Keep An Eye on CaT

A good organization to keep an eye on regarding technology and creativity is, well, the "Creativity and Technology" group (CaT--like that capitalization?).

It's largely a trade show of sorts, which invites presentations from practicing professionals. Perhaps a little bit on the brainy, conceptual side, it's none-the-less full of great insights into the trajectories today. A huge archive of videos of past presentations at its summertime meetings.

A Flickin' Good Try

Nikon has jumped on the "use-the-webcam" bandwagon with its Coolpix "Virtual Touch" promotion.

Once the software recognizes your body and your hand, a finger wave (instead of a mouse click) flips through a series of online pictures, while a pinching your forefinger and thumb together or moving them apart zooms in or zooms out of whichever image you're viewing.

It's an idea with potential, but as yet not fully a part of day-to-day life. It's easy to imagine "sometime in the future" where we might control a video display this way. But I couldn't get it to work very well.

And, compared to running into a friend unexpectedly and whipping out an iPod, iPhone, or other touchpad-equipped device that people normally carry anyway, cranking up your computer just to view pictures by flicking your finger doesn't yet make much sense.

An "A" for effort, but "C+" for execution.