Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with interactive

How to drive 12 interactives with one machine?

MrBobaFett — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:51:52 -0800

What do I use to drive a multi head (12 displays) interactive display wall? I want to use one machine to run 12 discrete slide shows. Each show is only 2 slides. Mac/PC? Software? The details. Looking to have 12 displays running. Currently looking at the ELO 1537L ACCUTOUCH with VGA in and USB out for the touch screen.

My boss is drawn to using a MacMini for it's very small form factor since it will be installed in the display wall as well. It looks like I can use an EVGA USB VGA Adapter to drive the video for the displays. This solution would probably also work if we switched to a Shuttle PC.

The big question I think is what software will let me run 12 discrete full screen interactive? The interactive is very simple, each display has a default image it displays constantly, until someone touches the touch screen, then it flips to a second slide with info on the graphic. After an amount of time flips back.

Is there something that will let me do that with one machine? I'm pretty sure PowerPoint would be fine if I used 12 different machines.

How to get robots to send texts?

Chairboy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:13:38 -0800

Interactive art filter - how to get cute robots to send sms messages? Asking this question for a friend. He's designing an interactive art installation that uses small mobile robots which are infrared tracked by a Wii to trigger events in Pure Data. The next step is to find a way to get Pure Data to send text messages to participants in the project , probably using Frontline SMS. We are both a little tech savvy but not really coders - does this sound workable/do-able? what would be the best way to proceed here?

What are other examples of interactive - "volunteer needed" type websites?

MrBCID — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:02:00 -0800

What are other examples of interactive - "volunteers needed" type websites like WheresGeorge.com, CoCoRaHS, BOINC, Folding@home, Geocaching, BookCrossing?

Event Production A&R? Corporate theater producer?

lothar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:23:56 -0800

Authors have agents. Musical talent has A&R reps. Startups have VC. What is the category of representative, or who is the aggregator, for my business? We do live interactive performance visualization. It's live in the sense that nothing is prerendered (no video loops).
It's interactive because we hook up wireless controllers and cameras to stuffed snakes, eyeballs, and magic wands.
It's a performance when the audience plays with the snake and sees an onscreen snake mimic the motion they're making.
And it's visualization because the output is high-res, high frame rate, HD on multiple screens, usually large scale projection.

We need to get repped to the production companies and event designers who do corporate theater and live performance. The main "problem" is that we're almost the only folks doing what we do, so clients don't know they need us yet.

Please help us tech geeks find the marketing agency category or people who handle large scale procedural blinky pixels.

Need clear or milky plastic spheres

sid — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:52:56 -0800

Asking for a friend: I need about 20 clear or frosted plastic balls that are 3" in diameter for a Nuit Blanche project. Where could I obtain such balls in Toronto? They will be used to diffuse IR light for an interactive art project. The project will debut at Nuit Blanche this year!

How to Print the Interactive Fields in an Interactive Form

kristymcj — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:55:26 -0800

How do I get this fillable form PDF to print the information in the interactive fields. If I click "highlight fields" the information is there, but when I print it's gone. I'm working in Acrobat 7.0. The form was created by someone else (I don't know what she was working in).

INTERACTIVE SMS DISPLAYS

ashepp — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:11:01 -0800

Does anyone know of an affordable solution to display SMS messages on an installation to the general public? Ideally a turn key lcd screen solution or similar. Appreciate any help! Adam.

Looking for video artist

BClady — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:23:26 -0800

I'm looking for a video artist's website (that I first saw linked on metafilter) -- the artist in question did series (maybe 9?) of web videos of a heavyset guy (possibly the artist himself.) In each of the videos, the guy INTERACTED with the cursor: for example, if you moved the arrow on the trackpad across the video, the guy would suddenly SLAP the cursor out of the way. I've tried all the tags I can think of, but cannot locate the site. Help?

Online ad business, what's the forecast?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:31:16 -0800

Is now a good time to get into the online advertising business for an "interactive" agency? What's the forecast for this industry? I am a usability professional working for a consulting company (tech industry), which probably only has enough cash on hand to make it into 2010 without layoffs. After that, I'd be pretty high up on the list of people to cut based on my experience and time at the company if things continue to go south.

On the bright side, I've been offered a job for an interactive agency in a usability role. They specialize in Website Optimization (SEO, whatever you want to call it)--but are a full service shop that does design, usability testing and coding as part of the complete offering.

Couple of questions:
1. What is the forecast of the online ad business?
2. Is now a good time to be changing career paths?
3. How do usability folks typically fit into a company like this? Will I be marginalized? Constantly fighting with Marketing folks?
4. Professionally, does a usability engineer with marketing experience make me more attractive?
5. The work would involve using google analytics to manage online advertising campaigns--and of course making sure sites are functional and usable. How much of this business is snake oil?
6. Should I just stick it out with my company and hope for the best?

throwaway email: interactive_question@yahoo.com

Digital/Interactive Tech Conferences

Lieber Frau — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:14:33 -0800

Do you know of any awesome digital and interactive art/technology conferences coming up in 2009? I'm excited about this year's OFFF, and I'd like to go to the HOW Design conference in Austin. But I'd also like to visit a few showcases for interactive technology, as well as video game and emerging technology conferences. Anything even remotely related to interactive, web-related, or digital trends is fair game. Thanks!

Fun First Dates in Tdot

Count — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:52:41 -0800

I'd like to make a shortlist of fun first date locations to take girls out to on weekdays in Toronto, ON. Preferrably light-hearted, casual ones that are somehow interactive, like karaoke or the zoo as opposed to dinner or movies. Any ideas? They don't have to be weekday events, however that is a big plus. Reasonably economical is also a big plus as my budget is studious and likely theirs is as well.
I'm open to any themes and tastes. Think of the last really fun time you went on in hogtown!

How can I make a stand-alone/browser-based piece of Interactive Fiction?

Damn That Television — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:29:20 -0800

Interactive Fiction question. I want to write a short (~2 hour) piece of interactive fiction, but I want it to be a stand-alone file or able to be integrated/hosted on a website when done. (Simply put, I don't want people to have to download anything more than a single file to play it, or, ideally, to do anything other than play it directly in a website.) What's the easiest way to do this? (I'm using Inform 7, but would be happy to use something else if needed.)

How to find agency responsible for a web site?

seeminglee — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:25:53 -0800

Which interactive agency is responsible for designing adobe.com? And ultimately, what is the best way to find out who did what? I haven't been able to come up with a good query for these kinds of searches, and I thought that there *has* to be some kind of database online which shows agency-client line-ups. You'd think that these things would show up in AdAge's DataCenter but it does not - or perhaps I've missed it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Appealing, school-appropriate video game clip?

daisyace — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:00:02 -0800

I would like to find a link for a short video clip of a video game that meets certain criteria. It will go into a presentation to elementary school teachers, as a quick backdrop to a point about interactive games that will be used in school, and that will be fun while challenging kids to think and learn. (It won't itself BE that game; it just has to plausibly look the part.) It needs to have some connection to an outer space theme. So to recap and clarify the criteria:
* At least a 5-second, decent quality clip available online.
* Looks appropriate for kids younger than 12.
* Looks appropriate for a school setting (so, no shoot 'ems, etc.).
* Look like it helps kids think and learn, but preferably not as explicitly as math sums that appear on screen or something - think more like 'puzzles and challenges,' less like 'pick the word that starts with A.'
* Looks interactive.
* Some connection to an outer space theme.

Suggestions would be great, links even better.

Help me recommend an interactive whiteboard.

flabdablet — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:49:34 -0800

Can anybody recommend an interactive whiteboard package for an Australian primary school? I've been tasked with costing a 20-workstation computer lab for a primary school, in pursuit of grant money. One of the must-haves is an interactive whiteboard. As a technician, rather than an educator, I have zero experience with these toys.

Most of them seem to be offered as a package deal with bundled software, for what strikes me as very high prices. So I'd like to hear from people who have used interactive whiteboards in a primary school setting, to find out whether the bundled software is worth paying a significant premium for. Should I be shopping around for a good bundle, or is it more important to get the best deal on good hardware? And what is the most reliable, least troublesome hardware?

I would also be very please to be able to present an Edubuntu-based lab as a costed option, based on a couple of grunty servers and a bunch of el cheapo thin clients; so, bonus points for anybody who can tell me about using interactive whiteboards with Linux.

Online marketing - tools for keeping track of the tools?

rmm — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:04:37 -0800

Online marketing - tools for keeping track of the tools? So a lot of web savvy folks are on MetaFilter - I'm hoping some of you kind souls might be able to help. This is a little similar to some of the previous questions, but hopefully not too redundant.

I'm familiar with both the previous marketing questions on AskMe, as well as being familiar with a lot of the web 2.0 related sites and tools. What I'm looking for is help and best practices on actually executing a marketing plan for publicizing a site and the idea behind that site. I'm working with some folks (in my spare time) who have an existing site on a semi-obscure topic and they even have a recent book on the topic they've written to boot. I'd like to help them out, but am trying to figure out how, and how best to measure the efforts.

I'm seeing it as a combination of:

a) reaching out to interested people who don't know about the book and accompanying site (via a Flickr group? affinity groups related to the topic in message boards etc.?)

b) measuring how they're doing reaching out (this, I'm not as sure of - survey existing users of the site? measure click throughs with banner ads, etc.? what else?)

The problem is I don't want to come off at all like we're spammy folks. If new users buy the book, fine - but if not, life goes on. The people behind the site are doing this out of a pure love for the topic and a desire to create a community around it rather than a 'OMG, let's get rich and famous on the Internets' scheme. They're interested in building a community, and I've heard the 2.0 technologies are good for that ;)

Also how do you measure the metrics of these things - what methods work and which don't? Are there blogs devoted to discussing which methods work ('send to a friend' type links) versus which don't (click through ads?), and the metrics for these different methods?

What sites do you use to propogate your memes, hobbies, ideas? How do you do it in a fun, friendly, upbeat way, rather than 'buy the book' type of thing? What templates or tools do you use to keep track of where you've publicized things to? If people know of forums for interactive marketing that discuss these topics and are useful to you, please post them here as well.

Thanks muchly! (and yes, there'll be a linke to MeFi projects when the time is right, but first, marketing plan)

Google Analytics Question

quiverandquill — Mon, 21 May 2007 09:56:59 -0800

What does "Direct" in Google Analytics mean? I use Google Analytics to measure which web sites are sending traffic to my web site. I am using banner ads and search engines to send traffic. When I view traffic sources, I see many of the sites I have ads on...I also see this column called, "direct." Can someone please tell me what that means? I think it could be people who enter the URL directly into their browser--but on my last campaign, I had 3,000 people under "direct." They couldn't have all entered it into their browser.

If I am using ads in email, or ads on certain websites, is it possible that they are also coming up in the "direct" category.

I would very much appreciate your advice. Thank you!

Need some help designing and building LED light strips for an interactive table

warhol — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 20:31:08 -0800

Need some help designing and building LED light strips for an interactive table -- help me select 880nm IR LEDs, understand the circuitry, and figure out how to deal with power. As part of the table we need to build a couple of LED light strips making use of high output 880nm IR LEDs (yes, it's an FTIR table). One strip is 4' long, the other is 3' long and the LEDs are probably going to be 1" on center. Ideally, I'd like to power the strip from regular wall current.

So, the questions:

- Are there LED strips that I can readily adapt to this task?

- I love / hate digikey. For a novice, there's too much information. Can you help me find what I mean when I say "high output 880nm IR LED"? (I'm just thinking little bulb shaped guy with the 2 leads sticking out the bottom...)

- What do I need to do resistor-wise? The LEDs are going to be in series... Should I just be doing 1 stronger resistor at the end of the series or little ones in-between?

- How do I deal with the power? Is there a power brick that'll get me down into the range that I need or is will it end up being something custom?

Need a free interactive virtual whiteboard

yoga — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:41:09 -0800

Online interactive whiteboards. Are there any alternatives to GE's imagination3.com (can't move things around, you have to erase the whole thing and start over), groupboard (I'm looking for a free one, not a demo that expires) or sharing a desktop and using powerpoint? What about FF extensions? Open source?

Interactive Whiteboard Games?

grahamwell — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 11:42:13 -0800

Teacherfilter: Our school has shiny new interactive whiteboards - fantastic, but we need to figure out what to do with them. I'm looking for (educational) games, applications and any bright ideas. Think of it as a big touch-screen PC and help us make learning more fun. The boards themselves are made by Promethean and they come with some rather plain whiteboard software. They can do more. An example of the kind of thing I'm looking for is a Hangman/Jeopardy type game (like this - but with our own phrases) which we can use to set quizzes and generally make lessons more fun. Free is good (naturally). As I say, it's really a large touch-screen PC. The only constraint is that right-clicking is really clumsy, but otherwise any PC application is fair game. (native 1028 x 764)

Light, cheap portable video/DVD with excellent audio?

allterrainbrain — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:40:41 -0800

Portable DVD player, or video player, or custom-built Frankendevice, with VERY high-quality audio output?? Video quality doesn't matter (could even be b/w), but screen should be 8"+ and unit should be as lightweight as possible. For live concerts where I need to see video, just for my own reference, that's exactly in sync with my pre-recorded audio (so I would make DVDs or video files with my audio + the visuals I need). Laptop = expensive/heavy/overkill.

How can I use the Internet to promote an interactive film and arts site?

Elle Vator — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:15:54 -0800

There are a lot of buzzwords being bandied about regarding the 'viral' 'grassroots' ways that 'Internet 2.0' can be used to 'create a groundswell' through 'guerilla marketing'. What? What do these buzzwords actually mean? After getting vague advice like 'use MySpace' by people with marketing degrees who don't use the internet to market anything, I am interested in cutting through the crap by hearing from real people with actual experience in these matters. How can the Internet be used to promote a site with interactive stuff, games and short film... and little-to-no budget for marketing?

How to build a family website?

mono blanco — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:43:45 -0800

How do I build an interactive family website? How do I build an interactive family website?

I'm just now getting up to speed on XHTML and CSS thanks to all the great suggestions in this thread (I'm almost finished with the Head First book, woo hoo!). Now I want to try my hand at building a simple family website which would (1) require a password for entry (2) allow family members to post text and images (3) allow for thread-like discussions and, perhaps (4) permit members to have their own separate pages or sections of the site.

Suggestions? So far I'm doing everything through a text editor to make sure I learn the concepts, but I'd be happy to use appropriate website software. Is this something I should be able to do with, say, WordPress or Moveable Type? Does the interactive element mean I need to learn PHP? My website host says they provide PHP and MySQL Replication, if that's any help.

Interactive Marketing

jadanzzy — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 08:18:33 -0800

does anyone know what the term "interactive marketing" means? my girlfriend needs to know for a marketing position she's trying to take and the application calls for what the phrase means to her. do any of you know what this might mean at all? is it just a bogus term?

Where's a good place to work in Seattle?

ssmith — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:00:24 -0800

I'm going to be moving to Seattle in a few months and I'm getting ready to start my job search. It's been just over a decade since I lived in the Northwest and I'm pretty unfamiliar with the current advertising/marketing/web scene. I'm currently an Art Director with a pretty large advertising agency in Boston. I've got quite a bit of print and motion-graphics experience, but for the last 6-7 years I've been heavily focused on the interactive side of the business.

I'm aware of a couple Seattle agencies like Avenue A/Razorfish or Publicis, but that's pretty much it - I'd love to hear more about whatever else is out there. I'm not trying to limit myself to just advertising agencies though. I am just looking for some places to start doing research on places that could be a good fit for me. Whether that's in an agency, on the client side, for the government or wherever.