A collection of follow-ups and links to stories and developments that I found interesting or important in the past week, that I think you’ll find worth reading about too.
QR Code Follow-up
I’ve had some lively feedback, via Twitter, both pro and con on my post about QR codes last week. Mike Willshaw (@radiuscreatives) sent me a link for a very interesting QR competitor, Snap Tag. As Mike noted, visually the Snap Tag is far superior to QR codes. It consists of a simple circle/ring with some small breaks in it. There are several factors that may work against it though: it’s so subtle, it might easily be overlooked by potential users, it requires a proprietary scanning application, and the website mentions an undisclosed “pricing structure” that may be a barrier to the kind of users my original post was aimed at. It’s certainly a lot easier on the eyes than QR, time will tell if it gains traction in the marketplace.
Responsive Web Design & Museums
I’m a real believer in responsive web design, it makes so much sense for any business or organization trying to maintain a coherent and relevant presence on the web. The ability to serve the same content to users regardless of the device they’re using is a huge cost saving and step forward for accessibility. This blog post from the Australian Museum summarizes the advantages quite nicely.
Via: @janetcarding
Métro: Design in Motion
A new book by John Martins-Manteiga celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Montréal Métro, posits it as Canada’s greatest industrial design triumph. The narrow, rubber tired trains were a Montréal innovation built by Bombardier. There’s a decent review of the book here, from the National Post.
Via: @iIndustryDesign
More Haptic Surfaces
I mentioned an interesting development in haptic touchscreen surfaces a few weeks ago — here’s another one from the Finnish company Senseg, as featured on theverge.com.
The tactile panel tech uses electrostatic fields to simulate different levels of friction, allowing it to generate the sensation of texture on a totally flat screen … the textures it creates are easily recognisable‚ moving from gravel, to packing material, to sandpaper creates distinct, familiar feelings.
The video below, though titled in french, plays in english.
Via: @effectiveui
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