Thursday June 01, 2006 |
Thursday June 01, 2006 New Age Industrial PlantI also had a quick run through some of the Media projects incorporated in Media Architecture & Technology project including the open source DRM efforts and a Sun micro (and therefore disruptivly cheap) set-top box. Again I didn't spent enough time to really understand how my current customer can really obtain value from these projects, so some more research is required. These projects have both been raised with me since my return to the UK. tags: Technology media multimedia videoondemand SUNW sunlabs DRM "media content" 
(2006-06-01 15:30:00.0) Permalink Sun's SPOTsThere were a couple of demos of Sun's SPOT (Small Programmable Object Technology). This is seen as really important and is possibly the best piece of research from the labs hitting my sweet spot (no pun intended ) of proximity, wireless and database. They have their own web site http://www.sunspotworld.com. The researchers are looking to innovate the platform to enable new applications and new developer productivity models. Check out the SPOT docs page, which also contains highlight arguments about the problems they're trying to solve. They also seem to have a view about collaboration, potentially missing from many of the demos and prototypes I have seen over the last two months at Sun & BT. tags: Technology internet wireless SPOT SUNW sunlabs
(2006-06-01 14:45:00.0) Permalink The Technology behind Virtual WorldsI popped in to see Jeff Kesselman (who blogs here...) & Seth Proctor (blogs {occassionally here...) at their Project Darkstar demo. There's no question but that Project Darkstar demos always make an impact. Project Darkstar is a java based server platfrom designed for writing massively scalable games. We're seeking to offer our unique technology platform for applications developers a proposition to games authors and hosts. You can see their sites; a project dashboard or a Sun Labs spotlight article or their project page at java.net.. I didn't and havn't spent the time getting to know the project, the queues are usually so long, but as Telco's move from "triple play" to "quad-play", it'd be good to learn more. tags: Technology projectdarkstar "computer games" java SUNW
(2006-06-01 11:45:00.0) Permalink Hole in SpaceI'm looking to see how we can improve Sun's relevance to education and possibly in the secondary/primary sectors rather than tertiary/university and I want to go beyond multi-media databases. One of the most dramatic demonstrations meeting this need was called the Hole in Space. Technologically, its a full size video conferencing solution i.e. 6ft x nearly 4ft, and the camera is in the middle of the screen. The size together with placing the devices in a lounge environment means that you can get full body language impressions. The researchers, Joan Dimicco, Brenda Laurel & Scott Nazarian demonstrate the video conferencing terminal recognising users by presenting their Java Cards i.e. a plastic card with a CPU chip. Dimicco has also developed a networking database which can be overlayed onto the screen (think Gnome's transparent terminal windows) and so we have the convergence of wireless (or proximity) technology, the internet and database to enable new applications. The software describes a persons networks based on facts rather than votes (where as linkedin is based on votes). I'd be curious to see if the two approaches can be merged. Another cute aspect is the way colour and shape are used to describe data, something I've mentioned with respect to tag clounds. In some ways, it was quite reminiscent of the scene from Logan's Run (the movie) when Logan meets Jessica (apart from not being 3D & missing the teleportation function that is). There's no question that the full size screen and 100% scale means that a fuller comprenhension of body language becomes available, and yields a massive improvement in communication. This might well be a technology that e-educators will utilise in the future. tags: Technology videoconferencing futurology SUNWsunlabs
(2006-06-01 11:15:00.0) Permalink After the KeynotesI spent the morning attending a couple of lectures and wandering around the exhibitions. tags: none
(2006-06-01 10:15:10.0) Permalink Wall of Innovation at SunLabs
After the speeches I wandered over to the main building and noticed in the entrance lobby a wall of innovation. Sun has mounted the patent plaques granted its staff on two opposite walls. So I took a picture, here it is, Walls of Innovation. NB I am standing up and six foot tall. There are a lot! tags: Technology Innovation SUNW
(2006-06-01 10:00:00.0) Permalink |
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My reason for being in Ca, is to visit the
