Creativity + Bravery

CHEAT SHEET1 JUNE - 8 JUNE 2012

INNOVATION & TRENDSApp Helps the Blind Navigate their Way Around Buildings:GPS-like smartphone app Navatar combines existing smartphone hard-ware with bespoke technology to guide the visually impaired through complicated environments.

Conference Chairs that Prevent Nosey Spies from Overhearing You:Talk is a new set of furniture by Keilhauer and design firm EOOS, in which the entire focus is that of privacy. They’re billed as “privacy screens and sound barriers,” a means to have a private meeting in a public place.

Twitter Confirms Facebook Integration of Usernames, Hashtags, Photos:Twitter has quietly tweaked the way usernames, hashtags, photos and more are cross-posted to Facebook. “The updated Twitter for Facebook integration now includes additional rich media experiences related to the first photo, URL, @mention or #hashtag in the cross-posted tweet,” Twitter spokesman Robert Weeks told Mashable on Thursday night.

Mashable6-8-12

FastCo.DESIGN6-12

SpringWise6-7-12

TECHNOLOGY

Acoustics System Helps Control Atmosphere in Bars and Restaurants:Developed by Meyer Sound, the system is designed to control the acoustics of an environment in real-time, operated wirelessly using a tablet device.

A Touchscreen with Keys that Rise and Disappear:A California company says it’s created technology that could make key-board keys rise out of the touchscreen on a smartphone, tablet or other device, and then disappear when you are done with them.

Whole Fetal Genome Sequenced Before Birth:The day when you can sequence your baby’s genome before it is born might not be too far away. Researchers have reconstructed the genome of a fetus without touching it. Instead, they used both parents’ genomes and free-floating fetal DNA, which circulates in the mother’s blood.

SpringWise6-6-12

CNN6-6-12

NewScientist6-7-12

CULTUREJudith Braun - Finger Painter:New York artist Judith Braun keeps the youthful spirit alive, albeit with an adult’s sophisticated edge. In her large-scale finger drawings she creates wall-sized abstractions and nature scenes by dipping her fin-gers in charcoal powder and drawing directly on walls.

Check Out an Interactive Map of Mad Men Hot Spots:

WNYC culture editor and interactive content producer Abbie Fentress Swanson created a Google map stocked full of New York City hot spots frequented by the characters in Mad Men. She hopes that the crowdsourced map can help people interact with New York City in a new way, while reliving their Mad Men memories, of course.

A Creative Look inside a Louis Vuitton Game Case Video:Originally inspired by a chess gameboard itself, the iconic Damier print from Louis Vuitton comes to life in this amusing animated short by Ill Stu-dio, also of Paris. HypeBeast

6-8-12

Mashable6-6-12

CoolHunting6-5-12

AGENCY NEWSCoors Calls in Cavalry with New WPP Agency:A little more than a month after MillerCoors moved its entire account out of DraftFCB, the WPP agency formed to house the Coors side of the business has opened up shop in Chicago and will be led by beer-mar-keting veteran Marty Stock.

Ogilvy Government Relations Loses Chevron over Client Conflict:Chevron Corp. fired Ogilvy Government Relations as its U.S. lobbyist after a person affiliated with the firm spoke to a group advocating for residents of the Ecuadorean rainforest in a multibillion legal fight with the oil company, a person familiar with the matter said.

How an Ad Agency Reimagined Off-The-Grid Living:The object of “Mirai Nihon” (“the future of Japan”) was to design a house that could exist less dependent on lifelines such as electricity, wa-ter, and telecommunications. As such the team at TBWA Hakuhodu de-veloped a platform to identify new technology and inventions that had yet to be commercialized.

AdAge6-5-12

AdAge6-1-12

FastCo.CREATE6-12

SUSTAINABILITYFish-shaped Robots Monitor Water Pollution:A UK-based project has turned the concept of human-less monitoring into reality in the form of its fish-shaped automated SHOAL robots. They can detect various forms of pollution and also interact with each other to provide a map of the problem and detect its source.

A Virus That Helps Charge Your Cellphone:Scientists at the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Labo-ratory say they have created a virus that generates electricity. The re-search is described as a first step toward using genetically engineered viruses to build devices that convert the body’s motion into electricity.

How Valuable Is Your Roof? Put It Up For Solar Auction:Your most overlooked piece asset, your roof, is now a hot market. A new firm launching this month, Gridbid, allows homeowners to auction the solar installation rights to their roofs online. The company says so-lar installers can save as much as 80% of what they normally spend to find rooftop space. FastCo.EXIST

6-7-12

NYTimes6-6-12

SpringWise6-7-12