Well, this should get some design firms interested – Philips Design has entered Second Life. From the Philip’s press release (Link):

Philips Design and Rivers Run Red, the virtual world design agency, have signed a collaboration agreement to establish a Philips Design presence within the imaginary, on-line community known as Second Life. Philips Design intends to use it’s presence in Second Life to gain feedback on innovation concepts, engage residents in co-creation and gain a deeper understanding of potential opportunities in this virtual environment.
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I’ve unfortunately not been able to take the time to get actively involved, but there’s been some decent discussion over on Raph Koster’s blog on the subject of microtransactions. It apparently started with a comment on that Venture Beat article I previously mentioned (reLink), which led to a first MT post, “Are microtransactions actually the future?” (Link) and then a second, current post, “Microtransactions getting a bad name” (Link). Although heavily skewed towards the subject of microtransactions in videogames, it’s worth following if you can spare the time to keep up with the comments.

This is interesting. C|Net has a short piece (Link) announcing a new interface device: the “SpaceNavigator”. From the entry:

A new peripheral from Logitech subsidiary 3D Connexion gives users an additional tool for navigating 3D spaces. … The device was developed in conjunction with Google so that it can work natively with Google Earth.

Interesting that Google is involved in this. In any event, I stopped by the 3Dconnexion website product page (Link) and watched a short video (click on “Learn More”). Neat. But there’s something very familiar about this; I could swear I’ve used something like this somewhere. I just can’t recall when and where. However, it’s great that we’re finally starting to see some new interface solutions popping up, and at $49 it’s an easy stocking stuffer. But this now reminds me – what happened to the Novint Falcon device? Will have to find out.

{Image Copyright ©2006 3Dconnexion}

Interesting piece on Wired titled “Bye Swarmbots, Hello Swarmanoids” (Link). This seems to be an alternative approach to polybots (reLink). From the article:

A team at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium is embarking on a 42-month research project to build and test a 60-strong swarm of small, autonomous robots — the swarmanoid — capable of collaborating in 3-D environments.

I like the division labor approach:

The three types of bots will join forces to create a swarmanoid and perform various jobs. The footbots will transport objects on the ground level, while handbots with specialized climbing and grappling features take to the walls. Some eyebots equipped with visual sensors will operate attached to the ceiling, overseeing the action below and feeding information to their robotic colleagues; others will fly.

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Via Blue’s News I surfed to a short article on futurelooks.com (Link) discussing niche PC case manufacturer NZXT. There are some interesting bits in the write up that includes some back-and-forth with designer Johnny Hou. I have to admit my idea of a custom computer case is more radical than what they’re offering, but I like the approach; especially their setting up a forum to facilitate discussion with their customer base. Worth reading.

{Image Copyright © 2006 NZXT}