"SenseTable" - Interactivity beyond the touchscreen

What if touchscreens could use tactile 3-D objects representing concepts, that you could then move around freely in a natural and organic way to play with the information?  They can!

 The Sensetable  prototype was originally conceived at the MIT Media Lab and has since been developed for "robust and affordable" real-world applications by  Patten Studio, who's slogan is "We design and build things you can touch.".

Below James Patten, of Patten Studio demonstrates this new dimension to touchscreens on video.




Also out of MIT, and poised to be snatched up for commercial development, is an interactive whiteboard; which takes abstract drawn concepts made of simple lines and lets them act out what would be their natural course in the real world.

MIT's Digital Drawingboard 

For instance, one could draw a pulley system to move a drawn object, and set it to run its course. Should it not meet your objective, you can  adjust any of the elements simply by erasing and redrawing them.

It's fairly easy and intuitive for humans, who have evolved visually, to "eyeball' a system and understand that, say, if one of the arms was a bit longer it would make the trajectory work; however it's very difficult to do the same thing using only thew abstractions of mathematical formulas.


This moving towards making tech adapt to how we work, rather than trying to force ourselves to adapt to technology is clearly the way of the future, as exemplified in Google's soon-to-be-released augmented reality glasses. As this approach takes hold, the more mindfully human-centered interface should serve to make our interactions with tech progressively grow ever more natural and effortless as they flow through our daily lives.

Touch screen cadaver for a virtual dissection table

Jack Choi, founder of Anatomage, demonstrates a powerful tool for training medical students, many of whom don't have access to cadavers for first-hand experience: a stretcher-sized multi-touch screen of the human body that lets you explore, dissect and understand the body's parts and systems.

“If these images are uncomfortable  to you or disturbing to you, that means we did the right job.” -Choi

Easily visible nerves and tumors

In a reversal of Jack Choi's concept of creating an anatomical model that looks more like a real body, Dr.  Quyen T. Nguyen instead uses tech to create a surgical experience with the body appearing more like anatomy illustrations, where nerves and tumors are color-coded (and luminescent!) to the naked eye, for easy recognition and better surgical outcomes.

A Tiny Apartment Transforms into 24 Rooms

Architect Gary Chang designed his 344 square foot apartment in space-challenged Hong Kong to be able to change into 24 different designs, by using an ingenious system of eco-friendly sliding panels and walls, which he calls "the Domestic Transformer" .








See video of the amazing transformations

Plot of designer and architect Gary Chang's wall system

Kenetic building facades by Ned Kahn become fantastic moving sky and water sculptures

WIND AND AIR

Wall ripples with the wind

California designer, Ned Kahn, creates innovative kinetic materials with his building facades that allow them to respond to and evoke natural elements.  In 2002, he worked with the staff of Technorama, the major science center in Switzerland, and their architects, Durig and Rami, to create a facade for the building which is composed of thousands of aluminum panels that move in the air currents and reveal the complex patterns of turbulence in the wind.

Video shows Technorama Facade moving and flowing based on wind patterns

Articulated Cloud - Pittsburgh Childrens Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. 2004

Composed of thousands of translucent, white plastic squares that move in the wind, the artwork is intended to suggest that the building has been enveloped by a digitized cloud.

WATER 

The Tipping Wall is an art piece by Ned Kahn and is located at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The artwork is a surface treatment on a cooling tower in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands. The Tipping Wall, located at the cooling tower adjacent to the southern end of the hotel features 7,000 mechanical polycarbonate tipping water channels on a large glass reinforced concrete wall about the size of a basketball court. Water running down the glass reinforced concrete wall will splash out and animate the white tipping channels which will be supported by stainless steel pins. The channels are supported by ball bearing so that they can tip. As each channel fills with water, it must "decide" to tip either left or right, like a seesaw and spill water into either of the two channels below it. Thus the entire array becomes an interrelated web of water decisions. Water will be recovered at the catchment area below the tippers and re-circulated to the distribution trough..

Video shows reflected ripples moving up the building facade

Water ripples spread up theTempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ while mirrors create random sparkles like light hitting the surface of water

Patterns reveal what sound looks like

What does a note look like? Sand reveals intricate oscillation patterns...

A first look at Google's augmented reality glasses

The visor-like interface design: A bit Geordi La Forge?

Googles "Project glass" video (above) allows you to see through the eyes of  a man spending a relaxed Saturday morning  wearing Google's augmented reality glasses, to see what it will be like like first person.

Although the glasses are not yet available, they were recently tested on the streets in San Francisco,   and Google is expected to release them for sale later this year. The glasses aren't intended to be worn continuously, but used as needed, as you would a smart phone, and have many of the same features available in an Android phone; such as taking photos, getting GPS directions, calling and social networking, etc all seemingly projected transparently on the space in front of your face. Issues of safety are bound to be raised and I'm confident that driving with these glasses will soon be banned on those grounds.

Near invisible Contact lens based computing
expected next

Further out in the future, serious research is moving forward with a contact lens embedded system that would have smart phone features, but also allow for full computing by using cloud data storage. 

 Issues of safety are bound to be raised and laws will have to play catch-up as they have with cell-phone use and texting.

Google's project glass and Google self-driving car:
 Kismt or  good corporate planning?

It seems inevitable (however ill-advised)  that some people will attempt to use these while driving until it's specifically outlawed for safety reasons. Fortunately, (and perhaps not co-incidentally) Google has also developed the self-driving car , which is well advanced and has already logged over 200,000 miles on California roads. California is following Nevada's lead in drafting guidelines for the safe operation of driverless cars in anticipation of their potential popularity. 

Tornado Season On The Sun

For a 30 hour spell (Feb 7-8, 2012) the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured plasma caught in a magnetic dance across the Sun's surface. The results closely resemble extreme tornadic activity on Earth

Future tattoo trends: Tattoos that respond to touch and color-changing tattoos

"In this Philips Design Probe, human body is explored as a platform for electronics and interactive skin technology.
Stimulated by touch, an Electronic Tattoo traverses across the landscape of body, navigated by desire."

Phillips design probes are developments of design ideas that may become significant consumer trends in the near future.  (This particular probe was led by self-styled "body architect" Lucy McRae, who also investigated the idea of a glowing, emotion-sensing garment.)  Although touch-sensitive tattoos are not yet available, there is significant research being put into a  nano tattoo ink that would change color- from purple to orange- based on glucose levels in order help diabetics monitor blood sugar levels. Results in mice have been described as "spectacular", but it's estimated that two more years of testing on humans will be required before it can be brought to market.

Currently available: black light tattoos

It seems likely that this color-changing aspect will eventually be adapted into tattoo ink that is used for body art. Research is also taking place on temperature-sensitive tattoos.

Tattoos that glow under black light are already available, as are sub-dermal LEDs. Phone maker Nokia has recently filed patents for a tattoo that vibrates to let you know your phone is ringing, and so is expected to bring the product to market shortly.

Tech-interactive tattoos, from simple scan-able bar codes, to QR tattoos that interact with cell phones and are programmable to link to considerably more information in the forms of text, a URL, or any other data are another fairly recent innovation. Body artists, like Karl Marc of Paris, with his creation of the worlds first animated tattoo, are experimenting with pushing the possibilities of this new form.




Phillips touch sensitive tattoo probe video

Even prosthetic legs are getting tattoo-like options.  Bespoke Innovations makes nontraditional custom prosthetic legs, some of which are based on clients existing tats, as well as being inspired by other meaningful personal items, such as a client's Harley motorcycle.

Tattoos without skin: Reproducing body art he had on his leg pre-amputation

Designer prosthetic legs: Cyborg-cool status symbols

Nike sports-branded fashion prosthetic by Colin Matsco 

                                       Summit: Inspired by watching The Six Million Dollar Man as a kid

Scott Summit of Bespoke Innovations runs with the idea of creating sublimely beautiful designs in prosthesis clearly meant to be seen and admired as tech, not disguised as flesh.  When Bespoke Innovations dreams up custom leg designs with their clients using gleaming chrome, leather, suede or incorporating tat designs, they are undeniably beautiful, and so cool as to redefine the whole idea of prosthesis

Man melds with his Harley

Many leg amputations are from motorcycle accidents or sports injuries, so the client base is largely young, active and attractive.  A generation who's aesthetics are broad enough to encompass Harleys and iPhones, Japanese tat designs and Lamborghinis, are eager for a new generation of prosthetics and has Scott Summitt is gleefully pushing the boundaries of what is possible. 

No more sad-skin colored limbs hidden away under clothes and shoes.  These legs don’t claim to be anything other than pure beautifully designed cyber.  When one client rides his Harley, they meld and it’s fascinatingly hard to tell where machine stops and man begins.  Or, after a female client asked for a sexy, feminine design, one can hardly be surprised when men approach her to say how cool her leg was.  

This has been made possible with new 3D copying software developed by Autodesk, that make producing custom limbs not only possible, but lighter, with a better fit and at a dramatically lower cost than traditional fabrication. The cost is so reduced that a wardrobe of legs for different moods and occasions is possible. Scanning technology allows for an exact map of the unique contours of the existing limb so that the body is perfectly naturally balanced with the remaining natural body.  After, it’s about collaborating to find a design that will feel authentic to the person that will be taking it on as a new part of their body.  So- feminine and lacy, conservative herringbone, incorporating existing tattoos, made of chrome or leather, even appropriately sporting  a recycling symbol- each is a unique personal expression of the person wearing it. Some designs feature leather panels that can be changed out for a variety of looks.

Running Exoskeleton prevents damage
 to knees and hips for able-bodied runners 

There are 1.5 million amputees in the United States alone, so the market is already not inconsiderable.  There are also bionic prostheses for able-bodied people being thrown into the mix.   Hugh Herr, a double amputee,  MIT professor and the founder of his own company, iWalk, has developed an exoskeleton that allows runners to run on hard surfaces without knee and hip damage, and a bionic exoskeleton that makes running take the same effort as walking  giving us all the ability to have superpower like abilities, is being proto-typed now for release soon.

With able-bodied people wearing external prostheses added to the total potential market, it's easy to understand the eagerness to establish presence in this area now, and how prostheses will naturally be eventually perceived as just another new sportswear segment

Testing the new exoskeleton prototype in the lab 

It's no surprise, then, that existing big players in running equipment are already getting into the market.

 Colin Matsco of New Balance designed the Nike Prosthetic, a sports-branded leg specifically designed for a young, physically active, urban male market segment.  It seems only a matter of time until wearing specific designer name limbs becomes a statement of status and lifestyle like any other sportswear or fashion choice.

Three views of sporty Nike Prosthetic

As prosthesis become more attractive and responsive, there may be eventually be movement towards voluntarily "upgrading" existing body parts as we age and they cease to work effectively.  Recently, 26 year old Patrick who waited for three years before finally opting to amputate his hand, that had been  injured and was ineffective, for the greater mobility offerred by a thought-controlled bionic hand . He says ""I think it was very cool - I did not do things with my hand for three years and then you put on the new hand and one moment later, you can move it. It's great."   Although Patrick's hand is more utilitarian than sleek in design, the technology it represents will likely soon become the new accepted standard at which point aesthetics can take precedence.

Patrick demonstrates his new mind-controlled  hand

When both the style and function ends of the equation are fully addressed, and we reach a future where no longer any social stigma attached to prosthesis, one can imagine rather different views of what is currently considered a viable medical option.

Perhaps the choice will between, say, implanting an artificial knee for a temporary fix and limited mobility in an aged limb will someday be weighed against amputation and attaching a completely new limb for a permanent and upgradable solution.

Far from the bionic super-hero one pictures, the old-age homes of the future may become the true new growth centers for bionic limb replacements, where robotic parts may be a normal option that may be considered in order to offer a resulting greater quality of life for aging men and women as their biological bodies start to break down.

Black quilted leather leg based on client's classic Channel purse

"We want the bionic limb to have a humanlike shape but we don't want the bionic leg to look human. We want it to look like a beautiful machine, to express machine beauty as opposed to human beauty — and the reason is, we want the user to pull a black sock over their bionic limb and have their limb appear to be fully biological and then the very next evening, go to a fancy party where they pull that sock off and they expose the fact that part of their body is bionic."  -Hugh Herr

Tattoos without skin: Reproducing body art he had on his leg pre-amputation

Printing a working wrench on a 3D copier

It seems likely that, in the future, a 3D printer in your home may not be any more unusual than a traditional photo copier.  The unique opportunities created by 3D copying is inspiring everything from the fashion of the future to new musical instruments.

New way to pay with plastic: Canada debuts plastic $50 bills in ATMS

Carney at ATM featuring new plastic notes.
(Courtesy CP) 

Canada debuted the first plastic $50 bill.  This follows the $100 plastic note was released in November of 2011. $20, $10 and $5 notes are expected to be released throughout 2013.

The $50 note features two transparent areas—one in the shape of a maple leaf while the other that extends from top to bottom of the bank note utilising complex holographic features to enhance security, to counteract counterfeiting's rapid evolution in sophistication by use of available technology.

Existing $100 Bill

 Issuing this new series of bank notes enables us to continue to stay ahead of counterfeiters,” Governor Carney said. “And by regularly checking the leading-edge security features on these new notes, Canadians can help protect themselves from counterfeiting threats,” said Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada, who cited a dramatic drop in counterfeiting

Aimee Mullins and her 12 pairs of legs: Prosthesis as fashion and for granting "superpowers"

Aimee Mullins' hand-carved legs from avant-garde "The Cremaster Cycle".

Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs -- she's got a dozen amazing pairs -- and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height ... Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be.

A record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor  and advocate for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetic. 

Superpowers?

From an identity standpoint, what does it mean to have a disability? Pamela Anderson has more prosthetic in her body than I do. Nobody calls her disabled.” (Aimee Mullins) 

Aimee Mullins watches amputee and leg designer
Hugh Herr (below)  climb a wall at MIT

Herr pictured with Mullins
 on Wired magazine cover

Another amputee that breaks the previous mold is Hugh Herr, who lost his legs in a mountain climbing accident at 17.  Subsequently, motivated by trying to honor the life of the rescuer that had died trying to bring his group off the mountain, he received advanced degrees from MIT and Harvard in mechanical engineering and biophysics,  dedicated himself to designing better prosthetics, and is now a leader in the field. Herr has observed a strange divergence in the mortality and aging of his natural body, and the immortality regular upgrading of his artificial limbs:

Photo: Len Rubenstien/ Crown Business
Hugh Herr - Mountain climber, double
amputee and designer  has
"many, many legs" for different uses. 

"My biological body will degrade in time due to normal, age-related degeneration. But the artificial part of my body improves in time because I can upgrade. ... So I predict that when I'm 80 years old, I'll be able to walk with less energy than is required of a person who has biological legs, I'll be more stable, and I'll probably be able to run faster. ... The artificial part of my body is, in some sense, immortal."

MIT Professor and entrepreneur Hugh Herr talks about the future of bionic limbs and the currently available technologies, including exo-bionics (worn outside the body as an exoskeleton) for people who are using their natural legs that allow them to run on hard surfaces without damaging their knees and hips. He also  showcases exo-bionics to correct the drop-footed gait that often results from stoke, again not for amputees. His own leg will be soon be linked to his nervous system to allow him not only to walk on the beach, but to feel the sand through his bionic limbs.  His current research is focusing on creating a running exoskeleton for able-bodied people that will allow running to take the same effort as walking.

Design based on
Harley motorcycle

As prosthetics come out of the closet, designers are turning an eye towards this market as a new segment of the fashion and sportswear industry, just as eyeglasses before them.    Bespoke Innovations has used 3D printing to create cool custom legs inspired by items as diverse as from the client's existing tattoos,  Harley motorcycles,  to a classic Channel purse.

Nike's branded Prosthetic

There are 1.5 million amputees in the United States, so the market is already not inconsiderable.  If one adds in the probability that exo-bionics such as the hard surface running aid for non-amputees  will also be marketed, it's easy to understand the eagerness to establish presence in this area now. It's not surprising then, that Nike has designed the status sports-branded Nike Prosthetic, which looks like a cross between cyborg sci-fi and  high end sports equipment. In the future, it seems almost inevitable that there will be branded Air Jordan and Christian Dior body parts fighting for market share.