David Lidsky's Blog, page 3156
October 6, 2014
A Dark Ride That Scares You Out Of The Oculus Rift's Uncanny Valley
The OccultUs blends virtual and digital sensations together to scare the hell out of you.
Even the Oculus Rift has an uncanny valley. Though Facebook's virtual reality headset can transport you into ultra-realistic digital worlds, there's still something subtly off about them you can't quite put your finger on. As part of a project for the University of Art and Design in Lausanne (more commonly known as ECAL), interactive designer Simon de Diesbach has tried to take a running leap over VR's uncanny valley. Meet the OccultUs, a project that augments virtual reality with real-world sounds provided in real time by a robotic sound effects booth.
The Makers Of "Monument Valley" Are Working On A Virtual Reality Game
And you dont even have to use your hands to play.
The iPad game Monument Valley turned the architecture of M.C. Escher into a vibrant realization in pixels--scoring it a nomination in our own 2014 Innovation By Design Awards. Now, the company behind it, ustwo, is working on their next title called Land's End. The twist? It will be produced for the Samsung Gear VR. (Though we're betting it'll be on the Oculus Rift, too.)
Google Is Inventing Screens That Snap Together Like Lego
What if you could build a giant screen from countless tiny ones? Google is trying to enable just that.
Today, LCDs are chopped up in varying sizes for specific uses: 4.5 inches for a cell phone. 15 inches to go in a laptop. 50 inches for your TV. After that, they all go their separate ways in your life. But according to the WSJ, Google is working on a new type of display technology that can snap together like Lego bricks and bring these different displays together.
This Is Why Facebook Was So Aggressive About Migrating Users Over To Messenger
Two words: Mobile payments.
In June, Facebook announced that users who wanted to send private messages from their phones would have to download a separate app--Messenger--in order to do so. As I wrote at the time, it was an unusually aggressive tactic, even for Facebook, which hasn't hid its desire to unbundle its services as dedicated, standalone applications.
This Company's Brilliantly Sassy Branding Strategy Makes Yours Look Sad And Boring
Well, at least that's how the duo behind Manhattan Mini Storage's daring, divisive ads might write this story's headline.
In 2004, Archie Gottesman, chief branding officer of Manhattan Mini Storage, received an angry call from the Anti-Defamation League about her latest billboard. The image in question depicted a Buddha statue with a speech bubble saying, "My owner's a Jew… again." It turns out, not everybody got Gottesman's brand of humor.
October 3, 2014
The Recommender: Alice Truong, Who Wishes The Telegraph Would Make A Comeback
The best things on the Internet this week, curated by Fast Company employees.
Alice TruongPhoto: Celine Grouard for Fast Company Name: Alice Truong
Role at Fast Company: Reporter reppin' the Best Coast
Titillating fact: Earlier this year, I met Chris Hadfield, former commander of the International Space Station and No. 1 on my celebrities-I'd-love-to-meet list (OK, so I crossed off the only person on that list).
Reddit Gives Remote Employees Until End Of Year To Relocate To San Francisco
On the heels of its fundraising announcement, the online community is shuttering its Salt Lake City and New York City offices.
Since Reddit announced its $50 million fundraising round earlier this week, details of new changes have slowly surfaced. For instance, as part of the round, the online forum said it would give some company stock to community members--possibly through the creation of a cryptocurrency.
Meet Flic, A Nifty Tinder Interface For Deleting Old Photos
Swipe left on old selfies.
When it came time to download iOS 8, lots of users scrambled to free up the requisite gigabytes on their iPhones. I was one of them. (And yes, I know that there were workarounds. But I figured that my phone, like my refrigerator, could have used the deep cleaning.)
Next Up For Facebook: Health Care
With an eye on increasing engagement, Facebook looks to create "support communities" for users with chronic illnesses.
Facebook, the mammoth social network that seems to know everything about us yet still can't serve us good ads, is looking to expand its scope even further by jumping into the health care field.
Visitors Fined For Climbing Shigeru Ban's Aspen Art Museum
Looks like fun, though.
Two months after its grand opening, drama continues to surround the Aspen Art Museum, designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Shigeru Ban.
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