Category Archives: technology

Reach into the computer and grab a pixel by Jinha Lee at TED

Reach into the computer and grab a pixel by Jinha Lee at TED

The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether. As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk, his ideas include a pen that penetrates into a screen to draw 3D models and a computer desktop prototype that lets you reach through the screen to manipulate digital objects.

Jinha Lee works at the boundary of the physical and digital world. The TED Fellow, designer and engineer is exploring ways to weave digital information into physical space.

More TED Talks: Making a car for blind drivers and Robots that fly & cooperate

Reach into the computer and grab a pixel by Jinha Lee at TED

More about Jinha Lee
Jinha Lee is an interface designer, engineer, and researcher working at the boundary of the physical and digital world. A 2013 TED Fellow, he is exploring ways to harness humans’ innate kinesthetic and sensory skills to impact the way we interact with the world of digital data.

Jinha is currently on leave from his Ph.D. studies at MIT Media Lab and is leading a team to design TV interfaces at Samsung Electronics in lieu of his national military duty. His recent inventions include the SpaceTop gesture-controlled 3D desktop OS, a levitating tangible interface, and a pen that penetrates into the screen.

Alison Wong on The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius

Alison Wong on The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius

Look for Product Design Consultant Alison Wong on the upcoming show The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius with Kal Penn. She’ll be one of the 10 contestants on the show. Her background in engineering from MIT & Stanford will be an asset to her when the games begin.

“All my life, I’ve been a bit of an outlier,” says Alison. “An engineer who loves art, an Asian in the Midwest, a woman in technology. I want to break down stereotypes.” Alison is a design consultant for companies like HP, Barnes and Noble, Motorola,and IDEO, and manufactures her own product designs. She worked at Ford in Dearborn, where she helped design parts on an aluminum Explorer and at Apple, where she made an efficient heat pipe for the iMac.

Even though she runs her own company called Integral Design and teaches product design at Stanford, Alison still has time to draw cartoons, moonlighting as a storyboard artist and illustrator. On the weekend, she loves hiking and riding her motorcycle.

Winning this competition would mean the world to her. “I’ve got the academic credentials,” she says. “But this title you can’t buy.”

Alison Wong on The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius

More about The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius
The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius will feature a seemingly impossible engineering challenge to be solved by the contestants each week. Competitors will have just 30 minutes to come up with a solution using their own intellect to complete the challenge. Based on logic and design, the expert panel of judges will determine the best engineering concept and select two captains to lead their team to execute the project. The team with the best design will remain safe, but the losers will face the judges who will determine which member will be eliminated.

Far East Movement in HTC One commercial

Far East Movement in HTC One commercial

Dirty Bass experts Far East Movement are the pitchmen for the BoomSound technology in the latest HTC One commercial. On the average smartphone, sharing music or a video with friends is a frustrating experience. A tiny speaker will tame even the most ferocious track. But the new HTC One’s BoomSound™ changes all that. Dual frontal stereo speakers powered by built-in amplifiers deliver bigger sound with less distortion and more detail. You can hear the Far East Movement single Turn Up the Love playing in the ad. You can get the phone here.

Far East Movement in HTC One commercial

Engineer by Only Won

Engineer by Only Won

Rapper Only Won the Lyrical Engineer puts the design on a technology focused spin for Far East Movement’s Rocketeer. The parody follows on the success of his track “I Wanna Be an Engineer.” Calculation and quantification of this single tops the analysis of this single. Engineers will be geeking out to this one.

Listen to more Only Won: Dim Sum and Cantonese Boy.

Engineer by Only Won

Lyrics to Engineer by Only Won

Huh! Yeah, it’s Only Won…The Lyrical Engineer
Back again with yet another design
So let’s do this…Quantify one more time.

Where you go, we built the roads…roads
How we did it, nobody knows…knows
All you know is that you can drive it…But, but we
da ones that designed and paved it
Sometimes you might think it’s bumpy here
But it was caused by the atmosphere
Water turns to ice, causes it to shear
Stone Matrix asphalt comin’, Never fear.

Here we go. Trust in me.
There’s a world out there built by folks like me
Take my plan. They’re certified.
Check these docs right here, I’m an Engineer

Let’s Quantify
Calcs calcs calcs to go … go
To test the ground, need to check the load..load.
Let’s Design
Calcs calcs calcs to go … go
Use Kelvin… Absolute Zero..ro

We get hot working thermodynamics.
And double check the work of our mechanics.
Projects on my mind, got my head up all awry
Tryin’ to decide to go gas or electric,… yeah
Where we at, only few have known.
6 years of school crammed in 4, oh no
I hope to get a job, our advice is sound
if they listened, London Bridge wouldn’t be falling down

Here we go. Trust in me.
There’s a world out there built by folks like me
Take my plan. They’re certified.
Check these docs right here, I’m an Engineer

Have you ever been stuck at a red light?
nobody around but you gotta hang tight.
they could add more sensors & cameras, right
don’t cause traffic jams by workin nights
You could save a lotta gas by doin this.
Slow down emissions …go head take a wiff
I’m like oh, oh, oh, oh
Why can’t I go, go, go, go?

Here we go. Trust in me.
There’s a world out there built by folks like me
Take my plan. They’re certified.
Check these docs right here, I’m an Engineer

Let’s Quantifyai ai ai
Calcs calcs calcs to go … go
square peg won’t fit in a round hole
Let’s Design ai ai ign…
Calcs calcs calcs to go … go
It’s the Engineer so Lyrical

Microsoft Surface Pro Commercial directed by Jon M Chu

Microsoft Surface Pro Commercial directed by Jon M Chu

You might have seen this commercial during the Grammys. Director Jon M Chu continues his collaboration with Microsoft with the latest commercial “The Vibe” for the Microsoft Surface Pro. Once again, he brings along his dancing friends Daniel Cloud Campos, Mike Song, and more. Even beatboxer KRNFX is added to the mix.

Microsoft Surface Pro Commercial directed by Jon M Chu

Turn Up the Love Experiment with Far East Movement

Turn Up the Love Experiment with Far East Movement

Turn Up The Love and participate in Far East Movement’s musical experiment. The group will be hosting a live 2 hour show where viewers around the world can tune in and participate. All you have to do is download the FREE TURN UP THE LOVE app Turn Up The Love - BioBeats and go here on the January 24, 2013 8pm(est)/5pm (pst) to watch. The app allows the users to contribute their HEARTBEAT! You will get to visually see our heartbeats connecting throughout the world during this show. This EXPERIMENT will show how our hearts are all connected through music. Expect special guests, giveaways, and see how we are all connected through music.

Listen to music off their Dirty Bass album : Christmas In Downtown LA, Lovetron, Change Your Life, Little Bird, Turn Up the Love, Turn Up the Love (fan version), Dirty Bass, Live My Life, Candy, Live My Life (Party Rock Remix).

Turn Up the Love Experiment with Far East Movement