Our cells, ourselves
The Washington Post reflects on what it means that there is now one cellphone for every two humans on Earth. “From essentially zero, we’ve passed a watershed of more than 3.3 billion active cellphones on a planet of some 6.6…
The Washington Post reflects on what it means that there is now one cellphone for every two humans on Earth. “From essentially zero, we’ve passed a watershed of more than 3.3 billion active cellphones on a planet of some 6.6…
Information Week published a long story about location-aware technologies. “Even more difficult than employees’ privacy concerns will be those of consumers, once companies start reaching people based on where they are. For years we’ve heard the notion of a coupon…
Dan Hill, former head of interactive technology and design at the BBC and currently director of web and broadcast at Monocle, has published a long article on the street of the future. Here is his introduction: “I was recently asked…
With the publication of the book “La condition inhumaine: essai sur l’effroi technologique” [The inhuman condition: essay on the fear of technology] by Ollivier Dyens, the French newspaper Le Monde published an interview with the author. Here is a quick…
Putting People First regularly features the work of UC Irvine professor Paul Dourish, whose interest lies in the crossover areas between computer science, anthropology, ubiquitous computing, mobility, design and HCI. Here are some of the recent publications by this very…
ICT Results reports on an EU-funded research project on “palpable computing” (Palcom), led by the University of Arhus in Denmark. The ideas behind it seem similar to concepts developed by both Genevieve Bell (see here and here) and Adam Greenfield.…
For sure Ray Kurzweil (author of The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology) and Bruce Sterling (who coined the term “Biot” – an entity which is both object and person – in his book Shaping Things) will enjoy this:…
Adam Greenfield is self-publishing his next book “The City Is Here For You To Use: Urban form and experience in the age of ubiquitous computing”. “The City Is Here For You To Use takes everything explored in Everyware as a…
Bruno Giussani posted his running notes of Jeffrey Huang’s inaugural lesson at EPFL, the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne. “Architecture and design, says my friend Jeffrey Huang (photo), are becoming the interface between physical and virtual lives. And that’s…
Rob Walker of the New York Times Magazine asks what so many crochet-hook-wielding, papermaking, silversmithing handicrafters are doing online and tries to prove that the future of shopping — and of work — is all about the past. The article…
The weekly Nova supplement of Italy’s business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore is by far the most valuable innovation, science and technology forum in this country: serious and thorough, fresh and engaging, up-to-date and challenging. Some of its writers like…
Software giant Microsoft unveiled some of its future technology at its fourth annual Innovation Day in Brussels on December 4, reports CNN. “From virtual family organizers to tabletop touch-screens, their vision of the future sees technology move from the traditional…
Nicolas Nova, user experience and foresight researcher working at the Media and Design Lab (EPFL) and at the near future laboratory, is currently in Brussels where he gave a talk yesterday at iMal, a brand new center for digital cultures…
Richard Titus, acting head of user experience at BBC Future Media and Technology, quotes on his blog an excerpt from an interview Rolling Stone did with William Gibson (author of Neuromancer and Spook Country, and coiner of the term Cyberspace).…
Robert Ellis Smith, publishes of the Privacy Journal, writes in Forbes Magazine: Government and corporate officials responsible for compliance with privacy laws in Canada and Europe are using a whole new language in 2007. Much of the jargon has passed…
A conversation between the authors Adam Greenfield and Mark Shepard provides an overview of the key issues, historical precedents, and contemporary approaches to designing situated technologies and inhabiting cities populated by them. “The Situated Technologies Pamphlet series explores the implications…
The Urban Atmospheres project (video) is exploring how people who live in cities might want to use technology, how it could help them develop a sense of community or belonging, or play into their emotional experiences of urban living. “By…
From Intel’s Essential Computing website: Intel Research’s over-arching vision for the future is evolving from one of proactive computing to one of Essential Computing. Over the years, we’ve been part of a steady evolution moving computing from the machine room…
Now that Donald Norman‘s new book, The Design of Future Things, has been published, the man is on a book tour and interviews with him are popping up left and right. After a first one on Core77 (see also this…
The Wireless World Initiative (WWI) has developed prototype user-centred systems that will potentially enable millions of people to make the most of third-generation (3G) and beyond mobile technology to work, relax and play any time, anywhere. ICT Results reports back…