Attn. Fluid Engage people - What's happening in Fluid Decapod?

[Jonathan Hung]

Hi everyone (specifically those in the Engage camp),

During the All-Hands meeting in Toronto a few weeks ago, there was some
interest in Fluid Decapod. For those of you who do not recall, Fluid Decapod
is a portable, open source, paper digitization solution.

Notable features include:
- output to searchable PDF with dynamically generated fonts
- layout recognition and layout reorganization while maintaining flow
(immediate applications are reformatting for small screens / mobile devices
or enlargement for visual needs)
- easy to use interface with low barrier to entry (low capital investment,
low human resource commitment)
- utilizes off-the-shelf consumer components (i.e. standard laptop capable
of running Ubuntu, and two digital cameras) to accomodate variety of budgets
and requirements.
- non-destructive digitization using cameras (NOT a flatbed scanner),
preserves artifacts.

The backend technology is being developed by the Image Understanding and
Pattern Recognition (IUPR) group at the Technical University of
Kaiserslautern (DFKI) in Germany.

At the ATRC, we are busy designing the UI component to the Decapod software
with development of the UI in the coming weeks.

Currently we are doing prototype testing of the interface designs with
potential users. If you are interested in seeing the direction of our
designs, I have posted the design iterations for the Decapod interface onto
the Fluid wiki. The images are more like Character Sketches (borrowed from
the animation industry) demonstrating the look and behaviour of a possible
design in a single image. http://wiki.fluidproject.org/x/2YWI


HOW YOU CAN HELP:

If you work with or for an institution with a paper collection, we would
like your help!

We are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping evaluate our
designs. To help, all you need is a web browser, voice chat (like a phone or
Skype), and about 30 minutes of free time. You will have a chance to
interact with a mock-up design and give feedback through performing a series
of small tasks.

If you or someone you know would be interested, please have them contact me
(jonathan.hung at utoronto.ca) for more details.


Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you Fluid Engagers. :)

- Jonathan.
Designer, Fluid Decapod Project

---
Jonathan Hung / jhung.utoronto at gmail.com or jonathan.hung at utoronto.ca
Fluid Project - ATRC at University of Toronto
Tel: (416) 946-3002
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