Hasta La Gadget!

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Not that we haven’t seen mock-ups before for systems using webcams to intelligently move user interface elements, but it’s another thing entirely for a company to make a public proclamation that it’s tinkering with implementing something of the sort into a future build of its OS. Over at the Canonical design blog, one Christian Giordano has revealed that the company is in the early stages of creating new ways to interact with Ubuntu, primarily by using proximity and orientation sensors in order to have one’s PC react based on how they’re sitting, where they’re sitting and where their eyes / head are at. For instance — once a user fires up a video and leans back, said video would automatically go into fullscreen mode. Similarly, if a user walked away to grab some coffee and a notification appeared, that notification would be displayed at fullscreen so that he / she could read it from faraway. There’s no mention just yet on when the company plans to actually bring these ideas to end-users, but the video embedded after the break makes us long for “sooner” rather than “later.”

Continue reading Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video)

Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The doors of Photokina open in a matter of hours, and we’ll most definitely be venturing over to Minox‘s booth in order to have a look at the PX3D. According to the barebones teaser release, this here concept camera will be able to capture 3D images that are viewable sans glasses. It should be noted that the world’s first consumer-oriented 3D cameras haven’t exactly seen the fondest of reviews, but tossing the glasses requirement may just flip things on its head. It’s still unclear what kind of display / digital photo frame will be required to view the effect (we’re guessing a parallax barrier panel will be thrown up for display), but we’ll be barging in soon in order to get the full skinny.

Minox PX3D concept camera produces 3D images viewable sans glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Indonesian “Play House,” designed by architects at Aboday, boasts clean lines, high ceilings and something that’s especially awesome for the lucky little 5-year-old punk who uses it: a two-story polished concrete slide that goes from bedroom to kitchen. More »

Cole Haan Leather Cover for Kindle 3. Photo from Amazon.com

Q: I love my new Kindle 3, but I’m always worried that I’m going to knock a cup of coffee on it, or that my son will use it as a Frisbee. Are there any good cases you would recommend? — Anxious in Akron

A: Akron, I’m in much the same situation with my own Kindle. The device itself seems sturdy enough, but I always have this irrational fear that the beautiful but curiously-static screensavers of famous authors are staring at me, or through me, with their cold, dead E Ink eyes, beckoning me to read their books. Unfortunately, all of the Kindle cases I’ve seen and tried have some serious drawbacks.

Let’s start with the cases available from the Amazon Store. Most of the cases they sell are still for the second-generation Kindle, which won’t fit your device; you just have to ignore those entirely. In the left-hand sidebar you can pick your Kindle model, and you’ll only see relevant results.

Amazon Lighted Leather Cover, from Amazon.com

Amazon itself makes two cases for the Kindle that are basically identical: they’re both leather and come in a range of colors, with a microsuede interior and straps and hinges to keep your reader from sliding around or worse, out. The basic model is $35; add an on-board light, and the whole package costs $60.

Now, when the Kindle cost $400, springing $35-$60 for a decent-quality case and $50 for a two-year warranty had a kind of logic to it. But I don’t remember the woman from the new Kindle poolside ad leaning over and saying: “It’s a Kindle. $139. I paid about as much for the case and the warranty on it.” That would be a really stupid commercial.

Even my friends who love their Kindle cases and want to wrap their beloved e-readers in the best have problems with Amazon’s cases. Everyone agrees that the light on the $60 case can be useful, especially outdoors at dusk and occasionally in bed at nighttime. Everyone also agrees that it adds a lot of weight to the overall package, turning the light-as-a-feather e-reader into a clumsy hardcover.

That leaves you with two options: go for broke with a high-end case, or actually be broke and find something cheap and easy. The Cole Haan Hand-Stained Pebble-Grained Leather Kindle Case costs $99, and has a great rep carried over from its much-loved Kindle 2 cases. But Amazon reviewers complain that Cole Haan skimped on strength and quality to get its case out in time for the Kindle 3 launch.

Apparently the Kindle 2 case had an extra patch of leather strengthening the spine, that added extra protection and made the Kindle in the Cole Haan case feel like a high-quality book. The company’s Kindle 3 case is just one-ply, making the spine less stiff and more likely to wear with use. At other price points, that might be forgivable, but $100 is enough to nudge loyal users into the angry zone.

The longer the Kindle 3 is out, the more manufacturers begin releasing cases for it. Belkin has a line of sleeves available on the Amazon store now that I don’t think were there when I started researching this last week. In particular, many companies are starting to sell sleeves, not cases, that cost around $20.

However, if you’re plan to go this route, the best tip of all comes from Instpaper’s Marco Arment. In his first look at the Kindle 3, he notes how the Kindle 3’s rubberized back (as opposed to the earlier version’s slick aluminum) and slightly-smaller size makes it the first iteration to be comfortably used without a case. As for a sleeve, his solution is ingenious:

Photo credit/permission courtesy Marco Arment at Marco.org

A standard 6×10 bubble envelope — the size you’d use for shipping a DVD in a case — actually makes a decent low-budget Kindle 3 slipcase. And if your goal is to just throw it in a bag and have basic scratch protection until you remove it for use, it’s a pretty good solution.

Not bad at all. Next thing you know, those envelopes will be available in nano-patterned Naugahyde for $19.95.

In time, the marketplace will catch up, prices will (I have to believe) start to come down, and we’ll get more variety and usability out of our Kindle 3 cases. In the meantime, give one of these a whirl, preferably without putting down hard money first. If they don’t work for you, you can always go back to barebacking it.

P.S.: If you’ve hacked together your own Kindle/e-Reader/tablet case solution. I’d love to read about it in the comments. Share the love!

See Also:

• Modular iPad Case Lets You Tweet From Your Kegerator
• Moleskine-Shaped, Bamboo iPad Case
• Concept Case Adds Camera to iPad
• Kindle Case from Moleskine Mixes Paper and E-Ink
• The Guardian: A Floating, Waterproof Case for Kindle
• M-Edge Guardian Case for Amazon Kindle
• Pinstriped Cashmere Kindle Case Is So Very English
• Amazon Kindle Third Generation With 3G + Wi-Fi
• A Textbook Case for the Kindle
• Photos: Putting Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 Head-to-Head
• New Amazon Ad Shows Kindle As Sexy Competitor
• Why Does the New Kindle Have A Microphone?

In this short film, iPads create three-dimensional images out of light, using long-exposure photography and stop-motion animation.

The resulting animations are astonishingly versatile and beautiful. They include abstract alphabetic and geometric figures, but also dancing robots, blocky automata, and diffuse molecular effects.

The filmmakers also make terrific use of their landscape; some of the light figures are photographed reflected on or seen through surface. The ghostly city lights and shadowy iPad “handlers” are also part of the film, and surprisingly moving.

The first half of the video above describes the process used to produce it, which Jack Schulze from design consultancy Berg compares to a virtual CAT scan. The filmmakers first created a software template that plots 3-D models and generates 2-D stills. They then replay those stills on the iPad in sequence. Helpers hold the iPad and move it through space, so the stills assemble themselves in space as if the iPad were “extruding” the 3-D object. Long-exposure photography stitches everything together.

The film was made by Berg on behalf of creative communications giant Dentsu. Dentsu’s London agency asked: “What might a magical version of the future of media look like?” Berg responded with this film.

Dentsu’s Beeker Northam writes that the project grew out of the meaning of each of the three words, “Making,” “Future,” and “Magic”:

• “Making”, with its emphasis on craftsmanship, understanding of materials and media, and collaboration;
• “Future”, meaning something not seen before, something new and unexpected (not so much sci-fi, as near-future);
• and “Magic” – surprising, culturally powerful, unusual, capable of delighting.

This is the first of two collaborations between Berg and Dentsu. I don’t know what these film costs or how long they took to program and photograph, but I see tremendous potential here. Light is the new clay.

Making Future Magic: light painting with the iPad [Berg London]
Light Painting Video ‘Making Future Magic’ Is Made of 3-D and iPad Genius [Switched]

See Also:

• Patina and use-wear by BERG
• The City is A Battlesuit For Surviving the Future
• Wired 14.03: How Digital Animation Conquered Hollywood
• Equation: Quantifying Light = Great 3-D Animation
• In Praise of Ralph Bakshi, Animation Pioneer
• Big Bang Big Boom: Stop Motion Animation at Its Finest