Archive by Author
Alex Dodge’s Sleep Talker
Alex Dodge’s new Generative series was recently on display at Brooklyn’s Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery. Featured are works like the Sleep Talker, an experimental prototype for social networking in your sleep—connecting users via “dream feeds.” “When the software detects synchronous or compatible dream sleep, it attempts to pair [it] with either a predesignated user over [...]
read moreBertolt Brecht, adaptive apps, and why the iPad isn’t just for consuming content
Media theorists love Bertolt Brecht’s famous 1932 essay, “The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication.” It’s a prescient call for participatory technology: “…radio is one-sided when it should be two-. It is purely an apparatus for distribution, for mere sharing out. So here is a positive suggestion: change this apparatus over from distribution to communication. [...]
read moreMarie Chouinard’s bODY_rEMIX/ gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS
Montreal’s Compagnie Marie Chouinard‘s 2005 work, bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS employs ten dancers who “execute variations on the exercise of freedom. Often, the dancers appear on points: on one, two, and even four at a time. In a spectroscopy of the gesture, we also see them using different devices – crutches, rope, prostheses, horizontal bars, and harnesses – [...]
read moreEmotiv’s EPOC neuroheadset
Tan Le and the Emotiv group’s neuroheadset was recently demonstrated at TED; video below, and worth watching! The headset is a customizable device that reads commands via thoughts—stunning. The end of the video also shows its relevance for wheelchair users. Thanks, Jennifer Grant, for the link!
read morethe Wiicane
The Wiicane by Touch Graphics: “a system for promoting proper use of the long cane in orientation and mobility training for young children and others. WiiCane uses Wii motion tracking technology to provide real-time feedback as users walk up and down a 30′ long indoor course. By practicing with WiiCane, some users may learn to [...]
read morethe walklet
San Francisco’s REBAR group has a design that reclaims public recreation space from parking spots. Adaptation and accessibility written all over this: They call it a “modular public park.” via PSFK.
read moremusic for deaf “hearers”
This collar by German designer Frederik Podzuweit creates music for deaf people—through skin vibration. Apparently the transmission of electricity through the device to the neck, collarbone and shoulders creates a very rich experience of music—triggering the same parts of the brain, adapted for those who don’t hear with their ears—as those used for normative aural [...]
read more“I am, rather, an impresario of scientists.”
Stefany Anne Goldberg examines Jacques Cousteau’s life of exploration and discovers a big dreamer. Cousteau was a storyteller, and only able to gather support for his projects as long as he was able to ignite the interest of collaborators. “I am not a scientist,” Cousteau told The Christian Science Monitor in 1986. “I am, rather, [...]
read morerebecca horn’s ‘finger gloves’
Rebecca Horn‘s Finger Gloves, from 1974. I’ve included a video of the gloves in action below; you only need to watch the beginning to get a sense for how they work. In Barcelona as a young artist in the early 1960s, Horn was working with glass fiber without a mask. Unaware of any harm, Horn [...]
read moregesture-based computing
More gadgetry that wasn’t created as adaptive tech, but could be used to extend accessibility for motor-impairments. I think we’ve seen this idea in the movies; these prototype gloves look promising: “A pair of lycra gloves — with 20 irregularly shaped patches in 10 different colors — held in front of a webcam can generate [...]
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