Intelligent interfaces are offering endless ways to provide connection, context, navigation, personalization, and curation in the physical environment. What are these new tools, and what can YOU do with them right now?
At Xlab 2015, Nov. 5-6 in NYC, leading designers and technologists like Flavia Sparacino, Mike Clare, Neil Redding, and Darren David will show you!
Xlab was designed as a “what’s next?” space where designers, digital technology providers, and users can explore the new and emerging technologies shaping experiential graphic design. But Xlab is also about the technologies and platforms available today—tools that Experiential Graphic Designers can learn about during Xlab and begin applying in their next project.
At Xlab 2015—November 5 and 6 in New York City—speakers from the leading edge of digital user experiences will share the tools they’re using today and open new possibilities for how XGD/EGD designers can use those same tools.
Beacons
with Flavia Sparacino, MIT Media Lab PhD, inventor, and founder of Sensing Places
Flavia’s work on gesture control and body-driven dance, music, and gaming applications came 12 years before the launch of Microsoft Kinect and five years before Spielberg’s Minority Report. She also built wearable computers and sensors for use in museums and performance spaces almost 10 years before the launch of Google Glasses. At MIT she created a variety of other inventions including a 3D web browser modeled as a city and pioneering machine-learning techniques for user behavior modeling to personalize content delivery.
She has also used beacons extensively in her work, and notes that the technology—though it has been around for about four years now—is set to revolutionize retail and museum experiences.
“Beacons provide an amazing, very low-cost infrastructure for indoor experiences because we can now provide location- and context-specific information that makes the experience completely personalized in real time. This is huge, because we can now provide people with all kinds of information, from wayfinding to entertainment, coupons, and other content instantly based on their interests and where they are. There are literally no limits to what a designer can do with beacons.”
More about Flavia Sparacino
Smart Cities
with Mike Clare, User Experience and Strategy Lead for Intersection (Control Group)
Mike Clare is a RISD-educated product designer, user experience expert, and strategist. Intersection focuses on creating personalized and integrated experiences across digital and physical environments, and is part of the NYC-based consortium CityBridge, which is developing the LinkNYC Wi-Fi system.
Mike’s work in user research, strategy, and product design inform his perspective and his presentation during Xlab’s “Transforming Cities” session and provide valuable context on how cities are becoming more connected and accessible.
More about Mike Clare
Digital ecosystems
with Neil Redding, Creative Technology Director at Gensler, New York
As a technologist working with designers, Neil Redding helps Gensler teams envision how digital technology can enrich and improve customer experiences. Recognizing that people now live in the digital world, he has become a thought leader on the development of “digital ecosystems” that enable brands to deliver value to and be present in their customers’ lives 24/7.
Neil, who often works with retail clients, sees personalization as the most important trend in the retail world and will share his perspective during the “Transforming Retail” session at Xlab.
“People have learned to expect personalized experiences in the digital world--like recommended products and services, search results, and content--all curated based on preferences and behavior,” Redding notes. “And savvy retailers are starting to fulfill these expectations in physical stores as well as in the digital world.” He’ll share recent innovations at retailers like Target, Rebecca Minkoff, and Harman.
More about Neil Redding
Smart spaces and intelligent interfaces
with Darren David, Founder and CEO of creative technology firm Stimulant
Darren David calls himself a “creative technologist,” which he says is a fancy way of saying “I work closely with people to find unique ways to leverage technology to solve problems.” For the past eight years, his San Francisco-based company has created human-scale interactive experiences that connect people and place in new ways.
David calls his work “smart space design,” and he describes its as a nascent field that potentially holds major promise for the future of public space (and designers of public space).
“What could space do or express if it was dynamically aware of its surroundings?” David asks. “What experiences could you create if the conversation between inhabitant and space happened completely without friction?” Organizations and brands are already looking for ways to exceed their customers’ expectations for interactivity beyond devices, so smart spaces will be increasingly important. David will share his perspective during the Transforming Public Space session at Xlab 2015.
More on Darren David
Learn from Flavia Sparacino, Mike Clare, Neil Redding, and Darren David at Xlab 2015 and begin using digital technologies and platforms in YOUR next project! Register today; seats are going fast!
