Gliider: An Online Travel Planner

“gliider is a digital file that lets you hold on to all of the interesting stuff you come across when you’re researching and planning a trip. Find a cool hotel you don’t want to forget about? See a great restaurant you want to try? No matter what website you’re on, just highlight whatever you want with your mouse and drag it into your gliider. Photos, text, whatever!

gliider will then bring you deals related to what you’re interested in. No spam, no overload. Only the good stuff and just the right amount of it.”

DigiWall

Unlike a conventional computer game, DigiWall lets you move freely without being tied to a monitor. The gaming experience is based on a balance of visual and aural feedback and body movements. Games, contests, challenges and various kinds of creative experiences and experiments are all possible with the DigiWall climbing wall. DigiWall has hand- and foot grips with built-in sensors and lights. In addition to this the wall has a high end surround sound system. Using this interface, a large number of totally different games, exercises, challenges and aesthetic experiences are created. On DigiWall, you can do creative exercises based on varying degrees of physical activity. Sound and music are integral and are used to create the gaming experience and give instructions and feedback. This enables unique experiences that encourage play. When not in use, DigiWall lives its own life and becomes a beautiful sound and light installation. An entertaining work of art – to watch, listen to and touch – and above all, to interact with.

http://www.digiwall.se/

Dorkbot Melbourne Sun Feb 1, Richard Allen & Cagatay “Chatai” Goncu

Dorkbot Melbourne 25
>>> people doing strange things with electricity <<<
4pm, Sunday 1 February, 2009
Level 1, 124a Johnston St Fitzroy 3065 (just east of Brunswick St), Melbourne.

Dorkbot Melbourne once again brings together inspired and inspiring minds from across the known universe. Everyone with an interest in doing strange things with electricity is invited to come along and check out the presentations and participate in lively discussion. Doors open at 4pm, presentations start at 4.30 sharp. Bring your friends. Bring drinks and nibblies of your choice. Scheduled talks are outlined below.

::: LalaLullaby :::
Richard Allen

Richard Allen (aka Chi Chi Fibonacci) will discuss the maiden voyage of  “Lalalullaby” – a weird and wonderful immersive musical sculpture created with Pippa Willison and Paul Irving.

Fresh back from experimenting with punters at the Rainbow Serpent festival, Richard will attempt to explain what it’s like to sit inside a giant cosy knitted egg, swinging inside a five metre tall pyramid, being pushed by two costumed creatures while your motion generates a multilayered, synthesised,
quadraphonic soundscape…

::: Diagramming For the Blind :::
Cagatay “Chatai” Goncu

Diagrams are important components of educational materials. They can be found in various media. Printed media, such as text books, have traditionally been the most commonly used media for educational material, however online electronic resources, such as web pages and e-books, are becoming increasingly popular sources of educational content. Online materials include static diagrams, like text books, but may also include dynamic content such as animations and components that can interact with the user. Unfortunately, these types of content are not easily accessible to blind people.

While there has been considerable research into generation of accessible diagrams, there is still no generic technique for automatically generating accessible diagrams from a standard input format such as SVG or image. Developing such a generic technique is the aim of this project. This generation should preserve the same semantics and pragmatics as its visual representation as far as possible, and be appropriate to users, tasks, devices and presentation media.

Cagatay (Chatai) Goncu is a PhD student studying at Clayton School of IT, Monash University. He is in his second year now, and working on presenting diagrams to blind people by using different modalities such as tactile, audio, and tactile/audio.

::: OpenDorks :::

P.S. Check out our mailing list and wiki to hear about future dorkbots…
http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotmelbourne
( dorkbotmelbourne@dorkbot.org ) if you’d like to present something at a future dorkbot.

Join the Wave! Obama’s buddies

In order to mark the arrival of Mr. Obama as president of the United Sates, the company Pixman is contributing to “this time of change” with the creation of a Web 2.0 experiment, establishing an interactive communication channel through its worldwide street media and communication network and using its technologies and world presence to allow people throughout the planet to genuinely express and share their own views regarding the significance of this event. In order to do so, Pixman has created a global event based on the idea of joining Mr. Obama and his team. This global event is called “Join the Wave”.
The results are genuine, varied and entertaining.

See for yourself: we invite you to watch or join the Wave that is already spreading through more than 25 countries around the world.

jointhewave.com

The Melbourne Gypsy, Balkan (& Russki) Bash Too!

After touring internationals acts thru early January, UL returns to one of it’s favourite small venues, gypsy bar & creperie ‘Open Studio’ in Northcote (Melbourne) on Saturday Jan 31st, for an East European knees up disko! Ohpah!

After the November 08 party we presented, it was evident this particular tangent fitted well with the crowds and atmospheres of this fine cultural space. bP (Finnish sympathiser), Vulk Makedonski (Curse ov Dialect) & Russian Disko (Ang Fang) dropped party sets at the last one, and return alongside Vulgar Boatman from legendary act Vulgargrad to bring down the house with a stack of russki criminal songs to bring a tear or five to your eye, alongside the balkan bangers.

Aindrias de Staic brings his trans-european mix of beats, gypsy violin, irish-gaelic skat raps and general hyping of the crowd to the party. Ex-Brisbane flautist and clarinetist Kieran R drops dubby infused melodies and French vocals, alongside the Macedonian raps of the one and only Volk Mak. Percussionists and other musicians are sure to join this mad capped lineup!

Tune into Mondo Electrico on PBS 106.7FM this Friday Jan 30 from 10pm till midnight to hear preview sets and random ramblings from above artists and selectors…

The MELBOURNE GYPSY, BALKAN (& Russki!) BASH TOO!
When: Saturday January 31st 8pm till late
Where: Open Studio 204 High Street Northcote, Melbourne, Australia
How Much: $5 from when we decide we wanna start charging. So come early for crepes!
More info: http://www.uberlingua.com/gypsy

Artnodes e-journal on art, science and technology

Artnodes is an impressive e-journal promoted by the Universitat of Oberta de Catalunya which analyses the intersection between arts, science and technology. It fosters a number of projects, such as Yasmin and Labs.

LABS
International database of abstracts of doctorate theses and essays on art, science and technology. Artnodes-UOC Project, Leonardo-ISAST and Pomona College.

YASMIN
Network, debates and news list on the intersections between art, science and technology in the Mediterranean basin. Artnodes-UOC Project, Leonardo-ISAST, OLATS, University of Athens and Unesco Digiarts.