Over the past twelve months, Odopod has worked with a few Kinect prototypes using open source drivers in conjunction with Processing and Flash.

The most robust examples have leveraged the full body (aka skeleton) tracking provided by the OpenNI and Prime Sense NITE libraries. Unfortunately, this level of tracking requires people to pose like they're about to get a pat down from airport security. Even if you just want to track a single hand, it requires a socially awkward wave to the camera.

In February, Microsoft released the Windows version of the Kinect hardware as well as its Kinect for Windows SDK and license. The hardware itself is only nominally different, supporting experiences that are closer than possible with the XBOX hardware. The software, however enables full skeleton tracking without the need to strike any particular pose. In fact the recognition is instantaneous.

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By now, I expect you know that the number of people using smart-phones, tablets and other devices to access the web is increasing and is expected to one day surpass the number of people using laptop and desktop computers to get online.

To address this shift away from desktop dominance, a contemporary web strategy must:

1. provide universal access for each piece of content
2. optimize layouts for a variety of screen sizes
3. support touch gestures in addition to mouse and keyboard interactions
4. deliver optimized content for devices with limited resources
5. fully optimize key experiences for the specific contexts of use

Contemporary web development techniques make it possible to deliver on these points with a single front-end code base that adjusts to the capabilities of devices rather than building multiple sites different categories of devices (e.g. Mobile and Desktop). A single site is more cost effective to build and maintain and is also more flexible, able to accommodate new devices that don't fall cleanly into existing categories.

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There is an incredible amount of potential stored within social networks and the Internet of Things.

On projects at Odopod, we've scored site contributors based on their social activities. We've provided tools for our clients to hold conversations in Twitter and bring those conversations into their sites. We've generated countless shares and likes. And we've only begun to scratch the surface.

With the continued growth of data available to us via APIs and increasingly sophisticated open source tools, we're looking forward to more and more opportunities to skim a little data and shape it into something both fun and useful.

I recently presented some related research during a brown bag lunch discussion. Here are some highlights.

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On Wednesday, Microsoft released additional information about their upcoming SDK for the Kinect. However, if you don't want to wait for that release, there are some great alternatives available already.

To better understand the potential Kinect holds for retail and other installation work at Odopod, I've been exploring different ways to integrate Kinect into Adobe Air applications. We're using Air because it allows us to quickly build prototypes and explore this exciting new technology.

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Most conversations about mobile strategies include the following two perspectives: limited resources of devices require new technical approaches, and mobile use cases are different and demand unique content and application features.

As we’ve settled into our new multi-device lifestyles, a new perspective has entered into these conversations: finding different content at the same place on different devices is a problem and flies in the face of web accessibility and common sense.

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IWC.com features a great deal of content which includes some amazing videos. Two great examples of these videos can be found on the Aquatimer family page. Galapagos is an eight and a half minute video highlighting IWC's longstanding relationship with the Charles Darwin Foundation and includes some really incredible cinematography. Don't miss the footage of iguanas foraging underwater. A little further down on the Aquatimer page is a short animation demonstrating the engineering behind the depth gauge within the Aquatimer Deep Two. It is an example of how IWC uses video to educate customers about their watches.

Galapagos video on the Aquatimer page

As the second installment of our series on building IWC.com, we're looking more closely at how this video is delivered to both desktop and mobile browsers.

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IWC.com and the publishing system powering it are a new cornerstone for IWCs digital strategy. Given the goal that this system remain relevant for a minimum of 10 years (and what can happen on the internet in 10 years) technology choices were particularly important.

How do you future-proof a development like this?

For us, the logical place to start is...

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Google’s new Web Store offers themes, extensions and apps for Google’s web browser, Chrome.

Themes and extensions are not new to Chrome; the store simply brings them together with apps to provide improved discoverability.

Outwardly, the applications might not seem all that different, but for those using the Chrome browser, Google has added a layer of functionality that app developers can take advantage of.

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As a follow-up to my earlier post on Flash and Web Standards, I put together a presentation about how these evolving technologies can be used in our work. By looking more closely at the boundaries of what each technology is capable, we inform our decisions about the experiences we can create for different platforms and how to build them.

The slides are now available here and my notes for the presentation can be found here.

The pendulum has definitely swung. Flash is the new F-word and HTML5 is everyone's best friend.

Apple, Google and Microsoft have showcased HTML5 experiments and projects demonstrating how dynamic and interactive experiences in their browsers can be without using Flash.

At Odopod, our teams are well versed in both Flash and open Web Standards development. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and, in order to make the right decisions about these technologies, we need cut through the hype and weigh the options as objectively as possible.

Following are some of the questions that we have been hearing and debating at Odopod. The responses are intentionally high-level, intended as an overview. If you are looking for more exhaustive details, you will find some links at the end that will help you along.

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