On the 25th of July Virtual Reality specialist Dr. Randy Pausch passed away. The remarkable story of his life ended with knowing he was about to die while in otherwise ‘perfect’ health. With his”Last Lecture” tour,  Dr. Pausch inspired me and millions of others in ways of experience design, and a number of valuable lessons [...]

Posted on: July 26, 2008 | No Comments »

When I talk about ‘the immersion in virtual worlds’ it’s not uncommon I get a questioning look. Most of the time I use a simplified example of the Matrix - The Matrix illustrates complete, 100% artificial ‘immersion’ into virtuality. At first I get a smile and something along the lines of: “yes, but we don’t [...]

Posted on: June 10, 2008 | 4 Comments »

Catching up on 560 unread items items in my Google reader I found the most interesting bit of information in a comment on Au’s piece in Businessweek on the ’supposed death of marketing in Second Life’. The article itself didn’t cover anything we haven’t heard a million times over (foster the community, be remarkable to [...]

Posted on: June 5, 2008 | 6 Comments »

Every time I see digital technology move away from our traditional desk top set up (desk, chair, PC, 17′+ monitor) I get excited about the new opportunities of breaking this static environment of interaction with data. When the Wii introduced a mainstream audience to alternative ways to interact with applications I was shocked at how [...]

Posted on: May 14, 2008 | No Comments »

Earth (and beyond) is getting rapidly digitalized and mapped. If you use this data in rich, interactive presentations we speak of a ‘mirror world’ - an exact replica of reality in a virtual environment. This is different from the Virtual world because a virtual world is not made to reflect the physical world, but rather [...]

Posted on: March 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Just when I was wondering what’s taking 3D goggles with head tracking so long to become a mainstream product (I mean, how much would 2 mobile phone screens, 2 webcams and 2 infra red lights mounted on a pair of goggles cost these days?), I noticed this peculiar post on Phones Review.co.uk. Apparently KPCB’s iFund [...]

Posted on: March 10, 2008 | 8 Comments »

Replicating the five senses (vision, touch, smell, sound, taste) in virtual environments has been an inspiration for science fiction for as long as the genre has been around. Complete immersion in Virtual Worlds such as ‘the Matrix’ or ‘Snow Crash’ always seems to be the ‘final step’ into virtuality. But how far are we really [...]

Posted on: February 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »

On the internet we present ourselves differently to different audiences. Of course this is not a purely digital phenomena, but the internet has greatly amplified our need, and ability to do so. As Joseph B. Walther, a professor of communication and telecommunication at Michigan State University, told the New York Times in a recent interview, [...]

Posted on: January 27, 2008 | 5 Comments »