The Future of Data Tags: Bokodes

Japanese blurs, or what amateur photography has to do wtih tech innovation.

QR codes may be a hot topic these days, but the MIT Media Lab, true to their penchant for one-upping innovation, have come up with a formidable QR-killer. Bokodes — from “barcode” and bokeh, the Japanese word for the blurred area around a photographer’s point of focus — are new camera-based data tags with the capacity to hold a few thousand times more data than traditional barcodes.

Ten times smaller than barcodes, Bokodes’ low-cost optical design can be read from as far as 4 meters away, much farther than barcodes, by taking an out-of-focus photo with any off-the-shelf camera. Bokodes can also encode directional and angular information — something barcodes can’t do.

With the proliferating implementations of good ol’ QR codes, we can only imagine the possible applications of Bokodes — from crowd gaming in public spaces to helping interactive interfaces like Microsoft Surface determine the position and identification of objects placed on them. And although we probably won’t be seeing them hit the mainstream anytime soon, we have enough faith in geek culture to trust that brilliant applications are already being cooked up.

Bokodes come from the Camera Culture group at the MIT Media Lab. The team is currently working on holographic Bokodes, which would greatly reduce the cost and size.

Building Rome in a Day: Crowdsourced 3D Cities

Reconstructing Rome, or what 496 computer cores and an autistic savant have in common.

Crowdsourcing has clearly been the cultural darling of late. And while some of its most successful applications, from Wikipedia to reCAPTCHA, rely on “active crowdsourcing” — building the collective product by actively soliciting user input — others are starting to work wonders with “passive crowdsourcing,” using user-contributed content that is already available on the web.

Building Rome in a Day, a new project out of the University of Washington GRAIL lab, does just that, using 150,000 Flickr images tagged “Rome” to reconstruct the iconic city in 3D. Because tourist photos are taken from a multitude of vantage points, stitching them together into a cohesive 3D image creates rich and spatially accurate models.

The Rome project, which took 21 hours on a cluster of 496 computer cores, reconstructed some of the city’s most famous landmarks — the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Cathedral, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.

The team has also begun reconstructing other cities — Venice, which took 250,000 images and 65 hours, and Dubrovnik, at a more modest 57,845 photos and 22.5 hours.

The ongoing project has fascinating applications in reconstructing not only static landscapes, but also dynamic events as they unfold — in the era of citizen journalism, imagine using public images of anything from natural disasters (like the 2005 Indonesian tsunami) to political protests (like the recent unrest in Iran) to create an accurate record of history.

Or, you can always have a genius autistic savant fly over in a helicopter and draw frighteningly accurate panoramas on a 16-foot canvas.

via CT2

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TEDGlobal Highlights: Day 4

Solid sand, the art of curation, why doing nothing matters, and how to get 700 of the world’s smartest people singing.

The final day of TEDGlobal in images and soundbites — the closing of a truly phenomenal experience.

For full blow-by-blow coverage, skim our live Twitter feed from the event.

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who has the highest ration of architecture awards to age in the world, showcases some of his stride-stopping work.

Magnus Larsson proposes a visionary project to stop desertification -- using bacteria to solidify sand dunes into stone and build a 6000km-long desert-break stretching across Africa.

The Sahara desert expands by nearly one meter per day, literally driving people out of their homes. ~ Magnus Larsson

Dan Pink says extrinsic incentives, a.k.a. 'carrots and sticks,' dull creativity. The key to economic success is in intrinsic motivations -- autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Science confirms what we know in our hearts. ~ Dan Pink

Maestro Itay Talgam on the intricate role of the conductor in creating not only the process of performance, but also the conditions in which this process occurs.

Interpretation is the real story of the performance. ~ Itay Talgam

Daniel Birnbaum on the art of curating -- something we can really relate to here -- as an unseen force that shapes the art experience beyond the individual objects.

It’s the gallery itself, the institution, that becomes the frame. ~ Daniel Birnbaum

German friar Brother Paulus Terwitte contests we've become primitive hunters and gatherers, preoccupied with collecting information, instead of taking in less and deepening our life. He advocates the 'organized doing of nothing' -- meditation, prayer, contemplation -- as a way to find 'the inner voices of things.'

The most important question is, ‘Where are you in your thoughts?’ ~ Brother Paulus Terwitte

Chris Anderson forewarns about the dreaded TED crash following the end of the 4-day idea binge, when sleep deprivation kicks in and dopamine plummets. We can already feel it.

The wonderful Tom Reilly's (in)famous satire of the conference. Here, impersonating TED Europe's charmingly stern director, Bruno Giussani.

Parodying the Lifesaver filtration bottle, Tom mock(?)-relieves in a glass, runs it through the Lifesaver bottle, and hands it to Chris to drink. Upon chugging it, Chris proclaims: 'Trust.'

The phenomenal Imogen Heap takes the stage for one last surprise performance after the fantastic audience response to her scheduled act. She plays the hang, a mysterious gong-like instrument, and asks us to be her live looping device, dividing the audience into a 3-part chorus. The collective experience is utterly magnetic, and you can just see the music running through her entire body as she performs. Magic, personified.

On a personal note, the TED experience has been every bit as invigorating, inspiring and incredible as expected, and then some. Exhausting as it may have been, reporting is has been a modest effort to help extend TED’s fundamental mission — “ideas worth spreading.”

And before we return to our regular “programming” next week, a big “THANK YOU” for following and sharing in this utterly lifechanging experience.

TEDGlobal Highlights: Day 3

Hip hop for peace, hot air balloons, and stereotypes.

Day 3 of TEDGlobal in images and soundbites, plus a glimpse of an electrifying surprise performance at the afterparty. For full blow-by-blow coverage, skim our live Twitter feed from the event.

Photographer Taryn Simon probes the frightening side of the unseen in her fascinating book, An American Index of The Hidden and Unfamiliar.

The phenomenal Emmanuel Jal, a hip-hop artist with a message of peace, who raised the TED audience to its feet for a dance and a standing ovation. Later that day, a handful of TEDsters won €10,000 from the Dutch Postal Lottery and decided to donate it to Jal's education initiative -- the TED touch in action.

The importance of education for me is what I’m willing to die for, because I know what it can do for my people. You’re killing a whole generation by just giving aid. If you want to help, give education. ~ Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal, paying tribute to Emma McCue -- the courageous aid worker who saved hundreds of child soldiers, including Emmanuel himself, and started an ambitious education initiative.

Lydia Kavina with the Radio Science Orchestra.

Virtuosa Lydia Kavina playing the theremin, a magnificent but little-understood instrument.

Iconic designer Ross Lovegrove shows some of his work, which he calls ruthlessly economic.

Nick Veasey's stunning X-ray photography

Eric Giler showcases WiTricity, a technology that allows the wireless powering of devices. Here, Giler charges a smartphone simply through proximity to a TV.

Professional ballooner Bertrand Piccard urges us to throw environmental fundamentalism overboard. He took a hot air balloon trip around the world, which started with several tons of fuels and ended with nothing but 40 kilos left. Piccard is dreaming up his next trip, completely unreliant fossil fuel.

International relations expert Parag Khanna likens pipelines to silk roads in that they connote independence and trust.

Geoff Mulgan on social innovation and systemic change, asserting that times of crisis necessitate a reboot that sparks innovation.

Felix Thorn is a master of synesthesia. Under Felix's Machine, he performs on a fascinating instrument made from household objects like candle holders and a shower caddy. His experimental music plays with synchronized light and sound, aiming to remove the human performer.

James Balog shows images from his incredible time-lapse record of climate change, Extreme Ice Survey. Here, the retraction and deflation of polar ice over just a short period of time.

I hope we have the angels of our better nature rise to the occasion and do the right thing. ~James Balog

Nigerian storyteller Chimamanda Adichie on stereotypes and how Western literature creates a flat, narrow view of Africa as one catastrophe-plagued country.

The problem with stereotypes isn’t that they’re untrue, it’s that they are incomplete and make one story the only story. ~Chimamanda Adichie

In a surprising impromptu performance, crowd favorite Emmanuel Jal kicked up the afterparty with an electrifying act that transformed TEDsters into a mosh pit of dancers doing Jal's signature dance in sync and singing his chorus for a phenomenal collective experience.

...and again...

...and again. The energy in the room could've powered a hot air balloon.

Stay tuned for highlights from the final day of TED, coming sometime between the sleep deprivation therapy and the infamous TED crash.