This week we learned several things about smart boards and how to “build-your-own” systems. The class began with Charles Pax setting up the wiimote to a laptop (that was hooked up with the projector) to make a cheap alternative to the smartboard. Basically this was started by the people that came out of the Human-Computer Interface Project. The idea is that a wiimote has a camera built into it and it can detect infrared radiation. Once the bluetooth sensor connected with the wiimote the computer can identify the different locations an infrared pen is clicking. See past Journal entries for more details.

Chris then went through the different functions of the smartboard and notebook software. Most of this was stuff that I had prior experience with.

Finally Charles closed out the class with a cool 3-D printer. The idea is that you can design a 3-dimensional figure on your computer and then send it to the printer which will output a tangible item based on your design. The machine uses plastic wire which it melts down and manipulate into the appropriate shape.

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