We tend to turn to universities when we want to cover emerging tech, but what’s going on in the DIY Scene? They’re meeting our century’s retro quota, playing NES.

With their eyes.

Engineering collective Waterloo Labs, based in Austin, TX, has developed a way to play Super Mario Brothers with their eyes, using electrodes and an a single-board RIO platform.

eyeMario allows users to control Mario’s movements by looking left and right, make him jump while looking up.

How does it work? Electrodes are placed around the eyes, measuring the positive and negative electrons emitted by different eye movements. These bursts are translated by the RIO board into what amounts to cursor controls.

Unfortunately, while eyeMario makes it possible to play NES with your eyes, you still have to clean the cartridges the old fashioned way, by blowing in them.

The future has its limitations, after all.

Waterloo Labs’ past projects include driving a car with an iPhone and playing Half-Life with shovels.

Chris Anderson’s “Atoms are the New Bits” has given increased attention to the wonders coming out of the DIY scene, which dates back in its current iteration to San Francisco’s Survival Research Labs in the late 1970s.

Moore’s Law and attendant metaphors are continually driving down the overhead needed to invent new things. As such, it releases innovation from the restrictions of the corporation and university (and the entities funding the research).

It will take time for things like Waterloo Labs to become totally autonomous entities, but what they are doing leads us to agree with Anderson’s sub-thesis that the resources needed for innovation on the hardware side – the expensive part – will be increasingly leaked into the hands of private individuals, which will add tremendously to the acceleration of innovation cycles.

Business needs to be human. That was one of the main points that brought together speakers of TEDxSoMa last Friday in San Francisco. Being human means bringing empathy, community and meaning to business. These are the three key ideas for three highly inspiring speakers who want to change the world by optimizing our behavior in the realms of enterprise and business.

Dev Patnaik, CEO of the California growth strategy firm Jump, pitched the idea that empathy is the best way for businesses to really understand their market and grow. The author of Wired to Care explains how companies prosper when they create widespread empathy. The concept of empathy is a way for businesses to see clients as humans rather than only customers and understand them by first knowing themselves. Patnaik believes that this form of compassionate interaction will be the future of marketing for successful business.

Jeffrey Betcher, local community organizer and social entrepreneur, shared his experience in local, sustainable practices and social cohesion building. For him, local community and the culture of sharing are the most qualitative ways to drive a business or manage projects. Taking care of people by building social projects on a local scale leads to sustainable business growth and value-driven experiences.

Empathy and community were brought together in a truly inspiring talk on the importance of meaning as a way to drive a business. Nathan Shedroff, chair of a ground-breaking MBA in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, CA, shared his experiences on meaning and innovation making. He invited businesses to create meaning for people in order to bring and share values such as priority and expression. Some of the inspiring meanings that can drive a successful business that he referenced were accomplishment, beauty, community, creation, freedom and justice.

At the end of the day, these inspiring speakers are all driven by bringing people back to business. Empathy, community, and meaning are three ways of sharing the same idea: by conducting business without thinking about individuals, we have forgotten what is truly important - happiness.

Synaptics, probably best known for making laptop touchpads, is working in collaboration with TheAlloy, Immersion, TAT and Texas Instruments, has developed the Fuse, a phone that explores the possibilities of haptic (touch-based) mobile devices.

Instead of limiting input to the screen, as is the case with many of today’s touchscreen phones, Fuse extends the areas of the phone that can be used for inputting information. In addition to the standard touchscreen, input can also be made by squeezing the phone’s sides as well as by 2D input at the phone’s back.

The goal of the phone is to make single-hand usage better.

(video after the jump)

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Mobilize, “the next generation mobile conference” presented by the GigaOM team, takes place today in San Francisco. Selected coverage follows below from this morning’s speakers.

Hyperconnectivity, Wideband and Innovation
Om Malik spoke with John Roese, chief technology officer of Nortel Networks on the issues of developing high capability networks. The saturation of the Western European market (112 percent mobile users), including Italy (147 percent) makes an overwhelming argument about the importance of system robustness. The US trails sadly behind other countries in terms of the quality of the 3G network and market consistancy.

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Indian company Infosys is bringing an internet-like experience to brick-and-mortar shopping. The IT and consulting firm launched ShoppingTrip 360, a“360-degree view of the shopping trip,” on July 31st.

Infosys hopes to make retail shopping as smart as internet shopping. Measuring “how” shoppers buy, as opposed to merely “what” they buy.

“ShoppingTrip360 leverages a network of wireless sensor-based applications within the store that allows people (shoppers), places (retailers) and products (CPG companies) to collaborate in real-time by creating an information ecosystem,” explains Girish A Ramachandra, head of innovations practice, retail, CPG and logistics for Infosys.

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Didier Lomdard, CEO and Chairman of France Telecom-Orange Group, just released the english edition of his new book, entitled “The Second Life of Networks”, along with co-author Georges Nahon and Gabriel Sidhom. Dominique and I were at the release of the book. Didier Lombard flew directly from Paris to hold his book signing in San Francisco (pictures), “the anchor for technological innovation in Silicon Valley.”

The Book Explains How Upcoming Technologies Will Bring New and Exceptional Opportunities for Human and Social Progress But Calls For Specific Changes and Reforms.

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We work with you as collaborative partners to help you navigate throughout the transformation process. With the help of our experts you company is arming itself with strategies, tactics, and technologies to support and realize its ambitious plans! We will be part of the project and help you use of the Internet as an efficient communication and recruitment tool.

L’Atelier North America is part of an advisors committee that reports directly to BNP Paribas’ executive committee dealing with online presence and Internet strategy. Subsidiaries of the BNP Paribas Group such as Cortal Consors and Cetelem have been working closely with Atelier NA to improve their innovation process and brush up their Internet strategy.

Other Fortune 500 clients are relying on Atelier’s input to widespread innovation within their strategic committees or among employees.

Example for the BNP Paribas Group:

Objective…

• The objective for BNP Paribas is to define and implement an accurate online strategy that both reinforces the brand, helps acquire new customers and retain existing ones.
• Find out what customers are expecting from a financial institution on the Internet
• Understand where BNP Paribas stands as far as On-line presence/online banking compared to other financial institutions
• Identify the best practices that will lead BNP Paribas to a coherent and efficient Internet strategy

Opportunity…

• BNP Paribas is now following a very ambitious plan that will lead the Banking Group to attract new customers with a younger and more dynamic brand.
• BNP Paribas is aiming at providing itself with the strategies, tactics and technologies that it will need to achieve its ambitious plans, especially by revamping its brand and using the Internet as a communication customer acquisition and retention tool.
• Strengthen BNP Paribas’ online banking to increase customers’ loyalty
• Use the Internet as a brand support channel and building up a strong online presence
• Create efficient online advertising campaigns

Contact an Atelier Expert today

Today firms are faced with rapid changing technology and innovation management activities and, therefore, with changing technology intelligence needs as well. During the last few years, web technology and strategies have become one of the most important factors for companies. Atelier’s team are here to assist you navigate technology changes, new customer expectations and emerging communication channels. The Internet must be considered as the extension of a brand and a tool that directly contributes to attracting new customers and reinforcing existing customers’ loyalty. Atelier’s focus on emerging innovations and their significance will be delivered to you through newsletters, meetings and specific studies.

Example for a European Brokerage Company:

• Build up its technological monitoring in preparation for new usages or business opportunities
• Spot innovations that will allow it to differentiate strongly from its competitors
• Have a better knowledge and understanding of internet users and of their behavior - especially when it comes to finance. The scope will be the US market but will gather data from Asia and Europe thanks to Atelier’s network
• Have at its disposal a consultancy unit, who can help coordinating a project or suggest innovative ideas based on its knowledge of the Silicon Valley ecosystems. This will be done with strong support and involvement of the company’s dedicated internet team
• Tighten the bond between potential partners and headquarters, with a constant on-the-spot presence that will help promote and secure projects
• Share with the company various departments - sales force, engineers, product-marketing planners - innovative products and services in the valley
• Help develop innovation within the corporation’s employees: organize short, innovation-oriented business trips in Silicon Valley, aiming at creating or developing new corporate products or services inspired by the latest emerging best practices

Contact an Atelier Expert today

At Atelier North America we have been helping our clients to connect with the most innovative companies, disruptive thinking organizations and leaders. A 5-day trip in the heart of Silicon Valley will help you see, feel, and understand how innovation and change can improve brand’s performance along the purchase cycle from simple awareness to trial to loyalty.

Example for a European Retail Bank:

• build up its technological monitoring in preparation for new usages or business opportunities
• spot innovations that will lead to differentiate strongly from its competitors
• have a better knowledge and understanding of Internet users and of their behavior - especially when it gets to finance. The scope will be the US market but will gather data from Asia and France thanks to Atelier’s network
• start relationships with potential partners, with a constant presence on the spot that will help boost up and secure the projects
• meet and share with Bank of the West Executives ideas and good practices
• meet with top notch consulting firms to brain storm and work on the operational sides of the project

Contact an Atelier Expert today

Thirty years of expertise in emerging information and communication technologies

L’Atelier was designed to bring innovative ideas and business-changing opportunities to industries within the banking sector from the moment it was created in 1978 at Compagnie Bancaire (a precursor to BNP Paribas).

Soon after L’Atelier’s creation, the banking Group let its customers and partners benefit from its activities. L’Atelier’s focus on emerging innovations and their significance was shared to companies and individuals. L’Atelier therefore became a place where people meet and exchange ideas while providing further insight into the implication of emerging technologies. The result ultimately translates into how ideas relate to innovation and can be applied to companies profitably.

Currently, L’Atelier continues to track developments and identify new opportunities. We are the place where companies involved in innovational projects from every business sector meet and pool their expertise.

A respected observer of developments in France, L’Atelier opened a San Francisco office in 2005 and one in Shanghai in 2007. Moving forward, L’Atelier is well positioned in the center of our changing world.

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