Latest modern science: QR codes

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Kamis, 10 Desember 2015

Latest modern science | The next big thing... or dead thing? - Si Bejo Science

Lots of poster presentations would benefit from having something that�s hard to show on a static, flat piece of paper. The question becomes how to bring in other elements, like video. People have tried a lot of hacks, several of which I�ve described in this blog. The latest contender? Near field communication (NFC) chips.

Biochem Belle pointed me towards NFC technology, which this article says are meant to pick up where QR codes left off. Basically, NFC chips are a quicklink to the web, like QR codes. The difference is that instead of scanning a code with a phone camera, you tap your phone to a spot.

Belle asked if this could be something used on posters. My gut reaction: no. Or at least, not yet. It�s too new and unfamiliar, not transparent, and takes too much work on the part of the recipient. And what percent of phones are NFC enabled? This 2011 article suggested slightly more than half of phones would have NFC by this year. But I can only find predictions, not actual numbers for right now.

We�ve seen how QR codes are used. A few people using them on posters, but they never really took off as an enhancement to posters. NFC chips don�t seem to solve any of the issues QR codes did.

Having thought about this for a few years now, I think that the digital future of poster presentations is not in things that let you link to other sources, but in lots of big, cheap screens.

Kamis, 30 Juli 2015

Latest modern science | Link roundup for July 2015 - Si Bejo Science

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This month�s must read is from Bethany Brookshire, a.k.a. the mighty Scicurious, who has been baking cookies for science. She is at the point where she is making posters showing the results of her experiment.

Her article is aimed at people who are still in school, but is worth reading even if you haven�t used glue sticks in a while. For instance, Bethany writes:

What makes a good poster stand out is one having what I call the three C�s.

Continuity: The poster should present a continuous story of your experiment. ...
Clarity: When you share your research with others, you want to make sure that what you did is clear. ...
Consistency: The style of a poster should be consistent to help the poster look clear.

Today�s lesson in why the spacebar was invented: to prevent the University of Florida art education department from embarrassing itself (hat tip to Jeff):

Default QR codes are kind of ugly. But here�s a way to make them more interesting. You can upload a small, high contrast image, and incorporate that into the code at this website. Fer instance, I took this UTRGV institutional logo:

And turned it into this QR code that links to the university home page.

If you squint a bit, you can kind of make out the shape of Texas! I could probably do better if I made a black and white image. Hat tip to Dustin Mayfield Jones.

While everyone is abuzz with the gorgeous images of the Pluto flyby, take a look at how the first television image of Mars was made fifty years ago this week. It�s a story of impatience and a lot of crayons. (Okay, pastels.) It�s a fascinating story of turning data into an image. Hat tip to many, including Sarcastic Rover.

�How big should the text be?� is a persistent, but not readily answered, question of poster designers. But there is a particular kind of poster where text size and visibility has to be rigorously assessed: eye charts. This article is an in-depth look at how eye charts were designed and have changed over time. Hat tip to Mocost.

Here�s one for conference organizers: how to make your meeting accessible to people who are ill or have long term disabilities. Another contribution: make sure chairs are available somewhere for the poster session for people who have trouble standing for long periods.

Album covers become iconic images. Album covers were some of the first things I thought about in design terms. One of my favourite cover designers was Malcolm Garrett, whose name appeared on records by many early 80s UK bands. Songwriter and business woman Little Boots talks about the creation of her latest album cover:

The more you learn about design, the more good descriptions of process become invaluable.

Follow this Twitter thread for some interesting comments on what people look for in a poster.

And I�m going to leave Andrew Farke with the last word this month:

All together now: Posters are often a better presentation medium than talks! For both presenter and viewer! Seriously! #2015SVP

Kamis, 29 Januari 2015

Latest modern science | Link roundup for January 2015 - Si Bejo Science

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A poster using augmented reality, courtesy of creator Stuart Eve.

Stuart writes:

I am of course not the first person to use AR in a poster, but I am sure that it will become a lot more popular as it really is an excellent way of adding content to a poster, without being too intrusive. I guess at the moment it could be seen as being a little gimmicky, however this isn�t all that bad when trying to attract people to your poster and your research. One of the important things to remember though is that the poster needs to be able to stand on it�s own without the AR content, as it is quite an ask at the moment to get people to download an app on their phone just to learn more about your research.

The Biophysical Society has a short post on how to prepare for a poster presentation.

Katie Mack reminded us of poster etiquette (my emphasis)

Escalator policy is: Stand on right, let people rush past to catch sessions/etc on left. No clotheslining with poster tubes.

Not everyone agreed.

Isn�t that the whole reason for making posters??? - Michael Jewell

That and cardboard tube sword fights. � Matthew Buckley

Jon Tennant notes ORCID offers a new service:

Just ordered some ORCID QR code stickers - snazzy and useful! Can put on poster presentations, etc.

The problem of too many logos on posters, revisited by Kim Martini. The solution:

While the title of this post is 7 tips for women at conferences, the ideas within are helpful regardless of your gender. Hat tip to Ivan Oransky.

While few people want to be jackasses, sometimes, we forget and end up being jackasses. Stacey Patton reminds us how not be be a jackass at a conference. Perhaps most relevant to poster sessions is this tip: