Your very own Tron Cylce

You can get your very own Tron cycle now just before you go to see TRON : Legacy the remake of the Dusney classic TRON.This is the creation of Florida bike shop The Parker Brothers Choppers it is one of the 10 street-legal Tron Light Cylces. It was created from scratch using images from online to design it as in the movie it wasn't actually created just virtual as The Parker brothers "Keeping in mind, no one ever made this bike before" stated. It consist's of a steel-frame, fibreglass bodywork and a V-twin engine from the Suzui TLR1000 and all the essentials such as brakes etc to make the vehicle street-legal. The Tron is weighting in at 474 pounds with a leght of 100 inches and 23 inches wide. The Parker brothers are selling these new pieces of technology at a whooping $55,000 each and there nearly all gone with just 4 left. You can view the testing stage of the Tron below.

VIA: Geeky Gadgets

TrueView: The Ad Skipper, Advertiser's Are Happy About

YouTube are the creators of this new ad format TrueView that lets users skip over ads that they aren't interested in. The way the TrueView ad unit operates is that it begins playing then you'll notice a five second countdown timer once thats complete an arrow shall appear leaving you skip the remainder of the ad if your not interested and take you back to the content you initially wanted to view. Advertisers are initially happy about the latest results as they only pay if the user doesn't hit the "skip" button so in theory everyone watching the ad has a general interest in the ad. Since this is a new system it is unknown how affective the technique shall be since TrueView is new to a user they might be engaged to see what happens and not press the skip button at all. Also worth noting is that all ads aren't going to be in this format as the original format is still available and the choice between each format is up to the advertiser.

VIA: Tech Crunch

Jumo: Social Networking for Charities

This is Chris Hughes (co-founder of Facebook and Chief Digital Organizer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign) latest venture Jumo a social network focused on charities and non-profit organizations. Chris aims to create a social networking site to "do what Yelp did for restaurants" which is "to help people find them and evaluate them". Each charity or non-profit organization will have their own designated page  with relevant news articles, Twitter posts and YouTube videos. The website aims to give small charities and non-profit organizations a platform to be recognized on the world wide web and a strong media presence. Its not the first attempt to give charities ability to be recognized on a large media scale as there is already the Global Giving website and Facebook application that gives people ways to find charities. Chris claims that the website's purpose isn't about getting donations like Global Giving but to "deepen ties between its users and their favourite causes". You can give charities but each organization needs to be tax exempt to be able to access donations. This could be the solution for online donations as in 2009 there was $300 Billion donated and only 6% was donated online. 

   

VIA: NYTIMES

Sont atracTable: Just like in the movies

Remember those futuristic screens Tom Cruise in Minority Report used be swiping all around the place that just looked crazy well there nearly here for all of us to use with this latest piece of Sony Technology the atracTable. Sony have teamed up with Atracsys, a Swiss optical tracking company for this impressive project. The tables interface can analysis body movements and act on any gesture or movement from your body or any part of your arm. Sony have claimed it will be able to determine a users age sex and even "emotion". This product will go on sale as a 35-inch HD ready unit for business or industrial.

BendDesk : A Fascinating Innovation of a Work Desk

Media Computing Group presents BendDesk an desk environment that combines a horizontal and a vertical interactive surface that are seamlessly connected by a curved surface. They have created a system that avoids changing input modalities by supporting direct touch and pen input on the entire surface. It combines a multi-touch area with an physical desk you can use to hold your laptop do your homework or even eat on just like any normal desk. BendDesk release date is unknown yet, but if you wish to find more information the original publication can be found here.

VIA : Engadget

Issues while creating poker app

When creating the screen for working out the percentage of a players cards the main issue I have come across is how a user will select a card. I have designed and studied the following options for the user to pick a card.


Option 1 - Drag & Drop
I would position all the cards at the bottom of the screen all visible for the user. The user would select one card drag it up to where he wants to place it. The card would "collide" with the place the user wants to place it. I would have a loop constantly checking for "collisions". The main disadvantage I came across is the fact all the cards would be grouped closely together not looking very attractive for the interface.

Option 2 - Keyboard for inputting cards
The user would select an area they want to place a card and a keyboard would appear from bottom of the screen allowing a user to input the card they wish. The main disadvantage is I would have to jail break the iphone interface to manipulate the keyboard and that wouldn't be regarded as a good programming or design.


Option 3 - Select a card from different screen
The user would select a card they want to input for example "Hole Card 1" they would be taken to a separate screen with all the cards on the screen they select one that is now "Hole Card 1". The screen is very clustered from my tests once again. 


Option 4 - Double Pecker
The user would select a card they want to input for example "Hole Card 1" a double Pecker would appear from bottom of the screen allowing a user to select a card their selection would now be "Hole Card 1". From my research this is a nice neat solution without breaking good coding practice and I will have to prototype before implementation like I did with the other options but this seems to be the way I will tackle the issue.

DEIS elearning Department

On Monday the 22nd of November were given a talk by Shane Croinn a Senior Multimedia developer for DEIS elearning department.The talk was very informative as it consisted of an insight into DEIS's current and past projects and a general framework when dealing with clients. We were given a quick background story of the company which has 4 employees at the moment. As being a student in CIT I always associated DEIS with the blackboard system online for the college and I didn't associate them with anything else. Ciaran was quick to outline their commercial projects they were previously involved in such as citibank and postbank (finical elearning with video and green screens), O2 (Assesment Modules), vodafone (Explaining offers to employees) and AIB (Marketing Animations). They are currently working on Flagship EU (Language practice with a networking platform using ELGG) and HDSLR Video (Shooting & Post production for a CIT Promo). He explained the framework for dealing with customers.

1. Brief with customer
2. Quotation
3. Contract
4. Project work begins
5. Client review
6. Sign off

This was a good insight into a CIT based company who deal with commercial projects outside the college. Shane also informed to us about Enterprise Ireland and their participation in new and upcoming small businesses. He also explained about their innovation vouchers just in case we wish to start up our own business. In conclusion I found the talk very informative and interesting and id like to take the opportunity to thank Shane Croinn for coming in and giving the talk.

Designs for Poker App

Each screens basic functionality 

More Design Basic's these will evolve when working in Adobe Fireworks

Boundary Work I - Technology in practice between art and science

This Art Exhibition was displayed in Wandesford Quay Gallery between Friday 12th November to the 27th of November and was coordinated by Paul Green. The exhibition was separated into three areas. 

1. Scientists who produce images as a by-product of their research activity.
2. Artists who use tools or methods associated with the practice of science .
3. Designers who examine how technologies are redefined through their use in everyday situations.

The exhibition is the first in a series of exhibitions to display artwork that is a mediator between art and science. Boundary Work I is to fill the gap between art and science with the use of technology as a common medium. What I liked about the exhibition was the fact you have images of artists which were done specifically as an artwork and probably done so carefully and precisely next to images from scientists that were only a by-product of their research and would usually be disposed after their basic use but instead their treated as pieces of art. There is a few picture of some of the work below for more information visit their website here. 

ACER's New Double Touchscreen Laptop

Acer are really thinking ahead with this new laptop with the obvious graduation of a dual screen multi-touch Acer Iconia laptop. It has matching touchscreen's for top and bottom making keyboards and touch pad redundant. It supports 10-finger multi-touch and you can use either screen as your virtual keyboard. The Acer ring seems to have replaced the touchpad as it is a segmented wheel interface that gives multi-finger access to media and various Acer apps.

The Iconia incorporates an Intel Core i5 processor that is supported by 4GB of memory and 640GB of storage. It uses Windows 7 Home Premium as its operating system. The only issue I have with the Acer Iconia is the asking price of £1,500 which is fairly costly for an laptop hat is only appealing because of its dual 1,366 x 768 touch screens.

VIA: CNET

Nostromo's New PC Gaming Keypad

Razor are ready to evolve PC-gaming with this new extravagant control pad.  Razor has collaborated with Belkin once again to try change PC-gaming once again. They previously collaborated to create the hugely successful n52e Speedpad and the Nostromo is an updated version of the n52e Speedpad so it can stay updated with today's gaming technology. The Nostromo boasts unlimited macro lengths (thanks to the new chipset and driver combination), ability to now store up to 20 profiles (compared to only 10 in the Speedpad) and impressively the capability of switching between 8 key maps along with customizable 8-way directional thumb pad and scroll wheel. This a must get if your a hardcore gamer and can be bought for an affordable 69.99euro.

HP's Multitasking Printer

This is the new HP Envy 100 with the usual expected functionality Print Scan Copy but with a twist Web! You connect to the wi-fi and you are able to have the ability to use ePrint. This is allowing a user access to wireless printing via email. This device comes with apps. Apps with a printer sure its not one of those new high tech tablets? Well HP claims "With the Envy, you'll have your apps, and like them!". These apps can be accessed on the elegant LCD touchscreen that will present numerous preloaded apps. As with most apps you have useful ones and time waster ones such as the Tic-Tac-Toe game. It useful ones are very helpful tho in contrast, there is an Google map app so you can quickly print out a map instead of going finding it on your desktop and going through all the hassle involved in the process. Also there is another nice little perk with this it comes in a tote bag in comparison to that disastrous wasteful packaging associated with printers.  

                                                                            Okay now to see does it do the simple things a Print Scan Copy device is expected to do. The device only has a capacity of 80 sheets a time  and  a mere two-ink-cartridge bay which in turn produces average to say the least photo quality which is disappointing. It only prints 4.5 pages per minute. Copying and scanning and very easy accomplished and complexity is kept to a minimum. The Envy 100 will cost you $250 making it expensive when compared to similar devices. The ePrint option and the possibility of getting some quiet useful apps the Envy 100 would be worth splashing out for if you can utilize these features.
   

VIA: Wired

My iPhone App Progress

Monday 15th
Read up on Human Interface Guidelines
Still was comparing view based vs control based screens


Tuesday 16th
Understanding the Moveme examples
- touchesMoved
- touchesBegan
- touchesEnded
- touchesCancelled


I downloaded the sample code of the apple website so I could see what it does in the simulator


Wednesday 17th
Decided to go with a root controller as with the classes its a more structured setup as each view has their own class. If i selected view based it wouldn't have been as organised. I had to make examples of each option to fully understand them.


Thursday 18th 2:00 - 9:30
 I began the payout structure. A user would enter the pot amount then select how many players they wish to payout the screen would divide the pot amount adequately.


It took me around 3-4 hours to get used to the objective C syntax properly this involved referencing to objective C books and doing tutorials online. Even just learning the protocols of working with the iphone interface builder and objective C was challenging for example I had to convert values from the interface builder into int or strings from NSNumber or NSString and then convert them back this was learnt the hard way as I investigated the code error by error finally learning the issue. This wouldn't be an issue for a normal developer as they would have been taught iphone development I'm only learning from youtube tutorials and online blogs. of I overcame numerous obstacles and learnt from my mistakes by the end of that night. 


Friday 19th 12:00-6:00
I completed the payout structure (another 2 hours). I also created a money border in fireworks the backgrounds for each screen will be challenging for me and might need assistance to give it a professional look. I then began the blinds screen I created 2 arrays to hold the blind values and used a slider for the user to change them. I must now start on using a blinds timer and I want have an alert when each blind over.


I'am on schedule as my first prototype has 1 screen fully functional and have begun the second prototype already. As I become more familiar with objective C and the interface builder the faster and more efficient i become in iphone development. 

Device to measure a persons fitness regime

From my research there seemed to be four main options to accurately measure the exercise a person claims to undertake. 

1. Heart Rate Monitor

• Very easy accessible and cheap
• Can upload information to he internet
• Used by athletes to condition or improve performance
• Can be affected by stress
• Used for tactical training
• Used for motivation already connected to a watch giving immediate feedback to user
• If used near another heart rate monitor can give false reading  

The major bonus of heart rate monitors is the fact it can be uploaded to the internet already, but I don't think it would give an accurate reading for resemble a workout as stress effects it also.

2. Pedometer

• Counts number of steps a person takes
• It is worn throughout the day by a person
• Constant update of how steps you have taken
• Most basic pedometer is the spring-levered pedometer
• Piezo-electric pedometer (accelerometer) more accurate than spring-levered pedometers
• GPS pedometer

This device has numerous advantages can be uploaded to the internet, gives accurate reading but all it is doing is measuring steps undertook in a day which to athletes wouldn't be considered as a workout.

3. Telematics

This is a GPS system measuring distance is possible for cycling, running etc. It is a good system to measure distance and speed for a user but a user would have to undertake long hard exercise regimes to give the system useful feedback.

4. Skipping Counter

• Gives accurate amount of skips taken
• Calculates calorie lose
• Motivates a user by itself already
• 70-110 calories in 10mins
• 600-900 calories in 1 hour
• Cheap and easy accesible
• Upload to the internet unknown

This seems to be a suitable device as it measures accurately already is motivational and is not a daunting task for some one to attempt. I'm still not sure if it can be uploaded to the internet I have emailed a few producers of the product to see if it is possible.

Ice-resistant Road

 

People imprisoned in their houses due to awful road conditions during the festive season  could soon come to an end. It is all thanks to this new innovative ice-resistant road has been invented by a group of Harvard University scientists. The leader of the group Joanna Aizenberg explains "What we want to do is to have ice not form at all". It is a surface material that wont allow ice to form on it up to temperatures as low as -30 degrees. The idea was inspired by the unsuspecting eyes of a mosquito and nanotechnology. They use millions of silicon bristles to prevent the water droplets spreading on the surface so they wont freeze as easily. What happens on our roads at the moment the water droplets hit the road spreads across the road and grips and ultimately becoming the base for aggregation of more droplets and finally a hazardous sheet of ice. The scientist's solution prevents the water droplets spreading, it in turn prevents it from creating ice patterns and creating a sheet of ice. The scientists are only beginning to test the nanotechnology in real world scenarios. This technology could be the key for deicing any issues from road paving to power transmission in the future if it can be manufactured feasibly.

Via: Yahoo News

Ambient Knowledge & Alan Meaney

On Monday the 15th of November Alan Meaney gave a talk about his Masters project Ambient Knowledge how he came up with the concept and how he proceeded to create the project. His project is a "lamp that glows different colours to display the current energy consumption in a persons home". He used a cct clip over an electricity wire going into the fuse box which was connected to an arduino board which uploaded the data to his website which in turn adjusted the colour of the perspex lamp. Alan researched the area he had interest in and came up with a solution. His project was exhibited at Ars Electronica in Germany where he represented Cork Institute of Technology. He had a very sucessful exhibition there and was invited to do other exhibitions in Paris and Slovenia.

                                                                                          This was a very informative talk as he gave personal accounts and experiences about the Masters project. He really enforced the fact of researching being critical to a successful project firstly learning the terminology and then narrowing down to what interest you. He also mentioned to find the main researchers in your area of interest and study their work to date.

Tips & Advice

Alan was very informative about his experience in the course last year and developing  the project he gave us the following tips for our projects.

• Get drafts up to lecturers as soon as possible so they can evaluate and correct them saving you time in the long run.
• Look at Endnote for referencing when creating proposal and final document as he found it essential.
• Use Google scholar for researching
• Don't be afraid to interact with blogs and forums to look for help as there are plenty of people out there willing to help.

The New Paddle Pro

If your familiar with the Paddle already you'll probably notice that it looks more or less the same as the previous edition that was released in June 2010. What excites me to write about this emerging technology is the astonishing new feature that enables a user on control the Windows OS using their head movements. The Paddle uses head tracking technology to enable this new futuristic feature. Unusually clicks are activated by a user looking at an item for a mere half a second I'm a small bit pessimistic about the overall success of this sensational feature but shall wait and see on its popularity. It also has the essentials of every tablet these days native resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels,1 GB of RAM with a hard disk of internal capacity of 160 GB,a collection of connectivity and I/O capabilities, such as 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, an SD/MMC card reader, plus 3G.It can be purchased for 890 euro with a preloaded operating system or you can purchase it for 990 euro if you wish for it to come with Windows 7.
 
 

Via: Slash Gear

Try lose the remote control now

The perfect lazy man control has finally arrive its the universal pillow remote control. It has solved the annoying issue of losing the remote control. I personally love this concept and want one immediately. It use power-saving technology as it powers off after 60seconds of not being used. It also has a feature that you can deactivate the remote control aspect so you can effectively use it as just a pillow. Well I think I'm a small bit optimistic thinking it will be an efficient pillow and remote control but for only £29.99 and a packet of triple A batteries its definitely worth an investment. You can purchase it by following this link. 

Source: Engadget via Brookestone

A new intimate "Path" for social networks

The newest addition to the long list of social networks was added today Monday the 15th Novemeber 2010 called "Path". It is basically a social network built around a user's photographs. The main feature what I find appealing about this social network it limits a user to 50 friends which eliminates the vast friend circles like users have on social networks such as Facebook. You are sharing your photographs with your genuine friends instead of someone you went to secondary school you haven't seen in a few years. Dave Morin a former Facebook executive explains their reasoning for the friends limit, "We chose 50 based on the research of Oxford Professor of Evolutionary Psychology Robin Dunbar, who has long suggested that 150 is the maximum number of social relationships that the human brain can sustain at any given time".  

 

This personal social network hasn't been globally accepted yet since Path doesn't utilize other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. "It is oddly passive for a social app. You put up photos, see other people's photos, and that's it. No discussion allowed," Erick Schonfield (Tech Crunch) claims. Since it don't connect to the other social networks I personally cant see this social network being as popular as the rest since your going to have the same friends on other social networks with the same photographs. It only allows users visual connections not leaving people to instant chat or even comment on photographs. I personally think besides the feature that you are only photo sharing with your genuine friends is the main appeal of the social network. 

Source: Wired, Tech Crunch

“Texas Holdem: Poker Hand Odds Calculator”

It will be a poker advantage calculator, it will calculate a players winning ratio and normalizes the winning ratio relative to the number of players. An advantage calculator provides a normalized value between -100% and +100% describing a players winning chance in a locked domain.

Research & Design Methodologies

Other Similar iPhone Apps

68 other poker apps in the app store. The oldest ones just calculated pre-flop percentages or calculated two player game odds. There have been 5 new apps released since I started researching the topic and 11 out of the 68 updated with new features so these apps are still popular. I hope to combine all the major functionality of the other apps as from looking through the app store no app has a timer, payout structure, poker hand table percentages and most importantly the hand percentage for pre-flop, the flop, the turn and the river. I didn’t see any app that gives a user feedback on their games progress for example the amount of hands they folded, won, lost either so I wish to incorporate this into my app.

Calculations for calculating percentage

I bought a book called Texas Hold’em Odds by Catalin Barboinanu. This book gives details on how to calculate the percentages of a poker hand winning the hand in question

Design Methodologies
I'm going to follow Human Interface Design on the Apple website

Aims & Objectives

Create an iPhone app that does the following

•      Calculates percentage of the hand, updates the percentage
•      Gives user odds of all hands
•      Has a game timer
•      Hand Strength Table
•      Payout Structure
•      Game Stats

Timescales

Week Ending
07-11-10	Learnt the SDK for iPhone by reading books and completing tutorials on YouTube
14-11-10	Have aims and objectives clarified with Trevor Hogan Decide on what the app shall look like by following a set of frameworks
21-11-10	Make first working prototype of the app It shall do the basic functions of calculating the percentages in a locked domain
28-11-10	Make second prototype with another view giving a user more information about their game of poker such as stats of the game
05-11-10	Ensure the design follows the Human Interface Design

Dual Hinge Samsung Zeal

The new dual hinge Samsung Zeal has been leaked through the 3rd party news service Verizon Wireless Network. There is non mention of the Zeal on the website latest news but there is a 360 degree viewer that just shows the front of the  Zeal. The flip-style is rarely used by phone developers, but what makes this phone so exciting is the fact that it uses E Ink QWERT keyboard rather than regular normal buttons you would find on a regular phone. This means the phone can adapt to each app your using or even which way you the user are holding the phone. Besides this exciting feature the phone has the expected features including a 2-megapixel camera  Skype mobile, Bluetooth, Messaging etc.

Via: Slash Gear

3D Speed Camera

 

This is without a doubt the future of road safety the 3D speed camera captures just about everything you could be doing illegally with your vehicle. Its officially called ASSET (Advanced Safety and Driver Support for Essential Road Transport). It is undergoing severe tests at the moment in Finland to ensure its fully functional. It has a range of 50 meters and can detect if a driver has no insurance, tax or if they are wearing a seat belt. The system will be connected to the police force via satellite informing them about the offenses committed by the driver. The cameras are expected to be deployed across Europe starting 2013 costing at about 50,000 euro per unit.   

WOWKeys: A Eee Keyboard

Omnio WOWKeys and iPhone have joined up for this new impressive project. It is a new iPhone dock. This new usb keyboard was specifically created for the iPhone with 15 designated hot keys for the iPhone. You will also be able to upload numerous amount of apps onto your iPhone. This could also enable the iPhone to be a multi-touch trackpad so in turn making it a smart phone and ARM-based computer. The iPhone dock is both MAC & Windows compatible. The dock also has the expected features of keeping your iPhone charged and synced as well. You will be able to purchase this new and improved iPhone dock for around $100, its unknown if it will be released in for Christmas presents yet.

Source: AVING, Engadget

Interactive Boxing Bag

Domyos Interactive Punching Bag

 

This is interactive boxing bag is also like a beep test

Interactive Torso

The Slam Man

Made from blow moulded polyethylene plastic, the Slam Man will absorb punches and quickly return to its original shape. Designed to withstand a heavy pummeling it will work well during all temperatures. Fill the base with 240lbs of sand to gain ultimate stability, ensuring that whatever you throw at it the Slam Man will remain sturdy.

 

Has the following features......

• 5 boxing programs
• 3 training levels
• 8 target lights
• Performance feedback
• 10kg when empty
• Fills with 240lbs of sand
• Includes instruction DVD, boxing gloves and boxers eating plan
• Stands up to any beating you can inflict

 

Conclusion:

What I noticed from the Slam man it is more like a beep test with outputting lights that the user hits. I would rather see the the torso giving out instructions to the user that they would follow.

 

Boxing Bag's in GYM's

After interviewing 3 different GYM instructors including the college GYM instructor, the reasoning behind not having a boxing bag is of people messing and not taking it seriously. This even lead to a court case as someone twisted their wrist! For this reason I'm not sure if a boxing bag is the right component I should utilize for my project I still must talk to a few more different instructors for their opinion on using multimedia to motivate people to get fit. I also have got a few books to read, there about motivation in sports so I shall see what they shall say about the issue and it would be good to see what traditional forms of motivation included.

"A Innovation Eco-System"

On Monday the 1st of November we were invited to a private open day of the Nimbus Center on the Cork Institute of Technology campus, for masters and 4th year students of the multimedia department. The Nimbus Center is Ireland’s premier Business Incubation Center. The aim of the Nimbus center is to "Establish a one-stop-shop for innovation which is embedded systems for indigenous industry in the Cork region". They give the chance for young entrepreneurs to make their innovation ideas a reality  while also giving them the opportunity to work with Industry. The center is involved in multidisciplinary  projects as it uses CIT facilities and staff. This facility only opened in 2007 and has been an instant success. The Nimbus center has a staggering 65 researchers/postgraduates and 70 different company partnerships. It has two designated groups  within in the center Research groups and Industry groups. 

Research Groups include

- Adaptive Wireless Systems

- Smart System Integration

Industry Groups include

- Technologies for embedded computing

After the presentation we got to meet Kevin O Mahony a student who is doing his PhD in the Nimbus Center. Kevin has accomplished a MA in Media Design as he was the first student to do our course. He demonstrated his Multi-touch Meettable. 

I found meeting Kevin very beneficial as he gave me good advice for the course as its different talking to some one who actually has done the course in comparison to lecturer's who are more to guide us in the right direction.

Anyone going skiing this xmas?

These are the newest type of ski goggles you can get, which are GPS-enabled. They display information such as your speed, temperature and even how far you have traveled. What I found most impressive is the fact that it displays the information two meters in front of the user. The goggles are also efficient in the way they are "glove friendly" so you wont be adjusting setting bare handed in on top of the Swiss mountains.

This concept was created by Recon CEO Dan Eisenhardt as he wanted to create swimming goggles that displayed the time so he wouldn't have to stop to check the time. Unfortunately they haven't created those glasses yet but are still working on them and also goggles for biking and even sunglasses.

Robot able to mimic a human eye

It sounds like another step in the right direction to making a human like robot  prototype as if like the film iRobot. This super fast robot has been created by a set of German students from the Institute of Applied Mechanics. The robotic camera mimics the motion of a human beings eye movement and even moves at super human speeds. It sounds better than the human eye as it can look in any direction and can imitate our fastest movements which can reach speeds of 1000 degrees per second but the robots limit is 2500 degrees per second. 

From 2D to 3D with a Photo Frame

Nikon based in Japan have introduced a new 7.2-inch digital photo frame. It gives the effect of transforming 2D photos into glorious new 3D photos. It uses a autostereoscopic screen, which means that 3D glasses aren't needed to give the 3D effect. A person does need to be at a distance of about 1 meter to obtain the 3D effect. It is powered by Android 2.1 mobile OS with a miod-range of 800 * 600 resolution.The NF-300i supports wi-fi so is capable of being cable free, but also has modest Ethernet and usb connections.

Further Research

I'm going to begin researching which sensor's are most appropriate to detect movement or power I will also start using Ardunio boards to accomplish this.

I also plan on doing experiments to see which media would be best to communicate with a person while they are training. I will use people with boxing background and get feedback off them to see which they taught was the most effective. I also will talk with other martial arts instructors to see if I could get more feedback off them.

Persuasive Technology in Martial Arts

I had an informal meeting with my Martial Arts instructor Frank Murphy about how could technology help teach or improve a person's martial arts skill. We discussed that if you could have sensors on a boxing bag measuring punch per minute or something of the sort it could improve peoples speed and accuracy. It wouldn't necessarily improve a person's technique as that would have to analyzed by a professional instructor but still could be very effective. I also discussed this sort of idea involving a boxing bag with Paul Green in a formal meeting on Wednesday evening in his office. What I propose to do is have sensor's connected to the boxing bag and using flash to maybe display it on a screen that gives a user feedback. Also I could have the program giving the user instructions what to do (Hook, jab etc) and having a leader board for speed for certain programs. 
                        I think this could also encourage more people without a boxing background to use a boxing bag as part of their work out. As they would have a aim and be given instructions to what to do. As I am unfamiliar with flash I'm not sure what I could do with it but I would like to try have an avatar resembling the person hitting the boxing bag on screen copying their punches and kicks.

Persuasive Technology

Persuasive technology is defined as a computer system, device, or application that is intentionally designed to change a person’s attitude or behavior (Fogg 2003). This technology uses tools (e.g., pedometer or balance board), media (e.g., video, audio, or both), and social interaction (e.g., playing with another person) to persuade individuals to adopt the behavior without their actually knowing it. Although the DDR was not developed specifically to promote physical activity, it has changed exercise attitudes and behavior of children and youth using principles of persuasive technology. Dance Dance Revolution uses video, music, and a dance platform to capture interest and engage children in the activity without their being fully aware that they are exercising. The emerging field of persuasive technology has enormous potential for promoting physical activity and healthy behaviors (Fogg and Eckles 2007; Zhu 2008).

Fitness Social Networks

I would have two options when it comes to trying to utilize a social network to help motivate people, either create a Facebook app or else create a Social network. If I was going creating a website I probably would use ELGG. 

"Elgg is an award-winning social networking engine, delivering the building blocks that enable businesses, schools, universities and associations to create their own fully-featured social networks and applications."

After basic research using Google and Yahoo i came to the realisation that there already is numerous fitness social networks on the web I could be here listing them all evening. That's not what I want to create, and end up being just another number in a long list of sites. 


If I could come up with a device of some sort that was capable of motivating people to do fitness in an area that hasn't been completely addressed yet by a new media, I would drop the social network idea.