The version shown here focuses almost entirely on human-to-object input. The first public beta version published was v.0.13. (This is the current version.)   Conceived in a Pub We had an idea a couple of months ago (one of those “made-sense-in-the-pub, does-it-still-makes-sense-in-the-morning?” type of ideas) that it’d be incredibly useful to have some kind of universal classification of interaction. Nothing fancy, just a straight-up, catch-all taxonomy of human-systems inter-relationships. The idea was a hierarchial table; a neat, organised and absolutely correct information tree, sprouting in two directions from the middle, i.e. the computer, system, or thing. At one end would be “every” (see (more)

Since first talking about memory a few months ago, we’ve be playing with a few things that explore its role in how we reflect on experiences, and how we remember. We’ve recorded the podcast with Neuroscientist Izzy and the smell camera is coming along well, more to follow on that shortly. In conversation, it has also become a defacto measure of an experience’s worth. Below are some of the other things we’ve been fiddling with.

Chirp We’ve been working with Animal Systems to find a way of communicating Chirp to the world - a platform they’ve developed for devices to share data with each other via audio. Chirp was demoed recently at Future Everything and Sonar, and the explanatory film below has now been released into the public domain. Which would be you. Hello you! (credit – audio production: Coda-Cola) Overview Chirp allows devices to share data wirelessly, through sound. To showcase the potential of the technology Animal Systems are launching their first app, which will allow people to share information – initially short-links to their photos – between iOS devices (more)

In this second podcast we talk with Isabel Christie, a neuroscientist, about memory creation and recollection. We ask, without memory, or the ability to recall it, is there any value in experience? Can you be something other than the collection of memories that you have? Are memory and sentience the same thing?

There is an integral relationship between personal experience, identity and ideology. This relationship was touched upon briefly by political philosopher Robert Nozick in the “Experience Machine” thought experiment, which he published as part of his seminal work Anarchy, State and Utopia in the mid-seventies. The relationship was also discussed in more detail about ten years ago by Harvard business academics James Gilmore and Joseph Pine in The Experience Economy. What makes these two points of view particularly interesting is that they both attempt to place the value of experience within a greater context – spiritually, economically and philosophically. Nozick treats (more)

(Photo courtesy of Russell Davies) Cameras as Diminutive Relays Whilst we’re waiting for Paul to ready himself for the second round of Paul’s Gamble, we’re kicking off a research project based upon a relatively nascent behaviour, practised by many folk to varying extents. It’s become a bit of a contentious bugbear in the studio, but I find myself doing it all the time. To illustrate, here’s a quote pulled right from the bleeding edge of contemporary culture, The Blair Witch Project (1999): Doomed Teen #1: “I see why you like this video camera so much.” Doomed Teen #2: “You do?” Doomed Teen #1: “It’s not quite reality. (more)

I can’t really remember the film Moneyball. I saw it recently, and I’m sure it was fine. I think Brad Pitt looked a bit waxy, a man did something with numbers. I suppose it saved me reading the wikipedia page for either or both of them. If a friend hadn’t asked my opinion, I would have forgotten it forever. That doesn’t make it a bad film, but in my estimation doesn’t make it a good one either, it left no legacy. Is that system fair, and does it translate more broadly to experience? A measure for experience might be memorability. (more)

Turning theory into practice is one of the hardest aspects of running a critical design studio. Having theoretical stand points and acting on them are two different things, easier to say what not to do than exemplify your beliefs through doing. We are working towards it thanks to the Critical Audit that Matt gave us a while back. In that time I have always held in high regard The School of Life, in part due to it’s connection with Alain de Botton. Though in greater part, because it had a series of beliefs that it finds actual outlets for. Sermons, (more)

Yesterday we released the third instalment of Paul's Gamble. The web series is to be released in 12 weekly parts and explores the contentious nature of gambling. (warning - spoilers below)

Last week I made use of my first ever Groupon purchase - a one hour session in a floatation tank. My understanding was that such experiences centre around sensory deprivation - no sight, no sound, no smell... the body is kept buoyant by a salt solution, heated to human body temperature, which nullifies the effects of gravity and creates the sensation of weightless floating.