Designers Are Ditching The Mouse For The “Flow” 3D Motion Touch Controller

http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/29/pixel-perfect/

2015 UX Trend

2015 분야별 ux trend_글로벌 ict 프리미어 포럼 from RightBrain

World's first 5G mobile 'device'

First Look At 3D Camera App 3DAround

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/24/3daround/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity

What if you could shoot those cool 360-degree, swivel-around photos you see on ecommerce sites or in The Matrix with just your smartphone? Then you’d be using the 3DAround camera app that launches next month from Dacuda, which gave TechCrunch an early peek. Simply hit record, revolve your camera phone or tablet around an object, and 3DAround stitches together all the photos into a 3D image the viewer can spin at will.

Dacuda is famous for its PocketScan appthat lets you wave your camera over a document to get a digital image of it without a bulky scanner. Now Dacuda’s 25-person team and 5 years of experience are combining to make your phone a 3D scanner that always gets the perfect angle…because it gets every angle. For starters, it’s going to add some 360-spice to a ubiquitous but often boring type of photography: food porn.

“It’s a really good time for this kind of tech because Apple just opened up the camera APIs” Dacuda founder and CTO Dr. Alexander Ilic tells me. “We need pretty low-level access to controlling exposure time, focus, and more.” That’s just what Apple allowed with iOS 8.

Illic says the inspiration for the app came from watching food blogger friends take dozens of photos of plates of grub from different angles and struggle to decide which was best. He thought “Why can’t you just go around the whole thing, so you don’t have to worry about the perfect shot with a single angle.” Originally he figured that would require a camera with expensive 3D sensors, but in fact, newer iPhones are capable if given the right software. That’s where Dacuda comes in.

Spun out of top Swiss engineering school ETH Zurich by students from the university and MIT, Dacuda’s expertise is in image stitching. It’s backed by Wellington Partners, Swiss bank Schwyzer Kantonalbank, and Austrian entrepreneur Hans-Peter Metzler.

The 3DAround app extracts depth and structure information from a success of rapid-fire photos to create the 360-degree views. You’ll be able to interactively view the swivel-able photo through the 3DAround app or WebGL-equipped browsers like Chrome, and share some version of the images to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterst

The app will launch for free next month on iOS 8 devices for the iPhone 5 on up. While some phones like the HTC EVO now have stereoscopic double cameras that can take slightly “3D” photos, 3DAround looks like the real deal. We’ll have hands-on coverage once the app launches, so check back to see us spinning around some delicious food.

Immediately Is An Email App For Sales Reps That Tracks When Messages Are Read

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/30/immediately-launches-an-email-app-for-sales-reps-that-tracks-when-messages-are-read/

SquareOne, an email startup that launched its iOS app for organizing messages earlier this year, has now pivoted to become Immediately, an email app designed with the needs of sales reps in mind. The new app, which is currently live on the web and on iPhone, is an email client application offering features like reminders, templates, scheduling and Salesforce sync, as well as the ability to track email opens — allowing you to jump when customers and leads are in their inboxes reading your message.

On mobile, you can configure the app to send you push notifications when email opens occur by designating which emails you want to track with a push of a button in its “Compose” interface.

This is not the first app to track email opens. In March, an app called MailTracker debuted on iOS that offered similar functionality. However, in its case, the MailTracker app allows you track opens and engagement time for emails sent using Apple’s built-in Mail App. It’s not meant to be a standalone client.

In addition, Immediately offers a number of features that make it more competitive with something like Acompli, as the new app also lets you quickly share your calendar availability without having to change to a different application.

Other buttons appear below your Compose screen, letting you quickly do things like change your signature, respond with a template or create a reminder.

Contact details are available at glance, too, allowing you to quickly get background information on those you’re communicating with by pulling data from LinkedIn — a feature that’s useful for those even outside the “sales rep” space Immediately is targeting.

The company says it trialled its app across a number of companies before today’s launch, including Plethora.io, TalentBin and Visually. Now live in the App Store and on the web, Immediately’s long-term plan is to leverage data to make intelligent suggestions to salespeople — like whether their pitch is wrong, or being sent at the wrong time — that will help them become more productive.

For what it’s worth, even email apps that let you stalk your recipients can tell you everything. Email clients that offer push notifications with message previews, or interfaces like Gmail that show headlines and part of the message, are often how those with busier inboxes “read” their messages – that is, they scan their inbox to know who’s emailing them and why, and react accordingly. And no app – Immediately, MailTracker or otherwise – can track that sort of thing.

Immediately is free for individuals and will offer a paid tier for enterprises.

Android Wear Smartwatch Comparison

http://techcrunch.com/mobile/

Muse Brain Sensing Headband

http://techcrunch.com/video/muse-brain-sensing-headband/518422821/

Four Things You Need To Know About Windows 10

http://readwrite.com/2014/10/01/windows10-microsoft-new-features

Microsoft has finally shown the world its plans for its next major Windows release, the one that will succeed the much-maligned Windows 8. It's not Windows 9 or Windows Threshold—not even Windows One, as Microsoft executive VP of operating systems Terry Myerson briefly teased at one point during a presentation in San Francisco.

Meet Windows 10. Why is Microsoft skipping Windows 9? Your guess is as good as mine. More on that below.

The Big 10

The new operating system, which Microsoft is targeting for release by mid-2015, aims to correct many of the most criticized features of the Windows 8 desktop mode—the one most business users are familiar with. The colorful touch-oriented interface, which Microsoft calls the Modern UI, still exists, but didn't get much attention today. Microsoft promises more events at which it will talk about other Windows 10 features.

In general, one of Microsoft's big goals is to make it easy for users to move to Windows 10. That was a big problem for Windows 8, whose new and unfamiliar interface threw a lot of users.

"Windows 10 will be familiar to end users, whether they're coming from Windows 7 or Windows 8," Myerson said.

Here are four big takeaways from today's event.

The Start Menu Returns

In probably the biggest change from Windows 8, Windows 10 will bring back the Start Menu. That feature, a popup panel that gave access to installed programs and common features like the control panel, went missing in action in Windows 8. As long rumored, the new Start Menu will incorporate Modern-like tiles (see the above picture), some of which will display real-time information a la the current Modern interface.

Microsoft says the Start menu will be fully customizable. Users can change its shape and size, swap programs and other elements in and out, search for apps and even type in commands for which the operating system will then offer autocomplete options.

Desktops Go Virtual

Microsoft operating-system VP Joe Belfiore introduces virtual desktops

Windows 10 will also feature "virtual desktops," which are collections of apps that users can rearrange for better multitasking. It's a reasonably easy concept to learn by messing around, although it's more difficult to describe.

In the photo above, Microsoft operating-system VP Joe Belfiore is pointing to four separate "desktops"—those little icons at the bottom of the screen. Each one features a distinct arrangement of different program windows, making it possible to group, say, various social-media apps in one, open files related to a particular project in another. Users will create, delete and switch between these desktops using a "task switcher" button next to the Start button.

Touch For Tablets, Keyboards For Desktops

Finally, Windows 10 is designed to switch between the desktop and the Modern touch interface depending on whether it detects an attached keyboard. This feature is apparently still under development, as Microsoft operating-system VP Joe Belfiore had to rely on a video instead of an actual product demo. He had previously warned that Windows 10 code is still early in development: "There will be rough spots, and things may go wrong," he said.

No One Can Explain The Name "Windows 10"

So, why name the new OS Windows 10? Myerson stumbled a bit as he tried to explain it during a Q&A with reporters:

Really, y'know, this is a, this product, when you see the product in its fullness, it's a more appropriate name for the breadth of the product family that's coming.... We have tested it with many people, and it was a name that resonated best for what we'll deliver.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley offered this translation: "It's going to be the last major version of Windows and Microsoft wanted to signify it will be a big and cross-platform release." In other words, 10 was a nice big round number, so why not skip the inferior "9" and move on?

That bit about the "last major version" of Windows, by the way, refers to the rumor that Microsoft is moving away from big "tentpole" releases toward a steady flow of smaller updates that have the effect of updating the OS in a more continuous fashion. Near as I can tell, Microsoft hasn't officially announced this plan yet, which might explain why Myerson was having trouble explaining the name.

Microsoft plans to release a technical preview build of Windows 10 to the public on Wednesday. You can start trying to download it at 9am PT at this link. I'll be grabbing it as soon as I can get through and will let you know more once I get my hands on it.

Internet Trends 2014 - Code Conference

http://forbesindia.com/blog/technology/mary-meekers-internet-trends-2014/

KPCB Internet trends 2014 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Marketing in the age of Data for a New Customer

http://forbesindia.com/blog/technology/marketing-in-the-age-of-data-for-a-new-customer/

The Future of marketing with respect to digitization and the complexity of analytics that are required to make sense of the data are already dominating our lives. A number of examples come to mind when I think of how the art of classic marketing is changing with time and transforming itself to leverage technologies and drive a clear business benefit as well as customer engagement.

My Favorite example is one of the early engagements that Starbucks launched online called “My Starbucks Idea”. It was a continuous engagement for co creation where customers and prospects propose ideas for new products, packaging, marketing etc. These are rated by others and best ones are awarded as well as the company uses them to transform business. Acting on that information and doing it publicly are keys to the success of this campaign which has already generated 70,000 ideas. Thinking of ways to build your company is great. But directly asking your consumers what they want is better - indeed awesome!

Fiat Group Automobiles needed to determine the likelihood that future and returning customers would buy specific brands and models of Fiat cars, so that individual dealers could optimize the use of available marketing funds. The company also needed to better understand customer experience with dealerships and repair facilities. Using statistics, they were better able to determine the likelihood that a customer will purchase a specific brand and model and the related timing of the purchase. This improved customer response rate to marketing initiatives by 15% – 20 %, customer loyalty by 7% especially when customers are ready to replace their existing one.

In February 2012, The New York Times published an article by Charles Duhigg (Doo-hig) titled, “How Companies Learn Your Secrets”. The story simultaneously captured the future of marketing, some very interesting possibilities for all of us marketers and most importantly, chilling risks about the new responsibilities in this era.

Marketing is indeed finding a way to serve various customer needs even before the customer can voice his exact requirement. Marketing is leading to a pre-emptive action to impress upon the customer and result in a meaningful transaction. A huge element of data analytics, customer buying patterns and past history is making marketers arrive at a more precise conclusion on a customer’s buying pattern.

Today’s marketing practice requires building this ability to understand customers as individuals across millions of interactions. And it sets the conditions for marketing to play new roles in driving business success. The key capabilities that marketers need to understand customers as individuals include:

1. Instrumenting all the key touch points to gather the right data on each customer

2. Interconnecting social media data, other forms of digital data and transaction data to paint a more vivid picture of each customer.

3. Run the right analytics, at the right time, on the right customer to generate new ideas about whom to serve and how to best serve that individual.

4. Generate insights in real time that are predictive, not just historical.

5. Build the capability to do this on a massive scale.

We all see that there is an unprecedented amount of data being gathered at every meaningful touch point about each customer. The best brands are very strategic about which touch points get instrumented, and what kind of data emerges as the result. Question to ask: what is your clients’ instrumentation strategy?

The most skilled companies are combining social data, other web-based data and transaction data—and running precise analytics over them to gain new kinds of insights. In this world, the path to success is largely dependent on having comprehensive access to the data. You need to formulate these insights and strategies to discern the veracity of that data. Question to ask: what is your client’s strategy for attracting data? 

And finally, what is your customer’s next likely move—so they can appropriately pair their response with the next best offer, next best action, next need etc. Question to ask: how predictive must your clients’ insights about customers be in order to succeed in their competitive market?

 -  By Sindhu Srinivas, Practice Leader – Marketing Consulting & Services, IBM India/South Asia.In my next post, I will share with you how new age data tools are being leveraged to help brands interact better with customers.

Read more: http://forbesindia.com/blog/technology/marketing-in-the-age-of-data-for-a-new-customer/#ixzz3Czr4toCk

Hands On With The iPhone 6 And The iPhone 6 Plus

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/09/hands-on-with-the-iphone-6-and-the-iphone-6-plus/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus represent Apple’s new flagship products, and they’re a big change from what came before: The 4.7-inch 6 has a new, Retina HD resolution display, and smooth, rounded edges and a smooth transition between the actual glass protecting the screen and the rest of the casing. It also has an improved camera, and what might be its most exciting super-power: Apple Pay, which uses NFC tech to let the device authorize payments quickly using Touch ID as an authentication step. The 6 Plus has all that, plus optical image stabilization and an even bigger battery.

iPhone 6

In the hand, the iPhone 6 definitely feels noticeably larger, but what’s remarkable is that it doesn’t feel significantly bulky. The rounded sides and thin, lightweight chassis kind of harken back to older devices, in fact, like the iPhone 3GS and earlier, but the more premium materials used here add another dimension of quality.

Reaching across the device to tap the top corner isn’t uncomfortable, despite the extra screen real estate, and the screen resolution is truly impressive. The additional pixel density makes an instantly observable difference, even if it should technically exceed the ability of the human eye to discern, if you buy the rhetoric around the original Retina display tech. Whether it’s improved resolution, or better color rendering and display lighting, the effect is one of an image that looks artificial – as if they’d pasted a demo screen photo on top of the showcase devices.

Playing with the new camera reveals the improvements there are also impressive. The iPhone 6 gets all the new features besides optical image stabilization, including slow motion video at 240 FPS, which is two times faster than the iPhone 5s (and so two times slower when played back). The camera’s autofocus is fast and effective thanks to the addition of phase detection, and it no longer highlights the point of focus, which it doesn’t really need to because of its improvements.

iPhone 6 Plus

The 6 Plus is a device that isn’t for the faint of hand: its 5.5-inch diagonal face is definitely something users will have to get used to. The process is made easier thanks to the introduction of a new mode that lets people use all aspects of the OS, including apps and the Home screen, one-handed simply via a double touch (not press) of the Home button, which shifts everything down into thumb range.

The 6 Plus also offers a useful new landscape view in most apps in exchange for the bigger size – you get an inbox while looking at Messages or Mail, for instance, and detailed views in most system software. It’s a big advantage for working through stuff quickly, and is comparable to what the iPad offers in many ways.

Apple’s optical image stabilization also does appear to make for big improvements in the quality of captured images, though we’ll have to do more extensive testing to really suss out how much of a difference there is between this and the image stabilization offered on the iPhone 6.

Overall, with both variants, this is a vastly improved device in most respects, including the responsiveness and speed of the OS in all areas I could test in a short time. The new A8 is clearly carrying its weight, and it’ll be exciting to see how these apparent improvements hold up under extended testing. This could be a crucial selling point for some buyers, but it still feels like the price and size are going to make the 6 Plus a rarer device to find in the wild.

StudyRoom Lets College Students Join Online Study Groups, Book Tutors

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/08/studyroom-lets-college-students-join-online-study-groups-book-tutors/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity

FOVE Uses Eye Tracking To Make Virtual Reality More Immersive

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/09/fove/

A side-by-side comparison of Apple Watch vs. Pebble, Moto 360 and other rivals

http://online.wsj.com/articles/compare-apples-watch-vs-other-wearables-interactive-1410306321?tesla=y&mod=e2fb

Here's How The iPhone 6 Compares To Its Biggest Competitors

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/09/technology/mobile/apple-iphone-iwatch-event/index.html?hpt=te_t1

What Apple Didn't Announce

http://readwrite.com/2014/09/10/apple-didnt-announce-omissions-missing-iphone-6-watch-

Omissions from the iPhones 6 and Watch event.


Apple’s whiz-bang press event today at the Flint Center in Cupertino, Calif. yielded a stream of announcements, landing at breakneck speed—the iPhone 6, the Apple Watch, Apple Pay, and so forth.

For all that excitement, there were also some big omissions. (Apart from Apple vice president Craig Federighi and his spectacular hair, that is.)

iPod Touch And Apple TV

The iPod touch and the Apple TV were glaringly MIA today. The iPod—that MP3 player-turned-smart gadget—used to be the highlight of Apple’s end of summer–to–early fall event. But it was nowhere to be seen, apart from a cameo in a promo image touting Apple’s music line-up.

And Apple TV, a streaming set-top box, is sorely in need of an update after two years. (For instance, unlike most other streaming setups out there, it still has no app store of any kind.)

iPad

There was no sign of a new iPad, either. Of course, if Apple keeps to its recent pattern, it will probably hold a separate press conference in October to show off its new tablet—which, like the iPhones, is rumored to be getting bigger and to offer a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

If that’s the case, then Apple might be saving a sixth-generation iPod touch and new Apple TV for then as well. Fingers crossed.

SMART WATCH FORECAST: The Apple Watch May Lead Wrist-Worn Computers To Mass Market Status

http://www.businessinsider.com/global-smartwatch-sales-and-the-apple-watch-2014-9

Consumers will come to embrace smart watches because they will be relatively unobtrusive and allow them to do things that smartphones don't. 

The mass-market debut of smart watches is now a reality with Apple's announcement today of "Apple Watch," which features a user interface organized around the "digital crown," a new take on the watch's winding mechanism. 

In BI Intelligence's proprietary forecast for the smart watch market, we provided a half-dozen charts and datasets illustrating the potential for smart watches within the wearable computing space, and mobile. 

Here are the dynamics and numbers we see driving the emerging smart watch market: 

• We forecast 91.6 million smartwatch units sold globally in 2018. With an average selling price of about $100, that translates to a $9.2 billion market by 2018. Subscribers can download a spreadsheet and charts that show year-by-year estimates and the numerical assumptions behind our market forecast. 
• A mass-market smart watch would be the first new mobile device since the smartphone to upgrade or enhance a ubiquitous consumer product — the wristwatch. A watch with an Internet connection isn't as alien a concept as Google Glass. 
• And watches are a huge addressable market. It varies by age and gender, but consumer surveys reveal a slight majority of the U.S. and global populations still wear a watch, around 55%. 
• Even if only a minority of watch-wearers upgrade to Internet-connected and app-centric smart watches, that's still a huge market and a boon for growth-hungry tech players and app makers. 
• In the future, about one in 20 smartphones will be paired in some way with smart watches. 
• Smart watches will come to absorb the market for popular smart fitness bands like the FitBit. Activity trackers will also tell the time, and smart watches will track steps and sleep. The market will blur into one. 
• Through just the first half of 2013, the Kickstarter-launched Pebble watch shipped 93,000 smart watches and took over 275,000 pre-orders.
• The market in mainstream, wearable computing has so far been anchored by smart fitness bracelets, and pioneered by Pebble, but mass-market smart watches will absorb some of the fitness wearables market, and become the wearables category-leader for the ordinary consumer.
• Smart watches will have screens, even if they're tiny, and potentially run software that allow them to serve as a robust extension to smartphone operating systems and apps. 

Apple unveils two new iPhones, Apple Watch and ApplePay

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/09/technology/mobile/apple-iphone-iwatch-event/index.html?hpt=te_t1

For Apple CEO Tim Cook, iPhone, Smartwatch Launch Is Biggest Test

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-apple-ceo-launch-is-biggest-test-1410217913?mod=e2fb

After three years of closely guarding his strategy for Apple Inc., AAPL +1.16% Chief Executive Tim Cook will show his hand Tuesday, with an ambitious blitz of new products and services that aim to resolve questions about the company's ability to innovate.

Apple is expected to unveil two new iPhones with larger screens, its first wearable device—a smartwatch—accompanied by new services around healthcare, home automation and digital payments. It's the type of new-product wave that Apple fans have been waiting for since Mr. Cook succeeded Steve Jobs in August 2011.

"It seems really clear that Apple intends to make a big splash," said Forrester principal analyst James McQuivey.

Apple's iPhone Event

Apple will have a whole bag of goodies to show off Tuesday.Here's what you can expect at the event , based on reporting by the Journal and others, along with some plausible rumors that fill out the bigger picture. The Journal's live blog begins at noon ET on WSJD.com..

More on Apple

• Why Isn't Apple a Leader in Security?
• New iPhone's Risk: Carriers Cut Back on Discounts

Apple is trying to prove that it can still deliver the type of groundbreaking products that vaulted it from the brink of bankruptcy to become the world's most valuable company by market capitalization. It established itself as a leading innovator by redefining the mobile phone in 2007 with the iPhone, and the tablet computer in 2010 with the iPad.

More recently, Apple's technological ambition has seemed to pale, compared with rivals like Google Inc., GOOGL -1.15% Facebook Inc. FB 0.00% and Amazon.com Inc. Google is tinkering with driverless cars, aerial drones and a network of connected home devices through Nest, started by ex-Apple employees. Facebook is buying virtual reality headset maker Oculus and paying $19 billion for messaging service WhatsApp. Amazon is making set-top boxes and phones, and recently bought Twitch, a popular network for watching videogames.

By revealing new hardware products together with service offerings, Apple is trying to show how it can create experiences that can't easily be replicated by competitors, to keep users loyal at a time when Google's Android mobile-operating system runs about 85% of smartphones.

WSJ personal technology editor Wilson Rothman joins Simon Constable on Digits to outline three key things consumers and investors will look for at Apple's new product event on Tuesday. Photo: Getty

Google, Facebook and Amazon all are essentially software companies that are trying to find their stride in hardware. Amazon Monday cut the price of its two-month-old Fire phone to 99 cents, a signal it hasn't been selling well. Apple's most prominent hardware rival in terms of sales and market share, Samsung Electronics Co., is weaker on software and services.

Mr. Cook started raising expectations for a wave of new products in October 2013, when he told investors they would see "some exciting new products from us in the fall of this year and across 2014." In April, he said he felt "really great" about forthcoming products. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president in charge of online services, recently said Apple has the "best product pipeline" he's seen in 25 years at the company.

Investors are also feeling bullish. Apple's share price has risen 38% over the last year, reaching all-time highs earlier this month before pulling back last week. On Monday, Apple shares closed down 0.6%, or 61 cents, to $98.36.

Click the image above to see the interactive.

Tuesday, Apple is expected to unveil two new iPhones with larger 4.7- and 5.5-inch screens. The larger displays are expected to fuel a big upgrade cycle because Apple has stuck with smaller screens even as customer demand started shifting to larger smartphones. Apple last increased the iPhone's screen size in 2012, to four inches from 3.5 inches.

The company is expected to announce that it is entering a new product category with a smartwatch with a curved display. Engineering snafus may prevent Apple from selling the watch during this year's holiday shopping season. If it doesn't go on sale until next year, Mr. Cook will have failed to deliver on his promise of entering a new product category in 2014.

People line up outside an Apple store in New York City this week—even before a new iPhone is unveiled.Reuters

Tuesday's announcements won't be just new hardware. Apple is set to unveil new approaches to tackle thorny issues that have confounded technology companies—and their customers—for years. It is expected to demonstrate how the new devices will help people track and monitor their health, while equipping the new iPhones and wearable device with wireless technology for digital payments.

The venue—the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the De Anza College campus about 1 ½ miles from its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters—carries a historic meaning for Apple. The company hasn't held a new product unveiling there in 15 years, often choosing smaller venues such as the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco or a Town Hall building on its Cupertino campus.

Mr. Jobs unveiled the Macintosh computer at the Flint Center in 1984, and the iMac there in 1998, after he returned to the company. "The very fact that they are holding it at the Flint is a signal that they are expecting this to be big," said Mr. McQuivey.

The 'Holographic' 3D Video Machine Has Arrived

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/the-holographic-3d-video-machine-has-arrived

We've brought you holographic technology before, but nothing quite like this.

Recently completed by Chris Helson and Sarah Jackets, two Scotland-based artist who have been honing away on the project for seven years, this innovative 3D video machine will make its debut on July 31, as part of the Alt-W at theEdinburgh Art Festival. Inspired by the famous holographic message sent to Obi-Wan Kenobi from Princess Leia inStar Wars, the 360-degree piece, entitled Help Me Obi, has already won an Alt-w production award from New Media Scotland.

Inspired by scientific concepts that have garnered iconic cultural significance, Helson said the project is not to be confused with a 3D hologram: “We use the term holographic because there is nothing else like it,” said Helson. “The machine creates 360 [-degree] moving video objects apparently floating in space and the viewer is able to walk around the machine and see the video object from any position.”

The duo, best known for their striped public sculpture of light, started Help Me Obi in 2007. No easy feat, “It has taken this long to make it work well,” said Helson, noting that the original designs that came together to made it happen still can't be spoken about due to the patent-registering process. The biggest challenge, he says, was getting rid of the flicker. “It was a bit like the very first TV,” he said, “not easy to see the image, but enough to see the possibilities.”

The video objects presented by the piece include the NASA Voyager 1 Space Probe, the first man-made object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space, and a loose narrative between a holographic baby and a real child— actually the same person. The baby in the video is Helson and Jackets' son as a newborn, and the boy in the photos looking at the baby is the same child, now five years old.

As far as the artists know, this is the first device of this kind being made at this particular scale: their video objects can be made nearly 12 inches in size. “When you actually stand there with them floating in front of you, they have a life that you connect to in a very different way than you would with a film or video, or even a 3D film,” says Helson.

How much is it a shout out to Star Wars? To Helson and Jackets, it's the cultural reference that is important— the idea of Obi-Wan Kenobi as both classical warrior and messenger. It’s also about attempting the impossible: “The two parts of this work— Voyager, and the baby— look to reveal something of how we understand ourselves and our place in the universe,” he said.