Few days back I caught a post on Core about the Michelin design competition. I hadn’t seen the 2006 results (Link) and so have just found some time and stopped by to get a quick glimpse. Wouldn’t you know it, the first one I look at is a skateboard chassis idea called “Nugget” by Christian Ebert. Figures.

There are some interesting concepts in the gallery, and like the person on Core who reminded me about the competition, I find them more interesting than the one’s I’ve been seeing out of the studios lately. Stuff like this definitely makes a case for design coming from the “crowds” (although the counter-argument that designers inside industry better understand limitations to production is hard to beat). I think there’s room for both.

{Image source: Michelin Challenge Design Gallery 2006 (not sure if Christian and others had to hand over their copyrights)}

For anyone still relatively unaware of some of the practical, behavioral issues surrounding virtual world activity, there’s an article on C|Net by regular vr writer Daniel Terdiman which you might wish to read. Titled “Who governs virtual worlds?” (Link), it provides a decent if broad overview of the problems being encountered. For reference, you might also read about a scam (reLink) that was pulled off in the popular “EVE Online” MMORPG; when I was reading the article, that came to my mind.

The punchline, of course, is towards the end: Continue reading →

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.
… Continue reading →

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}