UXbyDesign: A User Experience Blog by Bradley Hebdon

Pastiche: Keyword-Based Virtual Tourism

Posted on 01. Mar, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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When most of us think of virtual tourism, we envision a Google Earth-esque satellite overview of a city; Pastiche heads in the other direction entirely with its text-based interface.Rather than navigating the foreign territory of a map, Pastiche allows you to explore the neighborhoods of New York City through tags and keywords that are linked [...]

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Text-to-Voice Wand: The "Voice Stick"

Posted on 01. Mar, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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The ‘Voice Stick’ concept enters to revolutionize the life of the visually impaired and offer a breath of fresh high-tech air to script recognition. Designed by Sung Woo Park, the cutting-edge device is a portable text scanning tool, utilizing the OCR function to identify text and convert this information into voice. This advanced technology allows [...]

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The Credit Crisis Visualized

Posted on 20. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis. By Jonathan Jarvis. Watch Part 2 of the video here > The above video is a great example of using visualization to explain an incredibly complex and intimidating theme. While on the topic of the credit crisis, below are some additional examples of how visualization can [...]

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Top 20 Internet Millionaires under 30

Posted on 18. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Want to feel old and inadequete? Here are the current top 20 Internet millionaires, all under 30 years of age. When you consider how long some of these websites have been going, you have to take a few years off their current ages to get the full perspective. I think it’s safe to say that [...]

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Latest Research: Twitter is better than Facebook and LinkedIn for business

Posted on 18. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Abrams Research recently surveyed 200 social media leaders made up of founders, bloggers, journalists, entrepreneurs and members of the Twitterati. The questions were posed at Social Media Week on February 13, 2009. While the respondents don’t represent the best sample size/type, it’s still an interesting bit of research to discuss. The Key Findings: Businesses need to rush to Twitter [...]

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Nano Ink "Tattoos": the next user interface?

Posted on 17. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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A special tattoo ink that changes color based on glucose levels inside the skin is under development by Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratories. The injectable nanotech ink could eventually free diabetics from painful blood glucose tests. “It doesn’t have to be a large, over-the-shoulder kind of tattoo,” said Heather Clark, a scientist at Draper. “It would only [...]

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Buying experiences lead to greater happiness

Posted on 15. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Can money make us happy if we spend it on the right purchases? A new psychology study suggests that buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them. The study demonstrates that experiential purchases, such as a meal out or theater tickets, result in increased [...]

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IBM patents Matrix-style, bullet dodging armor

Posted on 15. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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IBM was recently granted a patent for bionic body armor, originally filed last March, that’s intended to enable the wearer to dodge bullets. The device works by constantly emitting electromagnetic waves that bounce off any fast-moving projectiles. If the object in question is determined to be a threat, muscle stimulators activate and cause the wearer’s [...]

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TV in your contact lens? Grow up 007.

Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Miniaturization of circuits and displays could lead to televisions shrunk into contact lenses and being powered by body heat, according to British futurologist Ian Pearson. Channels could be changed using voice commands or gestures, Pearson told The Daily Mail. “You will just pop it into your eye in the morning and take it out at [...]

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Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Posted on 09. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Amazon will releasee its 2nd version of the Kindle on 2/24/2009, and what’s really interesting is how Amazon is not calling it an “e-book reader”, but rather a “wireless reading device”. It certainly sounds more sophisticated and might compel customers to cough up the $359 being asked. Kindle 2 features: Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, [...]

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Mozilla Labs: Ubiquity Updated

Posted on 08. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon.

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Ubiquity has just been updated, giving it a significant speed bump over previous versions. Check out the complete overview here > Ubiquity’s goals are to: Empower users to control the web browser with language-based instructions. (With search, users type what they want to find. With Ubiquity, they type what they want to do.) Enable on-demand, user-generated [...]