Archive for December, 2009


Happy New Years!

Monday, Dec 28th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Media | Tags: ,

My New Years e-Card 2009 from Allison Walker on Vimeo.
2009 was a big year for me. And, I spent some time today reflecting on how I relied on the help of a lot of people, both personally and professionally, to make this year a success. I met so many fun and exciting people, and my [...]

Article: Merging Man and Machine, The Bionic Age

Friday, Dec 25th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: General Discussion, Technology | Tags: , ,

The cover story to the January 2010 issue of National Geographic is an article about how bionics, or “the study of mechanical systems that function like living organisms or parts of living organisms”, is being used to help people with limited abilities and handicaps, due to accident, genetics or age. In addition to a very [...]

Article: Bacteria is put to work turning gears

Friday, Dec 25th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Technology | Tags: , , ,

I came across this interesting article about biological and “micromechanical machines” this morning while eating oatmeal and toast.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for designs of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for [...]

Photos from ITP Winter Show, 2009

Tuesday, Dec 22nd, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Education, Events, ITP | Tags:

Film Project for Comm Lab 2009

Saturday, Dec 19th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Communications Lab, Education, ITP | Tags:

On a really nice day this fall, my Comm Lab team and I made a video.

Liveable Interactive Music Player

Monday, Dec 14th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Education, General Discussion, ITP, Intro to Computing Media, Intro to Physical Computing | Tags: , , , ,

Introduction
My final project for Physical Computing eventually ended up to be an MP3 player that encourages you to take care of your houseplant. This evolved from a previous idea of making a plant that is more like a pet than a plant. I changed my mind after getting some good feedback from my class when [...]

MEX: Mobile User Experience Conference, 09

Monday, Dec 14th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Events, General Discussion, UX/IA/IxD | Tags:

December 1-4, 2009, I attended the MEX 09 conference, held in London, UK. I attended the conference on a scholarship I received from the conference organizers. Flight and accommodation were not included, but thankfully a friend of the family allowed me to stay in her flat. There were presentations over 2 days, but I only [...]

Final: Communications Lab, “A Self-Packing Suitcase”

Thursday, Dec 10th, 2009 by Allison Walker | 0 Comments
Filed under: Communications Lab, Education, ITP | Tags: ,

Self-packing suitcase from Allison Walker on Vimeo.
Due to a time constraint, I chose stop-motion animation as my final project. With a day or so before a trip to London, I took out a camera and made this film. I really liked working with fabric for stop-motion. It’s a lot easier to move around, but it [...]