Ubicomp / Timo Arnall

Category Archives: Ubicomp

Touch

4 September 2006 – 11:22

Early in 2005 I drafted a project together with the Oslo School of Architecture & Design that was designed to look at Near Field Communication (NFC) with an interaction design and user-centred perspective. In December 2005 the project was funded in full by the Research Council of Norway. So since March 2006 we have been setting up the project and conducting preliminary exploratory research work. You can see our ongoing process on the project weblog (and pick up the RSS feed too).

By Timo | Also posted in Mobility, Project, Research, Technology | Comments (0)

Augmented reality experiments

29 August 2006 – 12:59

A year ago, Even and I played around for an afternoon with ARtoolkit, an open-source application for handling Augmented Reality objects: physical markings that when processed through a video camera can be augmented with 3D digital objects.

By Timo | Also posted in Architecture, Graphic design, Information design, Interaction design, Play, Research | Comments (2)

The address book desk

16 December 2005 – 0:36

For the last couple of weeks I have been experimenting with tagging personal space with NFC. This started by embedding RFID tags in my desk, to use it as an information surface for contacts, SMSes and links.

By Timo | Also posted in Interaction design, Project, Research | Comments (19)

About

Timo Arnall is a designer working with interactive products and media. Timo leads an international research project on mobile technology, collaborates on interaction design work and lectures in design, physical computing and design methodology. More...

Selected recent photos

31 August, 12.46

31 August, 11.56

30 August, 15.32

29 August, 12.27

28 August, 13.00

24 August, 16.52

24 August, 14.32

23 August, 13.40

Recent links
Unanswered questions about the Oyster NFC trial
"I see no advantage to the involvement of an operator in the value chain at all - apart from specifying NFC chips in future handsets. I don't buy the idea that Londoners would want out travel expenses appearing on the same bill as postpaid phone usage, and prepay users would almost certainly prefer two different "buckets" for transport and communications for ease of budgeting."
Diagrams and visuals in anthropology
"I have always bristled at the notion that anthropologists are more textually-oriented than visual, that somehow there is no culture of the visual in the field."
O2 hails success of Oyster-phone trial
"Key issues for consumers that could influence take-up are the choice of NFC handsets (all testers used a Nokia 6131 clamshell NFC phone); user interface; the range of applications that can be loaded onto a mobile wallet — with participants keen to be able to carry other cards on their phones, particularly store-loyalty cards — and security around the system."
SoftBank Mobile testing smart movie posters
"The tests, which are designed to help the companies evaluate the effectiveness and potential of NFC smart posters as a promotional medium, could be a sign of things to come in the field of poster advertising. Should NFC smart posters become cheap and easy to produce, they have the potential to replace the ubiquitous QR (2D) code that commonly appears in Japanese advertising posters. NFC is seen as more convenient than QR code because the user does not have to scan a code and visit a separate website to view the data. Instead, digital content can be accessed directly with a simple swipe of the phone."
Whatever happened to Availabot?
"We decided to treat Availabot as a world probe: it was decided that we would take Availabot through to the position of being factory ready, and in the process learn as much as possible about the processes of manufacture, and how to develop these kind of complex products with so many moving parts."
International journal of design
"The International Journal of Design invites papers on a wide range of topics, including the following: Social-Cultural Aspects of Design, Globalization and Localization Approaches to Design, Design Strategy and Management, Ergonomics and Perceptions in Design, Design Theories and Methodologies, Computer Applications in Design"
lifeviNe
"As well as tagging all your media’s locations the app will also track where you’ve been (so you need to be careful when you have it switched on!), and plot your journey on the web based map when you sync it at the end of the day. Uploading is a cinch too, as lifeviNe can be set to automatically upload whenever you’re in a trusted wireless zone.”
Dodging augmented urban spam
"My concern is that we'll end up blundering into cities plastered with the equivalent of flash banners and microsites. Which is bad enough when they're on our screens but will be horrible when they're everywhere we go."
Hands-on look at USB 3.0
"The wireless USB is also getting upgraded to version 1.1, and will include ultra-wide band frequency support and Near Field Communication for near-instant swipe-based syncing."
RFID, a key to automating everything
Scientific American: "Today systems based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology are helping to move Weiser’s vision closer to reality."
AHOi!
AHO interaction design
Anyone using MINT?
"This is kind of mind-blowingly good, but Citibank doesn't support them (only Quicken!) which is kind of a dealberaker. Here's my AmEx and Mastercard, btw."
Japan wants to sell you a wallet phone
"In an age of cell phones, where everyone is walking around with a battery-operated, wirelessly connected computer, why are we still carrying around these lame slices of plastic whose sold function is to hold a thin magnetic strip full of data?"
MiFare RFID crack in 12 seconds
"It seems that all these wireless technologies are hyped for comfort, mostly," said Nohl. "Swiping a card is presented as cumbersome, whereas tapping a card is considered fancy and new. At the same time, these technologies are not really understood in terms of threat models."
Mass customisation and mobile phones
"The initial reason for the 5110’s changeable cover was nothing to do with offering consumers choice though, rather it was an early attempt to employ just in time manufacturing in response to customer demand."
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