Trend Edition
Featured Trend
Foldable Screens
Wouldn't it be great if you could simply flip open your mobile phone to make the screen bigger? Samsung have created an OLED prototype that can do just that. »
The Future of Epaper
Epaper technology has been around for a long time, but has not yet reached the right level of sophistication. It is used in popular devices such as the Amazon Kindle, but it only works in black and white, and page updates are fairly slow. That, however, is going to change.»
Camera Concept
People are always a making a lot of fun and interesting concepts. Some of them have real potentials, some are just extremely cool and then there are concepts like this one, which is something we all want, but are not going to get anytime soon. »
Adobe Creative Suite 4
One of the most important tools for people in my industry is Adobe's Creative Suite. I probably use Photoshop more than any other product. And today is the day adobe released CS4.»
The Google Browser Comic
Google is working on something called Google Chrome. In short, it is how Google is going to fix the browser. Take a look for yourself, this looks mighty interesting.»
Forget about 3D, here is a 6D image
Researchers at MPI Informatik have developed a new kind of lens that pushes the boundaries of what you can do with images. »
Augmented Reality Navigation
Robert Winter (and colleagues) has looked at how the next generation GPS's could work on devises such as the iPhone 3G. And it has a number of nice features to it.»
Firefox Mobile Concept
Aza Raskin, the user experience chief of Mozilla Labs, have published a video about how he envisions Firefox on a mobile phone equipped with a touch screen.»
FlixFlex Interaction
This interaction concept by Chris Woebken explores how we can interact by flipping, wrenching or bending the screen - as opposed to using multi-touch or keypads.»
Flickr Video
Flickr has finally opened up for the one thing that, in my opinion, was holding it back - video. »
Webcam Gestures
The webcam is turning into an ever more powerful addition to our computers. We have already seen what you can do with PlayStation Eye. Ray-Ban has the virtual mirror, and now you will soon be able to control your computer via your web cam too.»
Holographics + Augmented Reality = Cool
Ivan Tihienko has created a very impressive concept for how we can use the computer, without having to sit in front of it. He is envisioning a holographic projection system that place the projected image in front of us as we go about our business. »
Swype that Text
A number of my readers have pointed me towards Swype. It is a new way to input text on touch based devices, such as phones and tablet PC's. Instead of tapping your finger on each character you simple swipe over each character in a word. The software will then translate the path you made into words. »
The Virtual Dressing Room
The fashion industry is one of the fastest moving businesses in terms of new trends, but the new trends are mostly in the details. The colors, the material, and the dimensions - that sort of thing. It is actually quite rare to see new innovative things designed specifically for the fashion industry. »
Braid, a work of art - and the latest trend in gaming
Braid is a new game on XBOX Live Marketplace. It was something I bought because I was bored, but I was completely blown away. It is fabulous. »
The Future of the Browser
Mozilla Labs is asking us for help determining how we are going to use the browser in the future. Aza Raskin came out with his vision about a month ago, and now Adaptive Path has made theirs.»
Interactive Water
Water is a very common thing, and not surprisingly it is also the subject of many interactive experiments. Here are some of them. »
Opel Eye - Anti-speeding Technology
Opel is introducing a new safety technology that reads the traffic signs and displays them on your instrument panel in your car. »
Direct Manipulation in Videos
A group of people from Toronto University have come up with an ingenious way to manipulate videos. Traditionally this is done using some kind of "bar", but what if you could simply drag each element right in the video itself. »
Photoshop Express Online - it's here!
About a year ago I was told that Adobe was going to create an online version of Photoshop - and that was big news. It is relatively easy to create an online mail application (it is just text), but an online version of Photoshop? That would be a spectacular example of advanced application design. »
Sketching in 3D
I love sketching, but sometimes I would really like to be able to sketch in 3D. You know, to get the feeling of dimension and shape. More importantly, wouldn't it be something if you could sketch in 3D as easy as if it was 2D?»
How to Unlock a Phone
The Astonishing Tribe, a Swedish company that specializes in creating mobile interfaces, have been experimenting with different kinds locking and unlocking mechanism on mobile phones. Interesting (well, some of them...)»
Real Virtual Pets
The whole field of Augmented Reality (where we mix the virtual world with the physical one) is simply mind-boggling. And you don't have to be a scientist to explore its potentials. All you need is a PlayStation 3, and buy the PlayStation Eye, which is basically just a good web camera. What you can then do is to play games like the ones in the video below. »
Google Chrome is here
Today, Google officially launched its contribution to the browser market, with its new browser "Google Chrome". I will not go into all the details about it, because I already wrote about it here, but I will talk a bit about the performance. »
Mobile Phones + Musical Instruments
KDDI AU and Yamaha have been exploring how to get music into a mobile phone. You might think that this has been done before; every mobile phone can play music - right? But not like this. This is not about listening to music. Instead it is about creating music.»
High-res Video using Still Photos
Researchers from University of Washington have developed a technique to drastically enhance video clips using high-res photos taken of the same scene. »
Do-It-Yourself Multi-touch kit
Have you ever wanted to have your very own multi-touch table? So far this has been an extremely expensive endeavor, but now you can get a "do-it-yourself" multi-touch kit. »
Future of Interaction in Gaming
We were all amazed when the Wii controller came onto the market. The ability to swing a virtual tennis racket, play golf or bowling similar to the way we do it in real life was quite spectacular. But a company called Softkinetic has taken this a step further. Now you don't need a controller at all.»
Tennis in 2083
Lacoste is celebrating their 75th anniversary with a look another 75 years into the future - or to be more precise - a look at what the game of tennis will be like in 2083.»
IE8 Beta is Out
Internet Explorer 8 (beta) is now available for download, and as I predicted in my web trends "the web community will love it - nobody else will notice any difference."»
More Future Trends:
Interaction Design, Mobile, Products, and User Experience