I think I am in love with a technology. Now, if I could just figure out how to use it for online support or documentation. Start by checking out this augmented reality demo at GE, called the Smart Grid.

Augmented reality is a means of super-imposing computer generated data onto a video image in real time. A user must print a "platform" image and then display it on-screen by holding it up to their Web cam. The software then superimposes the CGI image onto the platform and, as the user moves the platform around, moves the image as well. Wikipedia article

I stumbled on a discussion on IxDA's mailing list and that sent me off exploring. The first site was a testing site put up by interaction designers at Mini (the really cute little cars). It's in German, but just click Hier Making Of-Video anzeigen to start the video.

I then went to the Smart Grid, a site (in English) mentioned by another poster in the discussion. You can print a platform and play with the technology at this GE site.

Lastly (I do have to get some work done this morning), I went to the site of the company that makes Magic Symbol, an augmented reality software. They have more examples.

Labels: inspiring, interface, tools

Pull out your calendars!

The STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter's 2009 Conference - Visualizing Communication - will be held March 27 and 28 at Penn State University - Great Valley Campus.

And we are very pleased to announce that we will be joined this year by the STC Instructional Design & Learning SIG, as this event will be a regional conference for their members as well. The School of Graduate Professional Studies at Penn State Great Valley has also signed up as a Supporting Organization.

And this year we have something new to offer: the two Instructional Design Workshops on March 27, and the Instructional Design presentation session track (four presentations in all) on March 28 will be available via webcast!

Conference Looks at Leveraging Visual Communication

Find out how to use visual communication to improve the effectiveness of your technical documentation and instructional material at this year’s version of our exciting, award-winning Conference!

Our keynote speaker, the internationally acclaimed expert on visual communications Jean-luc Dumont, will kick things off by presenting his simple but solid guiding principles for designing visually effective communication. We're honored to welcome Jean-luc Dumont and proud to help debut his new book: Trees, maps, and theorems - Effective communication for rational minds.

Following the keynote will be more than a dozen presentations over four sessions covering areas such as:

- Career development

- Instructional design and e-Learning development

- Content management

- Writing and design skills improvement

Of course, there will be ample opportunity to network, catch up with old friends, and make new ones.

Workshops Examine Visual Communication, Instructional Design

This year we’ve doubled our workshop offerings, with Jean-luc Dumont and instructional design/E-Learning expert Jane Smith both leading two half-day workshops.

Extend your visual communication and IDL IQ as Jean-luc and Jane introduce key concepts, and then facilitate hands-on exploration of those concepts through case studies and group exercises.

Dates and Times

Workshops:

Friday, March 27, 2009
Morning sessions: 8 am to noon
Afternoon sessions: 1 to 5 pm

Conference:

Saturday, March 28, 2009
8 am to 5 pm

Location

The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley
30 E. Swedesford Road
Malvern, PA 19355

Webcast information to be available shortly on the Conference website.
Look for more details about the STC 2009 Workshops and Conference on www.stcpmc.org.
Or contact us directly: conference@stcpmc.org.

Labels: conference, UUX business

UUX Manager's Thoughts is being integrated into the UUX Web site. You were most likely redirected here from our old home at Blogger. As soon as the UUX Webmaster adds us to the Web site navigation, you will be able to reach us from anywhere within the Web site, or directly at http://www.stcsig.org/managerblog.html

We are working out some glitches associated with the move, but we'll get it back to normal as soon as possible.

Labels: UUX business

UUX member Dana Chisnell co-authored the latest edition of that classic book, Handbook of Usability Testing, with Jeffrey Rubin. She also has a blog about Usability Testing. I have added it to the sites the UUX Google custom search prowls for you when you use it on this blog to conduct a search.

Labels: UUX business

Welcome to Linda Patryas, our new membership coordinator. She replaces Susan Duncan Park who has given many excellent years of service to UUX but, now, sadly is leaving us.

Linda will be the "welcome wagon" for new members and will work with me to revamp how we handle member profiles on the Web site.

Labels: UUX business

Join us at the Usability and User Experience networking luncheon on Monday, May 4 at the 2009 STC Technical Summit. It's a chance to see old friends and meet new community members. If you are not a member of UUX, but are considering joining, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our community from those who are members.

To include the UUX luncheon in your conference schedule, be sure to indicate you want to attend when you register for the conference, and pay the $35 fee for the luncheon.

Early Bird Registration is open now. Go to http://conference.stc.org/ for all of the details.

Labels: conference, UUX business

Did you know that comic books have unique grammar and punctuation standards? Blambot Comic Fonts and Lettering

Labels: inspiring

In addition to keywords, I have added a long list of Web sites to be search in our Google custom search. I welcome your suggestions for other sites to include.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/UXM/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/uselog
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
http://www.cooper.com/insights/journal_of_design
http://experiencedynamics.blogs.com/
http://tc.eserver.org/
http://findability.org
http://feeds.feedburner.com/UserExperienceDesign
http://feeds.feedburner.com/remote_research
http://remote.com/
http://boltpeters.com/blog/
http://www.thinkflowinteractive.com
http://ui-patterns.com/
http://www.professionals.org
http://www.counts.com/
http://feeds.usernomics.com
http://useit.com/alertbox
http://www.boxesandarrows.com
http://www.boxesandarrows.com
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/upa_voice/volumes/4/issue_3/body_of_knowledge.htm
http://www.firstmonday.org
http://www.useit.com/alertbox
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library
http://www.guiguide.com/
http://www.idp.mdh.se/forskning/infodesign
http://www.internettg.org
http://webword.com
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_2619.html
http://www.uiweb.com
http://www.webdesignpractices.com/
http://www.boxesandarrows.com
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/upa_voice/volumes/4/issue_3/body_of_knowledge.htm
http://www.juicystudio.com/services/colourcontrast.asp#result
http://usability.gov
http://www.webdesignpractices.com/

Labels: methods, searching

Peter Morville of Semantic Studios is working on a new book about search patterns, and the process inspired him to rethink UX deliverables, particularly how to collaborate with other team members, like graphic designers. This blog entry on User Experience Deliverables explains how he arrived at his list of new IA deliverables.

Labels: collaboration, tools