From South Park to Star Wars, stop motion has been a force behind some of the most culturally important TV shows and movies of all time. The laborious process of adjusting a character’s expression and position manually was one of the only means of animation in the pre-CGI era, but iOS applications are reviving the nostalgic form of entertainment with apps suited even for the most amateur animators.
iStopMotion: DIY stop motion videos have sparked creative interest among Gen Ys, and now iPad app iStopMotion is introducing the technique to younger “Z”s. With the help of a yellow, spike-haired claymation assistant, the app demonstrates how to create simple 12-frame per second animations. To make a video, users simply set the stage, take a shot of the scene, slightly adjust the characters, and take the next picture. Once all the frames have been captured, a movie is rendered instantly. iStopMotion caters to novice animators, flaunting options like Camera Overlay which shows a live image of the previous picture so that changes can be monitored as they’re created.
As the winter months march on, technophiles are seeking warm environs in which to cozy up to their screens. Akin to recent advances in rain repellents, cold weather-minded innovations are turning up the heat. With access to design this smart, people might actually roll out the welcome mat for Old Man Winter.
Modern Campfire: Though radiators generally aren’t the focal points of upscale dwellings, times are changing. New York-based designer Rochus Jacob has created a modern sculptural campfire which, conveniently, can be placed anywhere near an outlet. Designed with energy conservation in mind, the mostly wood-and-plastic device contains a copper-based heat exchanger that’s similar to the mechanism used to keep laptops from burning up users’ thighs. A slider button controls warmth output, and a built-in boiler requires significantly less H20 than its antiquated predecessors. The portable campfire is not yet for sale, but it could become just the thing for when a camp blanket doesn’t offer enough insulation to prevent goose bumps.
From cat videos to memes to current events, YouTube is a vast ocean of entertainment. As such, playlists have become a necessary way of tracking and queuing videos, particularly those of the music variety. And with Spotify’s free unlimited service having expired, people are looking for new ways to access tunes from the cloud that don’t show up on their credit card bills. On the heels of flavor-of-the-month Tubalr are a flood of similar applications that offer tools for creating simple, convenient YouTube playlists.
MusicTandem: Pandora’s most alluring feature is its ability to identify users’ musical preferences through taste graphing. Taking that concept in a more visual direction is iPad app MusicTandem, which helps people filter through millions of YouTube videos by creating custom video playlists to match their unique tastes. To begin, listeners build channels by typing in a favorite artist, song or genre, upon which they are presented with relevant videos to queue up and offered suggestions of similar bands for uninterrupted music video streaming. To ensure that favorites aren’t forgotten, any video can be added to a ‘loved tracks’ list or can be shared with friends through via Facebook and Twitter.
Among the young and tech-savvy, Sixth Sense technology that layers pertinent information (directions, reviews, or a buddy’s geo-location) over real-time experience is a must-have. Now, some of that same technology is being employed for those deprived of the ability to see, as new gadgets and apps give the blind more complete experiences in undertakings otherwise made difficult or impossible due to their lack of sight.
Touchscreen Braille Writer: Touchscreen devices present an insurmountable obstacle for the visually impaired. Lacking buttons or other palpable reference points, screens can’t be navigated sight unseen (at least not without audio and voice commands). But engineering student Adam Duran recently devised a workaround: an app that orients a tablet’s virtual keyboard to a user’s fingertips, rather than requiring the user to locate it by touch. Unlike traditional screen reader programs, Duran’s app is a screen writer. It features a self-adjusting Braille keyboard of eight keys, with corresponding audio cues to confirm correct typing. If released, the program could ultimately supplant traditional Braille note takers, which cost upwards of $5,000.
In 2009, Kickstarter validated the online pledge system as a viable means of fundraising. Echoing the popularity of crowdsourcing, crowdfunding has become a wildly successful way for entrepreneurial and creative projects to get off the ground. A number of online platforms have followed Kickstarter’s lead, combining social networking and philanthropy to put financial backing back in the hands of the 99 percent.
Lucky Ant: Though it’s a tough time to own a small business, allegiances to local communities have never been stronger. Lucky Ant wants to garner the power of localized crowdsourcing to empower people to invest in their own neighborhoods. Every week, the organization alerts its members to a new potential project in their respective locale. Anyone can chip in, but, like with Kickstarter, the money is collected only if the initiative reaches its pledge goal. Those who contribute receive perks and rewards from the business they support, making them resident VIPs. Currently available to New Yorkers only, Lucky Ant is expected to crawl into more cities soon.
