A couple of the things I've been thinking about recently
When I was planning Sprout Labs, the two technologies that I thought were going to be key to what I was planning were:
- games
- mobile technology
Games have become an important part of what I've been doing, but I also have had much to do with mobile technology. Currently, it's a bit hard to ignore the fact that smart phones have really come of age, and the iPad and tablet-style computers are changing the way we can access information.
The two key things I'm excited about are:
- The tablets allow anyone to have easy access to electronic information. I've been working on a number of touch screen projects for easy access to standard operating procedures and other business information. These have been fixed touch screens, normally in workshops. I've got a prototype of one of these working on iPad. I think the iPad and multi-touch screens are really going to be key to making these projects really usable and useful.
- Recently I asked myself the question, "What would a cutting edge factual/documentary project look like?" This led me to think about augmented reality technology, like the Layar, where, using a mobile phone with a camera and GPS, digital media can be laid over the view of a place. This offers many possibilities for Just in Time information and new forms of place-based story telling. I've started playing with this and expect to see a prototype soon.
