Telegraph article by Matthew Moore (10 Nov 2008) ‘Odourprinting’ could be used to identify people:

Human beings could one day be identified by our smells, according to research that shows individual “odourprints” cannot be masked by diet. […] Eating powerful foods such as chili or garlic may change how we smell, but it does not disguise our underlying genetically-determined aroma, tests on mice have shown. Creatures who were given strong-smelling foods were still recognised by their peers.

Information via We Make Money Not Art… Regine’s delicious bookmarks.

Screenshot from businessweek

“To create Adour’s virtual sommelier, the first high-profile example of an interactive tabletop menu, Rockwell hired a much smaller outfit, Potion Design, a New York firm started by two graduates of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology Media Lab. Their system uses high-end projectors, computers, a Web-based database, and a vision-sensing system, all tied together with proprietary software. The technology has been installed before in office spaces and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Asia Society. But, Potion partner Jared Schiffman says, “this is the first time we’ve used this in a restaurant or service setting.” Total cost of the project: about $250,000.”

In relation to previous post: ‘robot’ bar

Trouvé dans le Magazine des Aéroports de Paris (en même temps qu’un article sur Bruno Marzloff de Chronos :) Extrait de de la conférence de presse sur le concept de luminothérapie. Recherche: luminothérapie sur le site http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/

“Solution au décalage horaire et au blues hivernal : les boutiques d’Aéroports de Paris initient les passagers à la luminothérapie

A partir du 20 décembre, et pour la première fois dans un aéroport, les passagers
se verront proposer gratuitement une initiation à la luminothérapie pour recharger
leurs batteries avant leur départ !

Les passagers pourront tester à Paris-Orly et de Paris-Charles de Gaulle cette nouvelle technique de bien-être qui permet notamment de diminuer les effets du décalage horaire et du “blues hivernal”. Le programme proposé par les boutiques d’Aéroports de Paris prévoit d’une part, des espaces fixes de luminothérapie et d’autre part, des équipes mobiles pour des séances “express” en salle d’embarquement.

A partir de janvier 2008, la luminothérapie sera disponible dans les boutiques d’Aéroports de Paris. A Paris-Charles de Gaulle, les points de vente Be Relax proposeront des massages “anti-jet lag” et des produits de luminothérapie.”

La technologie est de Philips (Philips Energy Light) !

Would be nice to locate when you are in a rush at the airport.

Read in Le Monde, this article about Top-Braille a nomadic object that enables blinds to have access to information:

“Brevetée dès 1996, la souris nomade TopBraille a valu à son concepteur, Raoul Parienti, le prix de l’innovation 2007, décerné le 13 décembre par le magazine L’Usine nouvelle dans le cadre du prix des ingénieurs. Ancien professeur de mathématiques, le lauréat, sensibilisé aux problèmes de vue dont souffrait sa soeur, a fondé en 2004 l’entreprise Vision pour développer son invention. L’appareil, muni d’une microcaméra, déchiffre les caractères d’imprimerie d’une taille comprise entre 0,7 et 15 mm de hauteur et envoie les images à un processeur intégré. Le tout offre une telle simplicité d’emploi pour l’usager qu’un apprentissage de quelques heures, affirme Raoul Parienti, suffit à maîtriser le Top-Braille.”

Screenshot from the website: www.top-braille.com

FYI, my friend Alexandra Ginsberg is showing her work done in collaboration with Oliver Froome-Lewis:

Touching the City is a design research unit that explores the ways in which we interact with the city. Observing the private life of small public spaces, we consider and exchange views on their potential and make proposals for their transformation.

This exhibition documents progress on our first project - the identification, interrogation and stimulation of benchspace and marks the launch of our web site, touchingthecity.com.

The thesis of Ana Camila Amorim… Almanaco Portrait surely deserves attention! When communication stops between individuals, does the element representing it shrink?

“Idea/problem/context: Communication is part of human nature - an ever-present interaction forming bonds between people. The expansion of information and communication technologies and the mobility and miniaturization of devices has resulted in an always-on connectivity - anytime, anywhere. This blurs boundaries between work and play, and between our public and private lives. Because others have little awareness of our context, we are often confronted with situations of abuse or unwanted interruption.
The primary goal of this project is to expand the currently limited repertoire of signs to actuate and support non-availability. Users define their visibility at each moment, allowing granularity of access depending on their social relations and context.”

“Intimate Transactions is an exciting new form of interactive installation that allows two people in separate spaces to interact simultaneously using their bodies. Each participant uses a physical interface called a ‘Bodyshelf’. By gently moving their bodies on this ‘smart furniture’ they instigate ‘Intimate Transactions’, which influence an evolving ‘world’ created from digital imagery, multichannel sound and tactile feedback.”

In the world of mobilities, people are more likely to be physically separated (and no matter for how long)!

This project recalls the RemoteHome project by Tobi Schneidler and the Relational Pillow project of Pattie Maes, Sajid Sadi and Amir Mikhak from the Ambient Intelligence Group at the MIT Media Lab: “With the Relational Pillow project, we are trying to provide a simple, intimate, and personable communication medium between loved ones. The pillows are capable of sensing touch information, and displaying incoming touch data as a pattern of lights that show the outline “drawn” upon the remote pillow. Pillows can connect to each other over the network so that this sense of touch can be shared across long distances. The physical sensation of holding a pillow and interacting with it builds upon the idea of using the natural features of the object in order to acheive a deeper connection between the users, without interfering in the communication process itself.”

Edith tells me that “media artist toshio iwai gave the most amazing talk / performance yesterday at the medialab.” I particularly like the “toshio 3 - (7mn) mobile device / hand-held: translate lights into sound” piece. Check also Toshio Iwai’s blog!