Happy Leap-Day

Happy Leap Day!  Enjoy these vintage photos, courtesy of NPR.

Microsoft Surface

I'm changing the layout of my blog a little, and making it a bit more structured.  I'm devoting Wednesdays to technology.  In the world today, the pace of technological innovation is increasingly rapid.  I know this and it scare me a little.  But I also know that if I stay abreast of it, I will not be left behind.  To that end, I'm going to explore some of the innovative technologies out there. 

Today's topic: the Microsoft Surface!  It is basically a touch screen computer, but it is so much more than that!  Each pixel in the screen is able to "see" what is above it.  And the pixels together can form images and figure out how to react. 

It can interact with physical objects, such as credit cards, if it is linked to a cashier system.  The video suggests that it can also figure out that you just put a cell phone down and make the pictures explode onto the table for quick sharing.  It looks like they are already marketing the surface system for bar/restaurant tops and point-of-sale displays, which are my first two thoughts. 

I'd like to get one, but I have a few reservations about the system.  First, the screen is integrated into a computer, which means that the computer is likely not capable of upgrades.  That means that, despite it's cutting edge nature, you'd have to get rid of the system in a 5-6 years.  I think a screen with a connection to a box that could run the software on it would be a good product to sell to early-adopters of the technology.  It's also missing a text-specific input device.  I'm sure that with vision sensors under your fingers, you could come up with some pretty interesting vision input methods, but I'm sure that hasn't been explored yet.  

4 C's of Social Media

In my SM class, we learned bout the 4 C's of social media.  communicate, connect, collaborate, co-create content.  I guess that could be construed as 5 or even 6 C's, but I'll let that slide.  :)  

The communicate and connect aspects are the ones most used today by businesses.  They are attempting to get to their customer base in a way not before attempted (connect) and to blast them with marketing information (communicate).  That basically is a one-way communication method.  It forces the business into a person's life, which consumers have been fighting for years.  

The trick is to engage people through the last 3rd and 4th C's.  Getting your consumers to talk to you, work with you, and create content with you is the best way to keep them engaged.  To do that, you have to have a conversation.  You have to allow the consumer voice to be heard.  And you have to respond authentically to them.  

To be a true social media hub, you have to be an orchestra conductor.  You have to bring together a profoundly different mix of online voices towards a single purpose.  In fact, the orchestration idea is being used to create new art projects.  This weekend, I'll be involved in a collaborative project with hundreds of swing dancers that will be used to explain quantum computing!  And all the collaboration will be done over the internet.  

Book-Bound Artwork

Wholly crap!!!  This website is un-freakin'-believable!  The artist cuts designs out of books with surgical tools, making entire 3D diagrams out of a single book!  Check out one of the pictures from the site below.

I can't believe the intricate work needed to make works of art like this.  It reminds me of an artist I saw who used layered colored construction paper to do make similar effects, but with much less detail or depth.

The artist uses an existing item, in this case layered paper, to create an exciting works of art.  But the artist doesn't do it with words, which are the traditional message conveyed through books.  Instead it is a visual message....  This is like sending a picture attached to a txt message on a phone.  But so much more cool!  It also reminds me of flip books because it tells a story in 3D.  I wonder what it would look like to have an overlay like this as a flip book....?

Impossible Photography

I listened to a Ted Talk by Erik Johansson, at this link.  He discusses his desire to create photo-realistic images using photoshop.  He seems to be a modern incarnation of M.C. Echer, an artist famous for perspective drawings that were not possible in a three dimensional world.  

One thing he said struck me quite profoundly - his comment that he felt traditional photography was limited.  It is all about the setup.  For a photograph, you have to set up the right lighting conditions, the right scene, and have the right film in the right camera.  And so the photography process ended when you snapped the picture and created an indelible image.  With Photoshop, he was able to extend the creative process beyond taking the picture.  Technology allowed him to modify photography, allowing him freedoms previously reserved for painting and drawing.  

Overcoming a limitation is a great way to come up with innovative processes and products.  For instance, Google Docs allows collaborative editing of google-formatted presentations, documents, and spreadsheets.  They worked to overcome the barriers to collaborative editing by taking advantage of cloud computing and storage technology. 

If I look at another traditional media - sculpting - what can we come up with from there?  The ability to digitize and recreate sculptures at different locations?  A tracking glove or other device that allows you to sculpt in 3D using analog tools?  How about an installation where you combine the two and have a single piece of art that can be modified by others, where you can highlight its evolution over time?  

My first inclination is to put photography in its own category, because it has such a clear delineation between setup and post-processing.  I'm going to continue looking for other places where people move the immovable, or could if they wanted. 

Leadership vs. Management

These two often are used interchangeably, but I've learned in grad school that they should be applied to two distinct, but important, qualities.  I've heard several ways to define the two, and all definitions point to dramatically different purposes and applications.  

One that has stuck with me is that Management is the ability to produce results, while Leadership is the ability to produce change.  Managers take the current situation and existing processes and get them to be the best they can be.  Managers are concerned with things like efficiency, continuous improvement, and other ongoing improvement initiatives.  By definition, they are not focused on, nor produce, chance because that interferes with the system's functioning.  Leaders look at the current situation or processes and, instead of asking "How can we make this better?", they ask "Should this be the way it is?"  Leaders take into account the external situation, including competitive drivers, cultural trends, and a variety of other factors.  When they analyze something, they are prepared to make changes that will benefit the system in the long term, but my cause problems in the short term.  

It is important to notice that the two seem like they are mutually exclusive.  Managers refine and preserve while Leaders change.  But they are both important skill sets for anyone who seeks to be the head of a team of any size.  Each person in charge should be able to get the most out of their reports and systems, but should also be aware of opportunities for improvement through drastic change.  So what school has given me is the ability to think both as a Manager and as a Leader.  I naturally think more as a leader, and have been spending my conscious effort on managerial topics.  I'm very excited to try them out.  

S(CAMPER) attempt for Tissues

The S in the SCAMPER acronym stands for Substitute.  It asks you to look at your product innovation and try identify what you can substitute in the product makeup that would make it an innovative product.  I've found a list of questions to ask at this website, and am going to post here what I've come up with.  I'm going to try to use the S to come up with some ideas for how to change facial tissue.

Let's see.  Repackage the box as oval from cube for aesthetics.  I could have tissues be a stand in for building blocks.  That could be a way to get more schools buying boxes, if they could double as building or stacking boxes when empty.  Maybe they could be a stand-in for temporary storage.  Have removable covers to protect against the elements.  Redesign the package so it can fit into different types of spaces.  Engineer it so it fits in a standard container, then sell refills?  Change the name from facial tissues to clean cloths, and make them way more durable.  Put antibacterial agents on them to protect against infection.  As part of the advertising campaign, you could crowd-source a new name.  Is there some way to disassociate them from colds and the sniffles?  Associate them with feeling better and relief - almost a medical bent.  I feel most tissues are focused on preventing embarrassment for having a runny nose.  

Feelings: Two things jump out at me while using SCAMPER.  First, these are great at sparking ideas.  I got a lot of leads that I likely wouldn't have without the suggestive questions and lateral thinking directive.  The other is that once you get a few ideas, the boundaries of a given letter may make some people uncomfortable in voicing new ideas.  It took me a few minutes of consideration before I allowed myself to run with some ideas up there.  Trying to force my thought process into areas dictated by "Substitute" wouldn't have worked well for creative thinking.

Do you have anything that's been bothering you that you want to Substitute out to make it better?  Product or Process here.  :)