introspectiveH

Recently, I came across some videos of a very smart dude name Johnny Chung Lee that has been doing some interesting innovations with one of my favorite toys, the Wiimote.  Johnny Lee is a Ph. D. student at Carnegie Mellon, and his innovations are both simple and brilliant.  He is doing work similar to Majority Desk, but taking it way beyond to the next level.  The biggest shift in thinking is that he uses the Wiimote and infrared sensors in reverse, so that your hands are more free to move around naturally. 

I love it; such a simple paradigm shift unleashes so many possibilities.  If you don't agree, then check out his next video where he uses this same concept to provide a cheap alternative to both expensive electronic whiteboards and the upcoming Microsoft Surface, which is supposed to be priced between $5k - $10K. 

Because of the high interest in the project, but lack of resources to pursue it full time, Lee released the Wiimote whiteboard project as open source…another brilliant move.

I'm swamped with requests for compatibility fixes, requests for Mac and Linux versions. … and as much as I would love to be able to get this working in the hands of as many people as possible, I don't have the skills or time to do all this alone. So, here is my call for help. I have created a SourceForge repository for all WiimoteWhiteboard development.

Over at Cynergy Labs, they have also picked up on the minority report/Wiimote concept and put together a really nice, polished application using a pair of real minority report type gloves.  Thanks to my friend Karl Johnson over at Cynergy, for sending this one along. 

Cynergy Labs: Project Maestro

I love the fact that these type of breakthroughs are being created with a $30 Wiimote and $20 worth of parts from Radio Shack.

Microsoft Surface: $10,000

Wiimote: $30

Making Microsoft's Surface an overpriced, big ass table: priceless

As a bonus, check out Johnny's latest project on head tracking with the Wiimote for desktop VR display.  This is just freaking amazing and opens up a whole new can of worms. 

Combine majority desk, maestro, and head tracking VR together and you could be fully immersed in a productive 3D environment using a minority report interface.  Thanks Johnny Lee; I salute you.

Popularity: 12% [?]

There is an interesting battle going on between the Enterprise Irregulars vs. Robert Scoble and Nick Carr about the lack of sexiness in enterprise software. In Scoble's original post, he asks if anyone knows how to make business software sexy. Fellow Irregular, Michael Krigsman, responded in his blog:

Enterprise software is all about helping organizations conduct their basic business in a better, more cost-effective manner. In software jargon, it’s intended to “enable core business processes” with a high degree of reliability, security, scalability, and so on. These aren’t sexy, cool attributes, but are absolutely essential to the smooth running of businesses, organizations, and governments around the world.

Nick Carr then jumped in with his response:

I'm sorry, but I think Krigsman is the one who doesn't understand enterprise software - or at least doesn't understand what it could become. The distinction he draws between business and consumer applications is specious. Are we really to believe that making software engaging is somehow incompatible with making it reliable and secure? That's just baloney.

Besides the fact that I respect Krigsman and believe that he does indeed understand enterprise software very well, I actually agree with Mr. Carr on this one. Too many times people go down the dangerous path of the "Tyranny of the OR", which Jim Collins warns about in his book Built to Last. Just as Steve Jobs did with Apple, he didn't choose between form OR function or even form OVER function, he decided to embrace the "Genius of the AND" and strive to deliver both.

The enterprise question is not whether to choose between either process over people OR people over process. The answer is to be the genius that realizes that it can be both people AND process. Without this realization, you will see a change of heart in SAP's users of tomorrow that Dan talks about. If you leave people out of your priorities and omit them from your equation, they will find better tools to get their jobs done, even at the cost of your money saving, business process integration. If you want proof, go read my recent experiences with our new global procurement application or the pains of working with data in BI. This isn't a fantasy land, it's reality.

I actually believe some at SAP understand this and that's why you have initiatives like the SAP Developer's Network and SAP's Imagineering Group. You can also see this in new products such as Business by Design, where SAP is trying to make enterprise software accessible for small businesses. It's an internal struggle between the old school German engineering mentality vs. the new school Silicon Valley start up attitude. Only time will tell if they will find balance and harmony of both by embracing the "Genius of the AND".

Popularity: 16% [?]

Wow, this absolutely makes my day, month, and year.  Hugh MacLeod is a very popular technology artist/blogger that communicates with drawings and humor.  I am already a big fan of Hugh and his hugely popular blog gapingvoid.  Now my good friend, James Governor of Redmonk fame, talked to Hugh about majority desk, and this is the result.  Get your wii hands on, gapingvoid style!

My business cards from streetcards.com already sport the two gapingvoid designs below, and I just ordered more with the new wiihand design.  AWESOME!  If you order from streetcards, be sure to pay the extra for the matte finish; it's totally worth it.

Popularity: 16% [?]