October 30, 2008 by sean.

Steven Levy explores Augmented Reality and the Mirror World [via wired]:

[T]he iPhone’s multitouch interface shows the way to harness the Web’s annotations to our physical reality — information about every nail salon, every cul-de-sac, and every person has piled up in what computer scientist David Gelernter calls a “mirror world.” Apple cracked the code that previously made it difficult for mobile users to access this data-rich alternate stratum. (Microsoft hopes to match Apple on this front as its own Surface multitouch technology spreads across tables, plasma screens, and mobile devices.)

We once talked about cyberspace as a distant cosmos, a digital outland that left the physical world behind. An iconic representation of it appeared in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, in which a pizza-delivery guy was the hero of an artificial world known as the Metaverse. This year, breakthroughs like the Wii, Guitar Hero, and the iPhone showed that 21st-century reality is a blend of the digital and physical, with a borderline so blurred it’s not really a line at all.

Posted in pervasive computing, augmented cognition, mobile computing | No Comments »

October 29, 2008 by sean.

I admit, I HATE [lugging, troubleshooting, paying money for] laptops! Apparently, I am not alone [via the apple blog]:

One point which seems to have a great deal of validity is the idea that travelers are now ditching their desktops in favor of laptops, and using their smartphone to achieve what was previously done on a laptop. While this doesn’t hold true for everyone, it is a trend which seems to be slowly emerging.

With the iPhone, Apple has taken an authoritative position in this new market — a notion backed up with statistics:

In a survey of 460 iPhone users from March by Rubicon Consulting Inc., more than 28% of respondents strongly agreed and 29% mildly agreed when asked whether the iPhone was replacing their use of laptops.

Posted in mobile computing | No Comments »

October 20, 2008 by sean.

In addition to “”(f)requent social interactions, regular exercise and maintaining a balanced diet can also reduce dementia risk.”", surfing the internet may be good for your brain [via BBC News]:

For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power, research suggests. A University of California Los Angeles team found searching the web stimulated centres in the brain that controlled decision-making and complex reasoning. The researchers say this might even help to counteract the age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down.

Posted in neuroscience, software | No Comments »

October 14, 2008 by sean.

Posted in pervasive computing, collective intelligence, mobile computing, social networks | No Comments »

October 14, 2008 by sean.

Psychologists at Northwestern University in Illinois explore the connections between conscious and “unconscious” processing [via telegraph.co.uk]:

A moment spent working on something else or taking a break altogether allows the brain’s unconscious thought process to take over, American psychologists believe. When the brain kicks back into gear, the conscious thought process will pick up on the solution, they found…

Professor Adam Galinsky, who led the study, said: “Conscious thought is better at making linear, analytic decisions, but unconscious thought is especially effective at solving complex problems. Unconscious activation may provide inspirational sparks underlying the ‘Aha!’ moment that eventually leads to important discoveries.”

Posted in learning theory | No Comments »

October 12, 2008 by sean.

Dan Peterson recently published a fascinating article on the psychology of sports:

Another component of “off-target” pitching or throwing is the psychological side of a player’s mental state/attitude. Stadler identifies research that these motor programs can be called up by the brain by current thoughts. There seems to be “good” programs and “bad” programs, meaning the brain has learned how to throw a strike and learned many programs that will not throw a strike. By “seeding” the recall with positive or negative thoughts, the “strike” program may be run, but so to can the “ball” program. So, if a pitcher thinks to himself, “don’t walk this guy”, he may be subconsciously calling up the “ball” program and it will result in a pitch called as a ball. So, this is why sports pscyhologists stress the need to “think positively”, not just for warm and fuzzy feelings, but the brain may be listening and will instruct your body what to do.

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