This week, our links round up on design and innovation in the digital life features a little something for everyone: from the future of gestural interactions to a ground breaking transparent concept plane to J.K. Rowling's latest online endeavors.
Welcome to the Machine
There's no question that the flexibility of being a digital worker has both pros and cons. We can work anywhere and anytime we want; the internet is always on and it's easy to be constantly connected. However such connectedness is increasingly blurring the boundaries between work and life, and can make it hard to properly balance the two.
Web Worker Daily takes a look at the dangers of workaholism in the digital life.
The Buzz in Boston: A Social Marketing Acquisition
In Boston tech news, inbound marketing software company HubSpot recently acquired enterprise analytics and marketing automation firm Performable.
And, in related news, Dharmesh Shah, CTO of HubSpot was selected by the Boston Globe as a top innovator in high tech.
Boston is clearly becoming a center for companies in the social / marketing sphere. And over the past several years, we've had the privilege of watching both of these local companies succeed. No doubt their combined products and talent will be a force to be reckoned with.
Gestural Interfaces
Rather than optimizing our gestures for computer input, perhaps computers should accommodate our already present gestural vocabulary.
From this simple thesis comes a vital, innovative, and likely next step in the evolution of gestural interaction. FastCo Design reviews some of the current research on natural gestures and what it means for the future of computer interaction.
See Through Flight
For some boundary pushing design in aeronautics, look no further than the Airbus transparent plane concept released at the Paris Air Show 2011.
While the imaginative renderings from the Airbus team are meant to depict technology not available until 2050, the concepts will no doubt serve as inspiration for the near term. Although, it's hard to figure whether a ride in a transparent plane would be the flight of a lifetime, or just a nauseating way to travel.
A World of Witches and Warlocks?
The Web was buzzing with rumors and innuendo that billionaire writer J.K. Rowling's new endeavor in the Harry Potter universe, was quite possibly a massive multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG).
Having conquered book publishing, movies, and nearly every kind of merchandising known to man, it makes sense that Rowling would turn to the digital world for her next endeavor.
The mysterious Pottermore Web site appeared last week with a simple placeholder page and is slated to go live on Thursday morning.
Will Rowling enter the wild world of online gaming? We'll know in less than 24 hours.