Author Archives: Pieter Diepenmaat

Open data on repairs made available to inform policy

Members of the Open Repair Alliance have recently updated their Open Repair Data Standard and  combined nearly 30,000 records from their community events. It is available as open data for anyone to access.“By mapping this data to a common format, we can pool our repair data together and look for patterns and trends to help inform policy.”https://openrepair.org/repair-data/open-repair-data-30000-records-together-at-last/

Voice controlled metronome app a shows great use of on-device voice recognition

Musicians can get hands-free metronome features while they practice and play – without worrying about privacy or needing signal. Hands-free music makes sense. If you’re an instrumentalist, it means the ability to use your music gadgets along with your instrument, without taking your hands off the keys, string, bow, and so on. https://cdm.link/2019/12/voice-controlled-metronome/

Sonos + Snips + IKEA = responsible smart speakers for the masses?

With the news of Sonos buying Snips and the positive track record of their partner IKEA in smart home products, everything seems to be in place for seeing the first responsible speakers for the masses in 2020/2021. We at ThingsCon hope to welcome them back to one of our events when that happens, but will be following […]

The Low Carbon Design Institute launches in pilot form

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino is launching a pilot design programme based on mitigation of climate change – and is looking for applications. [via Imperica]http://designswarm.com/blog/2019/12/low-carbon-design-institute-ideas-for-a-net-zero-compliant-design-education/

The Nabaztag is alive again!

At the time of last year’s ThingsCon Salon on resurrecting IoT darlings, Olivier Mével and team had just announced their crowdfunding campaign. With the funding done, they have now released a kit to breathe new life into an IoT classic. A strong sign which shows that an IoT product does not need to be bricked by default when the […]

“How to future” – new book by Scott Smith coming this year

Book to look forward to! Scott Smith launches a new book ‘how to future’. It seems like the alternative futures idea is really taking off where ‘understanding through narrative’ gives hope.https://omny.fm/shows/this-is-hcd-human-centered-design-podcast/scott-smith-how-to-future