“Mouse-Over” for Touch Screen

With your mouse, it’s pretty convenient when you move the cursor over an item to point it and sometimes it gives you a basic information about the object. Using my iPod Touch everyday, I’ve started to hope there’s the mouse-over function for it, too.In order to make it realize, there must be a more sensitive sensor to monitor the screen, but what I think is this.When you move your finger slightly above the screen, the object on the screen right below the finger changes to the “mouse-over” mode, which is maybe slightly brighter or darker in color, etc. And when you touch the object, it means “click”. That way, the feeling of inconvenience we feel when using the touch screen can be reduced.

iPhone & iPod Touch’s instant access button (you can allocate functions)

I’ve found it quite hard to quickly turn up and down the volume of my iPod Touch when I want to on a crowded train. There is lot of noise when the train is running, so I turn up the volume, but when it stops, it becomes quiet around so I have to quickly turn it down. When I was using my old iPod shuffle, it was quite easy to manipulate the basic functions even when I wasn’t looking at it. So naturally I want that usability for my iPod Touch.

You know there’s a button on top of iPhone and iPod Touch to lock/unlock the screen. I think that can be used for a few useful purposes. As iPhone and iPod Touch know which side is now up and which side is down, it should also know “when the button is pushed with this side up”. So there can be a few functions you can customize like:

If the button is clicked when…
1) the top side up — lock/unlock the screen
2) the bottom side up — mute/regain volume

And if the button is clicked TWICE when…
3) the top side up — access the homepage with Safari
4) the bottom side up — YouTube launches

Something like that.
What do you think?

Examples of the button usage
iPhone & iPod Touch’s instant access button

Reduce the solar radiation before reaching the earth

disk in orbit for green house effect

OK. I don’t know anything about global warming, so if I’m being an idiot, just laugh it off.
Simply put, this solar powered glass plate floating on the orbit blocks some solar radiation. We can switch the plate from “transparent mode”, which just blocks only specific kind of light to “black mode”, which cut any kind of light off. We can switch the modes from the earth with the usual remote control. So it’s like putting sunglasses above the earth; sunglasses that can become usual glasses.

disk in orbit for green house effect

In short, you can ADJUST the sunlight coming to the earth.
Of course, only a single disc does not change anything, but if there are one thousand of them above your city, it can make a small change.

disk in orbit for green house effect

disk in orbit for green house effect

By the way, is it possible to transcend electricity in the air?

Send a Christmas card using Youtube!

Youtube Xmas Card

I made a Christmas animation and uploaded it for Youtube.
Check it out and if you like it, you can download an e-mail template linked to the movie.
It’s for Apple Mail (Leopard). The e-mail card and the animation make one story.

How to use the template is pretty simple: just double-click it and you’re ready to type in!

It’s free because it’s a Christmas present for you all.
Have fun!

download e-mail template

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TmfZqC6etI&rel=1]

Future of Internet Search

future search engine

This idea is mostly based on what I thought for a search engine portal’s design competition (not Google’s) held a few months ago in Japan, where mine was picked for the first round. I redesigned it a little bit after that (especially after getting amazed by the latest touch screen technology). By looking at the future user interface by Apple’s iPhone, Microsoft’s Surface, Multitouch and so on, it is quite obvious to predict what the future user interface will be like. These are good examples of making the user experiences “intuitive”. I won’t elaborate on it, but “being intuitive” is essential when it comes to developing a user-friendly website. Not only website but whole other stuff which requires a user’s control.

“Search” is to look for and find something. When we look for something, we usually picture the object’s color, shape, size, etc. first in our heads. Then you think of the place you saw the object last, go and look around there to find something similar to what is pictured. You use your nose to smell and hands to feel and get unwanted objects away. In this design, the search results, websites, contents, images and banners are all “objects”, which are identified as icons. You look for something just like you do in the physical world. It has a table like plate in the middle and there are icons on it. Through the real-world physical movements, intuitive controls of “search” is realized. In addition, an unreal but ultra-practical action is incorporated by taking advantage of technology.

In short, this search can do:
Put and remove stuff by drag & drop
Organize icons to categorize scattered icons
Quick preview just like you take and see stuff closely
Set stuff you need aside for laterPile up icons, etc.

homepage

Home page
This is what you see first when you log in. It’s as simple as Google top page.

personalized home

Portal Home
For the personal portal site like iGoogle, you see ad banners and customized contents, tools, etc., but all of them are shown as icons. You can touch, move, pile and throw them just like books and paper. Your favorite items (clock, memo pad, calendar, RSS reader, weather news, etc.) can be added as you like. Simple mail app allows you to read and write mail quickly. The customized tabs on the left show the category you pick up, such as news, music, movies. By clicking one, the related icons rush into the screen.

searching animation

Search screen (Each icon is supposed to show the website’s image actually. Lazy me!)
Input the keyword and hit “Search”button, search results roll in the window until there are a certain number you first set. The keywords you used are displayed clearly in the screen. In most cases, a screen with lots of objects in it look busy and not aesthetically pleasing, but here I tried to make the search results themselves become a part of design. Each result icon is shaped according to what it is categorized: website, image, RSS, groups, ad banners, etc. The more the website is optimized for SEO, the more chance it has to appear upper and left side of the screen, thus stands out. If the number of the results hit the limit, the next group will be put in the area below the first one. You can see them by clicking the arrow, of course, but in the transition, the “camera” moves downwards.

search results aligned

Search Results Aligned
After the results roll in the screen, the “Align/Categorize” buttons appear in the top right side. “Grid/Scatter”, “Category”. The Grid button makes all the icons align straight on the grid, while the Scatter button mess them up. When you click the Categorize button, icons of the same category flock together.

When the cursor is over an icon, the meta data is shown graphically, which allows you to predict the contents of the site quickly before actually visiting.

quick look at website

site map preview

You can also click the “Site Map” button to easily get the visual structure of the website. Also, “Links” button gives you the sites linked to it.

favorite box

Favorite Button By clicking the “Favorite” button (or dragging an icon towards the button), it opens and becomes ready to store icons. Here you can stock results you like for later review. Drop an icon there and it is automatically aligned and its simple introduction is shown. When there are multiple icons in it, they are categorized automatically.

favorite box functions

I want to use a search like this, but I’m afraid the hardware won’t come up with the data processing… We have to wait for a while.