As part of Stimulant’s focus on smart spaces, we are always evaluating products and technologies that help us determine the position of people and objects in space. One exciting technology is RFID, which enables tracking of small “tags” which can be embedded into badges or other objects given to visitors to a space. The RFID…
At Stimulant we consider it very important to know how our installations are doing out in the wild, whether they are permanent or temporary. To that end we’ve developed a toolkit referred to as “ampm”, which quickly adds monitoring and management functions to our applications without much work from the application developer. It’s now standard…
In partnership with the Microsoft Cube team, Stimulant has released a toolkit which attempts to ease many of the challenges associated with developing experiences for the Microsoft Cube. The toolkit is also helpful for anyone building applications which use multiple Kinect for Windows v2 sensors, just in case you haven’t been had the chance to…
We’ve reinvented the wheel at least three or four times at Stimulant when it comes to doing UI in Cinder. Cinder is the perfect library for building fast and beautiful interactive applications. It is less perfect when it comes to building content heavy applications with lots of screens, text and layouts. To try to solve…
Recently there’s been an increase in the number of large LED light experiences. There’s also been an increased interest for environmental experiences where high powered projectors or LCD screens are cost prohibitive or technically incompatible with the environment’s form factor. There are instances when the desired effect could be achieved for the most impact per…
There are a couple of new depth sensors on the market: the DUO3D and the Microsoft Kinect 2.0. We’ve updated our popular Depth Sensor Shootout with our thoughts. There are even more shiny new gadgets in the Stimulab right now, so check back soon for exciting new updates.
(Updated June 2014 with notes on the Duo and Kinect 2) Whenever Stimulant embarks on a new installation project, we survey the landscape of hardware solutions to determine what we can use to create a robust and immersive experience. Our offices are full of touchscreens, sensors, video cards, and gaffers tape and we’re constantly putting…
Frustrated with the limitations of gesture detection in current commercial SDKs, we set out to create a platform for repeatable detection of emotive gestures beyond “open hand” and “closed hand.” This video demonstrates our software-based solution for detection of “syncopated gestures.” This is our first year participating in SIGGRAPH, and we’re excited to share our…
There are plenty of ways to get interactive graphics on a screen, but as with most things, it’s best to use the right tool for the job. We could try writing our own graphics framework, touch-sensing drivers, and 3D engines, but the best use of our time isn’t solving problems that have already been solved…
Big plans are in the works for Stimulant in 2013. We’re thrilled to announce that we’re adding an experience center and research laboratory to our San Francisco office. The Stimulab will incubate and showcase our latest innovations, as well as create a space where our team can work seamlessly with clients and partners to conceive…
