Design for the Other 90%

The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NYC had a show called Design for the other 90 %. The exhibition focused on designers who design products for 90% of the world's population that has no access to many of the products and resources we take for granted. Designers provided unique ways to provide better access to water, shelter, health and education. And here is a blog that has an interesting critique of the exhibition.

http://www.designobserver.com/archives/027474.html

Google Sightseeing

http://googlesightseeing.com

This is a great site for looking at peculiar observations using Google Earth. Here is an image of a swastika shaped military building in San Diego. The military is spending millions to change the image from above by creating some sort of . Another image in Mongolia shows a shape carved into the landscape of a man dancing. Google Earth has created a wondrous new way of sightseeing. Check it out.

RFID Tags

This is old news but the implications of RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology is significant from a technological perspective. More importantly, RFID has profound implications surrounding the right to privacy. RFID tags store information and data that can be retrieved very easily. Most passports use this technology to track the identification of the individual. Easy pass uses this technology to track and bill commuters on their passage through tollbooths. Credit card companies are starting to use this technology to track consuming and shopping habits. Imagine the power advertisers will have?

Snow World: Helping Burn Victims Using Gaming and VR

A joint research team at The University of Washington developed a VR game called Snow World. By playing this game, burn victims can reduce their pain perception by 50-90 %. The study of physiological aspects of pain has a long history, though the most prominent theory that explains how pain perception works is 'the gate theory'. The Gate control theory of pain is the idea that physical pain is not a direct result of activation of pain receptor neurons, but rather its perception is modulated by interaction between different neurons. To make a long story short, pain is experienced by modulating gates that turn pain on or off.

Brainstorming Application

Here's a site I found that helps you brainstorm with friends effectively.
http://www.molecularthinking.com/brainstorm/welcome