Inside the mind of one of today’s finest visual communicators

Christoph Niemann — LEGO-lover, dispenser of irreverent wisdom on creativity, author of the excellent Abstract City and That’s How! — is one of my favorite illustrators. In this short video from Gestalten, Niemann discusses his philosophy on design, the state of visual language today, his creative process, his adorable non-neuroses, and more.

Microsoft PocketTouch - YouTube

The second presentation innovation Microsoft has announced, is called PocketTouch and it is aimed at making smartphones receptive to touch gestures through fabric, such as a pocket, purse, or jacket.

The idea is that sometimes people want to quickly interact with a smartphone without having to pull it out. Microsoft refers to PocketTouch as an “eyes-free” solution. Here’s the description:

PocketTouch enables a rich set of gesture interactions, ranging from simple touch strokes to full alphanumeric text entry. Our prototype device consists of a custom multitouch capacitive sensor mounted on the back of a smartphone.

Similar capabilities could be enabled on most existing capacitive touchscreens through low-level access to the capacitive sensor… Our results suggest that PocketTouch will work reliably with a wide variety of fabrics used in today’s garments, and is a viable input method for quick eyes-free operation of devices in pockets.

PocketTouch are evolutionary steps of a larger effort by Microsoft Research to investigate the unconventional use of touch in devices to extend Microsoft’s vision of ubiquitous computing.”

It’s terrific to see Microsoft innovating on multitouch since it’s obviously a critical element of the future of computing. However, Microsoft Research has a track record of showing off lots of cool stuff that never comes to market.

They need to follow the lead of IBM’s prolific research devision, which is much better at commercializing and productizing its best innovations — or at least maybe IBM only shows off stuff that has a reasonable path to becoming a real product. Still, in this case, it looks like Microsoft has a couple innovations that aren’t just cute ideas.

Use Any Surface as a Touchscreen - OmniTouch - Video

Watch the video to see how users can create a screen, move an image on the screen, zoom in and out, paint using a palette of colors, select buttons on a menu.

This week, Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon researchers are unveiling OmniTouch, a system that turns any surface into a touchscreen.

Composed of a depth-sensing camera and laser-based pico projector (more on that in a second), the contraption looks like a flattened-pancake version of R2D2 and sits on the user’s shoulder.

The user first creates a screen wherever he or she likes — such as a hand, arm, wall, table or pad of paper — and then, just like with any other touchscreen, uses fingers to navigate it.

The screen is created with the laser-based pico projector, which is an electronic system placed on a tiny chip. It transforms the image into an electronic signal, which then sparks laser lights of different colors.

Those in turn get copied and projected by mirrors, pixel-by-pixel, onto the selected surface.

The depth-sensing camera then detects when a user’s fingers are touching the “screen” (the surface the user has designated) and “pressing” a button on it.

To get the technology to work, the researchers needed to teach the system how to recognize fingers, which are crucial to the technology because they create screens, select buttons, zoom in and so on.

They dissected the qualities of fingers and developed a method for determining when a finger was “clicking” on something.

Researcher Hrvoje Benko said:

In this case, we’re detecting proximity at a very fine level. The system decides the finger is touching the surface if it’s close enough to constitute making contact. This was fairly tricky, and we used a depth map to determine proximity. In practice, a finger is seen as “clicked” when its hover distance drops to one centimeter or less above a surface, and we even manage to maintain the clicked state for dragging operations.

The technology was unveiled at the 2011 UIST, a conference on innovations in the ways humans interact computer in Santa Barbara, Calif., from October 16-19. Benko and Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. student Chris Harrison and Andrew D. Wilson of Microsoft wrote about the technology in this paper.

Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wiimote - YouTube

The Art of Enchanting Presentation

The Art of Enchanting Presentation

Influence through Storytelling

Better Presentations - Corporate Storytelling

Power of storytelling on Prezi

Prezi - Simply stunning presentations

Prezi - Simply stunning presentations

Telling a Good Story Makes for Better Presentations

There should be a good story behind every business presentation and hopefully, a good storyteller too.

Whether you are simply making a speech to your extended family at your uncle's wedding or you are trying to persuade the venture capitalists to invest a $1M in your new company, the rules are the same.

Here are some tips to remember to make your presentation not only more convincing but also more memorable.

• Always have a great opening - an attention getter. This can be either a one liner or a visual joke


• Look for and play on the emotion in the story - Look beyond the facts and figures. When telling a good story you need the audience to be involved. So, draw them in.


• Show them the proof - A picture paints a thousand words and an interactive demonstration is more convincing than any picture.


• Repetition is re-enforcement - Don't be afraid to state the same thing in different ways or to simply re-state your argument. It is convincing and shows focus.


• Use Silence as a speaking tool - Don't forget to pause occasionally and wait for the audience to breath and think for a few seconds. Some people need time to allow the penny to drop and it also allows you to gather your senses for the next slide.


• Remember to vary the tempo - Be aware of the time you are taking and the pace you are setting. This will keep your audience both awake and engaged.


• Maintain a dialogue with your audience - You are not in a play. You have the leading role in an interactive presentation that allows for questions, comments and active participation betwen you and your audience.


• Actions speak louder than words - Use your arms, legs and facial gestures to illustrate the dialogue. You are not a mime but you want to be the focus of attention.


• Establish the interactive nature of your talk - Let your audience know the rules of interaction from the start and make it comfortable for people to speak and ask questions.


• Don't speak to quietly or too quickly - Yes, you are nervous and you have so much to say and so little time to fit it all in. So, the temptation is to talk fast and set off at a cracking pace. Your audience will very quickly tire of keeping up with you and fall asleep.


• Don't preach or try to teach a grown-up audience - The primary goal is to be persuasive when introducing your audience to new information, not to accuse, nag and criticise.


• Always have a well prepared story to tell - To be truly convincing in a presentation you need to appear confident and well practised in your delivery. If you are trying to make it up as you go along, the mob will devour you.

I hope these few words, tips and hints are of some benefit to you when next you start to prepare for a public speaking event or an in-house presentation.

If you have enjoyed what we talked about and think you need more information or want really strong presentation strategies, contact the experts Lisa.Lipkin@storystrategies.net

Lisa is a very experienced, professional speaker and communications counseller from New York but we also enjoy her company and good advice, in the European capitals, where she speaks to global scientific, pharmaceutical and IT organisations.