tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55410039823064150822024-02-20T15:09:42.867-08:00The Interactive Multimedia Blog (IMM Sheridan)parammmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051622303139531129noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-40877701687463825892008-10-07T16:43:00.000-07:002008-10-07T16:45:18.056-07:00Send Text Messages From Your EmailUse the 10 digit number @ service provider. Following are some examples:<br /><br />Sprint PCS<br />10-digit cell phone number @ messaging.sprintpcs.com<br />(ex.3332221111@messaging.sprintpcs.com)<br /><br />T-Mobile<br />10-digit cell phone number @ tmomail.net<br />(ex.3332221111@tmomail.net)<br /><br />Cingular Wireless<br />1 + 10-digit cell phone number @ cingularme.com<br />(ex.13332221111@cingularme.com)<br /><br />Verizon Wireless<br />10-digit cell phone number @ vtext.com<br />(ex.3332221111@vtext.com)<br /><br />AT&T PCS<br />10-digit cell phone number @ mobile.att.net<br />(ex.3332221111@mobile.att.net)<br /><br />Comcast<br />10-digit cell phone number @ comcastpcs.textmsg.com<br />(ex.3332221111@comcastpcs.textmsg.com)<br /><br />Cellular One<br />10-digit cell phone number @ mobile.celloneusa.com<br />(ex.3332221111@mobile.celloneusa.com)<br /><br />Bell Mobility (Canada)<br />10-digit cell phone number @ txt.bell.ca<br />(ex.3332221111@txt.bell.ca)<br /><br />Telus<br />10-digit cell phone number @ msg.telus.com<br />(ex.3332221111@msg.telus.com)<br /><br />Fido<br />10-digit cell phone number @ fido.ca<br />(ex.3332221111@fido.ca)<br /><br />Sprint<br />10-digit cell phone number @ messaging.sprintpcs.com<br />(ex.3332221111@messaging.sprintpcs.com)<br /><br />Rogers Wireless<br />10-digit cell phone number @ pcs.rogers.com<br />(ex.3332221111@pcs.rogers.com)<br /><br />Bell Atlantic<br />10-digit cell phone number @ message.bam.com<br />(ex.3332221111@message.bam.com)<br /><br /><br />enjoy ;)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-60941560543444118182008-04-02T02:26:00.001-07:002008-04-02T02:32:49.110-07:00My website - www.paramacro.com<span style="font-weight: bold;">My new website <a href="http://www.paramacro.com/">www.paramacro.com</a> is up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Skills:</span><br />• Photoshop, Dreamweaver<br />• Illustrator, InDesign<br />• After Effects & Animation<br />• Motion Capture<br />• Motion Graphics<br />• Adobe Flash<br />• Papervision 3D, Physics Engine<br />• Motion Capture<br />• PHP, ASP .NET<br />• HTML, CSS, XML<br />• Adobe AIR<br />• ActionScript 3<br />• JavaScript<br />• Database, SAD, SQL<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Services:</span><br />My services include Flash Programming, Web Development, Web Design, Graphic Design, Print Design, Logo Design, Visual Design, Motion Graphics, 2D Animation, and etc.<br /><br/>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-78735460018139291472008-02-27T11:37:00.001-08:002008-02-28T23:03:23.314-08:00Social Media - Wayne MacPhail<span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >On February 20, I had an opportunity to hear <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/wmacphail1/w8ncsite/page19/page19.html">Wayne MacPhail</a> in my class at <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Sheridan</st1:city></st1:place>. This was one of the best presentations in my life, very nicely presented, and very informative.<o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Wayne</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > is a cutting-edge content producer for print media and the web and has been a magazine editor, a photographer and a newspaper writer/editor.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p>Mr. MacPhail’s topic was “</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Mashing Up Social Media”. He started with the introduction of Web 2.0 and discussed the following four concepts:<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_%28metadata%29">Tagging</a><span style=""><br /></span>●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking">Social Bookmarking</a><br />●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29">RSS Feeds</a><br />●</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > <a href="http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/embeddedobjects/_EMBED.html">Embeded Codes</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p>So, what is Social Media? It is media of the people, for the people, and by the people. The typical media is TV and radio where people are passive viewers, but online Social media is open information sharing in an online community where ordinary people become an active participant by collaborating and becoming part of it by contributing in its creation, e.g. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">YouTube</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The top social networks are <a href="http://www.myspace.com/">MySpace</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, to name a few. The way you can use social networks for your own benefits is to setup a profile and reach out to your customers. Once you have built a good solid network of friends you can then post comments on people’s pages to increase your earnest or become friend for their friends. You can then also post bulletins or you can communicate through your profile image; any sort of contest or something like that going on. You can market yourself and can further increase the awareness for your company.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Social Media as a marketing platform: As a marketing platform televisions and radio have been used for over decades, where as social media has been gaining recognition only from the past few years, but a very strong recognition. Social Networks like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube are not just network of people, but actually marketing platforms, where people or companies are doing business, said Mr. MacPhail. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><br />In order to be successful in social media market, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Wayne</st1:place></st1:city> used the following terms:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >●</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > “You don’t use a social network, you become part of it“<br />●</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > “Contribution is participation”<br />●</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > “Social media encourages engagement & evangelism”<br />●</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > “Social media: is local first; is viral; is granular; is a conversation, not a broadcast; is mobile;<span style=""> </span>wants to be free”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Following are the social media Related Websites Mr. Wayne MacPhail showed:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://jaiku.com/">Jaiku</a>: Social networking and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">micro-blogging</a> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >service, purchased by Google, that lets you continually broadcast (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming">lifecast</a>) yourself by sending personal updates via phone or computer, similar to Twitter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.mogulus.com/">Mogulus</a>:<span style=""> </span>Broadcast online, live, from a web connection.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://sproutbuilder.com/">Sprout</a>: Create sophisticated, dynamic and interactive multimedia content online.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>: Social networking and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">micro-blogging</a> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >service that allows you to send updates to Twitter website via a SMS from a mobile phone. Like, what you are doing and what other’s are doing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://twittervision.com/">TwitterVision</a>: For a graphic sense of the implications of Twitter, there’s TwitterVision, which combines Twitter and Google Maps.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.utterz.com/">Utterz</a>:</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > Social networking and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">micro-blogging</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > that lets you post in voice, video, pictures and text from your mobile phone to your blog or social network page.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://qik.com/">Qik</a>: Stream videos directly from your mobile phone to the Web.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://digg.com/">Digg</a>: Community-based news article popularity website. </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Readers can view all of the stories that have been submitted by fellow users. Once a story has received enough "diggs", it appears on Digg's front page.</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.google.com/reader">GoogleReader</a>: </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed">RSS Feeds</a> reader. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://del.icio.us/">Del.icio.us</a>: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking">Social bookmarking</a> web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span>Note:</span> Jaiku, Twitter, and Utterz are similar.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Relevant Links:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.socialmarker.com/">SocialMarker</a><br />●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsxvXgpNQik">Social Media – Web 2.0</a><br />●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrTZXV-RoEA">Content, Life & Everything</a><br />●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U&feature=related">Did You Know?</a><br />● </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU">Social Bookmarking in Plain English</a><br />●</span> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://code.google.com/android/what-is-android.html">Android</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://code.google.com/android/what-is-android.html"><br /></a></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-92208502176726409512008-02-25T12:17:00.001-08:002008-02-27T11:32:17.595-08:00Adding Inspiration to Innovation<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >On Friday, February 8, we made a field trip to <a href="http://www.rom.on.ca/"><st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Royal</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Ontario</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place></a> <span style=""></span>(ROM) and later we got an opportunity to see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann">Steve Mann’s</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulophone">Hydraulophones</a>, which were quite interesting. I’ll talk about the two in this write-up.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >In the first part of the trip Mr. Brian Porter, Senior Director of New Media Resources, showed us the <a href="http://www.rom.on.ca/exhibitions/handson/digital.php">digital gallery</a> at <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region> As soon as we got seated we started exploring the touch screen display in front of us. On the screen we had the option to explore either the Ancient Egyptian or the Canadian Heritage. In terms of technology it did not appear very pioneering, but at the same time it was a great thought of having digitizing the ancient pieces at the ROM into 2D and 3D imaging etc. Brian talked for a while and gave us a brief introduction of himself and his work at <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Later he showed us an education film based on Canadian Heritage on a three projector – widescreen which was made entirely by the new media team at the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Next, we moved on to the new <a href="http://www.rom.on.ca/dinos/index.php">Dinosaur Exhibit</a> at <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Well, the purpose was not to see the skeletons of the Dinos, but to see the interactive displays (touch screen, <a href="http://gesturetek.com/">gesture technology</a>, etc) which let people explore more about those extinct species. The touch screens were not multi-touch, but had the interface design kind of like Apple's <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/">iTouch</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Then we moved to a sound studio and met a multimedia guy named Zack. He showed us the audio mixing and 3d video editing/production stuff he does. He had a nice little office full of computers, wires, an audio mixer etc, where he was utilizing his artistic and technical skills. That job is perfect for him and he loves it, Zack said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >In the second part of the field trip we visited inventor, pioneer, professor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann">Steve Mann</a>, known as world’s first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg">cyborg</a>. He was having a <a href="http://wearcam.org/vmp.htm">wearable multimedia computer</a> with video processing capability and wireless Internet connection on top of his head that, he says, allows him to view the world differently than the ordinary people. You can watch a video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stuB17YXTeI">here</a> where Steve talks about his work in more detail.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Another thing Steve showed is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulophone">Hydraulophone<span style=""></span><span style=""></span></a>, a water pipe organ flute. <span style=""> </span>It was very inspiring to see that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyZ03ES_2kg&feature=related">water piano being played</a>. The very first moment I could not believe that it was water that produced the sound. I have never seen any thing like that.<o:p><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Overall, I it was fun and very inspiring to visit those places and it was actually the best field trip for the course Multimedia Pioneering. Like it’s said: <b style="">Inspiration = Innovation</b>; hopefully this inspiration may result in some innovation.<br /><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-62728217068040237012008-01-26T16:02:00.001-08:002008-02-28T22:48:25.393-08:00Silverlight!!!<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Silverlight</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">?<br /></span></span><br /><a target="_blank" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/">Silverlight</a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of Microsoft .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.</span><br /><br /><a target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Silverlight">What Wikipedia says</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Microsoft Silverlight</span> is a browser plugin that allows web applications to be developed with features like animation, vector graphics, and audio-video playback - features that characterize a rich internet application. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Silverlight competes with products such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, Java FX, and Apple QuickTime.</span> Version 2.0 of Silverlight (currently under development) will provide additional capabilities, including advanced interactivity features. Significantly, <span style="font-weight: bold;">version 2.0 allows developers to use .NET languages</span> and development tools when authoring Silverlight applications.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Watch the <a href="http://silverlight.net/Showcase/" target="_blank">showcase</a>.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-36323803715053471402008-01-23T07:57:00.000-08:002008-01-29T07:41:56.992-08:00Going Mobile with James Eberhardt<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >On January 23, 2008 we had </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" ><a href="http://www.eberhardt.ca/" target="_blank">James Eberhardt</a> as our speaker, who talked about mobile technology. Currently he works at <a href="http://www.designaxiom.com/">Design Axiom</a>. Previously, he was the Director of Technology at <a href="http://www.marblemedia.com/">Marblemedia</a>, and instructor for <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/">FlashLite</a> at <st1:placename st="on">George</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Brown</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">College</st1:placetype> in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >James started with introduction of various mobile terms like SMS, MMS, GPS, and GPRS etc. For information on these terms you can visit <a href="http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/glossary.shtml">GSM World</a>. He showed us various mobile devices ranging from cell phones to PDAs and made the comparison of today’s mobile technology with the technology available twenty years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >Mr. Eberhardt showed us a mobile applications on his Nokia N95 where he could upload images directly to his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/">flickr.com</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" > account using GPRS network and if the mobile phone is GPS enabled then it could tell you the location on GoogleMaps, where the picture was clicked. The only bad part of it was its expense of use; almost $20 for uploading 1MB of data. He talked about another GPS based application called <a href="http://research.nokia.com/research/projects/SportsTracker/index.html">Sports Tracker</a> which is specifically designed for athletes for the track of information like</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >speed, distance and time.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p></o:p>Another interesting thing James showed was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix">DataMatrix 2D bar codes</a> </span><span lang="EN-CA"></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" > (Shot Code, Data Matrix, and QR Code). Like traditional bar codes they are designed to read some encoded information, like for instance an encoded link to some website. So, how does it work! you scan the bar code using your camera phone. The software designed to handle the bar codes then decodes the bar code to usable format and then points to that particular link or website. This kind of setup is already being used in Europe and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >When it comes to testing and installation then James recommended Nokia phones. Even personally I would recommend Nokia phones too as they support both Java and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian">Symbian</a> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >applications. I would compare Nokia phones with Windows and Sony Ericsson phones with Mac. Nokia = too many application available like for Windows :)</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >, Ericsson = good interface, but just supports the Java applications :(</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >. But the latest Nokia phones like N Series are my favourite, especially N95 and N70. I miss my N70. I had it when I was in India and it was like my mobile computer which used to let me do almost all the daily tasks that I used to do on my computer like, chat on Yahoo, search on Google, GoogleMaps, etc. Telecommunication services are quite cheap in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Unfortunately I did not bring my phone to Canada thinking that it won’t work because of the difference in the band frequency and thinking that I’ll<span style=""> </span>buy a new multimedia phone, but unfortunately Canada doesn’t have much of multimedia phones, none of the N Series phones, I guess and iPhone has not been launched yet. <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region> is way ahead, but still there are people out there who think…ahh…..<st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>!!!........as if <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> has animals living in it. Well, who cares!!!........... Anyway…let’s get back to the topic…..<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >For downloading mobile applications and other mobile stuff I find <a href="http://www.mobango.com/">www.mobango.com</a> very useful.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >James concluded the presentation by talking about <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/">FlashLite</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >, which is currently supported by almost all the mobile devices today. He showed, how easy is it to virtually test Flash Lite applications using the <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/devicecentral/">Adobe Device Central</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" >. FlashLite supports ActionScript 2, but unluckily even the new <a href="http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200709/100107FlashLite3.html">Flash Lite 3</a> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-CA" > does not support ActionScript 3 at this time. Lucky are the people who know ActionScript 2.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-56384686959641645832007-12-02T22:31:00.000-08:002008-01-13T14:59:49.888-08:00Cracking Interactivity with Simon Conlin<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">On Thursday, November 29, 2007 our guest speaker named <a href="http://www.simonconlin.com/">Simon Conlin</a> came for the final guest lecture for the course Multimedia Pioneering at <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Sheridan College</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Simon Conlin is the co-founder of <a href="http://www.fitc.ca/">Flash In The Can</a>, also known as FITC. <i style="">FITC (<a href="http://www.fitc.ca/">www.fitc.ca</a>) is a Canadian company that produces engaging design and technology events that inspire, educate and challenge the best new media designers and developers from around the globe.</i> Simon is also a consultant for the technologies related to gesture interactivity.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Simon originally has a music background, but few years ago he developed a taste in multimedia and now he is a pioneer for today’s and future’s interactive/new media technology. Simon had an accent and I guessed it was British and yes he moved to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> like five years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">In the beginning Simon directed us to a website called <a href="http://www.webcamtastic.com/">www.webcamtastic.com</a><span style=""> </span>where the users could take pictures using their webcams and deform the pictures in different forms to create abstracts.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Simon had a list of YouTube links to share; I have included the links of the ones I liked at the end of this entry. Right after the introduction he played a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6u5v0OKq-Q&feature=related">video</a> by <a href="http://www.mine-control.com/zack/">Zach Booth Simpson</a>, an installation artist who has a biology background. He connects science with interactivity and creates interactive art using projectors, cameras, and shadow detection algorithms under the name <a href="http://www.mine-control.com/">Mine-Control</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Simon gave us tips, how we can combine our learning form the Interactive Multimedia course with our past background and future interest or knowledge. I think he was some how relating to Zach Booth Simpson, biologist turned artist and himself as well, musician turned multimedia pioneer.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Next, Simon showed us a video of the interactive stage setup for <a href="http://meso.net/GMI25Live">George Michael’s concert</a> with real-time audio analysis and position tracking by a German design team called <a href="http://meso.net/">Meso</a>. In layman terms I would say it’s like the media player’s visualizations, but at the same time it’s a lot different than just a visualization. I’m impressed how technology is dramatically changing the way things are or thing were. Wow! Make the floors and walls come alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">At last Simon showed us a multi touch interactive wall where the user could play with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmmdGonQW4">musical instruments</a> with the motion capture of their hands. It reminded me of the GestureTek’s trip where we saw a similar kind of interactivity and/or game. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">I liked the video where Zach Booth Simpson talked about art and interactivity.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">It was a brief and quick lecture and was more of YouTube videos than the actual speaker speaking. At last Simon ended up forwarding his list of YouTube links so that we could explore more on our own.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Related Links:</span><o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://www.mine-control.com/">http://www.mine-control.com/</a><br /><a href="http://naturalinteraction.org/">http://naturalinteraction.org/</a><br /><a href="http://www.meso.net/">http://www.meso.net/</a> <a href="http://www.adamchapmanart.com/"><br />http://www.adamchapmanart.com/</a></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Videos:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCvGeVcxlo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCvGeVcxlo</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plNDHfzTBn0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plNDHfzTBn0</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul1CX_PkfaI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul1CX_PkfaI</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-NRdyUx8Lc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9kIHlC-8Yg<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-NRdyUx8Lc</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKehq6qsdY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKehq6qsdY<br /><br /></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-5545238456245331242007-10-14T09:28:00.000-07:002007-12-09T12:18:08.173-08:00Field Trip: GestureTek<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >On Friday morning, </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:date year="2007" day="12" month="10"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;">October 12, 2007</span></st1:date></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >, I along with my classmates and my teacher Dan Zen visited <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/index.php">GestureTek</a> at downtown </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;">Toronto</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >At <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/index.php">GestureTek</a> we met Mr. Vincent John Vincent, president of GestureTek Inc. Almost twenty years ago from now he, in collaboration with his business partner <span style="">Francis</span> Macdougall, pioneered the idea of human computer interaction using video cameras. Today GestureTek is world leader in <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_vision">gesture recognition technology</a>. GestureTek has developed a system where you can use your hands and body instead of a mouse, keyboard, joystick and touchpad to control the interaction on the computer like: accessing information, controlling interactive interface, and immersing yourself in interactive 3D games and controlling the movement, for instance we can say like in Wii, but it is technically different from Wii. GestureTek’s system is designed to work with any computer devices like Desktops, Laptops, Mobile Phones, Consoles, and Public Displays etc. and can work on surfaces like floors, walls, panels, screens etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >The moment I entered GestureTek I saw an interactive screen display right in front of the entrance which had GestureTek’s logo on a white background. As I started moving my hands in front of the screen the logo’s characters started bouncing with my gestures and that white background started wiping off with the movement of the hands and I could see my self in the screen for that moment, like clearing off the vapour from a mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >The first thing Mr. Vincent introduced is called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/gestpoint/productsolutions_holopoint.php">HoloPoint</a>, which can track the movement of the finger by placing the finger in the control frame that has two cameras on left and right side of the frame. This was very interesting and it was my first time to see anything like that in real. We don’t need no mouse or pointing device to control the interface. It is going to change the way we use computers or interactive environments. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Then he took us system called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/gestxtreme/introduction.php">GestureXtreme</a>. <span style=""> </span>It was a green screen where we could virtually immerse ourselves into the 3D environment. It transports our image into a computer generated landscape without use of any gear or interactive device like joystick etc. I was fascinated when I saw myself on screen and interacted with onscreen characters in real time. My body motion controlled the program. I tried the soccer game where I was the goalie and I had to stop the ball coming into the goal by the movement of my hands, head or legs. The best part of this type of gaming environment is that we exercise physically also. This system of GestureTek is already being used by the news channels for the display of weather forecast.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >The next thing we saw was <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/gestpoint/marketingsolutions.php">HoloFrame</a>, which was a finger tip control 60” projection screen which creates a sense of floating image in a dark room that allows the user to control and interact with the display just by pointing and moving fingers on it. Initially I thought it was a conventional touch screen, but then I asked Mr. Vincent how it works. Two tiny cameras imbedded in the screen track the movement of the hand or where we point. He mentioned the usage of this technology for Ford. The most interesting part was when Mr. Vincent mentioned about the possibility of having to try the clothes in store without actually wearing them. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Afterwards we saw an interactive floor which had eye-catching realistic visuals which intelligently responded to the body’s movements. I saw a couple of ads where we could play with the interactive floor. Three of my classmates tried the interactive racing game on the floor where they had to continuously shake their feet over the steps. Karen was the winner every time. I was impressed how it has or it is going to revolutionalize the advertising and entertainment in public space. Just use your hand and feet to control and interact in real time with dynamic ads, games, and images etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >Next we saw a multi touch interactive table which looked like Microsoft Surface <http: com="" surface="">. I’m still wondering If GestureTek has licensed Microsoft for the use of their technology or Microsoft has created it on their own. Technically the interactive table was similar to the interactive floor, but in this case the floor was the glass on the table. I got a chance to play a ping-pong game. Though it was not very accurate but it was interesting. I also tried the interactive table where we had a virtual photo album on the screen and we could move, place, and change the size of the pictures in the way we like. It would be a good idea of having such a thing in restaurants or clubs. <o:p></o:p></http:></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >After that Mr. Vincent showed us the interactive wall which was based on their GestureFX System Series <http: com="" groundfx="" php=""> like the interactive floor and interactive table. This is a very effective way to utilize walls for advertising and interactive games. <o:p></o:p></http:></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >At last we saw the GestureTek’s <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/gestpoint/productsolutions_airpoint.php">AirPoint</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > System which is from the GestPoint family of products like HoloPoint and HoloFrame. It has a similar architecture like HoloPoint; having two cameras and a couple of infrared capturing devices which capture motion of hands in a matrix. It is designed for public installations like conference rooms and can handle any lighting conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >GestureTek has created so many possibilities with this technology. DoCoMo, a Japanese company, in collaboration with GestureTek has started providing this innovative technology on mobile phones, which lets the user to browse maps and play videogames by tracing a finger or by tilting or waiving the handset etc. Examples can be seen <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONkTqPuGjHI">here</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_v4YPy9NGI">here</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VELHNwRdrAs">here </a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >GestureTek has also designed a system called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/irex/introduction.php">IREX</a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > which will help the healthcare professionals use the gesture recognition technology for their patients in rehabilitation and exercise and may help them recover from disabilities. Also, it will help physically impaired people to interact with computer by the interpreting sign language<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >As far as technology and ideas are concerned, it was all very interesting and I can’t wait for the day when it will be implicated in our daily lives. No more of being couch potatoes and those old computer gaming interfaces because now we will be able to exercise physically. I don’t know if this will interest people in terms of health, but everyone has a different vision to it. The tour was a demo of how technology is going to impact our future lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Related Links:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetek.com/index.php"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;">GestureTek Home</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_visio">About Computer Vision Technology</a><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONkTqPuGjHI"><span class="homepgtitles"><span style="">GestureTek Mobile™ in Use</span></span></a><span class="homepgtitles"><span style=""><br /></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><span class="homepgtitles"><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://news.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029678,49289990,00.htm">Motion Sensing in Camera Phones</a></span></span></span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/surface/">Microsoft Surface</a></span></span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gesturetekhealth.com/rehabsolutions/index.php">Rehabilitation in Action</a></span></span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><a target="_blank" href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/Xbox-360-Gesture-Based-Gameplay-Raving-Rabbids-47199.shtml">Xbox 360 using GestureTek’s technology</a></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MAtjOlRqE"><span class="homepgtitles"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;">Working of Multi-Touch System<br /></span></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● <a target="_blank" href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39118200,00.htm?r=1">Play Station to sense user emotions</a></span><a target="_blank" href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39118200,00.htm?r=1"><br /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeToy">EyeToy using computer vision technology<br /></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" >● </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeToy"></a><a target="_blank" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2333041.stm">Replacing Keyboard and Mouse</a><br /></span><a target="_blank" href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39118200,00.htm?r=1"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span class="homepgtitles" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:Arial;"><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" name="eyemobile"></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-CA" > </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-82314545310659926352007-10-05T06:29:00.000-07:002007-10-05T14:29:50.164-07:00Visualization Design Tour<span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Today October 4, 2007, Students of Interactive Multimedia visited <a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/">Visual Design Institute (VDI)</a> at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Sheridan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place> where we met Mr. Song Ho Ahn, Visualization Researcher and Developer and Mr. Ian Howatson, Senior Web Developer.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/">VDI</a> is dedicated in research and excellence of computer visualization and simulation developing wide range of applications in science, medical, engineering, educational, cultural and environmental fields.</span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >In the beginning Ian introduced an animator/simulator called “<a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/index.php?pagetype=2&id=2&page=0&subpage=0">Collision Investigation: Skid Marks</a>” designed for police officers which could calculate the speed of a car based on the skid marks on the road. The customizable environment was designed to explore different results based on road conditions. At last the system used special mathematical algorithms to calculate the speed of car from the length of skid mark. This project had involved five years in research and development of the system to help Canadian Police Forces to grab hold of the suspects. This system mainly used XML, Flash, 3D Modeling/rendering tools like Maya and <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGRE_Engine">OGRE 3D (Object-Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine)</a> for graphics. Ian presented a another simulation project called "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/index.php?pagetype=2&id=2&page=1&subpage=2">Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA)</a>" in which the user could park the car virtually using a Steering Wheel remote control, brake and accelerator pedal controls. Ian demonstrated a third project called "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/index.php?pagetype=2&id=2&page=1&subpage=6">Vikings (Realtime)</a>" to explore the history and mystery of Vikings village (<st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>) as it would have looked hundreds of years ago.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >In the next part, Song took us to his lab where he demonstrated a software called "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/index.php?pagetype=2&id=2&page=2&subpage=4">Facial Animation Communication Engine (F. A. C. E.)</a>" developed in C++ which could control the movement of a 3D character by the means of a video camera focused right on the face. Technically the camera sent the captured movie to the software in real time and the software used customized plug-ins to sense/transform the motion. The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.songho.ca/dsp/index.html">plug-ins converted the stream of colored images</a><span style="color:green;">,</span> received from the video camera, into hi-contrast black-and-white sequence images to clearly define facial features. Depending on the movement of those light and dark patterns the system controls the movement of the 3D object or character. This system is still under development and can only sense the movement of the face yet, but the system has to be taken to an advanced level to sense/recognize every emotion/expression on the face. In comparison to <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">Wii </a> a system like F. A. C. E., when fully developed, can let us play interactive video games by sensing the gestures/movements of the body. A system like would not be just limited to playing video games, but could also be used in character animation where it will be able to make movements of 3D characters more realistic. An example of such technology can be <a target="_blank" href="http://www.news.com/Say-cheese-Sony-technology-focuses-on-smiles/2100-1041_3-6208136.html?tag=html.alert.hed">seen here</a> .</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >At last, we visited the "Immersion Studios" which is another unit of VDI. It had a high-tech multi-screen display system where different movies coincided to form a single wide screen movie clip. We were shown a science fiction movie where the actions on the screen were controlled from the wireless tablet(s) provided to the user(s), as prompted. The actions were based on the choice made by a group of users in common or majority. Each phase of the game, from starting to end, was dependent on the selections made by the users jointly. An Example can be seen <a target="_blank" href="http://www.i-mmersion.com/edu_dolphin.shtml">here</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.i-mmersion.com/ent_sharks.shtml">here</a>. At last we had to kill the space virus, that had affected the space traveler, by constantly poking on the screen of the table which was interesting but not very effective because it kept halting in between. By the use of such a technology we will be able to watch the same movie multiple number of times and every time we can have different ending based of what we selected.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The educational tour of VDI helped us explore various emerging technologies of today and tomorrow. It will help us pioneer for tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Related Links:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.i-mmersion.com/edu_dolphin.shtml">http://www.i-mmersion.com/edu_dolphin.shtml</a></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.i-mmersion.com/ent_sharks.shtml">http://www.i-mmersion.com/ent_sharks.shtml</a><br /></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/"><span style="font-family:Arial;">http://www.visualization.ca/</span></a></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.visualization.ca/"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NKT6eUGJDE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NKT6eUGJDE</a><br /></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.songho.ca/"><span style="font-family:Arial;">http://www.songho.ca/</span></a></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_jllEvrOZQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_jllEvrOZQ</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a target="_blank" href="http://www.i-mmersion.com/home.shtml">http://www.i-mmersion.com/home.shtml</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.news.com/Say-cheese-Sony-technology-focuses-on-smiles/2100-1041_3-6208136.html?tag=html.alert.hed">Sony technology focuses on smile</a><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-21988982510265067222007-09-22T18:33:00.001-07:002007-09-26T10:57:36.780-07:00Portrait AssignmentFinally, I have completed my portrait assignment!!! I wanted it to do it with Mask, but it did not work. So, I came up with a new idea. You can see it working <a href="http://oa-s139-07.sheridanc.on.ca/wa/selfPortrait/index.html" target="_blank">Here</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-47039418010452334082007-09-19T13:28:00.000-07:002007-09-19T14:04:28.912-07:00Trial of Zen MixTried Zen Mix for myself and came out with this. All you need is a URL to your picture and a FLV format video. The Picture is one of my assignments and can be seen <a href="http://param84me.deviantart.com/art/War-and-Peace-45281939" target="_blank">Here</a><br /><br /><!-- Zen Mix code - you can set the width in two places... 500x375 and 400x300 work as well. Note autoplay setting in two places --><object height="270" width="360" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" align="middle"><param name="movie" value="http://www.zenmix.com/zenmix/mix.swf?param/WhatIveDone" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="FlashVars" value="autoplay=false" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /><embed src="http://www.zenmix.com/zenmix/mix.swf?param/WhatIveDone" height="270" width="360" FlashVars="autoplay=false" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br /><br />You can try it for youself at <a href="http://www.zenmix.com/zenmix/" target="_blank">www.zenmix.com/zenmix</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541003982306415082.post-87218500470758696712007-09-16T18:56:00.000-07:002007-09-20T17:07:07.462-07:00Happy BirthdayToday Septembers 16, 2007 a blog for Multimedia Pioneering is born.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2