qualities that we normally associate with paper.” He envisions this method as manifesting in the potential forms of self-updating boarding passes or digital newspapers that mimic the texture and behavior of the printed format.
Coelho continues to explore human interaction with technology through kinetic clothing designs created in conjunction with electronic textile studio, XS Labs. “Developing a new kind of kinetic fabric was a way to create a textile display that looked and felt like fabric, rather than an LED screen,” states Coelho. The designs display anthropomorphic functions like body heat activated coloration and a floral accent that blooms every 15 seconds.
Looking towards the future, Coelho observes, “Technology plays an incredible role at reconfiguring how we experience the world and the really exciting part is that the human-computer chapter has barely started.”
Coelho’s luminescent installation project, “Six-Forty by Four-Eighty” will be on display at the W Hotels St. Petersburg Premiere Event and then at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. in June 2011.
The Audi Icons series, inspired by the all-new Audi A7, showcases 16 leading figures united by their dedication to innovation and design.
Instagram photos beautifully displayed in screensaver form
The Barbarian Group just released their new Instagram-powered screen saver named Screenstagram. It lets you connect your Instragram account to your desktop screensaver and displays your feed or the Instagram popular feed live.
The sleek add-on takes advantage of Instagrams API and lets you have continuous access to all of your friends’ fantastic photos, streaming the artistic explorations from life’s daily escapades. Usernames are displayed inconspicuously with each photo and subtle animations ensure you catch each picture before it goes away.
Be sure to follow @coolhunting on Instagram for sneak-peeks and other behind-the-scenes content.
Digitally organize paper piles with a handy all-in-one device
Tidying up your workspace might seem impossible with endless paperwork continuously piling up. To help manage the glut, I’ve been testing out NeatDesk, a scanner-and-software combo that turns clutter into organized files on your computer. In the week that I’ve used it, I’ve become kind of obsessed—the beauty of the solution is that it’s perfectly integrated hardware and software.
Just drop tax filings, invoices, correspondence and even business cards into the gadget, either one at a time or in a stack—Neat Desk can handle up to 10 double-sided documents at a time at up to 600 dpi.
From there, the NeatDesk rapidly scans and saves everything to NeatWorks, the companion desktop software, where you can edit and process as needed. Built for use with PC and Mac platforms, NeatWork’s intelligent OCR technology files information for easy exporting to popular platforms.
It converts business cards to text for effortless syncing with your computer address book; receipts can be organized directly in to an expense-report-ready spreadsheet; and documents can be filed or converted to pdfs and shared.
NeatDesk sells online for $400 from The Neat Company, as well as at stores like Staples and Office Max.
Nearly 30 years later, the Commodore brand is re-releasing its flagship computer – this time with all the amenities of a modern-day computer packed inside. Just another retro-nerd gadget? You be the judge…
The annual prize, coordinated by the Design Council and announced last night, honours British designers who have most influenced and shaped daily lives. Top image: GRiD Compass computer, 1982. Above: next-generation GRiD Compass computer, 1984.
Moggridge, who co-founded design agency IDEO in the early 1990s, designed the GRiD Compass computer in 1982, for manufacturer GRiD Systems Corporation. Above: early prototype of the GRiD Compass computer, shown to potential investors. Below: Bill Moggridge.
Here’s some info from the Design Council:
Creator of world’s first laptop computer wins royal Prize
The man who changed the way many of us live and work by designing the world’s first laptop computer -Bill Moggridge RDI – will be named the winner of the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at the Design Council in London this evening, Tuesday 9th November.
GRID Compass computer, 1982
Bill Moggridge was chosen to receive this year’s Prize from a stellar list of globally recognised nominees including avant-garde fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, creator of the London 2012 Aquatics Centre Zaha Hadid and the creative powerhouse behind Burberry, Christopher Bailey. The Prize is awarded annually to recognise a lifetime contribution to design.
As one of the most pioneering designers of the 20th century, Bill Moggridge has been central to how design makes technology make sense to the people who use it. In the late 1980s, he was a leading force in creating the discipline of interaction design, which has set the terms for how human beings engage with computers. In the early 1990s he co-founded the design agency IDEO, which has arguably become the blueprint for the international, strategic creative agency. Today, he makes a forceful educational contribution as Director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
With such an unprecedented line-up of nominees, the judges decided to also award three Special Commendations: to Dame Vivienne Westwood; to graphic designer Neville Brody; and furniture designer John Makepeace.
David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, commented: “The Prince Philip Prize provides a timely reminder that we are a nation of innovative, sometimes maverick thinkers – that’s why the UK continues to be at the forefront of global design. Celebrating those talents is a vital part of inspiring our next generation of world-changing designers, innovators and creatives.”
This year’s nominees include pioneers and provocateurs covering a wide range of disciplines, from architecture to industrial, graphic and fashion design. Between them they provide a snapshot of the creative and commercial strengths of the UK design industry which can be seen on the Design Council’s website at www.designcouncil.org.uk/ppdp.
The Prince Philip Designers Prize, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, has been in existence since the early days of the Design Council. It was created by HRH as a response to post-war austerity, and aimed to stimulate and reward elegant solutions to design problems. In its half century, the prestigious award has rewarded the best in design from products and graphics to buildings and feats of engineering, and has put the spotlight on designers for influencing and shaping our daily lives.
Former winners of the Prize include Thomas Heatherwick (2006); the architect Lord Foster of Thamesbank (2004); Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran (2003); Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2001) and inventor Sir James Dyson (1997).
Designer Mac Funamizu’s clever prototype, the Funny USB Memory Stick #6, allows users to physically see the digital contents contained on a mini flash drive.
The clear glass device uses lights to indicate the amount and type of data stored. A fully lit stick means it’s at capacity with different colors representing file contents, like blue for images and green for documents.
As Core77 points out, the best improvement to this design (and all thumb drives) would be to make the stick narrow enough to fall flush with the size of the USB port, allowing more room for other plug-ins.
The video exhibit “Ouroboros” at ISE Cultural Foundation explores the creation and history of the universe, using the iconic image of a snake eating itself as center to the work. The piece consists of six projections in 3-D, using geometric shapes and imagery to transform the space.
This compellingly unique mix of science and art fits the talents of Ourobos’ creators exactly. Renaissance man Ali Hossaini, and video artists/programmers Blake Shaw and Bruno Levy of Sweatshoppe, collaborated on the piece. Ourobos combined Hossaini’s “investigations into the psychology of vision” and Sweatshoppe’s software and tech know-how.
In an interview with the artists, they discussed the project.
What’s Ouroboros about?
Ali: It was an ode to the history of the universe in three layers: the physical, the biological and the psychological. The material world, the life world and the cultural world. I did about 30,000 into different files, just arranged them sequentially. And then we talked about what would work where.
Bruno: When we came down to the gallery, we realized there’s more of a story that can be told. We had been doing this basic geometry and these shapes for awhile. And what we really liked about them was they had this energy, and this thing where you look at them and you become entranced.
How did you meet?
Blake: We started trying to figure out a way to create 3-D video in real time about a year ago, writing a piece of software that allowed us to create anaglyph video, which is like the red and blue glasses. But we quickly realized that that effect is old and outdated, and it also gives you a headache quickly. So we started working with ChromaDepth. Right about the time that we finished the software, we were doing a performance at Jonathan LeVine Gallery. And it was an event that Ali was producing for the Metropolis Art Prize. Instantly when he saw our effect he went, “Oh man, that’s awesome!”
Ali: It was pure chance, actually, because I was producing this art competition and the awards were going to be given at the Jonathan LeVine gallery. And I walked in when they were setting up. I’d been wanting to do 3-D for this concept of Ouroboros, which was a history of the universe told through juxtaposed images, and I’d worked in 3-D before. When I saw what they did, it just seemed so on target for what I wanted to do and I think their work is really expressive and it’s a really powerful aesthetic. I’d never seen anything like it before.
What led you to combine images and geometry?
Bruno: we just have these really simple geometric shapes that are being animated through space, or through depth, and they’re connecting and recreating other shapes when they cross. We basically have these three different layers that are looping with different start and end points. So they’re kind of looping on top of another on top of another and creating different shapes. And when they cross, they create different colors.
We’ve been really into mandalas and yantras and all these symbols or these machines that are meant to be these geometric shapes that you look at that elevate your consciousness. But we would almost rejuvenate them or recreate them using this psychedelic, technology driven 3-D media. And try to bring them to life.
Blake: We’re looking at simple geometry as the atomic unit. And we’re moving from simple geometry to more complex geometry. And then from complex geometry to representational imagery. And we’re also trying to address the higher experience of the cosmos. Considering we only can understand the world from our immediate human perspective, we’re trying to break you free of that and open your consciousness to greater dimensions of reality.
Ouroboros runs through 30 April 2010. Read more of the interview after the jump.
The marriage of music and projections, set to a pervading beat, help create this transcendental space. How did you create the music?
Blake: Ali appropriated all these images from the internet. So I thought it would really be appropriate to make the music with audio appropriated from the internet. But we were really trying to create something that was soothing and very meditative, and really something that brings your heart rate down and allows you to relax and be in this heavy space.
Bruno: Since we were sometimes making video for performances, which are live performances which go to a certain bpm. We were looking into different binaural frequencies that affective the brain and stimulated the brain or created meditative states.
That’s also really important when you’re trying to create an environment that you want people to spend time in. I think it’s pretty awesome, people just seem to sit here for along time.
How do you hope people will think about and experience Ouroboros?
Ali: I think what we’re aiming for here in the installation is a feeling of psychological integration. I think art can connect all the different parts of the universe together. And artists don’t really try to do that. But I think all of us are coming to that place where we feel a social responsibility to make art.
And even the layout of the installation—it’s roughly inspired by a mandala or a sybil, an alchemical walk, or even the stations of the cross where you have a psychological journey. You start with the geometric symbols and then you move to the yantras, and then you move into the scientific or representational world, and then you move back into geometry. As you go to the end of the room and look at this piece it’s completely different. I think overall people seem to have that feeling, peacefulness, when they come out of here, which is what we’re looking for, to feel whole again.
Bruno: We didn’t know how people would generally react. We didn’t know, in the space, if people would pass out on the floor and hang out for a bit, or think it was corny or cheesy in a way. And I think for us it’s really about creating this experience, it’s about art as experience.
Ali: By putting this stuff together, people start to interpret, start to create meaning. There’s this creative act on the part of the audience that is really, really important too.
Blake and Bruno, you recently formed art duo Sweatshoppe, which creates and plays with much of the technology used in Ouroboros. What does Sweatshoppe do?
Blake: We do this thing where we paint video on the street. like, we roll up to a wall and we plug this paint roller in that we made and it allows us to create the illusion that we’re painting a video on the wall.
Bruno: The reason why we invented that, actually, was we wanted to have this performance where people could come out at some point in the performance and start painting the walls of the space, so that the walls were evolving, and all of a sudden you’d been in the desert, and things flying around and we started playing with mapping software because we wanted to change the environment of the space.
Ali, where do you come from with your work? What drew you to telling a history of the universe through film?
Ali: I think art has to adapt to the time, and people obviously take most of their experiences in from screens. I think if Americans are watching TV screens like six hours a day, they’re comfortable with screens. One of the things that makes me happy about Ouroboros and working with Sweatshoppe is there’s no feeling that people have to be reverent towards the art. I think actually art should be just this thing that you come to when you feel like it, and then you leave, but it’s always there: you can tap into it. Also I love the medium of video and computer digital technologies. I think they’re really empowering and you can do these things that twenty, thirty years ago people couldn’t imagine doing.
To me it’s been really liberating working in this medium, but I do want to push the boundaries of what we’ve done here. Ok, people can make YouTube videos, but how do you make a whole video environment? That’s something that really intrigues me. I think we’re going to be living in these video environments more and more.
30,000 images is a lot to work with. How did you organize and sequence them?
Ali: There’s three layers: matter, life and spirit. Originally, I’d assigned each one to a color. But then I found that got really monotonous, and originally this was supposed to go from the Big Bang up to the present day, and go chronologically. But that felt really didactic and monotonous, too. So, that’s were the poetry of it came in.
If you try to be too conceptual or consistent then it just feels sterile. The technology is really fresh, the techniques, this stuff is just being created as we were making the installations. So there was this feeling of discovery throughout.
The imagery also includes logos, like Starbucks. Why did you decide to include logos?
Ali: It’s supposed to be a history of our environment, and logos are so much a part of our environment; they represent the rise of corporations. The logos actually evolve. You see these organic forms like vegetables, and then leaves and flowers, and then you’ll see these japanese crests, which are based on organic forms. And they’re early logos. And then you see actual designed logos. But below that you’ll see the development of agriculture, and the corporitization of agriculture that goes on. So the logos actually encroach on a lot of things. And then at some point it’s just all logos.
Corporations and these imperative are about the colonization of the life world, and the mental world. And I’m not saying corporations are all bad, but they are related with a lot of the developments, like war and things. I thought that was just an integral part of the story—of our universe, anyway.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
