The following is a description of the minimal code needed to get drawing on a wiki, henceforth known as WikiWhiteboard. It allows anyone to scribble on a drawing area on a web page, and clicking a button preserves the drawing for the next viewer (or artist) that comes along. [more…]

This was then realised in the WikiWitheboard project at the following url. Buka Buka!!!

SVGMapMaker leverages the graphics quality of SVG to create simple and effective web mapping applications right from MapInfo Professional. Based on XML and fully compatible with other web technologies, SVGMapMaker creates intelligent on-line maps that have unparalleled dynamic interactivity. With SVGMapMaker, there is no need to have special software on your web server. SVGMapMaker outputs are entirely XML-based, which offers greater structural control and sophistication than traditional web mapping. All documents generated are fully scriptable and contain the layer structure, styles and attributes of your data, as it is viewed in MapInfo.

While reading the paper on how space structure language, I have been thinking about a way to display graphically the connections between paper, ideas, people, books, url, etc.

At first I was planning to do it myself, implementing a plugin for MovableType, which should have provided an SVG functionality for the search engine. My idea was to provide a graphical output to the search functionality of the database. Unfortunately this solution had lots of limitation like the fact that was not possible to give a meaning to the connections between the objects.

So googling around i found this project: ideagraph

IdeaGraph is easy-to-use software for creating visual maps of ideas, that can work with web pages, documents and images. You can also incorporate information from news channels, and blog, and lots of other fun things. It is a cutting-edge tool that uses Semantic Web technologies.

The two key features of this project is that it works great in multiplatform (jthoon) and that it can export in XML and SVG the results.

B. Tversky and P. U. Lee. How Space Structure Language, volume Volume 1404/1998 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, chapter Guest Contributions, pages 157–175. Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 1998.
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The core of the paper is the “Schematization Similarity Conjecture”: To the extent that language and ‘ception (perception + conception) schematize things similarly, language will be successful at communicating space.

Essentially the authors argue that language is very good at encoding spatial features whereas is not equally efficient at encoding face features or emotional states. An example of this great ability to schematize space can be given by the English term ‘across’, where ideally the thing doing the crossing is smaller than the thing being crossed, and it is crossing in a straight path perpendicular to the length of the thing being crossed. Thus schematization entails information reduction, encoding certain features of the scene while ignoring others.

A second idea is that there seems to be levels of schematization that old over many context: people do not reinvent vocabulary and syntax at every encounter: space is decomposed into figures and the spatial relations among them, viewed from a particular perspective. Similarly, figures can be decomposed into their parts (Objects with features + frame). The experience of space is not abstract of empty space. Rather is the identity and the relative locations of things in space.

Language for figures selects one portion of a scene, as focal or primary, and describes it in relation to another portion, the ground, and sometimes in relation to a third portion of a scene. Figures are often reduced as points in space.

Objects have many identities but despite the possibilities, people are biased to identify objects at what has been called the ‘basic’ level: this is the level at which people seems to have the most information, indexed by attribute list, relative to the number of alternative categories that must be kept in mind. Objects are usually named by open-class terms. Shape seems to be the primary basis for categorization.

Some final ideas on spatial relations: figures are not just discerned and identified, they are also located. Figures are not located in an absolute way, but rather relative to other reference objects (other figures in the same scene) or reference frames (the set of figures surrounding).

In giving directions there seems to be a strategy in providing the minimal information for going from node to node. The schematization is more effective in depictions than description: although maps and directions schematize routes in similar ways, maps are more complete than directions, which need to be supplemented by inference rules.

Urban Dictionary is an interesting open dictionary which enable users to define slang words. It is very interesting to look at the way people like to refer to things they see every day. An interesting fact, which is part of my research interests, is that things gets a meaning through a social network. The service support this idea providing a way for visitors to rate the definition and to promote deletion of offensive content.

J. E. Perlman. Citizen participation in city planning and development. Technical Report July, The Mega-Cities Project, 2000.

The key idea of the paper is that no plan for renewment of the city can be meaningful without a direct involvement of citizenry. Perlman describe a “pro-active” and a “re-active” citizenry, describing the former as people engaged in decisions that affect their lives and communities. Perlman (ibidem) shares a lesson she has learned from her experience around the world, which is in accord to what we are describing here:

No community or city can fulfil its full potential in the long run without a vibrant, independent civil society and their active involvement of its citizenry (and these are complementary but not synonymous).

Time to time, with Nico, we were wondering about having a small tool for chatting over Bluetooth.
Finally I found today something that may do: Veta Chat.

Veta Chat is an application for communicating with other Mac and soon Palm users via Bluetooth. It is super useful when you need to quickly exchange messages with somebody without drawing the attention of other people – like during those boring meetings that you have to attend. Or you can create a small chat room of up to 7 people on the fly by simply hosting the chat and letting the others join you.

HP invent centre

The first concern of the invent center is to decide what to do in terms of new technologies. So, the crucial aspect is to define what is on the edge of technologies.

Invent center is situated between current trends in technologies and future perspectives.

The work on Government and organisations, FINANCE, TELECOMS MANUFACTURING, airline and travel. They are interested inb strategies which can adapted in both technologies for telecoms and industries and manufacturing.

The goal of this unit is to find business ideas and to turn them into business success.

HP overview_
Head quarters in Palo Alto, CA. 4 billions annual investment in R&D. One fo the recent interests of HP are the Education Services. HP vision spans in the creation of social benefits and improve social life.

Project Classroom 2000 in northern Ireland provides a broadband access at each student. HP participated in this.
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HP product which makes image management -> different criteria for filtering and browsing using geographical criteria.

The three questions we ask when making a phone call: 1. where are you?, 2. what time is it?, 3. what’s the weatther like?.
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HP Mobile projects

www.education.hp.com -> HP virtual classroom

Ekahau – HP Japan -> Positioning Engine, Learning Centre for visitors which implements the TabletPC.

WEF – World Economic Forum. Davos 2004 -> iPaq as augmented badge for registration, communication, scheduling – managment. The interesting aspect was that the system was designed with online content mixed with offline files. The system contained all hotel information, who/where, etc.

Bentley University (bentley.edu) -> Usage of Teblets in a formal learning environment.

Websign -> join between a GPS and an iPaq. Web signs created transparent links between the physical and the virtual and presents these links to the user as the user moves through the physical space. (www.hpl.hp.com) [project in collaboration with Swatch for integrating a microbrowser in a watch]

MS Portrait -> Mobile video communication (research.micrisoft.com), also for SmartPhone, freely downloadable from the internet site.

Other projects of HP includes vey specific markets needs like hospitalised children, or other markets like Solar Pack which enable the user to bring around a solar panel and enough computation for taking pictures and printing them everywhere.

iPaqs in extremes -> explores the usage of thisw technologies in extreme conditions. Expedition in Siberia 2004 (www.siberia.nu). iPaqs have also been used on the ISS for mobile productivity.

The Digital Paper and Pen is a good opportunity to enhance the digitalisation and processing of written information. (www.logitech.ch)

Many different projects spoan in the domain of Public Safety: Vijas Fire Department -> firefighting with digital mapping; Geotechnical surveys at Hong Kong with GIS; Beijing police; …

Other domains concern healthcare: ECG Machine on an iPaq; iScribe; …

Another domain concern curstomers creations using the same technology: Niao-Ning Securities; Starbucks coffees; Japanes Tourism; Sentieri Vivi at Madonna di Campiglio tourist offering. Personal Shopping Assistant at MIT Media Lab. TD Waterhouse distribuites iPaq Pocket PC to custormers for transactions on the go.

Communication is another field of interest: Disney World, Winter Olimpics, Arizona State, …

The last project presented was Cooltown a vision of a futuristic city where everything is networked and where werables make communication pervasive.
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Possible ideas for collaboration:
– student hosting
– looking for innovation-technology
– joint innovation workshop for innovative development
– accessing technology at beta stage (Michel Bernard?)
– Special price for laptops
– Arnaud Pierson: creative financing -> MapTribe
– Learning Centre: how to collaborate?
-> STRATA New building of MIT
-> HP advanced product division (research on tangibles)
– Project for developing countries

A Great brainstorm between research and business.