The opening session this morning was by Mike Kuniavsky, a user experience consultant who recently founded ThingM and previously founded AdaptivePath. ThingM he described as a “ubiquitous computing design studio.” The dream of Xerox Parc for ubiquitous computing, he said, is now a reality. “It’s today where the web was in the early ’90s.” But designing for it is different, he maintains. Etechmikek300 Magic is a good metaphor, “a useful abstraction … because it does not cripple — it explains.” Magic to him is about the interaction you have with an object.

“The age of magic is coming. It’s an inevitable byproduct of market forces and embedded computing,” said Kuniavsky. He said there are several terms used to describe the latter: ambient intelligence, pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing. “They’re all about embedded processors in everyday objects.” His definition of magic is a metaphorical relationship involving enchanted objects. He gave the example of “wands,” which we already see in technology products. The audience questions brought out some interesting discussion. The speaker emphasized that people are the conduit in this new age, essentially now the magicians — that this is about “the democratization of magic.” What about design by users, a la MySpace — can magic be done by them? “Sure. It’s about level of usefulness, not polish.”