Rick Reifenstein

I spent much of today creating media to be played in a Silverlight player for the latest interactive kiosk in the Harrison Institute main gallery. This is v.2 of the kiosk. The aim of this version was to create a full screen player with a playlist that a user could navigate easily by touch. While Windows Media Player has big buttons for touch screens; the playlist is a little too tight for navigation by finger. Silverlight has some great tools built in that allow for large easy to navigate playlists. I also decided that I wanted some movment on the screen, but something that wouldn't seem out of place or distract the listener. I decided to create little movies based on slideshows using the cover art of the CD that the music was pulled from. Using the latest Windows Movie Maker software I created a neat little slidshow with fades and title FX. The slideshow was then imported into Expression Encoder 4 as many times as there were tracks. Then using the overlay feature each song video

I started working on the new touchscreen installation for the main exhibit gallery this morning. The original touchscreen failed to restart after a power glitch during a storm last week. The machine was due to be replaced anyway. I dismantled and removed the old machine from the pedestal. It will be replaced by an HP touchscreen run by a computer in the cabinet of the pedestal. However much to my disappointment the Bose speakers that are built into the pedestal take up too much space inside the cabinet of the pedestal to allow for a regular sized PC in side. At first I thought of using a small form factor Dell that we may have in surplus; but my colleague suggested a more devious plan. You see Apple doesn't have support for true multitouch for displays without a home brewed solution like Lux. Plus because of my development work for our Microsoft Surface located in one of our other galleries, I'm getting more comfortable and familiar with XAML and C#. SO.. the devious plan is to

Last week and this week have been centered on the creation of interactive touch computer programs. For the University Library I've been working on a plan to use moble devices and Microsoft tagging software to create an augmented experience in our exhibit galleries at the Special Collections Library. I'm also working on multi-touch based programs that would allow visitors to explore interactive maps and other learning programs centered on the archeological research that was done at the Flowerdew Hundred farm in Virginia. I have also been working on multi-touch software that would aid in the teaching of children with learning struggles. My wife and I homeschool our children and are always looking for new and exciting learning tools. NUI designs are actually an easy choice for children that require a tactile approach to learning. The hands on learning that can be achieved through touch computing combines both tactile learning and computer aided learning. I've decided to use