Such a beautiful little GUI. It goes with this boarding pass:

Anyways, on to the real TUI marvels.

First of all, check out the phone. It splits into two pieces, one which can be an earpiece and one that can be a video-chat screen.

Apparently, one of the pieces can also be an augmented-reality-gps tool that shows you a floor plan of your immediate location with superimposed directions.

Even better, the two pieces connect back together to make a social media tool to set up meetings (with the help of the phone/GPS combo). When this flips back shut, it’s just a cell phone again.

Next: the most amazing keychain of all time. The phone (above) seems to also carry the qualities of the keychain. When they are set down on the interactive tabletop, every file necessary to your life appears on the table. The keychain is an insta-link to your entire online life, and everything you need appears on command. Here’s the tabletop with just the phone laid down:

Here’s what appears around the keychain:

And when the two are put together, the tabletop becomes an amazing collaborative workspace that knows what projects you’ve been working on, what your last correspondence was, and what files you’ll need.

This is cool too: an office computer station. All of the portals are just glass panes (until all of your information is displayed)… and these portals are everywhere.

What’s better, there is a super sweet mouse-esque tool that allows for multi-touch input, dragging, etc. It responds with different visualizations based on touch.

It is a little weird to me that they’re sticking so clearly to the mouse/keyboard system, but I suppose that’s to be expected. I think it’ll be a long time before everyday consumers change their dependence on a mouse and keyboard.

This is great too- a remote control for your entire life. You can control your personal computer-screen-on-the-wall (which, by the way can show you information about your house, or the weather, or your to-do list, or anything, really).

It, too, is made of glass.

Here’s what’s really cool- it can “photograph” (select) a project…

and MOVE IT to another interface location, where it will display for your use.

Speaking of that newspaper, I’ve been saving the best for last. It’s a practically single-page newspaper (which kind of seems like the Times Reader to me) that changes to display different stories. It’s like a giant… eInk paper interface.

You can slide stories off the page…

Or select them for more information.

Man, it’s just all SO impeccably beautiful. I suppose that the TUI elements aren’t exactly new to the scene, but they’re very well rendered and the ways that they interact is very well thought-out. I especially want that keychain and that newspaper. Oh, and this secretary-y space, for when I’m scheduling out my life:

And how cool is this, for a last thought? The room knows where you’re headed and projects an arrow going in the right direction on the floor in front of you. Amazingly useful, especially for the more directionally-challenged among us. (I’m good with a map, but I’ve traveled with quite a few people who aren’t… and they could definitely use that arrow.)

What I’m trying to say is (in true 30 Rock fashion): I want to go to there.

Considering the increase in cell phones with cameras (can you even buy a cell phone without a camera these days?), the exhibit takes full advantage of the leaps and bounds made in the field of personal and portable technology. It (successfully) invites user participation, and the subsequent photo-tag groups do offer interesting stories and reflections. In listening to Legrady talk about his work, though, I couldn’t help but wonder if the project could have been taken a step further. It might be interesting, for example, to create a more complete map of all the submitted images, based upon their tags. In it’s current form, Cell Tango doesn’t really create a larger picture of participants and their commonalities, differences, and connections; each photo is either displayed with other photos randomly or with photos from Flickr, not with other related submitted photos. The opportunity to explore our relationships and community is there, but it hasn’t been realized.

After discussing Cell Tango, Legrady discussed a different piece (Making Visible the Invisible) that he installed for Seattle Central Library, which I found more appealing and interesting. The work organizes and displays information about what books are currently being checked out in four different visualizations. I enjoy infographics, especially ones that use good colors (ha), and these are nice. In contrast to the lack of connectivity in Cell Tango, MVTI offers a more complete image of the current interests of the library’s patrons. Legrady likened the display to that of a stock ticker, and I see the connection. The display has its’ finger on the pulse of the library and displays a fascinating stream of ever-changing information. In my eyes, Cell Tango never quite reached that point of mesmerizing omnipresence.