Testing @dayna’s new iPhone 3G S Compass feature. Love it. #
Reading @MattMason’s ebook: The Pirate’s Dilemma. Intro is quite good. Price: pay what you want. http://bit.ly/ubWyA#
More Augmented Reality, this time for trying on Zugara clothes. A little awkward, but interesting. (via @pierreseguin) http://bit.ly/NTssE#
Who would you pick to read your favourite children’s books? I want Sean Connery to read The Cat in the Hat to my son… http://bit.ly/6WPb0#
Thanks @jonezy for the best song since Shatner’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: Sean Connery “sings” In My Life http://songza.com/~92196x#
· This entry was written by jted, posted on June 28, 2009 at 10:30 pm.
· Filed under 10 in 10 and tagged tweets, twitter.
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When I read books to my kids, I tend to over do it with the voice acting. I really get into the characters, and try to imbue each of them with a unique vocal signature. I channel my inner Mel Blanc, the man of 1000 voices who owned the sound of Saturday morning cartoons from my own childhood. One of my favourite books to read is the old classic, The Cat In The Hat. For some strange reason the Cat takes on a deep British accent. The Fish sounds whiny and bubbly. And the boy, our fearless narrator, sounds calm and determined. As I said, I’m pretty good with the voices, but I couldn’t help but wonder what this famous book would sound like if I could arrange a celebrity ensemble to back me up at story time. Who would I invite to present The Cat In The Hat to my 4yr old son in his tiny little bedroom? Well, I’m glad you asked:
The Cat: Sir Michael Caine (backup: Sean Connery)
The Cat needs to sound British— James Bond British. It’s so much funnier to hear him in a deep 007 voice, especially when he says, “Have no fear! Have no fear!”
The Fish: Wallace Shawn (backup: NONE)
Wallace is perhaps best known for his magnum opus My Dinner with André, but he also happened to play the timid dinosaur Rex in Toy Story. He needs to use the voice of Vizzini, the patronizing self-proclaimed genius from The Princess Bride. You know— “Incontheivable!”
Sally:
There is no speaking part, but it would be cool if Cate Blanchett would just stand around looking smart and surprised. My kids would probably want to see Miley Cyrus instead, but I imagine Cate would be easier to get along with.
Thing One / Thing Two: Tom Kenny (backup: Seth Rogen on helium.)
Tom is otherwise known as Spongebob Squarepants. This would make him the most famous star in the room, according to my son.
The Boy:
The fearless narrator would have to be someone earnest, young, and ‘normal’ sounding. My first pick is Jake Gyllenhal, followed closely by John Cusack. Did I say they had to be young? I refuse to pick Zac Efron, even if he does have very cool hair.
Who would your picks be? Please use the comments below.
It’s great to see #foodinc as a hash tag. Awareness is the first step to changing habits (i say as I finish a can of Coke) :-P #
RT @drelabre: i christen thee “bus train” RT @mayormiller: http://twitpic.com/7tjzm - The new Streetcar (LRV) … #
RX-78-2 Gundam Mobile Suite (aka GIANT ROBOT!) assembled in Japan 10 days ago. Amazing photos. http://bit.ly/EBJVU#
Larry Lars is my new Lego designer hero. Wish they actually had Aliens Lego set: Power Loader and APC shown. http://bit.ly/b4cok#
Google Profile: show off your social media acumen, tweak what is seen when your name is googled. Here’s mine: http://bit.ly/2VNm0#
Daughter’s letter 2 tooth fairy: Why do you take teeth & what do you do with them? Why don’t you give them back? Do you have a tooth castle? #
· This entry was written by jted, posted on June 21, 2009 at 10:30 pm.
· Filed under 10 in 10 and tagged tweets, twitter.
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For the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, DreamWorks has commissioned a promotional website where you can transform yourself into Optimus Prime. The facial recognition and tracking works surprisingly well, and is fun to play around with for a laugh. If you click on the spinning autobot icon, Bumblebee will fly onto your printed AR marker and show you a new trailer.
This 3D modeling looks a lot better than the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 graphics (see above left). The lighting and detail create a ‘closer to reality’ feeling than a lot of other AR wraps. This is due to the bright lighting from the front, as though the robot is lit from your computer screen. The tracking works way better than on the Nintendo DSi (see above right), which has a very hard time finding and resizing in real time. Once I had the ActiveX plugin loaded, the Optimus mask stayed with me (and on me) and rarely lagged.
This use of AR+facial tracking works to create buzz before a movie premier, but let’s take a quick 10 in 10™ to imagine how this technology could be used for other purposes:
Costume websites let you try on masks before going to the store to buy/rent them.
Cosmetics companies let’s you ‘paint’ your face with blush, rouge, eye shadow.
Frame manufacturers give you different styles of glasses to model.
H&M let’s you try on hats.
An online ad for domestic abuse could show you a live picture of yourself with a black eye and a disturbing caption (no time to write it now).
A plastic surgeon specializing in rhinoplasty could let you test noses. But they’d have to be bigger than the original to fit over your real nose, so never mind.
You could play a ’stare down’ game to see how long you could stare at the screen without blinking
In a similar vein, you could be challenged to a game of ’serious’ where you’re not allowed to laugh. The computer would show you funny pictures and scenes, and read your expression. If you smile you lose the game.
Bedtime stories: you could do skits of famous fairy-tales over a webcam. Imagine mom or dad is away on business and can freak out their kids by turning into the big bad wolf. Okay, scratch that one too.
Trying on different hair styles and colours would also be cool: an AR salon.
And my ten minutes are up. Can you think of any more? Leave them in the comments.
In what has to be the sexiest auto-erotic android make-out scene in music video history, director Chris Cunningham transforms Björk into a milky, plastic-fantastic fetishized robot for her single, All is Full of Love. The video is as stunning, disturbing, and original as it was when it debuted in 1998.
Cunningham’s design inspired the look of the 2004 Will Smith vehicle I, Robot, albeit in a far less sexy, androgynous way. And now, over a decade later, Svedka is using Björk’s android look-a-like to sell vodka.
With the help of oddcast, they have designed a [sex]bot-builder that you can customize to fit your fantasy: fishnet stockings (including a real fishbowl torso), french maid uniforms, biker hats, red heels, and even decals (aka tattoos). The male version has biker vests, football shoulders, rocket packs, and a tux. You are encouraged to upload a face to personalized your creation. I chose to upload Björk’s face to see just how close the resemblance is to her video. You can see it better if you right click on the embedded flash version below and zoom in a few times (see image below).
While it is kind of fun (you can put your robot in UGGs), it feels like they only went half-way. The builder is clunky, there is no sound, and the robots don’t do much after they’re built (you can rotate them and poke them for a few canned movements). This would be way more fun with additional options to customize, and a follow through on the promise “Are You Bot or Not?” I was expecting to vote on other robot creations, and to throw my Björk-bot into the mix. But perhaps the most shocking of all of these things: no lead generation. I can explore, create, link, and save without once entering my email address. I don’t know if this is a stupid oversight, or a brilliant ploy for spamless credibility.
This campaign has made me aware of Svedka vodka. But even more importantly: it has reminded me that my childhood vision of robot maids is still a distant promise.
I had no idea Ritz was compelled by fans in Canada to create a ‘real’ pop song. Still like the Coke one better. http://bit.ly/16xCwj#
· This entry was written by jted, posted on June 14, 2009 at 10:30 pm.
· Filed under 10 in 10 and tagged tweets, twitter.
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I never intended to turn this into an Augmented Reality blog, but there are so many creative ways people are starting to use this burgeoning technology. Many of them are experiments in artistic expression or marketing buzz, but some of them actually serve a practical purpose. In this case, printing out the United States Postal Service eagle icon and placing it in front of your webcam, allows you to see realistic, 3D virtual packages in actual-size. You can try it out for yourself in the Priority Mail Virtual Box Simulator.
Customers can choose from 4 different sizes (ranging from small to large) and then adjust the opacity of the box that appears using the Box Transparency slider. In the above picture I have chosen the Small Flat-Rate Box, which is supposed to be 8 and 5/8 inches long. It’s appears a little bit smaller than ‘actual size’, which you can tell because it isn’t as wide as the 8 and 1/2 inch paper I’m holding. It should actually be slightly wider than the paper.
What makes this truly useful, however, is the Persistent Box View which you can activate at the bottom left. Most augmented reality displays disappear when the target icon is covered. With the persistent view, the box will stay floating in mid-air when the eagle icon is removed, allowing a customer to hold up another item in its place. In this case I’m holding up a portable DVD player to see if it will fit into the Medium 1 box, and it appears as though it will quite comfortably.
Finally, with flashbacks of the movie se7en in my mind, I check to see if my head fits into the Large box. Sure enough, it does.
I don’t know if this is any more convenient than pulling out a tape measure, but it certainly looks cooler. And remember that these are still fledgeling ideas and applications. In a short time, when your mobile device is the augmented lens to view reality through, Priority Mail will have an app that will scan your images with a camera, tell you which box you’re going to need, how much it will cost, and where the nearest outlet is. Heck, it might even beam it directly to your destination.
All-day all-you-can-eat breakfast joints should be a constitutional right. #
· This entry was written by jted, posted on June 7, 2009 at 10:30 pm.
· Filed under 10 in 10 and tagged tweets, twitter.
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R2-D2 and Chewbacca play Dejarik while C-3PO looks on, in Star Wars IV: A New Hope
One the strongest cinematic memories from my childhood is from Star Wars (surprise surprise). C-3Po R2-D2 and Chewbacca are playing a type of holographic chess on the Millennium Falcon, passing the time as they speed through space. The game pieces move and interact with each other and— even cooler— they fight! I wanted one of these Dejarik sets, and dreamed of a time when holographic games and toys became a reality.
Judging by the last few months on the internet, that time is well on its way. Augmented Reality is set to bring those holographic moments to anyone with a computer and a webcam, or even a mobile phone. Last night I gave my kids a printout of the newest Star Trek poster and told them to hold it up to the computer screen (at Experience the Enterprise). I watched their surprised faces when, on screen, they were suddenly holding a diminutive replica of a three-dimensional spaceship. Both of them loved the experience, and immediately started testing it’s boundaries: how much could they bend the paper, how far away could they stand, how close could they bring the paper into the camera. It was amazing to watch them instinctively push the limits of the technology. My son kept looking at the computer and then back at the paper he was holding, trying to figure out why it was invisible in real life.
Sebastian, Age 4, Experiences Augmented Reality for the First Time
They would have played with the USS-Enterprise for hours if I had let them, just like a brand new toy. This particular AR could fire torpedoes and phasers, and simulate flying at warp speed. How many other toys have that ability? It’s still a bit clunky and you really tire of holding a piece of paper up to a screen for a long time, but for a technology that is just begining to come out of its shell, it’s a wonderous experience.
I’m looking forward to the LucaArts AR gameboard that let’s me play Dejarik on my coffee table. Are you listening George?
When I was in University, I didn’t have a mobile phone, email, or internet access. Most people didn’t. There was no TXTing, no IMing, no poking people on Facebook, and certainly no twittering. The way you met new and interesting people was by smoking. I’m serious. If you wanted to become friends with random cool people, you’d make sure you had a well-fueled Zippo and you’d practice opening it SHINK, lighing it KTCHSH, and closing it KHLUP.
That sound was an advertisement to people within earshot that 1) you were a fellow smoker, 2) that you had fire, and 3) that you might even have an extra cigarette. “Hey, got a light?” was the opening line to many friendships and relationships.
How you lit your Zippo was part of your personality. Some people did it one handed, some people liked to snap their fingers over the flint to create the fire magically, and others could open and light their Zippos off their jeans in one fluid motion. The crazy ones would pour a bit of lighter fluid in the palm of their hands and let it go up in a short burst.
The design of the Zippo was another expression. There were lighters from headshops with skulls and pot leaves and Harley logos. Some were monogrammed, some were gold and ornate, and most were just plain stainless steel. But they all did the job of lighting a cigarette for a fellow addict in need and sparking conversation.
Today I don’t smoke. I have an iPhone with ubiquitous internet access, email, and unlimited texting. There’s a program for every flavour of instant messaging service. There’s a decent Facebook application. And then there’s the Twitter app Tweetie: the new Zippo lighter.
Let me explain: So today, instead of wanting to be friends with social malcontents who are trying to start grunge bands, I want to be friends with geeks. Geeks know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff, so there’s always something to learn or to talk about. And how do you break the ice with a cool geek? Easy. Get Tweetie for iPhone. Instead of walking up to a total stranger and asking “Got a light?” you say “Hey, aren’t you @[insert Twitter username here] who just tweeted about [insert topic here]? That was hillarious. I’m @jted.” Then you shake hands and the rest is history.
For example, at a recent Chuck Palahniuk reading in Toronto I was using Twitter to broadcast a few choice quotes from the author. Out of curiosity I used Tweetie to do a search for users also talking about Chuck. I was surprised to find 5 or 6 people in the audience broadcasting snippets of what Palahniuk was saying and what was happening in the room. A few of them had photographic avatars , and by tapping on them I could see a full-screen picture of their faces. After the show I recognized one of them talking to a group of friends. I thought it was crazy that Tweetie could transform a random stranger into someone I not only recognized, but shared a sense of humour with. I never did talk to the guy. But the point is that I could have. I was in a bit of a hurry that day…
Zippos have engraved images; Tweetie shows your avatar. Zippos smell like lighter fluid; Tweetie smells like a cheap iPhone application. Zippos attract smokers; Tweetie uses the built in GPS to find fellow Twitterers via the Nearby button. Zippos can be used for flaming parlour tricks; Tweetie’s Trends button can be used to read the collective mind of human consciousness. Now if only Tweetie could make that SHINK KTCHSH KHLUP sound…
Welcome to 
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Cunningham’s design 
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