French company Unowhy are taking a different approach though, releasing a tablet targeted at the kitchen, with the sale driven by content – recipes and training videos from top french chefs.

QOOQ – Le premier coach culinaire tactile.

The physical design looks really good, if the price is right I could see these selling well and possibly prompting a targeted linux distro for it.

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.” In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he’ll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

from Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology | Video on TED.com.

101 Things I Learned in Interaction Design School

A set of short, easily digested learnings from the world of Interaction Design, inspired by “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School”, by Matthew Frederick

from 101 Things I Learned in Interaction Design School.

As you walk down the street you are approached by a dog. He is on his guard trying to discern your intentions. He will follow you and interpret your gestures as friendly or aggressive. He will try to engage you in a relationship and get you to pay attention to him.

from Interactive storefront display | ARvertising news.

Computer generated dog, reacts to real-world passers-by.

There was an early time on the web when everything important needed to be ‘above the fold’; the area seen in a typical browser before any scrolling took place. This is now much less relevant.

Read the Top 10 UX Design Myths over on Carsonified » Top 10 UX Myths.

Controllerism continues to take small leaps forward as the software and techniques improve but the giant steps are going to happen in the realm of performance interfaces. Without a solid controller surface that has been designed to play like an instrument we wont be able to leave the realm of noodling and enter the fabled land of flow.

Specialised controllers continue to evolve and this is a really interesting, focussed, loop controller.

Cell phones have evolved immensely since 1983, both in design and function.

From the Motorola DynaTAC, that power symbol that Michael Douglas wielded so forcefully in the movie “Wall Street”, to the iPhone 3G, which can take a picture, play a video, or run one of the thousands applications available from the Apple Store.

There are thousands of models of cell phones that have hit the streets between 1983 and now.

We’ve picked a few of the more popular and unusual ones to take you through the history of this device that most of us consider a part of our everyday lives.

from The Evolution of Cell Phone Design Between 1983-2009 | Webdesigner Depot.

Kyocera presents this concept phone using a flexible OLED tri-fold screen, like a purse. With a keyboard, backlit keys and powered by movement. More photos of the project to come in the future.

Photos of the Kyocera Concept Phone at Fubiz™.

Siftables are really interesting, very similar to Reactables which I blogged about while talking about more multi-touch UI last year.

Siftables are generic blocks, each has a wireless connection to a nearby computer, a proximity sensor so it can identify other siftables nearby and a small screen. The manipulation of the blocks at this stage seems a little bit slow, but the work shown with kids gives a really clear indication of the advantages of this kind of tactile interface.

I want some.

Today, though, Mike tweeted a link to a video of NUI Group building a 20′ multi-touch screen for an event in dubai.