The video is mesmerizing. The imagination behind these sophisticated, unique, and futuristic UIs is one of the things that brings sci-fi films and thrillers to life. Hats off to the Mark Coleran, the artist behind the crazy scanning graphics, wicked maps, and infinitely detailed architectural diagrams that enable our protagonists to pierce any security system and locate arch-criminals, wherever they may be.
Love that soundtrack, too. It's Ulrich Schnauss, Wherever You Are.
The Else Intuition demo presents a fresh rethink of handheld touchscreen interaction. Now that I’ve seen it, the arc-navigation architecture seems so obvious! In some ways, it feels like a logical progression of the original iPod clickwheel, brought forth into the touchscreen world, and of course optimized for single-hand use. I also enjoyed the really embellished positive acknowledgment effects (Figs. 1 & 2).
The other thing of special note is that since the interaction is based on a constant-contact method – analogous in some ways to a mouse pointer – the interface is able to utilize ‘over’ state indication. Over states – so useful on the web – have to this point not been available for touchscreen interfaces, since the interaction is binary - either you are touching the screen or you're not. The over, or hover state, is much more of a proximity aid. The demo and screen caps show why they can be so valuable (Fig. 3). The diamond/cloud navigation seems a little odd, though, as diamonds are not efficient shapes for text boxes. Great innovation in UI.
Fig 1: He just hit the ‘Play’ button. WHOA!
Fig 2: After copying a text selection, the ‘scan light’ effect confirms the action:
Fig 3: Over state animation allows accurate navigation even when target area is quite small:
This war may be a mistake, a blood-soaked blunder, an unholy charnel house mindlessly consuming the bodies and souls of untold thousands, an open sore on the pockmarked face of history and an abomination before the sight of God and men, but it is first and foremost a war, and wars must be won.
Highly specialized pleasure vehicles with every convenience of home!? Cargo rockets!? Nuclear tunnel melters!? Cantilevered mountain highways?! ...Man, the days when driving and highways were - literally - paving a path to our Utopian future.
Today, of course, highways are mainly the bane of urban and suburban living. Most people I know will avoid freeway driving during rush hour if they can avoid it.
Looking back at this artifact, the vision and imagination that inspired the highway landscapes of the future remain impressive. In some ways it is sad to see how much less ambitious society is today, though I suppose it is also that we are less gullible, too. We can't help it; look at the trouble we have just repairing the Bay Bridge: 20 years after Loma Prieta, an $8 billion price tag, and we still can't get it right. Oh well, maybe one day... in the future!
And I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the umm, the uh kinda a spineless, a spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with some kind of elite Ivy League education and a fact resume that's based on anything but hard work and private sector, free enterprise principles.
Hmm, let's see: 11 icons, most sporting a unique visual style. Random alignment of text and graphics. Some 3-d, some flat, some drop-shadowed. At least three different fonts. Text bleeding past the edge of the encasing box.
I can't say I've ever seen a worse attempt at data display. Truly awful.
This NPR story is a breath of fresh air. Nearly all of the media coverage of the effort to pass health care reform focuses on the political process: How many votes in committee, timelines, poll numbers, bi-partisanship, 'oh-snap!' back-and-forth soundbites, right-wing troll death panel comments, etc etc etc.
Meanwhile, little or no effort is made to cover the nuts and bolts of why, exactly, we spend so much more on health care per capita than any other nation. Where is all that money going? And why is it going there? This NPR story is a terrific piece of journalism - reporter Hana Jafiwal actually investigates the pricing and cost structure behind MRI's, and why they cost so much more in the US as compared to Japan.
Alone, the story is educational, but still mostly a curiosity. What we need is an ongoing thread of reporting like this and media coverage of the mechanics of our health care infrastructure, so that we can collectively understand the root causes and structural issues that have driven us to the brink of health care disaster.
