Work Blog

3 blogs down to two

rb.work — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:28:57 GMT

I’m finding it hard to separate the design/architecture items I want to blog on my main blog from the design items I want to blog here, so I’ve decided that it’s fine to post Microsoft related stuff to my main blog. I’ve moved...(read more)

Design streams

rb.work — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:12:39 GMT

Thought this was a great find from LifeHacker, about the 2003 keynote by the author Neal Stephenson at USENIX. When he wrote his first novel it was on a "modern" typewriter with a plastic ribbon that would start jamming in Iowa’s July heat...(read more)

Microsoft Design Expo 2008

rb.work — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:16:55 GMT

I’ve been really impressed by the student output from the design courses at Dundee University in Scotland. I saw work from the Innovative Product Design (IPD) course at New Designers a couple of years ago and was really struck by the fact that they...(read more)

Putting the craft into technology

rb.work — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:02:41 GMT

Radios made in Indonesia by local craftsmen from sustainable sources of wood. Really like this idea of hand-crafted technology objects Read More......(read more)

THE ECO ZOO

rb.work — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:45:58 GMT

I’m really blown away by the Eco Zoo as the first very compelling example of the use of 3D in a Flash website. The art style is lovely, very reminiscent of the shots I’ve seen of the forthcoming Playstation 3 game, Little Big Planet. Read...(read more)

Tag Galaxy

rb.work — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:50:08 GMT

I’m a bit of a 3D UI sceptic. I just have some history in the area, and it’s left me thinking that 3D interactions are often cumbersome and rarely have a life beyond what their cool factor gives them. Case in point is this Tag Galaxy search...(read more)

LEBBEUS WOODS on Lines

rb.work — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:21:48 GMT

Poetic entry on drawing from Lebbeus Woods. “Even though I am best known for my drawings, and have spent many years as a teacher of architects, I have never taught drawing. The reason is that each person who wants to draw should devise his or her...(read more)

News visualizations

rb.work — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:21:45 GMT

A couple of really nice, back to back posts on visualizing the news from Visualcomplexity.com. The first is a visualization by Dave Bowker of a week of news from the Guardian newspaper. Dave attempts to connect the dots between sets of articles. The second...(read more)

Microsoft: Touchscreens Old and Busted; Force Sensitivity Is New Hotness

rb.work — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:21:52 GMT

Great bit of coverage on Gizmodo for some force-sensing work coming out of our team in Cambridge. Microsoft: Touchscreens Old and Busted; Force Sensitivity Is New Hotness“Researchers have come up with a prototype of their force-sensing tech that’ll...(read more)

The snaps of strangers

rb.work — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:59:50 GMT

One of the articles in Issue 28 of The Plug shows the results of tying a disposable camera to a bench in Atlanta, leaving it to strangers to fill the roll. The results show the street life around, friends, strangers, dogs. All kinds of stuff. I don’t...(read more)

HCI 2020 report on the radio

rb.work — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:18:19 GMT

A little bit of coverage of the HCI 2020 report launch on the World Service’s “Digital Planet” radio show. Here’s the points during the show where our coverage begins: 14:10 - Being Human segment begins 14:49 - Interview with Gary...(read more)

HCI 2020 report launched

rb.work — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:47:07 GMT

A year ago Abi and Richard helped organize a gathering of 40+ “luminaries” from the field of Human-Computer Interaction to debate how the relationship between people and technology might change in the next decade. That event has resulted in...(read more)

Green objects

rb.work — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:23:35 GMT

There’s an irony in green product design that we may just never get passed since you need to purchase new stuff, and creatively recycle/throw out the thing you’re replacing, in order to follow your ethics. Sometimes it just feels better to...(read more)

Design and the Elastic Mind

rb.work — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:25:28 GMT

I wish I could make it to New York to see the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition at MOMA. It sounds like it allows you to see or experience many of the objects and interfaces that I’ve blogged about over the last few years, and many that I haven’t...(read more)

Forcing ideas

rb.work — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:23:12 GMT

I’m a big admirer of the 100 Chairs in 100 days project as an example of forcing ideas, and doing more with less. Read More......(read more)