Women@SCS meet JC Herz

On August 31st, members of the Women@SCS committee had lunch with JC Herz who was this years Freshman Orientation Keynote Speaker. J.C. is the CEO of Joystick Nation Inc.

J. C. Herz was the freshmen orientation keynote speaker for Orientation 2001. She is the author of "Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds." In addition, J. C. is also the author of over one hundred essays about computer game design for the New York Times. She had her own column titled "Game Theory" that ran weekly through February of 2000. J. C. is currently the CEO of Joystick Nation Inc. - a consultancy that applies the principles of complex systems to the design of products, services, and brands. With a background-knowledge in ecology, J. C. helps Joystick Nation focus on human-human interaction design by drawing aspects from ecology, online social dynamics, computer games, and information theory. Joystick Nation also works with systems that leverage the intrinsic characteristics of networked communication.

J. C. met some of the Women@SCS students at a luncheon after giving her Keynote speech. She talked about many topics including the current high tech gadgets, the video game industry, and uses of computer related technologies in the corporate world. She mentioned one interesting gadget that I found extremely intriguing - a phone that combines both mobility and aesthetics. J. C. first saw the use of this device when she visited Japan. The phone is disguised as a pinkie ring and a thumb ring. When someone calls the user of the phone, the two rings vibrate to signal an incoming call. The earpiece is cleverly enclosed inside the thumb ring, while the microphone is concealed in the pinkie ring. By using the universal gesture of a phone call, the user holds up a hand to one side of his face and is able to communicate with the other party of the call.

J. C. pointed out that the world is changing to incorporate the many new technologies that are now becoming parts of people's everyday lives. For example, Blackberry is a small hand sized device that allows one to send emails and messages using cellular technologies. It has become a familiar sight in the corporate world. Because of its integration into people's lives, there has been a new gesture developed to signal email. By motioning to someone the gesture of using a Blackberry, a person is communicating a silent message that says, "email me."

Being a leader in innovation technologies, J. C. exchanged some of her ideas with the members of the luncheon. She shared her idea of a "communication mood ring." In essence, these rings would come in pairs. Each ring is to be worn by a different person. If person A is thinking of person B, A would rotate the ring, hence causing a signal to be sent to person B, whose ring would warm up to show that person A is thinking of person B. What a great way to link up information technology and human emotions.

The luncheon with J. C. Herz was a great experience. She has broad knowledge on many aspects of computer-related issues. It makes great sense that she sits on the National Research Council's Committee on Creativity and Information Technology. J. C. is currently working on an upcoming research paper on the social ecology of simulation. We look forward to her return visit to CMU which may be later this semester.

Find out more:
www.tompeters.com/coolfr_herz.htm
www.wheels.org/spacewar/joystick_nation.html