The folks at Google released 100,000 invites today to preview their new model of Web-based communication and collaboration, called Google Wave.
Since it has been in private beta, one has to rely upon others to explain what Wave is. It has been described “as much of a real-time chat room as a platform for editing documents collaboratively. It can also be used as a Wiki, to replace email and IM within an organization, or just to organize a pub crawl.”
A “wave” is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Each Wave consists of a threaded forum combined with a wiki, IM, and email that are then combined into a single interface.
In Google Wave, one can create a Wave and the add others to it. Everyone can insert content or edit in the Wave. Since each Wave is updated in real time, others can see content as it is being created. The service can be used for quick messages and persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication.
A playback feature allows one to watch a Wave as it evolved, providing access to edits, who made them, and in what context. A locally hosted Wave server can interact with other Wave servers, but will also have the option of keeping their content private or limited to specific users.
Check out Wave in this 10-min abridged video of this hour presentation:
If you are one of the lucky ones to get an invite early on, please make sure to comment on your experience.
-Eric Schnell
September 30th, 2009
In the movie The Terminator, the viewer is taken frequently to the Terminator’s point-of view.
We know this is Terminator’s POV because there is image digitization and the people he is chasing are more luminous than objects in the foreground and background, which suggests infra-red. In the margins of the view we see columns of characters, including numbers and acronyms. The data changes so rapidly that it leaves no doubt that we are seeing the world as the Terminator sees it.
Science fiction? Well, parts of the Terminator’s POV are no longer scifi.
Augmented reality (AR) is the application of computer-generated imagery embedded into live-video streams as a way to expand information as it relates to the real-world. Through the use of AR technology, information about a user’s surrounding environment, and the objects within it, are stored and then retrieved as an information layer on top of a live real world view.
Since one really need to see it in action to understand it:
As far as using AR technology in libraries, Ken Fujiuchi proposes possible uses:
“When someone finds a book in the library catalog, they can have the option to snap a QR code or unique image of the book, which will first store the information about the book. Then the user can first be directed to a specific section of the library, and once they are in the right section they can use a mobile device to scan the book spines to start being guided towards the book they are looking for.”
Helene Blowers paints this scenario:
“When I shift my thinking about AR apps to the physical library space I see our whole collection opening up before our eyeballs. Imagine the ability to walk down an aisle and see the reviews and popularity of an entire shelf titles just by pointing the camera lens on your phone at the spines (or outfacing covers).”
Here are some other possible uses for AR, with the assumption every information source and service is networked:
- Scan a building to find out if study rooms are available
- Scan a building to identify hours of service, or which librarians are on duty. Touch screen to contact (text, IM, etc.)
- Scan a bank of public terminals to identify which ones are open
- 3-D images of special collection artifacts are viewable from a QR code or bib record.
- Physical exhibits can provide 3-D images of supplemental materials
Do you have any ideas?
Resources:
Educause: 7 things you should know about Augmented Reality
How Stuff Works: Augmented Reality
-Eric Schnell
September 21st, 2009
