The RoomWare Project Weblog » hardware http://blog.roomwareproject.org Software running in a physical space. Mon, 10 May 2010 13:12:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 tikitag http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/09/09/tikitag-takes-rfid-to-near-consumers/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/09/09/tikitag-takes-rfid-to-near-consumers/#comments Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:06:49 +0000 James http://blog.roomwareproject.org/?p=152

Demo08 profiled a new Alcatel/Lucent supported start-up tikitag. The company sells kits much like the people at Phidgets which connect RFID tags to your computer via a USB connection. Tikitag’s take on this is to enable developers to build new social RFID services. It also is place for people with ideas to connect with developers. Check the video of their founder giving his demo pitch.

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/09/09/tikitag-takes-rfid-to-near-consumers/feed/ 0 The programmable space http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/04/03/the-programmable-space/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/04/03/the-programmable-space/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:53:30 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/04/03/the-programmable-space/ Brady Forest writes on the o’reilly blog on a new product, born at Carnegie Mellon University, called roBlocks. In what seems a trend to create ever more user friendly yet totally geeky hackable hardware this company sells cute little blocks filled with sensors and simple computing hardware that when clicked together can be combined to build simple robots or other fun gadgets. This isn’t your little brothers Lego. Might be just as much fun though. 
pile_of_actuators.jpg   

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/04/03/the-programmable-space/feed/ 0 86 billion RFID chips in 15 years http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/12/86-billion-rfid-chips-in-15-years/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/12/86-billion-rfid-chips-in-15-years/#comments Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:22:10 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/12/86-billion-rfid-chips-in-15-years/ According to this article (in dutch) “scientists” are predicting there will be 86 billion RFID chips in circulation in 2022. With the recent news on hacked RFID security issues this might be both a blessing and a scary thing to look forward too. It does offer lots of intersting opportunities for RFID based interactive applications though.

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/12/86-billion-rfid-chips-in-15-years/feed/ 0 Microsoft Surface http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/09/microsoft-surface/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/09/microsoft-surface/#comments Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:08:37 +0000 James http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/09/microsoft-surface/
surface.jpg

This video really is worth checking out if you want to see how furniture and interaction with screen-based technology and software services are about to arrive near a living room or winebar near you sometime soon. Kudos go to the team at Microsoft for pulling this off.

Included in the demonstration are: – showing how the table links devices to it, enabling easy routes like taking a picture with a bluetooth enabled camera, which immediately appears on surface screen and can then be further manipulated (send to friend, print, etc)
– a wine bar application to help select wine also with a gimmicky wine glass with RFiD or some such id technology so their is retention of object memory even when it is removed from the surface

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/09/microsoft-surface/feed/ 0 Public Multi-touch screens in Korea http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/06/public-multi-touch-screens-in-korea/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/06/public-multi-touch-screens-in-korea/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:26:09 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/06/public-multi-touch-screens-in-korea/ afbeelding-1.png

Futurize korea writes about new outdoor informations systems in Seoul.
Unveiled at the end of November, there’s a “Media Board” for displaying information about Cheonggyecheon along with a “Free Board” from iKorea that lets people email digital postcards to friends along with attaching a photo from the built-in camera.   

The media board is a large flat screen display with a multi-touch interface that allows the user to browse through pictures and videos. There are no instructions posted, so most people that I observed had problems at times with trying to interact with the media board. But if you’ve played around with an iPhone or seen a Microsoft Surface demo it uses similar gestures.

 

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2008/01/06/public-multi-touch-screens-in-korea/feed/ 0 The digg me shirt http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/10/25/the-digg-me-shirt/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/10/25/the-digg-me-shirt/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:40:33 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/10/25/the-digg-me-shirt/ How about instead of uploading parts of your physical life to the internet (pictures, video) you make the internet physical. Both ironic and absolutely sincere at the same time this Digg shirt is a superb concept based on the Digg button set. Now all it’s missing is a bit of wifi to make it actually digg your online persona…

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/10/25/the-digg-me-shirt/feed/ 0 Peer-to-peer mobile trial in Africa http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/19/peer-to-peer-mobile-trial-in-africa/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/19/peer-to-peer-mobile-trial-in-africa/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:09:32 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/19/peer-to-peer-mobile-trial-in-africa/ “People in the developing world could benefit from low-cost telephony if a Swedish firm succeeds in its launch of peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile phone technology.

TerraNet, a startup from the university town of Lund, has developed the technology that allows people to communicate over a distance of 20km without mobile phone base stations.”

Peer-to-peer mobile trial in Africa – vnunet.com

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/19/peer-to-peer-mobile-trial-in-africa/feed/ 1 The iPhone is the network? http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/15/the-iphone-is-the-network/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/15/the-iphone-is-the-network/#comments Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:42:06 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/15/the-iphone-is-the-network/ Robert X Cringely in his yesterday column predicts Google buying the 700mhz license and rolling out a wireless network together with Apple. I think Cringely might have hit the nail right on the head with this one. A distributed WiMAX like network based on portable (iphone) and consumer (airport) devices would actually work. Technically it has already been proven to work by a few WiMAX companies. But with the muscle of Google and Apple behind it it will actually work commercially too.

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/09/15/the-iphone-is-the-network/feed/ 0 BugLabs – opening up hardware launch http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/08/02/buglabs-opening-up-hardware-launch/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/08/02/buglabs-opening-up-hardware-launch/#comments Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:53:25 +0000 James http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/08/02/buglabs-opening-up-hardware-launch/ buglabs2.PNG

“Look out for BugLabs, a stealthy startup with an audacious aim: to do for consumer electronics what open source, “web 2.0″, XML, APIs and the rest did for the web. In essence, a sudden outpouring of innovation once everyone has the tools to create; I guess you could call it open source gadgets. From the site:

Bug Labs is developing BUG, an open, modular, consumer electronics web services + hardware platform. Designed for the general audience, not just the technically inclined, BUG is intended to bring to the world of hardware gadgets what the Internet, open source, XML and web services have brought to the world of software and media.

BugLabs is backed by New York-based Union Square Ventures, which funded del.icio.us, Feedburner, Tacoda and recently Twitter.

It’ll combine software and hardware, although exact details on the device they’re building aren’t available – Dave Winer spoke to the CEO and gives some thoughts. Hardware plays always seem riskier due to the real-world costs involved, but with new devices like the iPhone being more closed and proprietary than ever, its a movement that could gain steam, whether or not this product does.”

via Mashable

]]> http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/08/02/buglabs-opening-up-hardware-launch/feed/ 1 Just In Time Watch http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/02/22/just-in-time-watch/ http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/02/22/just-in-time-watch/#comments Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:55:06 +0000 Tijs Teulings http://blog.roomwareproject.org/2007/02/22/just-in-time-watch/ I had a conversation last pussycatlounge drinking fest on combining personal feeds in more useful ways and whaddaya know, someone already built the prototype; JITWatch – the »Just in Time Watch« by Martin Frey

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