Monthly Archives: June 2009

Geisha Tokyo’s AR Figure

designboom writes about Geisha Tokyo’s AR figure. The AR figure consists of a large cube with different codes printed on the faces, along with a smaller cube that also has codes on the faces. When placed in front of a webcam, the figure is displayed, and the smaller cube can be used to interact with (read “accost and molest”) her. (Video after the jump.)

The only time I’ve used this sort of AR was the last time I was at the LEGO store in San Jose. It’s kind of an odd experience, if you hold the box at the wrong angle, the image completely disappears; but I think the biggest thing is the lack of tactile feedback. Still, this kind of AR is something I find interesting, if for no other reason than novelty. Someday, in my copious free time, I’ll have to check out AR Toolkit and try my own AR project.

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Watermarks


Last February Chris Bodle Watermarks Project was a series of projections throughout Bristol, England that illustrated high-tide water levels if the Greenland ice shelf would melt.

I really like BLDGBLOG thoughts about this project. How idea of projecting a different geography over the current geography. A kind of public augmented reality.

I would love for something like Watermarks to change people’s attitudes and motivate the radical changes that are needed, but it won’t. We’re doomed, by our own hubris.

Panic’s Founders’ Room

I’ve always been fascinated with hiding places. When I was little, my dad put a wall safe in my room for me. To this day, it still hold my pirate booty, a small brass chest containing a variety of foreign coins, and a collection of uncirculated commemorative coins from the US Mint. But what I really wanted was a hidden room. The closest I ever saw the house my friend Josh and his mom moved to. All the bedrooms on the top floor were interconnected via doors in the closets. Kind of strange, but pretty cool, or at least it was cool to 12 year old Jonathan.

Portland OR’s (or “Portland West,” as I have just decided it should be known as) Panic Software moved into new offices at the beginning of the year. Normally, this wouldn’t be newsworthy, but the offices have a very stylish hidden room. The leather chairs, and the worn leather bound books just call out for drinking a sherry while wearing an ascot, french cuffs, a monocle, and a cigarette holder.

Colonel Noseworthy and the Haberdashery Campaign indeed.