EYEteleporter

source: wired
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, HUMANS have used periscopes for their utility. Naval ships would peek above water while remaining submerged; troops in WWI used them to see out of their trenches without the risk of being shot. It’s been said that in the early 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg, the father of the printing press, invented a periscope to simply see above people’s heads during a parade.

Today, periscopes are often used as toys, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting. Case in point: The EyeTeleporter, a cardboard periscope that lets you see the world from three different vantage points that’s now raising funds on Kickstarter. Juste Kostikovaite and Aurimas Lazinskas created the EyeTeleporter as a way to explore what it might be like if your eyes were in your stomach, or in the back of your head, or three feet above what you usually see.

Like most simple periscopes, The EyeTeleporter is made from cardboard and two mirrored pieces of acrylic that are situated at the top and bottom of the periscope at 45 degree angles. The cardboard fits over your head like a Daft Punk helmet, allowing you to explore hands-free with your new perspective.

The two designers’ interest optical tricks dates back to childhood when they’d make simple periscopes out of, again, cardboard and mirrors. That fascination followed them into adulthood when they began learning about V.S.Ramachandran’s work in relieving phantom limb pain. The neuroscientist is known for his mirror-box technique, in which a person with an amputated limb places both the good limb and stump into two separate sides of a box that are split by mirrors facing opposite directions. As the amputee looks at the good limb moving, it gives the illusory sensation that the phantom limb is moving, as well. (This technique is used to alleviate the chronic pain that results from having a phantom limb feel like it’s clenched or cramped.)

This was an interesting idea for the designers to explore. “I wondered how else we could use mirrors to distort perspectives,” says Lazinskas. The EyeTeleporter is not curing neurological issues. In fact, it’s sort of a silly object, in the way all toys are—lacking utilitarian purpose beyond playfulness.

Personally, I see real value in the EyeTeleporter as a way to one-up the oblivious guy at the concert who doesn’t realize he’s a foot taller than everyone else. It’d also be fascinating to experience the disconnect that happens when your vision path is reoriented to your waist: “Your hands no longer feel like your own,” says Lazinskas. But maybe the biggest potential lies in marketing this thing to mothers, who could finally get what they’ve always dreamed of: eyes in the back of their heads.
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source: brittbrouse
When it comes to customer service, there are a few clear leaders who do everything they can to maintain customer loyalty and positive word of mouth. For every Zappos.com and Southwest, however there are many mom-and-pop businesses and even major brands, which can stand to learn a few things about customer support.

For example, how many times have you waited on hold for more than 20 minutes before a customer service representative could take your call? Have you ever purchased something online and tried to return it, but the instructions to send the merchandise back just didn’t make any sense and there was no clear channel to get help? From shipping mix-ups, to payment issues, there’s a million ways a transaction can go wrong, and a million other ways that poor customer service can make a bad situation even worse.

Today when these things happen to us we turn to social media, especially Twitter, to rant, complain, or seek help. On Twitter, you can call out the business in question and try to solicit a response or even a “make-good” in return for your hassle and frustration. In response, many businesses have started using Twitter as a major channel in their customer service and support efforts.

So what happens when you throw Periscope into the mix? Will customers soon be using Periscope to publicly shame businesses in real-time? (If you missed the whole “Periscope thing” click here to find out about it.)

If you’re waiting on the tarmac for no reason on a flight, now thousands of viewers can watch you live out your misery as you complain about the airline in question on Periscope. Perhaps you are sitting in a restaurant waiting, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour for your food to arrive (and it isn’t a white table cloth kind of place). You can just turn on Periscope and livestream your experience until the waiter figures out what you’re doing. If 50 other potential customers can see how bad the service is, maybe the manager will be quick to offer an apology, an explanation, or a free meal!

I am not advocating that people go out and use Periscope in this way. I just think it may be a really big use-case for the app that’s been overlooked so far. I wonder when users will figure out that they can complain, abuse, and humiliate businesses with live video? (Maybe it’s already happening right now!) Does this kind of use go against Periscope’s terms of service or community guidelines? I guess we’ll have to wait and see …
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source: nhzyorg
纵观历史，人类把潜望镜作为工具。当军舰在水中时，可以使用潜望镜看到水面；在第一次世界大战中，军队曾使用潜望镜毫无风险地拍摄到他们的敌对地带。据15世纪绘画之父约翰尼斯·谷登堡所说，在战争时期，人们就发明了这样一种可以轻易观察到人们头顶上端不同角度的潜望镜。
而如今，潜望镜经常被人们当作是一种玩具，但这丝毫没有影响到人们对潜望镜的兴趣。例如：这种可以让你从三个与众不同的新奇角度观察世界的用纸箱做成的潜望镜，目前正在Kickstarter这个网站上募集资金。由Juste Kostikovaite 和 Aurimas Lazinskas共同探索制作出来的纸板潜望镜，就像是在腹中的眼睛，可以体验不同角度的视觉，可以让你看到背面的风景，或者可以看到超过你平常看到的三英尺视线以外的视野。
正如大多数类似的潜望镜，这种用纸箱做成的、在纸筒的顶部和底部各安放一个与纸筒成45°角的丙烯酸镜片的潜望镜，它戴在头上看起来像蠢朋克乐队的标志性头盔，带领你自由地探索新视野。
当Juste Kostikovaite 和 Aurimas Lazinskas这两位设计师再次使用纸箱和镜子制造出简单的潜望镜的时候，他们发现，透过潜望镜仿佛找到童年时的乐趣。当他们开始学习维兰努亚·拉玛钱德朗曾从事的缓解幻肢痛这一治疗方法的时候，充满吸引力的潜望镜跟随着他们进入到了成年期。神经科学家知道他的反光镜箱的技术，其中有一个已经截肢的人表面上看有一副好的肢体和假肢，但在面对相反方向的反射镜时被分离成两个独立的部分。作为神经科学家，希望看到他能拥有一副可以运动的好肢体，但是即使能运动的幻肢也只能给予他虚幻的感觉。（这种技术常被用于缓解由于幻肢感觉紧握或者狭窄导致的慢性疼痛。）
这正是设计师探索潜望镜的有趣之处。Lazinskas说：“我很好奇怎样使用镜子来歪曲观点。”这个用纸箱制成的新型潜望镜并不能治愈神经问题。事实上，这是一个愚蠢的研究对象，就像是毫无用处而失去童心的玩具。
就我个人而言，我是通过这样一种方式领会到这种新型的纸潜望镜的真正价值的：在音乐会上，没有人会特别注意一个健忘的家伙他的腿比在场的每一个人都高，这样一个事实。当在重新调整你的腰部位置作为视觉路线的时候，引人注目的体验却断开了。Lazinskas说：“你的手感觉不再像是你自己的了。”但是也许最大的潜力在于营销之母，她最终可以实现他们梦寐以求的事情，那就是他们背后的眼睛。
英文链接