A/V — audio/visual

“Making your office space work” [Groner] & “The office goes live” [Harvey]

On 03/21/2014, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, business, collaboration, corporate / business world, generational differences, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Making your office space work — from sparksheet.com by Danny Groner
What happens when you move your startup into the Empire State Building? You learn what a difference a well-designed space can make, reports Shutterstock’s Danny Groner.

Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova.

Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova.

Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova.

The office goes live — from avnetwork.com by Steve Harvey

Excerpt:

The corporate workplace is undergoing a transformation, due in large part to a combination of influences such as cost, collaboration, convergence, and the cloud. What will the future office look like, and what part will AV integrators play in its evolution?

“The workplace is not evolving, it’s being revolutionized,” according to Julian Phillips, executive vice president of Whitlock. “More businesses are moving towards ‘European style’ open plan office environments to make better use of space and create a more collaborative working environment. This drives a need for more informal meeting spaces.

“Research has shown that the average meeting is now with less than four people in the office, although more may join virtually, therefore we are seeing a demand for fewer medium-sized conference rooms for eight to 12 people, but many more ‘huddle’ spaces for four to six people.”

…

Worklogik’s Todd McCandless points out that in the next decade baby boomers
will consist of less than 25 percent of the workforce. Gen Ys will represent over 50 percent,
and collaboration is the key to their work ethic.

Excerpted applications from “Google Glass: Not the only eye candy in town” [Raskin]

On 03/15/2014, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, Augmented Reality (AR), education technology, educational games / serious games, immersion, play, training / L&D, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Google Glass: Not the only eye candy in town — from huffingtonpost.com by Robin Raskin; with special thanks to Mr. Rob Bobeldyk [Asst. Dir. Teaching & Learning at Calvin College] for this resource

Excerpted applications:

Manipulate objects in virtual space with your “real” hands… pulling, tugging, tapping and stretching
Creating a solid gamer and entertainment experience
A great training app/factory tool
Recognize the world in front of you and then overlay information atop of it
Play a game just by moving your eyes
A mature suite of apps can work with your calendar and make phone calls. A built in HD display camera takes and shares photos and videos.
Immersive/ultra-realistic entertainment experiences
Wearable headset aimed at the sports/active lifestyle enthusiast
Enterprise applications

Also, some excerpted applications from Google Glass is Transforming Wearable Technology — from Daniel Burrus

Access information and a camera to capture activities in front of you
Use voice recognition to have it type messages or to send commands, like you do with Apple’s Siri or Google’s version of Siri, called Google Now
doctors are using Google Glass during surgery so they don’t have to take their eyes off of the operating table to view things like blood pressure, pulse, and temperature readings
Help train future surgeons
Google Glass would show not only the stores in your line of sight, but also overlay the types or names of products in each store

Also see:

Notable Wearables: Who is the Google Glass Consumer? (Part One in a Series) — from by Carter Green

Reflections on “Bye bye second screen? The InAIR lets you browse the web and watch TV all in one place.” [Taylor]

On 03/08/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), Daniel S. Christian, innovation, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, platforms, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, television, by Daniel Christian

Bye bye second screen? The InAIR lets you browse the web and watch TV all in one place — from techcrunch.com by Colleen Taylor (@loyalelectron)

Excerpt:

Nowadays, many people browse the web at the same time that they’re watching TV — the phenomenon is called the “second screen.” But a new gadget called InAIR from a startup called SeeSpace wants to bring our attention back to just one screen by putting the best of the laptop, the smart phone, and the TV all together in one place.

From DSC:
I like what Nam Do, the CEO of InAir is saying about one’s attention and how it’s divided when you are using a second screen. That is, when you are trying to process some information from the large screen and some information from the smaller/more mobile screen on your lap or desk. You keep looking up…then looking down. Looking up…then looking down. By putting information in closer proximity in one’s visual channel, perhaps processing information will be more intuitive and less mentally taxing.

This fits with an app I saw yesterday called Spritz.

spritz-march2014

In this posting, it said:

To understand Spritz, you must understand Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). RSVP is a common speed-reading technique used today. However, RSVP was originally developed for psychological experiments to measure human reactions to content being read. When RSVP was created, there wasn’t much digital content and most people didn’t have access to it anyway. The internet didn’t even exist yet. With traditional RSVP, words are displayed either left-aligned or centered. Figure 1 shows an example of a center-aligned RSVP, with a dashed line on the center axis.

When you read a word, your eyes naturally fixate at one point in that word, which visually triggers the brain to recognize the word and process its meaning. In Figure 1, the preferred fixation point (character) is indicated in red. In this figure, the Optimal Recognition Position (ORP) is different for each word. For example, the ORP is only in the middle of a 3-letter word. As the length of a word increases, the percentage that the ORP shifts to the left of center also increases. The longer the word, the farther to the left of center your eyes must move to locate the ORP.

In the Science behind this app, it says (emphasis DSC):

Reading Basics
Traditional reading involves publishing text in lines and moving your eyes sequentially from word to word. For each word, the eye seeks a certain point within the word, which we call the “Optimal Recognition Point” or ORP. After your eyes find the ORP, your brain starts to process the meaning of the word that you’re viewing. With each new word, your eyes move, called a “saccade”, and then your eyes seek out the ORP for that word. Once the ORP is found, processing the word for meaning and context occurs and your eyes move to the next word. When your eyes encounter punctuation within and between sentences, your brain is prompted to assemble all of the words that you have read and processes them into a coherent thought.

When reading, only around 20% of your time is spent processing content. The remaining 80% is spent physically moving your eyes from word to word and scanning for the next ORP. With Spritz we help you get all that time back.

So, if the convergence of the television, the telephone, and the computer continues, I think Nam Do’s take on things might be very useful. If I were watching a lecture on the large screen for example, I could get some additional information in closer proximity to the professor. If the content I wanted to see was more closely aligned with each other, perhaps my mind could take in more things…more efficiently.

5 innovative & interactive transmedia projects — Tribeca Film Festival

On 03/07/2014, in A/V -- audio/visual, creativity, digital storytelling, innovation, media/film, participation, story, storytelling, transmedia, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, is pleased to announce its 5 transmedia projects in the Storyscapes program that have been created in collaboration Bombay Sapphire®. Now in its second year, this juried Festival section was fashioned to showcase innovative and interactive transmedia work across genres. This pioneering form of storytelling encourages audience participation and sparks the imagination.

How do your learning spaces measure up? — from campustechnology.com by David Raths

Excerpt:

Now, however, two separate yet complementary initiatives under development promise to fill that void: 1) FLEXspace, an interactive online database with images and videos of learning spaces, provides a searchable collection of best practices in active learning design, and 2) the Learning Space Rating System (LSRS) seeks to provide a set of measurable criteria to assess how well classroom design supports and enables active learning activities.

Also see:

Excerpt:

The Flexible Learning Environments eXchange – FLEXspace – is a robust, open access repository populated with examples of learning spaces. It contains high resolution images and related information that describes detailed attributes of these spaces from institutions across the globe.

The incentive for participation is to showcase innovative design solutions open to peer review ranking and comments. As more contributions are received, the repository will emerge into a very useful planning resource for education and supporting entities at multiple levels.

Somewhat related/also see:

Emerson College campus by Morphosis places curvy classrooms within a hollow frame — from dezeen.com

Bringing the Wonder of the Web to Video (emphasis DSC)
Our mission is to usher in a new age of expression.

Anyone can easily create professional-quality videos combined with all the interactivity you expect to find inside a browser. We call these TouchCasts, a new medium that looks like video, but feels like the web.

— Per TouchCast.com

TouchCast in Education

Also see:

Engaging with the YouTube Generation — by Ayelet Segal
.
The Future of Personal Broadcasting: Consider this your invitation — from touchcast.com by Charley Miller

Excerpt:

The very idea of who a “broadcaster” is (the “we”) is about to change. It’s about to become you.

Reflections on “TVs are becoming the next app battleground” [Adler]

On 03/01/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, Bring your own device (BYOD), changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, global / globalization, India, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, television, by Daniel Christian

TVs are becoming the next app battleground — from by Emily Adler

Excerpt:

The app store phenomenon, centered on smartphones and tablets, has been the biggest story in software for the past five years.

Its next logical destination: the living room, via smart TVs and set-top boxes connected to the Internet.

…

The smart TV app revolution is inevitable: People spend four hours in front of their TVs in the U.S., and 63% of all global ad spending goes to TVs. The old guard, represented by cable and entertainment conglomerates, will not be able to fend off improvements like those that apps are bringing to mobile phones.
.
The smart TV revolution will not just be led by new TVs with built-in Internet connections, it will also result from consumer adoption of less expensive game consoles or set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV, which transform traditional TVs into smart TVs with access to app stores. At least 20% of U.S. consumers already have their TVs connected in one of these ways.

From DSC:

Keep an eye on the convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer.
.
Start thinking of ways that you could provide learning/educationally-based experiences with second screen apps. What would that experience look and act like?
.
If such “channels” come to fruition — and happen to coincide with MOOCs and advances in cognitive computing (such as IBM’s Watson) — the word disruption comes to mind.
.
The trick, then, will be to offer streams of content that are relevant, and up-to-date.
.
Such a platform could be used in learning hubs throughout the world, as well as in hybrid/blended classrooms — while also addressing lifelong learners from their living rooms.
.
Such a platform could take Communities of Practice to an entirely new level.

Addendum/also see:

Some possibilities to deliver presentations/portfolios on an iPad — especially meant for art galleries, small museums

On 02/25/2014, in A/V -- audio/visual, art, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, interactivity, internet, machine-to-machine communications, Near Field Communication (NFC), tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Some potential tools to display information on an iPad at an art gallery/small museum:

iPadPortfolioApp.com — and ipadportfolioapp.com/howto — they have a lock down feature so patrons to the art gallery can’t edit/change anything on the iPad

artlogic.net/artlogic/ — esp. artlogic’s Privateviews

artsystems.com/products/ipad.htm

yooba.com/LP/museum/

InDesign:
“Use interactive PDFs with hyperlinks to achieve an app-like behaviour. We created the presentation with all buttons and target pages in Adobe InDesign CS5 and exported the whole thing as an interactive PDF.” (From https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4573715)

Keynote for the iPad – though it doesn’t look like you can lock things down; though you can have a password on a file.

TourSphere

iBooks Author

Blurb.com

Book Creator
In the gallery, provide an iPad on a mount/stand and link to a blog or webpage, then lock the browser. If you want to use this method to display several pages, one could build a series of webpages and insert META-HTTP-EQUIV tags in the header sections of the HTML. That tag could be used to time how long a web page was on the screen and then redirect people to another web page after a period of time.

From DSC:
The above listing doesn’t address the numerous design & development firms out there that could create an app for you.

Where I could easily see this sort of thing going is towards a machine-to-machine type of communication whereby a chip on the piece of artwork “talks” to mobile devices to bring up additional information (re: that piece of art) on the patron’s device. iBeacon-like technology comes to mind; or NFC.

How could the new site pairing technology from Rapt Media be used in educationally-related apps?

On 02/13/2014, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, communications, convergence, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, interactivity, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, marketing/social marketing, transmedia, trends, vendors, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Today, we’re thrilled to announce that our patent-pending Site Pairing technology is officially out of beta and into the hands of creatives, marketers, brands, and agencies. Our new Site Pairing technology, which creates a link between your video and your website, allows your creative or content team to quickly and easily build a scalable Interactive Video (IV) framework that enables communication between your videos and your website.

“Online Videos have traditionally been dead ends to brands and marketers,” said Erika Trautman, CEO and co-founder of Rapt Media. “Viewers can’t navigate from them, and often leave a site altogether if the content isn’t exactly what they’re looking for.”

…

Taking a step back, we see that the website and its embedded media are having a true conversation. “There is nothing that you’ve come to expect on a website, that we can’t duplicate in a video,” said Trautman. “And now the two are talking.”

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room

On 02/07/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, streams of content, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room — from businessinsider.com.au by Mark Hoelzel

In the connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel.

Some key points:

In total, there will be more than 759 million televisions connected to the Internet worldwide by 2018, more than doubling from 307.4 million at year-end 2013.
Globally, shipments of smart TVs will reach a tipping point in 2015, when they will overtake shipments of traditional TVs.
Two tendencies dominate the connected TV ecosystem: closed and open approaches.
Despite platform fragmentation, HTML5 offers at least a faint hope for increased unification between connected TVs, just as it does on mobile.
How will developers and operating system operators monetise smart TV apps? Media downloads, subscriptions and — to a much lesser degree — advertisements will drive the dollars. Smart TV platform operators have begun experimenting with ads.

From DSC:
If in a connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel…then I say let’s bring on the educationally-related, interactive, multimedia-based apps!

Classrooms & learning spaces of the future

On 02/01/2014, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Daniel S. Christian, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, experimentation, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, maker movement, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, Near Field Communication (NFC), online learning, play, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, student-related, tablets, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, trends, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I see the following items in the classrooms/learning spaces/”learning hubs” of the future:

iBeacon-like technology, quickly connecting the physical world with the online world (i.e. keep an eye on the Internet of Things/Everything in the classroom); this may take place via wearable technology or via some other means of triggering events
Remote presence
Access to Artifical Intelligence (AI)-based resources
Greatly enhanced Human Computer Interactions (HCI) such as gesture-based interactions as well as voice and facial recognition
Interactive walls
BYOD baked into almost everything (requiring a robust networking infrastructure)
More makerspaces (see below for examples)
Tables and chairs (all furniture really) are on wheels to facilitate room configuration changes
Setups that facilitate collaborative/group work

Below are some other recent items on this topic:

To Inspire Learning, Architects Reimagine Learning Spaces — from MindShift by Allison Arieff

MakerLab_web

Excerpt:

As K–12 schools refocus on team-based, interdisciplinary learning, they are moving away from standardized, teach-to-test programs that assume a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching. Instead, there is a growing awareness that students learn in a variety of ways, and the differences should be supported. The students often learn better by doing it themselves, so teachers are there to facilitate, not just to instruct. Technology is there as a tool and resource, not as a visual aid or talking head.

3D printers and laser cutters?… it’s the classroom of the future — from standard.co.uk by Miranda Bryant

Rethinking our learning spaces — from rtschuetz.blogspot.com by Robert Schuetz

CC Wikimedia – Thelmadatter

Excerpt:

Heutagogy, unlike pedagogy, focuses on self-directed learning. As learning and education become more heutaogical, shouldn’t our learning spaces accommodate this shift? What are the features and characteristics that define a modern learning space? Notice, that I have not used the word classroom. Several days of researching this topic has challenged my thinking on the concept of classroom. This verbiage has been replaced with terms like; ideation lab, innovation space, maker pods, gamer zone, and learning sector. The concept of specific learning zones is not new.

The World’s 1st Augmented Television

On 01/27/2014, in A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, by Daniel Christian

SeeSpace InAiR: The World’s 1st Augmented Television — from kickstarter.com by Nam Do, Dale Herigstad, A-M Roussel

*Defining the new Augmented Television space*

From DSC:
For those interested in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), interactivity, interface design, augmented reality, and end user experience design — I think you will really like this one!

Again, I can’t help but think there are some significant educationally-related opportunities here; let’s let the students help us innovate here.

The PresenterTouch Wall — from Ideum

Also see:

Clarity Matrix MultiTouch
Interactive LCD Video WallThe Clarity™ Matrix MultiTouch LCD Video Wall is an ultra-slim profile touch screen video wall ideal for public spaces or collaboration environments. Utilizing the latest touch technology, Clarity Matrix MultiTouch enables up to 32 touch points and allows multiple users to simultaneously interact with video wall without affecting other users.

Planar announces next generation Clarity Matrix LCD video wall system — from avinteractive.com

Planar announces next generation Clarity Matrix LCD video wall system

From DSC:
In addition to video walls and large multitouch surfaces…we need to start thinking about how we might integrate the Internet of Things (IoT) into the classroom. For example, what might occur if technologies like Apple’s iBeacon were in the blended/hybrid classroom? Tony goes to corner A, and up pops a video re: XYZ for him to check out on the large multitouch display. Tony then moves across the room, to another corner of the room, and up pops a quiz or an assignment related to what Tony saw in the first corner of the room. Available on one of the windows on the video wall is of a remote specialist on the subject. Tony clicks on the “Connect with specialist” button and finds himself in a videoconference with this remote specialist/tutor on a portion of the video wall.

As learning hubs* grow, these technologies might be very useful.

* where some of the content is electronically
delivered and where some of the content
is discussed in a face-to-face manner

Mesmerizing fairy tale on the power of transmedia storytelling — from frametales.com by DRAFTFCB Madrid and posted by Filip Coertjens; with thanks to the Scoop on this from Laura Fleming (@NMHS_lms)

BBC iWonder: Introducing Interactive Guides — from bbc.co.uk by Andrew Pipes

See this piece as an example of what they’ve come up with.

Interactive guides on three screens

The BBC article also pointed to a bit older,
but very creative piece from the NYT entitled:
Snow Fall

Transmedia Story Stream: Don’t just read a book–play it! — from bleedingcool.com by Dan Wickline; with thanks to Digital Rocking Chair for the Scoop on this

Excerpt:

Instead of downloading a static book, Transmedia Story Stream allows readers to log into story worlds filled with fans, activities, and extended narrative that can include video, audio, casual video games or live gatherings. And just like in a video game, the book will award fans for participating in the story. Fans can earn points and badges, collect digital goodies to share, earn money for spreading word of mouth, participate in a live chat with an author or illustrator right in the book or win a phone call with a character in a story.