Ever more often lately, I stumble across 360 degree or panoramic video and photo ideas, tools and gadgets. Now I even have the great pleasure to work on a project with that kind of technology together withe the awesome company called Yellowbird from the Netherlands. They do amazing 360° videos which are embedable and follow the linear story of a video along a timeline, and whilst the film is moving you can change the viewpoint of the camera, like looking at the sky or behind you. Their most successful video certainly is the one from a snowboarders perspective which went pretty viral which is understandable, have a look:
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Even if I risk becoming a Native Instruments fanboy here, this is another great showcase of one of their products, presented by the even greater Jamie Lidell. NI released an iPhone app called iMaschine which according to the video is a little all-in-one sequencer, drum machine, synth and recorder to play around with and build little songs. As Jamie does impressively in this video, apparently without editing: building a beat, putting some bass groove on and some chorus and finally verse vocals on top of it, all lying comfortably in bed like on a sunday morning. Pretty amazing for 4,99 EUR in the app store. Let’s see if I get out of bed this weekend if I get this little toy right now.

Die Jambox von Jawbone ist ein kompakter Lautsprecher mit Mikro, der per Bluetooth Sound abspielen und aufnehmen kann. Ans Telefon gekoppelt ist er so eine Boombox für den Park oder ein Telefonkonferenzgerät. Funktioniert auch mit Computern, die Bluetooth können. Ich fand das kleine Teil im Test sehr sympathisch, danke an Vreni von K-MB für das Testgerät (schade, dass ich’s zurück geben muss, den Parktest hätte ich gern noch gemacht..)

Only two weeks ago, Heineken came out with the Starplayer iPhone app, which lets players estimate situations in Champions league football matches, while watching it on tv. I had the chance to test it from the beginning and I have to say it’s pretty impressive overall. The concept to run a game simultaneously to popular football games and let players worldwide play against each other is as simple as it is genius and the app is very well done. There are few things I did not like so much: 1st) I fail a lot, and I think I am not he only one, so it’s pretty difficult and on the edge on being demotivating. 2nd) it takes a lot of energy, the phone is almost empty after a match and 3rd) there are some minor usability flaws, like images that look clickable but aren’t. Here are some screenshots and explanations:
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I admit, I still love to watch tv. Here is one tool which let’s you carry around the screen: a DVB-T tuner for the ipad. I could test it and it’s definitely approved, it works fine and fast and is very easy to handle. Here is a little foto session to see how it works.

Tizi is a little box which receives the DVB-T signal with an antenna and creates a wifi you connect on with the ipad or iphone. With the Tizi app (free) you can then watch digital terrestrial television. In Berlin there are most of the major channels (ARD, ZDF ect.) on and some digital radio stations. Price: 150 EUR at Gravis.

Had it not been so cold, I could have even taken it downstairs to take out the garbage.

Martina from TLGG gave me this gadget to test it. Thank you!

An interactive trailer which pulls your friends information from Facebook and integrates it in the movie.

Technically, it’s not a problem to put individual text and video into a flash movie. Alone, the right idea and the concept is a challenge that Lost in Val Sinestra solves in a very smart way. By connecting your Facebook account to the Val Sinestra Trailer Editor a random selection from your friends list is made, you can chose a “Thrill factor” and your movie is being generated. Your own name will be used for the director’s title, your friend’s names and pictures will be integrated into the plot, on guest lists, on papers, fotographs or in the tv news. Alone, the sharing is not thought through really. In the end, I would expect a suggestion to share your own movie in your news stream and at the wall of all the people that take part in the movie. Technically, that would have been possible.

Try it out at http://www1.lost-in-val-sinestra.com/

Update: Obviously, this is not a movie Trailer but a campaign for Swisscom, as Techcrunch reports.

Der Online-Fashionshop Haburi hat zwei interessante Aktionen auf seiner Facebookpage: In Kooperation mit Cinemaxx können Fans (man muss Fan sein, um teilnehmen zu können, eine Praktik, die immer mehr zum Standard wird) einen Kinosaal mit Freunden füllen. Wer tatsächlich 199 Freunde zu der Aktion einlädt, kann mit diesen eine Exklusivvorstellung von Sex & the City 2 besuchen.

Spricht die erste Idee eher Frauen an, richtet sich die zweite (“Fashion Rocks“) eher an ein gemischtes Publikum: Wer gerne auf Festivals fährt, kann ein Foto seines Lieblingsfestivaloutfits posten und kommentieren lassen. Unter den Mitmachenden werden dann 5×2 Tickets für Rock im Park gewinnen. Umgesetzt wurde die App mithilfe von Wildfire.

Es fällt auf, dass Markenkooperationen via Social Media viel leichter zu organisieren sind, als über andere Kommunikations- und Vertriebskanäle. In letzter Zeit sind mir ein paar solche Kooperationen zwischen Medienunternehmen (Filmverleiher, Kinobetreiber), Reiseveranstalter oder wie in diesem Falle, Online-Fashionshops aufgefallen. Falls ich weitere Links werde ich sie hier posten, falls euch welche auffallen, schmeißt sie hier rein!

If you haven’t seen Prezi in action, this is an awesome illustration. Watch first the video which gives you an impression about how to work with Prezi (speed is 10x) and then the result, a Prezi which sums up a class by Howard Rheingold on Social Media in Stanford last october, done pretty much simultaneously by Adam Somlai-Fischer, artist and Prezi co-founder.

Click ‘play’, ‘wait’, click ‘more’, ‘fullscreen’, keep clicking.

This is a great game, small, fast, and easy to get into. Not always easy to solve and not supereasy to understand. You are the little man and need to collect the key to open the door and get top the next level. Zoom in with space and jump and run within the given square. Zoom out and reorder the squares to be able to walk from square to square in case they fit together. It’s intriguing and comes with good music. Enjoy th continuitygame.

Trabayo ist mein nicht mehr ganz so neues Internetbaby, das ich hier schon mal erwähnt habe. Es geht darum, zu sagen was man kann, das andere brauchen könnten: Cocktails mixen, Babys sitten, Websiten fixen, Rasen mähen usw.

Im ersten Schritt haben wir ein sehr einfaches System entwickelt, mit dem Beschreibungen und Headlines innerhalb von Kategorien erstellt werden können. Fehlt eine Kategorie, kann man den “Fehlt was”-Button benutzen. Interessiert man sich für einen der Services kann man mit dem Anbieter Kontakt aufnehmen. Die Trennung von Service und Person ermöglicht eine sehr einfache und dennoch granulare Privatsphäreneinstellung, sodass genau angegeben werden kann, wer man ist, wo die Dienstleistung angeboten wird und wer das sehen darf.

Wir sind noch am Anfang und können auch nicht so schnell entwickeln wie ein voll finanziertes Startup, denn zur Zeit bezahlen wir alles selbst und arbeiten neben unseren eigentlichen Jobs daran. Unsere Vision ist aber ein System aufzubauen, das es sehr leicht und angenehm macht, den eigenen Service darzustellen, konkrete Services für andere Vorzuschlagen oder Dienstleistungen zu beschreiben, die andere brauchen könnten und die es daher geben sollte.

Dazu gibt es regelmäßige Updates auf unserem Trabayo-Blog, z.B. wer außer mir noch hinter Trabayo steht, wie wir damit irgendwann auch mal Geld verdienen wollen und dass wir nächsten Samstag, am 21.11., eine Party im Dave Lombardo feiern. Ich würde mich freuen, wenn ihr vorbeikommt, RSVP zur Trabayo Party geht hier.

Trabayo auf Facebook
Trabayo auf Twitter

Update: Thx to for adding me to their catalogue. May your visitors be mine!

And here’s another toy for live electronic musicians: The Ableton – Novation launchpad. Trigger loops, bars, effects and all the other stuff you can do and prepare with Ableton live. Looks awesome in the video, can someone please send over a piece for me to try it out?!!

Novation Launchpad – Ableton Live Controller from Michael Hovemann on Vimeo.

The eRockit is a mixture between bike and electric motorcycle. You still use your legs to get it in motion but merely use your power as a trigger for the electric speed. It goes up to 80km/h so it can even be used on the autobahn. Moreover it looks fantastic and sounds like future (in this case the furture is noiseless). Of course, it’s a prototype and if you want to get one your own, it would be a toy worth 25000 EUR. But to be able to accelerate faster than a car on a traffic sign could be worth it.

Here is the result of minutes clicking and trying out to build a nice loop with inudge. It’s a great and very intuitive tool, works like a classic drum machine, great to play around with!

On the right side, you’ll find six different sound libraries, the drums are at the bottom, next is base and some synths on top. Click on the matrix to define a sound in the time line, which represents one bar with 16 clicks. Go ahead!

Myna ist ein Audio-Mixing und Bearbeitungs-Tool, das komplett im Browser läuft und auf den ersten Blick ziemlich beeindruckend ist. Garageband-mäßig kann man hier aus einer Bank mit Sounds und Loops auswählen und als Spuren anordnen. Die Clips lassen sich dann mit Effekten belegen, ein- und ausblenden und trimmen, d.h. Anfangs- und Endpunkt bestimmen sowie weiter loopen.

Natürlich kann man auch eigene Audiodateien hochladen und im Mix verwenden und sogar direkt Audio per Mikro aufnehmen. Alles funktioniert wirklich intuitiv und nur ein bisschen rumspielen mit den Loopbänken macht schon einen Riesen-Spaß. Das Ergebnis lässt sich als Projekt speichern oder als Mixdown exportieren, auf den Myna-Server oder lokal. Und schließlich per Embed-Code verteilen. Das Demo-Video macht Lust auf ein paar nächtliche Sessions.

[via Mashable]

Einige Initiativen haben sich ein Beispiel an dem sehr erfolgreichen “Der eine Nichtwähler, der Obama verhindert hat”-Tool genommen und ähnliche Web-Instrumente produziert. Immer geht es dabei um ein Video, das sich mit Name und Bild personalisieren lässt und anschließend an Bekannte als Link verschickt werden kann. Ziel ist es bei allen Tools, Menschen am 27. September zum Wählen zu bewegen.
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Ok, now here we are with augmented reality, it is starting. We have the tools like webcams and Actionscript and in flow the impressive examples.

AR Business Card from James Alliban on Vimeo.

You can try it too! Print this and go here and be amazed!

It’s done by James Aliban, an artist-developer-scientist who likes to experiment and build stuff with all sorts of hardware and flash. Here is how to build a multitouch screen very easily on your own. And he has many more examples.

(via Michael)

Update: Thanks to Konrad here is another augmented reality example by GE

I have 5 invitations, just comment below if you would like to test putpat too.

Putpat is another musicvideosite which aims to make it simple and easy to watch music videos like back in the ol’ days on MTV. A simple, flash based interface lets you skip videos, change channels, and love or ban videos. Based on this bans or loves plus on a tool called Veequalizer users can build their own channels which will then deliver videos according to taste and mood.
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Die Versprechen des mysteriösen, sich aber immer konkreter abzeichnenden Semantic Web sind groß. Nichts anderes als dass Maschinen tatsächlich verstehen sollen, was man gerade sucht und die Informationen und möglichen Entscheidungen entsprechend aufarbeiten will das semantische Web liefern. Ein Web der Daten, mehr als Daten im Web.

Artikel von mir im Trabayo-Blog weiterlesen

European parliament offers a nice widget on their European Parliament MySpace site which breaks down essential political questions in a very simple way. Here is the widget I did:

Too bad it does not show the meaning of the symbols but it goes like this: the cat is for taming financial markets, the sun is for solar energy (althought that’s a little short, I believe we need a mix, which includes nuclear energy BUT with a clear stop in the future), the lock is for open borders, the flash for electric energy for cars, the book is for investments in education (instead of agriculture) and the syringe is for genetic agriculture (and I do not mean Monsanto! I believe public science must undertake a much bigger effort than today to find, also genetically driven, solutions to make agriculture more sustainable and productive.

A friend pointed me to this great film trailer iPhone application which does exactly what you expect: List all available trailers with some context information about the movie, shows the trailers, makes the downloadable to a local archive, select between European countries and thus languages, search for titles or other tags like production company genre and so on. Very recommendable!

And here’s the trailerapp trailer:

Developed by filmtrailer.com (Preview Networks) with xTreo

I had this idea when I realized how many people twitter about what they are watching on tv right now. Taking a look at my German twitter friends on a sunday night, be sure, almost half of them will comment on the ongoing “Tatort”. But in contrast to stuff from the web, tv shows cannot be linked to directly. Of course, there are pages from tv channels, YouTube videos or blogentries, but there is clearly no distinct system to link to tv shows.

This is a gap to be filled, maybe it is THE gap to be filled for the two systems to grow together. We need URLs for tv shows.

How can this be done? Here is just an idea, feel free to discuss it, take it, rework it and implement it.
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For the most time I have been in my current flat, the little store in the ground floor was filled with a computer store. The guys where nice, even had some hints for me from time to time but obviously they did not suceed with their business and closed last year. Some months later people started to build a café there. This was of great delight to us since we have many bars in our neighborhood but no nice cafés to sit and read newspapers.

In september, Café Solvey opened finally and we instantly became friends with Solvey and her family who run the place. It’s warm and cosy, with very old porcelain, self-made cake, soft armchairs, a kids corner with toys and a fake, yet very well done chemin. And when Solvey asked me to help her out with a website I could not say no. Jimdo was the system of choice to build it fast and easy and when I see now that Solvey herself (who is not a big fan of these “computer things”) edits the events on her page and adds products, I know it was the right decision – Jimdo obviously easy to use. And I earned myself a couple of coffees, breakfasts and cakes!

Take a look at Solvey’s website, more importantly, visit the café if you are around and leave a comment in the guestbook!

Yesterday, I attended the ceremony of Deutsche Welle to award the Best of Blogs (theBOBS) which, according to the jury, are the best blogs in different national categories, as well as in video and audio in 2009.

Peter aka thewavingcat blogged live with a very fascinating tool called Coveritlive. It has a very smooth editor surface to write, comment and adjust stuff and codes which can be embedded in other websites where your twitterlike short news are flowing in and can be commented. He worked really hard in typing down the many informations from the stage, approving comments AND answering questions from a worldwide crowd. Respect! Also, Stefanie Suren and Andreas Schepers did a good job in guiding the audience through the evening with a plimpse of Hollywood feel: “And the winner is..!”
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“Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.”

Hm, so what does that mean? Basically what you can with the little Arduino board is easily bring lots of input in and turn it into certain outputs. Sounds easy and maybe trivial but really is not. Because Arduino can process many different signals and trigger many different outputs. Kiss a door and it opens. Step close to a mirror and a video starts playing with the mirror talking to you. Turn TV picture into LED-signals. Connect it to the Wii and In general one might say it’s very nerdy and looks a little unready still. But it’s definetly the start into a development of selfbuilt robots and machines.

Below are some video examples. I particularly like the TV to LED part because it’s kind of what a friend and I did for a party once. We put 16 toilet paper rolls covered with translucent paper in fornt a tv and thus reduced the pictures to a 16×16 pixel screen. We taped it to video and had a nice party light installation. The posted below is slightly more elegant but, really, less charming.
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Greenhouse.sproutbuilder.com is an absolute blast. It’s a flash based widget builder which works entirely in your browser window and has a lot of editing features. Build sites with text, video, pictures, slideshows, maps, charts or insert RSS. Define size, fonts, colors, background, effects. Here are the most recent updates from the PANORAMA3000 blog in a widget, it took me 20 minutes to make it nice.

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