NeoReplicants , probable guests on Wild Show this Thursday

On the Wild Show this week I hope to be discussing the NeoReplicants exhibits with two guests - Fabian King from Figurehead 3D   and Nick Davies from Prt - Scr Press.

NeoReplicants is at the Phoenix main gallery till January. It has 30 examples of 3D printing as sculpture.

Figurehead 3D has services including scanning objects and developing models from a sketch or photograph.

Prt - Scr Press mainly offers a print service using Riso

For NeoReplicants Nick Davies has created a font from the game Tetris. It exists in 3D as part of the exhibits and also in 2D online and as print.

You can download the font here 

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Blogs found so far

possible discussion point, are mobile phones really a menace? can social media just add to the unexpected mix?

full coverage of technology and several photos, including the Tetromino font.

Virtual worlds stalled for corporate learning - Towards Maturity survey

There is a new report from Towards Maturity. This is based an a series of surveys of companies using e-learning. One of the PDF downloads includes longtitudinal trends since 2006. One thing that strikes me is the figures for "Virtual Worlds - eg Second Life". They confirm my impression that the use of virtual worlds for learning has not grown, it may have declined after an experiment that ended.

direct to trends

There is quite a difference between the actual and predicted results. 26% highest prediction for 2010, 9%  highest actual in 2011. The 2012 actual is down to 3% so I don't know what the 20% prediction for 2013 is based on.

I find this all surprising as I like Twinity for example and the virtual worlds seem to continue as part of games. Bandwidth may have been an issue previously but not now. Maybe more people are using mobile devices without the graphics chips or processing of desktop computers. 

I have been trying to promote Twinity as part of #mtw3 an online conference. There might have been a Twinity model of the Work Foundation with a detailed exterior and accurate conference rooms etc. But the street aspect of Twinity has gone, apparently because of the cost of maps data. Recently I have found that 3D models can be placed in Twinity quite easily. This is not new, just something I have tried out so I guess that virtual worlds could return quite quickly if there was some interest.

Twinity is now owned by Exit Reality.  They also offer 3D hosting as part of Learnbrite

So this may be a project that will show where virtual worlds may flourish.

Another possibility is that social media now have all the possibilities for anonymous chatter and 3D will gradually be added as an extra.

I will continue to look at Twinity and use photos and video to connect with other formats. 

Future shows digital magazines ok, what about other publishers?

Over the weekend I found a couple of interesting reports in the printed Guardian but both quite small. Now found on website.

Future Publishing

Future predicts 'tablet Christmas' will boost e-editions sales

previously

"Our progress towards a predominantly digital business continues," the company said.

Digital engagement is on the rise with a 50% year-on-year increase in visitors to Future's portfolio of magazine websites in 2012, at 45 million unique users per month.

also

FT Deutschland to close.

The Guardian could have done some comment on this. Was there ever a web strategy for FT Deutschland?

Will other publishers tell us what they are planning? My guess is that solid numbers will only be public after the switch to digital is clear. The Guardian will not reveal very much about itself.

The "tablet Christmas" ? Probability 80% my guess. Detail to follow.

Issues around quality management and universities

I have been asked a question about how it a problem presenting ideas about quality management to people who work in UK universities. So I am putting this in a public blog so others can find it. The discussion started around planning a meeting in Room 5 at CQI HQ on the 6th Dec. This is based on the Deming Special Interest Group.

I started by asking permission to publish diagrams and documents online in an open manner and so far have passed one on to my colleague Linda Shelton who blogs about the #mtw3 online conference. Management Theory at Work started with two conferences about ten years ago. There may be another face to face event next year.

See also the diagram in a later post

I am currently strongly into the practice part of this as I think communication will shift over the holidays as consumer electronics takes over computing. But anyway back on topic what I found from Management Theory at Work in earlier versions and since-

Academics find quality systems as imposition as they are experienced. Very rare to find the idea of transformation as positive or possible.

Critique take on quality very strong in management learning studies. Hugh Wilmott and Adrian Wilkinson 1995

Maybe something has changed since. I don't come across anything much different. Based on work at UMIST I think but the intro available from Cambridge 

Also

ISO systems dismissed as far too bureacratic. Of course some people within the CQI think much the same.

Systems and learning are regarded as different subjects. So at Lancaster Department for Management Learning, Department for Management Science .  Peter Checkland wrote about Learning for Action when sort of retired and slightly outside this structure.

More later, sorry this is a start as not long till the 6th.

Winterlude 4 and Linda Shelton's reminder on #mtw3

Maybe it is just the wind and the rain but I have a feeling that the Winterlude may be starting. In previous years this was between Online Information in December and Learning Technologies in January. But Online Information has already happened, though without the exhibits. I don't know what is happening with XML or library technology but will try some search over the next few weeks. Bothe Learning Technologies and BETT are right at the end of January. I think the consumer electronics over the holidays will shift a lot of tablets as well as e-readers so by the time of BETT a lot could change. The lack of a technology display at Olympia is not a sign that tech has stopped changing.

http://mtw3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/reminder-of-conference-streams-diagram.html

I have linked a lot to the themes of #mtw3 though now am concentrating on applied tech. Linda Shelton has reminded us that the intended streams for #mtw3 are wider than just practice. I will come back to this later but will concentrate on the Winterlude for a while as some tech shifts could soon be clear. If the ratio of tablets to e-readers continues as currently appears then a lot of online information could be sound and video.

I am also checking out Exeter High Street. I don't think this is more than a few months behind what happens anywhere else. Consumer Electronics announced at CES are usually way off being available. Topics include 3D and screens as well as TV.

Twinity Berlin my place now with a computer

Berlin

I have found out a bit more about 3D objects.

Found a computer in the Warehouise then exported from Sketchup in a format that works for Twinity.

And also the scale is ok. so now there is a computer on the floor.

I think the whole Twinity situation can relate to 3D objects. The printing of data sets is just one aspect, but current for the Phjoenix in Exeter over the next couple of months. Still thinking how this fits. My actual space is also full of old computers and this needs presentation and discussion on where it is heading.

New edit Maz Totterdell at South West Music Awards #SWMA12 remix button

Chris Norton has now selected the Creative Commons option for his video from the South West Music Awards.

So this is a quick mix of mine with the talk ruining the sound and his with much better sound of the performance but with some wobble on the vision. the point is that the Remix button works ok. The render from YouTube of a new mix took about quarter of an hour.

So sorry again about the low production values. Some of the other videos are a bit better.

Main point is that if you choose the Creative Commons option then the remix will gradually get a better result.

And there is other video from the #SWMA12 event still to come as far as we know.

Now outside the Sphinx on Beach For You, also Giraffe at ainmX

I tried out a giraffe at animX in Bitropolis. This is the highest room I know of and it turned out there is space for a giraffe. I got a bit more confident with the controls so had another go at the Sphinx. It turns out that when you select "move this object" then it becomes a bit more fluid so you can walk through it. I have now moved the Sphinx way to the left as you face the sea. So the spot you arrive on is now outside the Sphinx. There is plenty of room for other content.

Bitropolis has an unusual mix of quite small spaces in a grid for a trade show and then quite large spaces for display and reception. The walls of the animX bit have stills from previous events.

   

Issues already inside the Twinity Sphinx

Today I think that light is coming to Beach For You and other places assumed by Twinity to be in the UK.

So I went back to the beach in Northampton to see how the Sphinx looks in daylight.

Trouble is that Twinity places me in the same spot I was yesterday when I imported the Sphinx and somehow the walls are now solid. I'm sure I could walk through it previously.

My colleague Web Kirby has also had a look and has the same problem. He claims it will not matter too much as there can still be a conversation about 3D printing inside the Sphinx as well as outside.

But has anyone out there got a clue what to do? Can the Sphinx be moved? If so are you still inside after the event? 

Please look for "Beach For You" on Twinity and add a comment.

(The light is arriving with the Web Kirby photo because Twinity thinks that there is still night and day. )

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Sketchup to Twinity seems ok, Sphinx now on Beach For You

http://create.twinity.com/google_warehouse.html

This explains what I thought might be possible. Sketchup models can be added to the warehouse but there is enough there for a sculpture park. The Sphinx is taking up a lot of the beach but there is still plenty of space.

I will be talking to Web Kirby about a proper gallery sometime soon. For the rest of this year, 2012, there will be no charge for displaying a model. It seems if the format is ok for the warehouse then it should load ok.

UK now dark but will try to get some photos in daylight tomorrow.

Beach for You is in Northampton according to Twinity.

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