FogScreen

The future is upon us! Actually, it's not that new, I first heard about FogScreen a few years ago, but now they've got something to look at. Check this out.

FogScreen, as the name implies, is a screen made out of fog. It's like any screen that images and media would be projected upon, but the light from the projector is actually reflected from minuscule droplets of water instead of a solid surface. The effect looks like a hologram. Obviously anything remotely holographesque is by it's very nature cool in that nerdy sci-fi use of the word cool.

They position the technology as a marketing display tool or nifty element for a swanky nightclub. But screens are also big in meetings. We meeting nerds also deserve access to these novelties.

Replacing a regular screen in a meeting with one of these would be sacrificing some image quality for coolness sake. Possibly worthwhile, depending on the objectives of the meeting. Spectacle can be a good icebreaker. But apparently there is greater advantage than spectacle now. Somehow (I have to assume it's magic), the FogScreen can now be used as a touch-screen. Gathering people around something similar to a hologram and having them manipulate images or documents may be a legitimate benefit over existing options because people can view it from all angles.

Sourcing the Network

A few colleagues and I have been looking at creating a social map to see the pre and post conference connections of Designing and Implementing Multidisciplinary Collaborations. The objective is to see if people were able to form new connections at the meeting, and eventually to gauge whether or not those connections resulted in collaborations.


We have gathered some very simple data, just asking people who the met that they didn't know before. But what are we to do with this data? I've downloaded a few evaluation versions of complex mapping solutions like NetMiner, but they do way more than I need them to. They are very foreign to me. So, I decided to ask the Value Networks discussion group if they were aware of any solutions an ignoramus could employ to create a visual map of the dynamic connectivity resulting from this conference.


The results were interesting. A few of the options and the kind folks who generously suggested them are below, and I suggest you check them out to see the range of functionality and usability. I haven't got enough experience to offer valid insight of any kind on these, but I hope to soon.

• OpenBeacon and SocioPatterns courtesy of Victoria Axelrod
• Pajek courtesy of Don Steiny
• ONA Survey Tool courtesy of Cory Banks
• Atlas by IBM courtesy of David Coleman
• introNetworks courtesy of Kim Patrick Kobza
• Optimice Accelerated Networking courtesy of Laurance Lock Lee

For me, the cool options are only part of what makes these responses exciting. The other part is the value of being able to access a network like this, with such a wealth of knowledge in this area. These people and several others that responded are leaders in this field, and each took the time to offer some neutral commentary on their suggestions as well as asking some important questions that perhaps I hadn't asked myself. Simple networking tools like discussion groups are such great enablers for connecting, accessing insight, and sharing.

There is a lot of value in network mapping of meetings that most of us aren't thinking enough about yet. But I think we're not even making proper use of the basics. A discussion group as a supplement to a meeting could be great, given the appropriate critical mass of contributors.

Movement Tracking

Cool toy from Samsung et al that tracks motion to operate the systems (games systems, for example) within a TV screen. It's like the next generation of Wii remote, which is no remote at all - you just move around and control the software with your gestures.

Gaming is the obvious application. For some reason, it's an advertising agency that's developing and releasing the system in tandem with Samsung. I don't get it. Interactive advertising through gaming, I suppose.

What I see as being the opportunity with this technology is the possibility of groups manipulating images, documents and models on a screen using motion. The combination of visual and kinesthetic aspects of a such an approach to collaborating around a program or virtual space is promising. Much like previous surface computing and visualization technologies I've posted on, but without the nuisance of having to touch stuff, which may or may not have cooties.

Mapping of the Mind

I'm a big fan of mind mapping software for brainstorming, project management/planning, and other functions. It's one of those technologies that's easy to fall in love with, so one has to take care not to get carried away with overusing it, and letting the medium dominate the message. An example is trying too hard to squeeze it into a meeting. I think mind maps are great for documenting and synopsis of meetings, but running presentations from them is awkward at best.

I've been using Mindjet Mindmapper to graphically capture and plot out thoughts for several years now. I'm becoming nervous now that my trusted standby is going to be outdated quickly with the emergence of open source web-based mappers. I'd tested out bubbl.us and was unimpressed by and large, but the price is just right. It's fine for basic brainstorming.

The real threat comes from mindmeister. This allows you to create and collaborate on maps of this "interweb", but also gives you the ability to import maps from other sources, such as... Mindjet! I strongly suggest checking this out and registering.

My hope is that free and open mindmapping solutions will make the world more proficient with use of the software, and creative and logical with its application.

Beyond YouTube

Specialized video sharing sites are emerging all the time. The most intriguing are the ones that, like YouTube, are populated and somewhat maintained by users. This form of crowdsourcing is a collaborative effort that relies on the collective intelligence of the forum to produce the richest product.

YouTube is an incredible phenomenon not only worthy of praise for how it has distributed content creation and sharing, but also because of how influential it has been in spinning off specialized incarnations. The more narrow focus ones are very useful for communities and networks to publish and share. This pervasive media platform has or will realize improved ways for communities to share information resulting from efforts to meet and leverage the medium.

One such community is the scientific community. For centuries scientific documentation has been invaluable... but kinda boring. Even scientists are being challenged to present beyond the lecture and the printed word via SciVee. There are so many fascinating things to learn here. Not just about the subject matter, but also about ways to present technical information in a sensible, digestible, and engaging way.

The power of presentation seen at work on SciVee is valuable for any knowledge sharing or future building group engagement.

Surface Computing

Check out this clip about a table or wall surface that is a computer monitor... and touch-screen interface. Very cool.

It allows for the typical touch-screen functionality, but with the ability to merge files more readily, and it even interacts with other devices. For example, you could rest a camera right on the flat surface, and extract files from it and add files to it by dragging and dropping.

This kind of visibility and tactility is very important for some people. Naturally, I'm thinking of applications in a collaborative meeting setting. Imagine people working with the information on a screen rather than just reading it on a PowerPoint slide as someone dictates. People could really be operating with the literal big picture, and manipulating it and co-creating a visual model with the depth of files and links. Sounds great to me.

Similar things are happening at Autodesk. Autodesk fellow, innovation authority, Viz Biz author (coming soon, hopefully), visualization master, and one of the more interesting guys I've met; Tom Wujec, displays the Touch Wall here.

Collaborative technologies won't be complete until they enable powerful visual and tactile interface options. Any examples of this happening effectively, augmented by cool technology or not?