As it comes to wii-mote hacking, the Human Computer Interaction researcher Johnny Chung Lee is my hero. While the Wii-mote Whiteboard and finger-tracking were already quite impressive, the following project struck me in awe. The VR-head tracking would deliver a completely new experience.

I’ve seen my first 3D movie  (Beowulf) last month in a Dutch cinema. By using 3D goggles the experience gets considerably more immersive, although, personally I seemed to get used to the effect pretty fast.

Last week, I saw a 3D television at the research facilities of Philips Consumer Electronics. This television was a flat screen in which images appeared to float without even using those glasses. The effect was comparable with 3D cinema.

Then this project: it doesn’t just manipulate the rendering and display of images, it uses the interaction to manipulate objects onscreen in order to create the 3D effect, and that would actually be useful in games or multimedia:

Now it got me thinking how this prototype would look on the Philips 3D television prototype..

More than one billion people – one sixth of the world’s population - are without access to safe water supply. One of Belgium’s national radio stations is currently doing a benefit for people in need of drinkable water. Money seems to flow in by the minute, but as for purpose and products, you could wonder what would be a useful investment.

The graduation project that was exposed at Design United from Roelie Bottema would be a nice option according to me. LifeStraw is a personal water purifier that can be used to drink water from sources that under normal circumstances would be deadly. An inventive filtering system makes this possible. Right now the product looks like an oversized straw. With just as little as € 3, you could buy such a LifeStraw which can purify up to 700 litres of water. No I don’t have any stocks in this product, but I just like the idea very much. For your info: I tried it myself and am still alive so.. I’m not talking bullshit. :)

Research proved this was not really a suitable solution for kids below the age of 5, so Roelie came up with a design that alters the interaction and makes it suitable for these youngsters, since it’s still mostly them that die from drinking unclean water.

I couldn’t track much info on this project online, but this scanned print should show the ropes:

On the other hand, the waterpyramid is also an interesting project:

(sorry video is in Dutch only)

Admit it.. you’d be impressed if I were taking your details.