Silicon Valley Musings

I ran across these two technologies: Electronic Paper and Ambient Devices. I like to squirrel these types of technology in my IDEO-like toolbox. They are cool, but I can?t think of how I would use them at the moment.

Next Tuesday, PARC is holding a Special PARC Forum entitled Gyricon LLC and the world of Electronic Paper.
Electronic Paper is interesting because it may become a low powered, inexpensive alternative to a PDA or laptop for data entry.

I also ran across the Ambient Orb from Ambient Devices during my weekly Weblog reading.

Ambient devices are interesting because they can be used to foster group or system awareness. At the Innovation Studio, we found one of the most important aspects of instant messaging was the distribution of buddy status, or presence. Real-time presence status increased the cohesiveness of geographically dispersed workgroups.

It?s interesting that both Gyricon and Ambient Devices current products use wireless networks to manage data broadcast.