unc
Latest
Student's push to make Raleigh more walkable relies on homemade signs and QR codes
Walking is apparently underrated. So University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Matt Tomasulo decided to engage in some "guerilla urbanism" in January with fellow fans of bipedal activity, posting 27 signs at three Raleigh, NC intersections as part of the "Walk Raleigh" project. The cardboard and vinyl signs contained snippets about how many minutes it would take to walk to must-see destinations like Raleigh City Cemetery, as well as QR codes for downloading directions. Like the activity it promotes, Tomasulo says the idea behind the project is simple: It's OK to walk. Apparently, Tomasulo and his buddies did such a great job with the signs that it took the sharp folks at the city government a month to catch on and take the stuff down. The city has since walked back its opposition to the signs, however, and put them back up as part of a 90-day pilot project. In the meantime, Walk Raleigh has turned into a Walk [Your City] Kickstarter campaign to put your wallet where your feet are.
Researchers hack Kinect for glasses-free 3D teleconferencing (video)
Since the dawn of Kinect hacking, we've seen cameras strung together (or rotated) to create 3D, video game-like environments, while others have tweaked it for headtracking. Others, still, have used it for teleconferencing (albeit, the flat, two-dimensional variety). Now, a team of researchers have gone and thrown it all together to achieve 3D video chats, and if we do say so, the result is greater than a sum of its parts. The group, based out of UNC-Chapel Hill, uses 3D mapping (and at least four Kinects) to render the video, and then employs headtracking on the receiving end so that people tuning in will actually see the live video in 3D, even without wearing 3D glasses. The result: a tableau that follows you as you move your head and spin around restlessly in your desk chair waiting for the meeting to end. That's mighty impressive, but we can't help but wonder: do you really want to see your colleagues in such lifelike detail? Have a gander at the video and decide for yourself.
Mario wall art invades UNCC campus
University of North Carolina, Charlotte student newspaper The Niner is reporting on the surprising appearance of chalk-based Mario pixel-art on the brick walls of campus buildings. Knuttz.net has pictures of five of the six works of art, which include a Koopa Troopa, Cheep Cheep, Pirahna Plant and Super Mushroom (not pictured, according to The Niner's description, is a character called "Bob-Boom." Are you looking for Bob-omb, perhaps?) The article gives no hints to the creator of the spontaneous works of art, which use each brick as a pixel to create life-size versions of the familiar characters. What's worse, despite receiving no calls or complaints about the drawings, campus authorities say they plan on washing the chalk off the walls "as soon as possible." Why bother? All these works are doing is adding a little whimsy and fun to the days of some no doubt terminally bored students. Besides, it's not like the artist did any permanent damage to the buildings -- the chalk will wash itself off during the next rainstorm anyway. Let the magic last until then, at least. [Thanks, Matthew] [Update: Joystiq reader Jamie had seen this pixelated wall art before. Actually, he and his wife snapped some pics (like the one above) last week, which he just sent in for us to enjoy. Thanks, Jamie!]
