I need to read that report I mentioned earlier (reLink) to see if someone has already discussed the concept I raised on the SL Future Salon site. Basically, the idea is that one “object” (real or virtual) can spawn an object in the “other world”. If it’s virtual, then it’s easy enough to fabricate since that’s what we mostly already do when we manufacture stuff. If it’s real, that’s not difficult either, since we can reverse engineer it using a 3D x-ray or laser scanner and pop it into the virtual domain (it doesn’t need to be represented in 3D, but the data needs to be there since that’s part of the real object’s definition). Obviously code itself is easily moved between the two.

The objects remain in communication throughout their lifespan. When one object “dies” its information is carried forward by the other (a physical object can wear out; a virtual object’s code could require an update – think of all the things that break in Second Life when the client gets updated). That information can then be used to create an upgraded replacement by using the original data and adding anything that was learned by either object since inception. In a way, it’s very much like DNA, only in this specific way, you get the widest kind of diversity possible – with only two objects – to ensure mutual survival.

I’m not sure what this would be called. This isn’t a blogject. I don’t think this is a spime anymore. Symbiotic spimes? Heck, for all I know this has been discussed and already given a name by Sterling. To be honest, I’ve not really paid that much attention (I should read his book I guess; and there are at least two talks of his online to which I could listen). Anyone know?

{Update: Okay. I’m listening to Sterling’s SXSW talk now. I recall most of that list of 6 things that define a “spime”. And the part where he says spimes are “virtual objects first and actual objects second” reminds me why his idea didn’t really resonate with me: I already know that … because it’s what I do for a living. I design products, generate 3D CAD for them, and (sometimes) they’re fabricated in factories. For me their existence is sometimes only virtual, since I can design and CAD something and never see an actual physical object (my last design is like that).

The only part that was of interest to me when I first heard it (iirc) was his idea regarding the integrated electronics; the ability to tag an object with an RFID and have it as part of a larger system – mostly as a means to develop a “cradle-to-grave” system. But that didn’t do anything I’d not previously considered. The RadTag project already clued me into that sort of concept (my thanks to Regina Bobroske, a marketing friend, because it was while sending her an email explaining an earlier, non-networked version of the RadTag concept that I suddenly realized how it could be part of a bigger, socially-networked system). So that idea wasn’t new to me either.

So much for that. Now, if you’d like to read about some cool, related ideas from other designers, then take a look through some of the entries in the Design Slam Competition (Link) I set up over on the Core77 forum. Some related ideas also bubbled up independently among those folks. I wish I could point out which entries, but it’s been too long.

That said, I don’t think the “spime” idea extends to what I’m thinking now. However, I’ll have to next read that blogject report.}

Very cool development out of the Lone Star state where University of Texas at Dallas researchers have made an announcement. From the U.T. Dallas press release (Link):

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) nanotechnologists have made alcohol- and hydrogen-powered artificial muscles that are 100 times stronger than natural muscles, able to do 100 times greater work per cycle and produce, at reduced strengths, larger contractions than natural muscles. Among other possibilities, these muscles could enable fuel-powered artificial limbs, “smart skins” and morphing structures for air and marine vehicles, autonomous robots having very long mission capabilities and smart sensors that detect and self-actuate to change the environment.
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The new muscles simultaneously function as fuel cells and muscles, according to Baughman, corresponding author of the Science article.
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Application opportunities, Baughman said, are diverse, and range from robots and morphing air vehicles to dynamic Braille displays and muscles powered by the fuel/air mixture delivered to an engine that are able to regulate this mixture.

The morphability of this material raises some very interesting possibilities.

Remember that virtual sensory idea I’d been bouncing around the inside of my skull and to which I alluded earlier (reLink)? This is exactly the kind of technology I kept dreaming about but was always having to work around. This stuff could pave the way to sensory suits (“SenSuits”) – body suits that are worn like a wetsuit and which transmit “touch” sensory data to the wearer’s skin via a morphable interior lining. This would create a significantly more immersive telepresence experience.

There is just not enough…

Major kudos to the people involved in this breakthrough. Amazing work. I wish society treated them the way it does movie stars and athletes.

via Robot Cafe

{Image source: U.T. Dallas}

Cool little story over on C|Net called “Video game therapy–a new frontier” (Link). I usually talk about blurring lines between work and play, but here there are blurring lines between healing and playing. I guess maybe healing is really just another form of working. Anyway, this reminds me of other stories, most especially those concerning Iraq war veterans using videogames to deal with their trauma.

Always nice to read articles where technology, once considered pretty useless by so many (just the way home computers were generally considered useless by the public in the early 80’s), winds up having such a wonderful impact. Good read for the weekend.

It’s both a bit odd and pretty cool seeing the core idea behind my RadTag concept take off like it has (you can see just the support images for that thing on my Coroflot page – Link; other discussion and links you can pick up from my earlier post – reLink) .

I’ve been slowly starting up a conversation about this on the Core forum (Link), but while that remains mostly ignored, I’m finding plenty of conversation elsewhere. I’m thinking maybe the Industrial Design community just isn’t the best place right now for these sorts of discussions. A shame since IDer’s are generally at the crossroads of so many relevant disciplines.

In any event, while doing a little surfing, I came across a post on Julian Bleecker’s blog (Link) that contains a link to a report from a workshop called “Blogjects and the new ecology of things”. I’ve not yet read the report, but will hopefully find time next week. It should be interesting.

{btw, I was going to post a “Thank You” on Julian’s blog, but it identified me as a spammer; apparently my new IP address had been previously misused. Oh well. Hopefully if he stops by, he’ll read it here.}

Okay, Curt Schilling is a pitcher, but you get the idea. From the Kotaku.com website (Link):

Red Sox pitcher and World Series MVP Curt Schilling has a new endorsement deal: online games. The die-hard EverQuest II fan has been spotted out and about in Magic Kingdom flying his MMORPG colors.
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There’s no end to it, the world is enormous, the possibilities are endless, and above all else, it’s a place to go and relax amongst friends. What I can’t get enough of is your ability to interact with real live people.

Maybe it’s time for some new kinds of mashups in the entertainment world. What do you think about these:

{I’ll stay clear of mashing up basketball. Now is not the best time to go suggesting something like Bracket Fairy Basketball.}

via Blue’s News