Jarrett Interaction Design

Teresa suggested I go see Avatar yesterday while she did some school work.  I discovered that the IMAX 3D version was playing, so off I went.

It is a stunning film for its visuals, audio, and technical effects.  But it’s a simple, predictable story.  I enjoyed it, and I even hope for a sequel where I can re-immerse in the flora and fauna of the planet Pandora, but it’s more like a video game than compelling literature.

However, I believe that Avatar is a glimpse of the future of movies – the very near term future.  A future where voice acting dominates, and what the actor looks like is completely irrelevant.  Through computer graphics and motion algorithms, any character played by an actor can have whatever physical attributes and abilities the production designers can imagine.  For the last few years, I have predicted that computer graphics would become sophisticated enough to completely obviate the need for real actors.  We have achieved that for the visual aspects.

Cyberpunk and certain other sci-fi genres have always played on a future where our silicon-wired brains provide us individual experiences that surpass and overwhelm reality.  Between movies like Avatar and video games, this future has arrived, at least for the audio-visual.  Next up: fully synthesized acting, no humans necessary.  Smell, taste, and tactile experiences are a little further out, but on their way as well.

My good friends over at Ovo Studios, Scott and Rich, have shipped the first version of Ovo Solo. Congratulations, guys!

Anyone who does usability testing should have a look. It’s the next generation of their software suite for conducting, logging, reporting, and creating highlight videos for moderated usability evaluations.  They have a free trial available and discounts for students and current users of Morae.

It’s designed for individuals or small teams, doesn’t require any hardware beyond the host computer, and does support an optional second computer for real-time logging.  I’ve used their previous systems, and they’ve always had the ones that really understood the work and purpose of usability testing.

Of course, you may be interested in their other products and services.  I highly recommend them, and wish them great fame and fortune.  Rock on!

(Feb 10, 7:30am): Woke up to 8″ of wet, heavy snow with a small layer of sleet.  Still snowing.  Later today, the wind will pick up, and we’ll have blizzard conditions.

(Feb 10, 12pm): Still snowing hard.  Wind has picked up.  Think I’ll wait ’til its over before shoveling again.

(Feb 10, 2pm): Snowing less, blowing more.  T and I just shoveled another 8″-10″ from the main walk and the end of the driveway.  She also brushed off the cars.  Screw the sidewalks (for now).  We had an idea… crank the house heat up to 80 degrees, mix margaritas, put on our swim suits, and sit in front of the HDTV with a slide show of beach photos.

(Feb 9, 5:45pm): It started this afternoon.  We’ve got 2″-3″ already.  Baltimore County has declared a snow emergency so the snow clearing machines can get to the secondary streets.

UPDATE (Feb 9, 10:30pm): Snowing steadily.  4″-6″ on the ground so far.  Supposed to gain in intensity over night and then have 40-50mph gusts of wind tomorrow.

OMG. We have another winter storm warning. It started a few days ago as 4″-6″. Since then, it has steadily increased to the point where we now expect another 10″-20″ before most of the snow from the weekend has even been removed.
I drove in to work this morning. Dumb idea. Slush, ice, and blocked lanes. Stupid, stupid drivers – too fast, too much turning, too much brakes. I’m working from home for the next 2 (3? 4? 10?) days. I don’t want to die for my company.

Here are some photos from the end of the day yesterday.  The sun came out just before sunset.  Today is bright and sunny and I liberated the CR-V, so we are no longer stranded.  We never lost power, although others did.

At 8am this morning, we had 20″ inches or more, drifting quite deep.  I shoveled the front steps and walk and knocked the snow off the top of the Miata.  I was worried that the weight of the snow might cave in the soft roof.  However, the wind kept the snow down to about 8″-10″ there, so I guess I didn’t have to worry.

It’s still snowing steadily, but not hard.  I’m sure we’ll be outside shoveling a number of times.  It’s pretty heavy snow.  Good packing for snowballs and snowmen.

UPDATE (Feb 6, 2:30pm): At least 26″ have fallen, and it’s still snowing.  A bunch of us in the neighborhood got together and shoveled channels between our houses to facilitate the movement of children, dogs, and alcoholic beverages.

UPDATE (Feb 6, 4:00pm): It has stopped snowing, finally.  We got somewhere close to 30″ total.  I’ll post pictures later this weekend.

UPDATE (Feb 6, 7:00pm): The blizzard is over.  The sun came out a bit between 5 and 6:30.  Tomorrow, low 30’s and sunshine.  On Tuesday, we may get a few inches more, and then maybe some more next weekend.  Record-breaking all over this area.  Of course, this is par for the course in Cleveland.

For the first time since our move to Baltimore, we’ve had a second snow storm before the previous one had melted off.  And now there’s going to be another big storm starting tomorrow.  Forecast is for 12″-24″.  Ugh.

UPDATE (Feb 5, 1:15pm): Now they are calling for 20″-28″.  Baltimore record is 28″.  It started snowing 90 minutes ago.  It’s still light and not sticking.

UPDATE (Feb 5, 4:15pm): Snowing harder now, starting to stick.  Maybe an inch so far.  Blacksburg has 8″ already.  They are now calling for 20″-30″+.  Could set new records in Baltimore and DC.  Baltimore record is 26.8″ in 2003.

Over the last 36 hours we got about 18 inches of snow here in Baltimore.  This is why we left Cleveland!  Ugh! The series of pictures below tells the story.

Yesterday morning, I shoveled.  Then I shoveled again a couple hours later.  Then again a few more hours later.  Then just the house entry before bed.  Then one more time this morning.

Top row: Front of house Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning.

2^nd row: Driveway Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning.

3^rd row: Sean and their Saab Saturday morning, buried Saab Sunday morning.

4^th row: Canopy in back garden in November, and Saturday afternoon.

Final row: Snow and icicles sliding off back of house, neighbors shoveling and gathering on Sunday morning in the sun.