biocast

O'REILLY

At our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Foo_Camp">Sci Foo Camp</a> this past summer, <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/jbruner">Jon Bruner</a>, <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/jims">Jim Stogdill</a>, <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2717">Roger Magoulas</a>, and I were joined by guests <a href="http://www.amandaparkes.com">Amanda Parkes</a>, a professor in the Department of Architecture at Columbia University, and CTO at algae biofuels company <a href="http://www.bodegaalgae.com/index.html">Bodega Algae</a> and fashion technology company <a href="http://skinteractivestudio.wordpress.com">Skinteractive Studio</a>; <a href="http://www.ivanpoupyrev.com">Ivan Poupyrev</a>, principle research scientist at Disney Research, who leads an interaction research team; and <a href="http://www.hayesraffle.com">Hayes Raffle</a>, an interaction designer at Google [X] working on Project Glass. Our discussion covered a wide range of topics, from scalable sensors to tactile design to synthetic biology to haptic design to why technology isn't a threat but rather is essential for human survival.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:
<ul>
<li>The <a href="http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/botanicus-interacticus-interactive-plant-technology/">Botanicus Interacticus</a> project from Disney research and the <a href="http://ipoupyrev.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/botanicus-interacticus-and-revel-at-siggraph-2012/">Touch&eacute; sensor technology</a>.</li>

<li>Poupyrev explains the concept behind the Touch&eacute; sensor is that we need to figure out how to make the entire world interactive, developing a single sensor that can be scalable to any situation &mdash; finding a universal solution that can adapt to multiple uses. That's what Touch&eacute; is, Poupyrev says: "a sensing technology that can dynamically adapt to multiple objects and can sense interaction with water, with everyday objects, with tables, with surfaces, the human body, plants, cats, birds, whatever you want." (2:50 mark)</li>

<li>The ultimate goals of Google Glass and Touché, Raffle says, are similar in that they're both trying to make computers disappear &mdash; Disney is putting the computation into the world so that it's indistinguishable from objects around us, Glass aims to bring technology closer to you so that it almost fades into the background when you're using it. (4:17 mark)</li>

<li>In a similar vein, Parkes is interested in bringing the interactivity of our surroundings &mdash; such as the overwhelming visual pollution in Times Square &mdash; back to a more natural, softer state &mdash; and is there any hope for the <a href="http://www.timessquarenyc.org/live-work/times-square-transformation/index.aspx#.UlLJFRY2_zI">Times Square redesign</a>? (5:56 mark)</li>

<li>Parkes' discussion of her work prompted a nod from Stogdill to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Nature-Constructal-Technology-Organization/dp/0385534612">Design in Nature</a>, by Adrian Bejan and J. Peder Zane.</li>

<li>We also discussed how the expansion in our experience of interfaces and interaction is enhancing our possibilities to be entertained as well as enhancing beauty, aesthetics and pleasure (9:15 mark); Poupyrev stressed as well that it's the technology that makes humans who we are &mdash; technology isn't a threat; it's the most important thing for human survival. (13:28 mark)</li>
</ul>

Additional points of note include a discussion of Google Glass in the wild (14:19 mark); biocouture (19:15 mark); Parkes' experiment feeding organic conductive ink to slime mold to see if it'll produce conductive circuit traces &mdash; can we can grow our own circuit boards? (17:50 mark). Also, research into haptic technology that creates tactile sensations in free air (23:58 mark)

Expanding our experience of interfaces and interaction

How have scientists transformed tobacco plants into pharmacies that produce life-saving drugs? Synthetic biologist Christopher Voigt and biotechnologist Stephen Streatfield crack open their biological toolkits and discuss how scientists are tinkering with natural processes to improve products and systems. Plus, Ira checks in with the winning team of the iGEM competition.

More at http://scifri.me/vdryox

Opening Up the Synthetic Biology Toolkit

What sorts of breakthroughs are possible by modifying an organism’s genome – something researchers are now able to do ever more cheaply and efficiently? Researchers around the world are already able to program microbes to treat wastewater, generate electricity, manufacture jet fuel, create hemoglobin, and fabricate new drugs. What sounds like science fiction to most of us might be a reality in our lifetimes: the ability to build diagnostic tools that live within our bodies, or find ways to eradicate malaria from mosquito lines, or possibly even to make genetic improvements in humans that are passed down to future generations. Wyss Institute Founding Core Faculty Members Pam Silver and George Church discuss the high-impact benefits of their synthetic biology work, as well as how they manage the potential of unintended consequences.

Transcript: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wyss-prod/app/uploads/2015/05/26123354/Ep001_Disruptive_SyntheticBiology.pdf

Disruptive: Synthetic Biology | Wyss Institute

Jon Bruner and Mike Loukides talk about the classical music publishing industry and how it's being disrupted by projects like the Petrucci Music Library (http://imslp.org/) that make public-domain scores available online.

The future of classical music

Jim Stogdill, Edd Dumbill and Roger Magoulas have a conversation about in-memory databases and the impact on real time analysis. Leave questions and comments for us at http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/05/talking-about-in-memory.html

Talking about in-memory

Jon Bruner, Mike Loukides and Jim Stogdill from O'Reilly Radar muse on the return of software to the physical world.

Software and the physical world

Jon Bruner, Jim Stogdill, and Roger Magoulas talk about anthropology in big data, advances in JavaScript, searching for ancient civilizations, the importance of context, and good sites for checking the weather.

Related blog post: http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/06/radar-podcast-anthropology-big-data-and-the-importance-of-context.html

Anthropology, big data, and the importance of context

Jon Bruner, Jim Stogdill, and Roger Magoulas talk about what's been on their minds this week: the NSA's surveillance programs, what defense contractors will do with their technology as defense budgets dry up, and a Californian who isn't doing what you think he's doing with hydroponics.

For more on these topics, and links to the things we talked about, see http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/06/radar-podcast-the-internet-of-things-prism-and-defense-technology-that-goes-civilian.html.

The Internet of Things, PRISM, and defense technology that goes civilian

O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators. At O’Reilly, a big part of our business is paying attention to what’s new and interesting in the world of technology. We have a pretty good record at having anticipated some of the big technology developments in recent history. For instance, we launched the first commercial Web site, GNN, in 1993; we organized the meeting at which the term “open source” was first adopted; we were early investors in Blogger, which helped launch the blogging revolution; and more recently, our Web 2.0 conference launched a world-wide meme. We call this predictive sense the “O’Reilly Radar.” And while we’re certainly not always right, we are, at least, good at making interesting guesses.

Our methodology is simple: we draw from the wisdom of the alpha geeks in our midst, paying attention to what’s interesting to them, amplifying these weak signals, and seeing where they fit into the innovation ecology. Add to that the original research conducted by our Research team, and you start to get a good picture of what the technology world is thinking about.