human-computer interaction (HCI)

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.

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

On 11/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, computer science, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, formal learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, media/film, Michigan, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), neurodivergent/special needs, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, organizational change, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, professional development, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, story, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning from the Living [Class] Room — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room. I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition. This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a team–based approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.)

To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:

Alternatively, these videos can be found at:

.

Mobile education: Lessons from 35 education experts on improving learning with mobile technology [Citrix]

On 11/04/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, blended learning, collaboration, communications, convergence, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, e-books, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, student-related, technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, tools, trends, TVs, vendors, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Description:

Education is at a tipping point. From the rising cost of a college education and the financial pressures upon local districts and state agencies to fund K-12 schools and programs, to the questions of how to employ mobile technologies and leverage social platforms to support the growing trend toward mobile, collaborative learning models, educators face an almost overwhelming set of challenges. While there are no easy answers to these and other issues, Citrix believes strongly that online learning technologies can help enhance and extend the teaching and learning process and provide greater, more wide-spread access to education to students. We are committed to developing and delivering learning solutions that will meet the evolving needs of teachers and students in this changing landscape. We hope that our sponsorship of this ebook and other projects will help you, the reader, gain a better understanding of the opportunities that online learning technologies provide, increase your mastery of these solutions, and enable you to put them to productive use. We look forward to working with you as we explore new and effective ways to help teachers teach and learners learn.

CaIlin Pitcher
Product Line Director, Collaboration, Citrix

Comments/disclosure from DSC:
I do not work for Citrix — I have been at Calvin College since
March 2007. I was not paid to develop/contribute this piece.

I’d like to thank David Rogelberg for his work on this project.

Immersive “Holodeck” Classroom with Leap Motion Control

On 10/25/2013, in education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, multimedia, participation, trends, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I’d like to thank Mr. Cal Keen, an incredible technologist
and a great person from Calvin College, for this resource.

.

Also relevant/see this item from educationdive.com:

FROM THE CAMPFIRE TO THE HOLODECK
Author: David Thornburg
Release Date: Available now
Price: $21.64 (Hardcover)

With “From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments,” award-winning futurist and educational consultant David Thornburg sets out to provide schools with a guidebook for transitioning from traditional classrooms and lecture halls to the immersive, student-centered, technologically driven learning experience of tomorrow. That’s where the title comes in, if you haven’t picked up on it yet, as it takes teachers from being the “sage on the stage” dictating everything to students to being the “guide at the side,” facilitating the experience.

Addendum:

Tidebreak Next Generation Mobile App Powers Full-Participation Learning [digitaljournal.com]

On 10/15/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, multi-touch, multimedia, new media literacies, participation, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, tablets, teaching & learning, TVs, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Tidebreak Next Generation Mobile App Powers Full-Participation Learning — from digitaljournal.com

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Mountain View and Anaheim, CA (PRWEB) October 15, 2013

New web app increases collaboration between students and faculty in classroom in BYOD learning environments.

…

“Using technology in the classroom can help spur creativity, increase participation, and foster a collaborative environment,” said Andrew J. Milne, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Tidebreak. “The latest version of Tidebreak’s mobile web app allows students to use any tablet or handheld device to share information with the entire class in real-time. By incorporating mobile web apps into devices that students already own, faculty can improve the learning process by creating a more collaborative environment that encourages active participation.”

The mobile web app from Tidebreak has many new features that will help increase student participation in the classroom. New features that have been incorporated into ClassSpot, ClassSpot PBL and TeamSpot include:

Work “at the board” without getting up – Full keyboard and track pad control from a tablet or phone allows students to collaborate on the large classroom screen in real-time.
Bridge the physical and digital world – Capture and share photos of whiteboard content, physical objects, or images and then share it on-screen or archive it instantly.
Surf and share – Search the web for relevant content and then share it to the main screen, the session archive, or to everyone in the group simultaneously.
Navigate an enhanced design – A great deal of improvement has gone into the user interface which helps generate new ideas among students.

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing [Kelly &Hamm]

On 10/09/2013, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, computer science, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, programming, research, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing — from cup.columbia.edu by John E. Kelly III, Director of IBM Research, and Steve Hamm, writer at IBM and former business and technology journalist

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Computers today are brilliant idiots. They have tremendous capacities for storing information and performing numerical calculations-far superior to those of any human. Yet when it comes to another class of skills, the capacities for understanding, learning, adapting, and interacting, computers are woefully inferior to humans; there are many situations where computers can’t do a lot to help us.

…

But the goal is not to replicate human brains or replace human thinking with machine thinking. Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results, each bringing its own skills to the partnership. The machines will be more rational and analytic-and, of course, possess encyclopedic memories and tremendous computational abilities. People will provide judgment, intuition, empathy, a moral compass, and human creativity.

From DSC:
Consider what Watson “read in” to come up with some recommendations:

Watson

Addendum on 10/14/13 (emphasis DSC):

Watson is being used to assist with the treatment of cancer patients. According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com, Watson is “revolutionizing cancer care and research and speeding up progress for patients.”

In that same article, it mentions that, so far, Watson has ingested:

Over 600,000 pieces of medical evidence
2,000,000 pages of text from 42 academic journals and clinical trials based on oncology research
A huge number of patients’ records spanning decades of cancer treatment history, including medical records and patient outcomes. Watson can sift through 1.5 million pieces of such records and provide doctors with evidence-based treatment options within seconds.

One of IBM’s General Managers who works with Watson said:

“breakthrough capabilities bring forward the first in a series of Watson-based technologies, which exemplifies the value of applying big data and analytics and cognitive computing to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

From DSC:
There’s something here for classrooms/education — even for the living rooms of the future!

Little Mermaid Second Screen Live makes iPads part of the movie world — from gigaom.com by Liz Shannon Miller

Summary:

Disney advertises the Second Screen Live experience as a rebellion: “Break the rules — bring your iPad to the movies!” But it’s less a trip to the movies and more a fully interactive experience.

…

As the film began, so did the games. Most second-screen experiences I’ve tried have been largely passive, but Little Mermaid demanded the audience’s attention right from the beginning with games, trivia questions and other forms of interactivity for all ages.

…

The action on the big screen even froze from time to time for more complex games, and there were moments of seemingly new animation inserted at key plot points, as well.

The new learning dashboard at Khan Academy

On 09/27/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, blended learning, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, online learning, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, by Daniel Christian

Introducing…the Learning Dashboard — from khanacademy.org

Excerpt:

The new learning dashboard is your personal homepage on Khan Academy. The dashboard gives you an easy way to find the best next things for you to do. It has a bunch of really cool things designed to help you learn math, and soon other subjects, really well on your own or with a coach. You can access it when you’re signed in by clicking on the Khan Academy logo at the top of the page.

From DSC:
Think of the power of this in a blended learning environment! Use the dashboard to gain more choice, more control. See your progress. Then go to your teacher, professor, trainer, supervisor, subject matter expert, etc. to get guidance, extra help, etc. It also plays into what I envision in the “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” environment that continues to form in front of our very eyes.

In the future, I have it that this is the type of thing that will be possible from our living rooms [Christian]

On 09/26/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, blended learning, collaboration, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, multi-touch, multimedia, smart classrooms, tools, TVs, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Circle Twelve introduces new video conferencing and immersive multi-user collaboration system — from businesswire.com

DiamondTouch Immersion is a new video conferencing system from Circle Twelve designed for connecting two remotely located teams. It combines a the multi-user DiamondTouch table with a second display for video conferencing. It features several patented technologies, including the multi-user DiamondTouch table hardware used for interacting with shared content and collaborative whiteboarding, a method for indicating which remote user is interacting (check out the virtual arms at 3:45), and a multi-camera system so you can see all the people at the remote table. More information at http://www.circletwelve.com/products/…

From DSC:
Can you imaging this type of web-based collaboration in blended learning environments?!!

Also see:

DiamondTouch Immersion

ChemDraw ~ Favorite Things Series — from collegiatecareercoach.com by Mignon Brooks

Excerpt:

Imagine the capability of sitting in a chemistry classroom where a professor flicks information to the students, and the students flick their answers right back to the professor.

Also see:

ChemDraw: iTunes Preview
Chem 3D: iTunes Preview
Software and Informatics Solutions from Perkin Elmer (also see perkinelmer.com on twitter)
Chem Draw on twitter
ChemDraw hash tag on twitter
Hans Keil on twitter
Operating at the intersection of mobility, collaboration, and science.

From DSC:
I couldn’t locate the relevant information for Flick-to-Share (or did they mean Flick and Share?); however, the idea of swiping to easily and efficiently share files most assuredly is part of the future Smart Classroom. see:

Wow! Those teaching Physics/Science/Art might want to investigate new possibilities w/ Google Glass (& the like)!

On 09/13/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, art, Augmented Reality (AR), biology, chemistry, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, media/film, Michigan, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, physics, platforms, science, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, telepresence, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

A first look at how educators are really using Google Glass — from by Stephen Noonoo

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Per Andrew Vanden Heuvel:

What Glass does offer, Vanden Heuvel said, is a shift in perspective, particularly because teachers can use it as a tool to engage students faster and more easily than before. After returning from Geneva, Vanden Heuvel launched a YouTube channel devoted to his experiments with science–and Glass–called STEMBite. To date, in more than two dozen videos, he’s guided viewers through the physics of ball spin on the tennis court to the polarization of light through (appropriately enough) a pair of glasses.

“What I’m excited by making these videos is not only that they’re filmed with Google Glass, but they’re high engagement videos, so they’re meant to be really short and to get kids to think about how math and science is all around,” he said. “I suppose I could have done that before, but it’s just so easy now.”

Per Hanna Brown:

“I’ve had videos in my classroom before–that’s not a novel thing–but I’ve never been able to take a video from my eye perspective,” said Hannah Brown, another early Glass adopter who works as a high school art teacher at Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an all-online statewide charter school in Ohio.

From DSC:
Virtual field trips, mobile learning, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and other topics come to my mind when I see this.

Will IBM’s Watson — or a similar set of technologies — be a key ingredient of our future MOOCs? [Christian]

On 09/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, blended learning, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, global / globalization, health, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, lifelong learning, marketing/social marketing, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, professional development, research, second screen apps, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, United States, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
IBM Watson continues to expand into different disciplines/areas, which currently include:

Healthcare
Finance
Customer Service

But Watson is also entering the marketing and education/research realms.

I see a Watson-type-of-tool as being a key ingredient for future MOOCs and the best chance for MOOCs to morph into something very powerful indeed — offloading the majority of the workload to computers/software/intelligent tutoring/learning agents, while at the same time allowing students to connect with each other and/or to Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) as appropriate.

The price of education could hopefully come way down — depending upon the costs involved with licensing Watson or a similar set of technologies — as IBM could spread out their costs to multiple institutions/organizations. This vision represents another important step towards the “Walmart of Education” that continues to develop before our eyes.

Taking this even one step further, I see this system being available to us on our mobile devices as well as in our living rooms — as the telephone, the television, and the computer continue to converge. Blended learning on steroids.

What would make this really powerful would be to provide:

The ability to create narratives/stories around content
To feed streams of content into Watson for students to tap into
Methods of mining data and using that to tweak algorithms, etc. to improve the tools/learning opportunities

Such an architecture could be applied towards lifelong learning opportunities — addressing what we now know as K-12, higher education, and corporate training/development.

.

From DSC:
What if the objects you touched you just wanted to know more about…? This could tie into educationally-related applications at that point!

What types of innovative learning experiences can be crafted as “TV” becomes more interactive, participatory, and engaging? [Christian]

On 08/21/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, media/film, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, participation, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, social learning / networks, student-related, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, user experience (UX), user interface design, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The massive convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer continues. How that media gets to us is also changing (i.e. the cord cutting continues).

What types of innovative learning experiences can be crafted as “TV” becomes more interactive, participatory, and engaging? What happens if technologies like WebRTC make their way into our browsers and we can videoconference with each other without having to download anything?

What doors open for for us when Google, Apple, or an Amazon.com delivers your “shows” vs. NBC/ABC/CBS/etc.?

The items below cause me to reflect on those questions…

.

Streaming devices lead the way to Smart TV — from nytimes.com by Brian Stelter

Julia Yellow

.

Is Google ready to buy its way into TV with an NFL deal? — from allthingsd.com by Peter Kafka

Excerpt:

Here’s a fun combination to ponder: The world’s most powerful media company and America’s most popular sport.

That could happen if Google buys the rights to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package, the all-you-can-eat subscription-TV service currently owned by DirecTV.

Cord Cliff Coming: What happens to TV when Netflix streams live events? — from allthingsd.com by Ben Elowitz, CEO, Wetpaint

Addendums on 8/22/13:

CBS, Time Warner Cable, and the Disruption of TV — from newyorker.com by Ken Auletta
Netflix inks exclusive deal for first-run Weinstein films — from cnet.comThe Internet’s biggest on-demand video service will stream movies from the indie film studio before any other pay-TV providers starting in 2016, the same year it kicks off a similar Disney deal.
Vevo reportedly inks music video content deals with Apple and Samsung, Apple TV app could launch this week — from appleinsider.com by AppleInsider Staff
Music video platform Vevo is said to have signed deals with both Apple and Samsung to deliver streaming and on-demand content via set-top boxes and television sets, with a possible Apple TV debut coming as soon as this week.
Disney’s ESPN Holds Preliminary Talks for Web-Based TV –– from bloomberg.com by Christopher Palmeri & Andy Fixmer
Why Apple should buy NFL digital rights — from money.cnn.com by David Goldman
The tv of tomorrow and the living room of the future— from visual.ly <– a very solid infographic

The tv of tomorrow and the living room of the future

by beutlerink.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

Reflections on “FlixMaster changes model; becomes Rapt” [Lindenstein] <- involves interactive/digital video

On 08/02/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, media/film, multimedia, online learning, online media, participation, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, social learning / networks, storytelling, technologies for your home, transmedia, trends, TVs, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

FlixMaster changes model; becomes Rapt — from bcbr.com by Joshua Lindenstein

Excerpts:

BOULDER – Highlighting a shift toward a new model for its interactive online video platform, Boulder-based FlixMaster Inc. this week announced that it is changing its name to Rapt Media Inc.

…

“When we founded FlixMaster, we set out to create the best toolset for video creators wanting to build interactive videos, and we succeeded in doing that that,” Rapt co-founder and chief executive Erika Trautman said in an email. “But as we partnered with really sophisticated companies (like HBO and Maybelline), we realized that our platform and the opportunity it posed was bigger than just interactive video. It was about improving online communication and storytelling through interactivity of all kinds, with video as the central component. Our company had already transitioned to this bigger vision, and we wanted a name that could reflect that vision.

Additional thought from DSC:
This item relates to the convergence of the television, the computer, and the telephone that I’m pulse-checking. I’m hopeful that such a convergence will provide students in the future with 24×7, highly-engaging, interactive, customized/personalized content:

.

More choice. More control.

Learning Ecosystems

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

Immersive “Holodeck” Classroom with Leap Motion Control

See it. Like it. Touch it. Buy it. Some sharp interactive video tech by AVD Digital Media.

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