digital audio

Layar now on Google Glass (From DSC: Consider the educationally-related applications of these techs.)

On 03/20/2014, in Augmented Reality (AR), Canada, chemistry, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Europe, Google, by Daniel Christian

Layar’s industry leading Augmented Reality app now available on Google Glass — from layar.com

Excerp:

AMSTERDAM, NEW YORK, TORONTO – March 19th, 2014 – Layar, the world’s number one provider of Augmented Reality (AR) and Interactive Print products and services, today announced the availability of its industry leading mobile app on Google Glass. Glass users can go to Layar.com/Glass to download the app and see instructions for how to install it. By just saying “Ok Glass, scan this,” users can easily experience any of the platform’s over 200,000 Interactive Print pages and 6,000 location-based Geo Layers.

With Interactive Print, static print content comes alive with videos, photo slideshows, links to buy and share and immersive 3D experiences. Glass users can now access Layar’s rapidly growing platform of Interactive Print campaigns, including magazines like Men’s Health, Inc. and Glamour, as well as newspapers, advertising, art and more. Geo Layers allow users to see location-based information – including points-of-interest like local real restate listings, geotagged media like nearby photos and tweets, 3D art and more – in an augmented, “heads up” view using the camera on the Glass device.

Excerpt of video:

From DSC:
Using Layar’s Creator app, there could be numerous and creative applications of these technologies within the realm of education. For example, in a Chemistry class, one could have printouts of some of the types of equipment one would use in an experiment.

Looking at a particular piece of paper (and having loaded the app) would trigger a pop-up with that piece of equipment’s name, function, and/or other information as well as which step(s) of the experiment that you will be using that piece of equipment on.

Or, one could see instructions for how to put things together using this combination of tools. A set of printed directions could pop up a quick video for how to execute that step of the directions. (I sure could have used that sort of help in putting together our daughter’s crib I tell ya!)

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 business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, television, TVs, 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:

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.

Transmedia Story Stream

Also see:

Onze helden zijn terug!

CleverWayToReopenRennovatedSpace-Amsterdam-April2013

HarperCollins, Google’s Niantic Labs, 20th Century Fox collaborate w/ bestselling author on next gen cross-media project, Endgame — from corporate.harpercollins.com, w/ thanks to @myweb2learn for the resource

Excerpt of Press Release (emphasis DSC):

ENDGAME is a fully integrated, multimedia experience that will combine a trilogy of young adult novels, fifteen original e-book novellas, YouTube videos, search and image results, mapping coordinates, social media, and interactive gaming in one revolutionary creative project. Each book in the ENDGAME trilogy will feature an interactive puzzle comprised of clues and riddles throughout the text.

…

“We are excited to work with James Frey and Full Fathom Five on this groundbreaking series,” said Brian Murray, President and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers. “This is a spectacular story that embodies the future of publishing—great content, interactivity and a multimedia experience.”

…

Google’s Niantic Labs is developing a location-based augmented reality game that will bring ENDGAME to life in the real world. The game builds on the success of “Ingress,” which defined a new category of entertainment that marries video games with the physical world. The mobile experience will allow players around the world to join in the battle to unlock the mysteries and secrets of ENDGAME. Google Niantic will also be publishing six ENDGAME novellas exclusively at the Google Play store. The game is expected to launch on Android and iOS devices in late 2014.

“James has a great vision for telling stories in an integrated way across books, film, social media, and mobile games,” John Hanke, VP of Product, Niantic Labs at Google, said. “We are delighted to bring our technology and expertise to bear on a project that is helping to define the future of entertainment.”

From DSC:
If successful, I’d love to see some applications of this sort of experiment applied towards education/learning — i.e. towards K-12, higher ed, and the corporate training/L&D departments. The experiment emphasizes where I think successful learning is also going — towards the use of TEAM-based content creation and delivery.

7 fabulous iPad apps to create short animated lessons for your flipped classroom [educatorstechnology.com]

On 01/13/2014, in digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, elearning, flipping -- inverted learning, mobile learning, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

7 fabulous iPad apps to create short animated lessons for your flipped classroom — from educatorstechnology.com

Pharrell Williams debuts 24-hour, interactive music video for ‘Happy’ — from theverge.com by Amar Toor; with thanks to Mr. Colton Credelle for this item

Excerpt:

On Thursday, at the stroke of midnight, pop impresario Pharrell Williams debuted the video for his new single, “Happy.” It’s 24 hours long.

The video, available for streaming on 24hoursofhappy.com, features various dancers lip-synching to Williams’ single throughout the course of a day in Los Angeles. The four-minute, upbeat song is played on loop, with each cycle introducing a new dancer (or dancers) at a different location. Viewers can fast-forward or move backward using a clock interface that hovers over the display, and share specific moments on Twitter or Facebook. The dancers, meanwhile, include both anonymous extras and celebrities like Magic Johnson, Steve Carrell, and of course, Williams himself.

Also see:

From DSC:
How might this relate to educationally-related videos?

And for those of you in marketing and retail out there, could be some sharp/beneficial applications for you all here.

Blodget: This is what you need to know about the future of digital

On 11/25/2013, in digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, emerging technologies, future, trends, by Daniel Christian

Blodget: This is what you need to know about the future of digital

Excerpts:

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

A proposal for Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and any other company who wants to own the future living room [Christian]

On 11/18/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, animation, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), career development, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, Google, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, play, professional development, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

“The main obstacle to an Apple television set has been content. It has mostly failed to convince cable companies to make their programming available through an Apple device. And cable companies have sought to prevent individual networks from signing distribution deals with Apple.”

— Apple, closer to its vision for a TV set, wants
ESPN, HBO, Viacom, and others to come along
qz.com by Seward, Chon, & Delaney, 8/22/13

From DSC:
I wonder if this is because of the type of content that Apple is asking for. Instead of entertainment-oriented content, what if the content were more focused on engaging, interactive, learning materials? More on educational streams of content (whether we — as individuals — create and contribute that content or whether businesses do)?

Also see:

What the mobile “fourth wave” means for operators — from mportal.com by D.P. Venkatesh on November 12, 2013

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The communications landscape has historically taken the form of a tumultuous ocean of opportunities. Like rolling waves on a shore, these opportunities are often strong and powerful – yet ebb and flow with time.

Get ready, because the next great wave is upon us. And, like a tropical storm, it is likely to change the landscape around us.

As detailed by analyst Chetan Sharma, this particular wave is the one created by the popularity of over-the-top (OTT) solutions – apps that allow access to entertainment, communication and collaboration over the Internet from smartphones, tablets and laptops, rather than traditional telecommunications methods. Sharma has coined this the mobile “fourth wave” – the first three being voice, messaging (SMS) and data access, respectively – and it is rapidly washing over us.

Addendum on 11/25:

The Smart TV app revolution is coming: Here’s what you need to know — from businessinsider.com by Dan Frommer

What an incredible use of Minecraft to teach about quantum physics!

On 11/15/2013, in attention, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, physics, teaching & learning, tools, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

qCraft: A Beginner’s Guide to Quantum Physics in Minecraft — from with thanks to Steve Node for this item

Description of video:

qCraft is a mod that brings principles of quantum physics to Minecraft. Learn more at qCraft.org. This video is a look at those principles, how you can use them, and how they relate to real quantum physics.

From DSC:
Wow! What a great way to grab someone’s attention, keep it, and then use that medium to teach someone something! This approach made me wonder…

In what other ways could we use Minecraft for purposes of teaching and learning?
How could we use it in digital storytelling?
What sorts of creativity are fostered by using such an environment?
What’s a mod and how is one created for Minecraft?

Jeff Gomez Masterclass: Creating Blockbuster Transmedia Story Worlds & Brands — from nymediacenter.com

Excerpt:

Who Should Attend?

SCREEN PROFESSIONALS
Producers, writers, directors, commissioners, distributors, investors, policy makers from the film, television and online industries

INTERACTIVE MEDIA PROFESSIONALS
Web developers and designers, app and mobile developers, games developers and designers, multiplatform producers, digital media strategists

BRAND + COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS
Advertising, marketing and PR professionals and creatives, public relations professionals, social media strategists, branded content producers

PUBLISHING PROFESSIONALS
Publishers, authors, editors, agents, Commissioners

From DSC:
Wondering a few things here:

1) Why aren’t there similar events aimed at educators, professors, teachers, and trainers? At instructional designers and instructional technologists?

2) Are we preparing our students for these types of opportunities?

3) That same web page also reads:

It is a philosophy of communication and brand extension that creates intense audience loyalty and long-term engagement, enriches the value of creative content, and generates multiple revenue streams.

Hmmm…couldn’t this also apply to higher education/K-12 education/training as well?

mindsy — Does this represent a new ingredient of — and/or model for — our future learning ecosystems?

On 11/11/2013, in dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, elearning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, learning, learning preferences, streams of content, technologies for your home, vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Does Mindsy represent a new ingredient of — and/or model for — our future learning ecosystems?

Learning on demand.

Addendum from The Economist:

Mindsy’s website hosts more than 5,000 courses provided by vendors, many of whom are specialised in e-learning. Tens of thousands of users pay $29 a month to access as many courses as they would like in that time, a model some have compared to Netflix, a popular online film-rental service. Users pick and choose their courses, says Christian Owens, Mindsy’s founder, with many preferring to watch short modular videos on one topic before moving on to another area. Whereas TED provides lofty academia in easily-digestible formats, Mindsy prefers to focus on the practical. One of the most popular courses explains how to build a website. Swap the ankle boots on our TED Talks commuter for winklepickers, and the flannel shirt for a well-cut suit, and you have the young professional who makes up most of Mindsy’s user base.

Xbox, watch TV: inside Microsoft’s audacious plan to take over the living room — from by Nilay Patel
Can the Xbox One finally kickstart the TV revolution?

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Taking over your cable box also means the Xbox can overlay your TV signal with interesting information: a voice-activated channel guide, pop-up notifications when you get a Skype call and Xbox Live invites, a new NFL app that shows you real-time fantasy stats. You can even snap the TV window to the side of the screen while you play games. Your nasty cable interface is still there, but it allows the Xbox One to replace the cable box as the primary living-room entertainment device and go from gaming console to major new computing platform.

…

So the entire Xbox One is designed around what you might call a bold compromise: instead of directly integrating TV, the system hijacks it. Rather than plugging your cable box and Xbox into the TV separately, you first plug the cable box into the Xbox, and then the Xbox into the TV. Your cable box is still there, and still doing all the heavy lifting of providing TV, but now it’s doing it in service of the overall Xbox One experience. Smith describes it as “augmenting” the cable box experience in an effort to eliminate the friction of switching between games, apps, and TV.

From DSC:
The battle for the living room continues. I hope that we can eventually leverage these developments not just for entertainment, but for creating, contributing, sharing, absorbing, and discussing streams of content. The creative possibilities involving transmedia-based storytelling are exciting in this type of environment as well.

Voxdox.net — a free text-to-speech app

On 11/05/2013, in accessibility / UDL, digital audio, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, Microsoft, by Daniel Christian

Voxdox.net — a free text-to-speech app; with thanks to Mr. Jim Lerman for the Scoop and to Miguel Guhlin for the post on it

Excerpt from the Voxdox website (emphasis DSC):

Voxdox is a new free text to speech app, available now for iOS, Android and Kindle.
Voxdox will read aloud any form of text for you in your choice of human voice.
Voxdox is a PDF reader and a PDF Translator. A smart PDF to Speech system converts your documents to quality speech. Import your PDF documents convert their text to voice.
Voxdox is also an eBook reader that supports EPUB, PRC, MOBI and MBP format eBooks, and an audio book creator that can turn any kind of text to a talking book in just a few clicks.
Voxdox can be used as a document scanner utilizing your device’s camera. Just take a picture of any document in almost any language, translate it to a different language if you wish to do so, and convert its text to speech.
Voxdox gives you the choice – listen to your document or simply read it – all audio materials are also presented in text form.
Converting text to voice has never been easier. Let your phone or tablet read aloud for you!

From DSC:
I have not used this tool — but if it’s good, it would be a powerful tool for helping a lot of people out there! Especially those seeking an OCR –> to Microsoft Word –> to speech type of deal. And like it often goes with accessibility-related items, what started out as an accessibility-related item moves into the mainstream to help even more people out (more choice; more control of how I “take in”/absorb the content).

Learning Ecosystems

Layar now on Google Glass (From DSC: Consider the educationally-related applications of these techs.)

How do your learning spaces measure up? [Raths]

Some sharp, creative ways to tell a story! Involves team-based content creation & delivery.

The future of publishing? Applications for learning?

7 fabulous iPad apps to create short animated lessons for your flipped classroom [educatorstechnology.com]

Music videos go interactive [How might this relate to educationally-related videos? <-- DSC]

Blodget: This is what you need to know about the future of digital

mindsy — Does this represent a new ingredient of — and/or model for — our future learning ecosystems?

The battle for the living room continues; I hope we can leverage these developments/this convergence for learning materials.

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