Shawn Kelshaw

What Do FlashForward, LOST, the World Wide Web, and CERN All Have in Common?

Shawn — Sat, 07 May 2011 08:56:12 +0000

In 1954 the European Council for Nuclear Research, CERN, was formed in Europe to study pure physics concentrating on understanding the inside of the atom
In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. He was a scientist at CERN
December 1991 — the first Web server was installed outside the European continent… at the U.S.A. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, SLAC
In February of 1993 the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released the first version of Mosaic; making the Web available to people using PCs and Apple computers
In the ABC television series, FlashForward, characters upload the visions of their futures experienced during their blackouts to a Web site managed by the F.B.I. The name of the F.B.I. Web site is Mosaic.
In 2008, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) cranks up; the largest atom smashing facility in the world. Some skeptics believe the science conducted there could create a black hole… which will devour our planet.
ABC has released two television series, FlashForward and LOST. Both of these series allude to elements of quantum mechanics, time travel and energy manipulation.
In the ABC television series, FlashForward, the characters experience blackouts due to experimental energy bursts. These bursts are measured in tera electron volts (TeV).
On March 30, 2010, CERN announced the LHC had successfully conducted proton collisions at 7 TeV (3.5 TeV for each proton beam). This experiment marked the first ever collisions done at this energy level and is the precursor to the 14 TeV experiment scheduled for the near distant future.
In the ABC television series, LOST, it has been alluded to that the Island is merely a cork keeping a large amount of “evil” energy at bay. Should the cork pop, evil itself would spread all over the planet; devouring everything in its path.

Experiments at CERN’s LHC will undoubtedly revolutionize our understanding of matter itself and marks the beginning of a new era in science. If theories are correct (and the evidence of the mysterious Higgs Boson particle can be produced) a unified theory will certainly be on the horizon. If so, it would not be unlikely that scientists will begin to unlock the mysteries behind the Uncertainty Principle which holds us back from predicting the future and time travel.

Resources:

European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN)
ABC, American Broadcasting Company
The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene
PBS.org (Nova | The Elegant Universe)
Wikepedia
W3.org

Will Augmented Reality Save Print Media?

Shawn — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:46:05 +0000

It’s no secret technology continues to invent new and interesting ways to disseminate and consume information. Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the new and exciting interactive technologies that you might start seeing more of. What is AR? AR allows a consumer to hold a piece of printed material to a Web camera to expose deeper interactive features. Behind the scenes, an application (Adobe Flash-based) is talking to the camera’s video stream and will look for a certain shape within that stream. If the shape is found, the application will present a whole new Web experience right on the user’s computer screen.

So now we see the internet bringing print media and Web media closer together as opposed to pushing the two mediums apart. Will this technology save print? Maybe… as it seems promising to offer a whole new realm of marketing and advertising potential. Imagine being able to hold up a printed advertisement for…let’s say…an iPad…to your Web camera that allows you to rotate the object in 3D space. Pretty cool.

In the coming weeks I hope to explore how Adobe Flash and Flex handle this technology so stay tuned for a critique. In the meantime, if you wanna give it a try yourself, check out GE’s Eco-Imagination Web site. You’ll need two things:

Print out this pattern on your inkjet printer
A Web cam that allows Adobe Flash access

The smaller center window in the image above demonstrates how holding up the printed pattern to my Web cam produces the interactive experience on my screen.

Collaborating During the Wireframe Stage

Shawn — Fri, 06 May 2011 07:49:00 +0000

I was reading up on Linowski’s Wireframe blog and came across several incredible apps that appeal to hashing out user interface design for those more complex team projects. The benefits of using tools like Twiddla and Blueprint are to mitigate user interface flaws before serious production or prototyping begins. Moving the user through information as quickly and conveniently (both from a technical standpoint and a user intuition standpoint) are paramount in today’s near real-time world. It is crucial to keep the user focused and utilizing tools like these assure the production path is sound.

In the past, I’ve used the Livescribe SmartPen that can capture audio as well which comes in handy for note-taking at high level brainstorming sessions. If the creative team can’t all be present you can always carry the pen back to the group for an accurate followup at a later time. The Livescribe SmartPen does require special paper (that you can print from any inkjet printer) in order to plot the pen movements as sketches are realized. This can be a hurdle for participants who are present via phone conference. So between apps like Twiddla, Bluepring and hardware like Livescribe, the ability to sketch and realize user interface potential and limitations can be achieved with relative ease and quickness before ever consuming internal production resources.