'The Digital Table' eBook is now available on Kindle!

We have just released 'The Digital Table' eBook on Kindle. Here is a preview!

Download your copy of 'The Digital Table' today to discover our changing relationship with technology, and what this means for our future.

Ho ho ho! You are invited to our special Christmas offer

Recently nsquared launched our very first iBook, The Digital Table. In the spirit of Christmas, we are running a special offer and spreading some festive cheer… We are giving away the iBook FREE for the entire month of December.

'The Digital Table' is a beautiful, interactive and fully illustrated 56-page iBook taking a look at our changing relationship with technology, and what this means for our future.

Smart screens, touch screens, smart everything.  Interactive tables, interactive shoes, interactive everything. The future of work, the future of play, the future trends. Human behaviour, innovators, innovation and new technology. The world is changing, but how?

Click on the below banner to get your copy of The Digital Table today!

Have a great Christmas from the team at nsquared!

 

More Personal World

"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed" 

- William Gibson

Everything we need to make computers more personal already exists and has existed for a long time. The main change is the price point. You no longer need to be as rich as Tony Stark in order to have this tech in your hands.

Futuristic tech is no longer limited to the richest few. Real life Tony Stark, Elon Musk. Source: amazonaws.com

Over the coming few years, Moore's law will continue to apply and technology will become more and more personal.

Today on the sunny Gold Coast of Australia, our very own Dr. Neil Roodyn is presenting at Ignite Australia on how to build more personal software for more personal computers. In his talk he will be showing developers how they can build software that has more context awareness and more natural interfaces using common hardware available today.

"Multi-touch technologies have a long history. To put it in perspective, the original work Undertaken by my team was done in 1984, the same year that the first Macintosh computer was released, and we were not the first." 

-Bill Buxton

 
Consider how a modern computer (yes, this includes your phone) can receive inputs; vision (camera), touch, gestures, ink (stylus), speech, identity (fingerprint scanner, face recognition, etc.) These inputs can be used by software to change the way people interact with computers, making the interaction more personal and more natural.

This leads to output from new computers that is more natural as well, computers that speak to us, present emotional content that is tailored to our needs and output that is tangible, touchable, interactive, and even present in our spaces. Technologies such as HoloLens are providing a glimpse into an exciting future on new modes of interactions.

More emotional content fed to us by our devices will mean a limitless number of exciting possibilities. nsquared's iBook, The Digital Table, presents our vision for how we see technology, and simultaneously, our relationships, changing.
 
Technology tailored to us, the future is looking good.

For more on how technology is changing the way we behave, follow nsquared on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Do You Want It Custom?

Digital tables are a unique product, there's no doubt about it.

We get all kinds of requests from people, asking all kinds of things from one-off coffee tables to massive 275 inch displays. We have experience building all kinds of exciting projects too, both software and hardware and we understand better than most the challenges clients can face with a custom project, beyond just financial reasons.

It is an important question to ask, as it is different for every circumstance. Consider your requirements and resources before you ask; do you want it custom?

To help you through your thinking, we've put together a chart:

Do You Want It Custom? Flow Chart

 

Custom projects are great because they are tailored to your precise requirements. They can help alleviate feelings of compromise, or feeling that you are buying unnecessary features, when weighing up options with an off the shelf product. They meet your exact needs. But this, of course, comes at a price.

The nsquared DIGITABLE and DIGITABLE PLUS are our off the shelf tried and tested products, which means a safe and secure purchase. Off the shelf products also have the advantage of a quick turnaround, you can reap the benefits of economies of scale and will likely result in a higher re-sale value.

Take the time to weigh up the pros and cons, it will be worth it in the long run! We are experts in multi-touch smart tables, touch screens and interactive surfaces so don't be afraid to contact us to help make your decision.

Email us here, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Innovative collaboration using the DIGITABLE PLUS

Meet Mark and San from Appétit magazine, a niche publication for food lovers. Appétit is not made by just one person, it is a team effort. Team efforts deserve team technology.  

 

To get the best photos at the best places, they need to know where to go and who to meet. Using the DIGITABLE PLUS they can work together researching alternatives.

They find out where they need to be. They photograph. They interview. They come back to the office and bring it all to the DIGITABLE PLUS.

San types up an outline for her article, while Mark drops his photos in place. They can simultaneously give feedback to each other and decisions are made quickly.  

The editor of Appétit, Aaron, joins them for a dynamic team experience. Collaboration, and negotiation happen instantly as the team gather around the table in a strategically productive meeting. Losing things in distant communication is a long forgotten past as the outcome is captured in digital form as it happens. 

nsquared designs and builds multi-user technology. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to learn more today.

The Digital Table: A Story Part 1

The following is an excerpt from our upcoming illustrated eBook, The Digital Table, available October 22. Follow nsquared here for more information on its release.

The Rate of the Adoption of Technology 

Technology is the tool we use to move the world forward. It is the tool that we invent to meet a need - to count, to cool, to connect.

For this reason it is also a driver of our behaviour. We learn to go to the kitchen for food instead of the market. We learn to check our Maps app and bin the Street Directory. We learn to tap a book.

The graph above demonstrates how new technology is being adopted at an increasingly rapid pace. This also means that our behaviour is changing and adapting at its quickest pace in history. The past twenty years has seen incredible advancements in personal device technology and we have changed our behaviour to meet it. But, in some regards, this behaviour model we have been trained into goes against our nature.

The digital table is a response to this behaviour shift. And to fully understand its place, we will start 200 million years ago…

Our neocortex, the word to make anyone sound smart, developed 200 million years ago. It separated us from our reptilian counterparts for two significant reasons, and explains our drive for constant improvement.

And so the Neocortex has led us to where we are today. In the cloud.

 A Cloud Revolution

The cloud is the latest term given to larger computer power. The cloud, as it appears, is an infinite resource of computing power being used to revolutionalise our communications systems, extending our data from our limited finger tips to endlessly accessible locations.

This means that in many ways, hardware is becoming commoditised. A $99 tablet at the local supermarket is no longer a shock. Our understanding of computers is changing.  Technology has shifted so significantly that instead of technological “silos”, our behaviour is changing in a way that shows we understand everything is, and should be, connected.

Time to Re-Imagine

This siloed technology ignores our natural social drive. We have trained ourselves to behave in this way as this was the only technology available to us. 

The definition of “multi -user technology” is changing. It is not about sharing a computer any more. Multi-user technology isn’t about replacing the individual device. Multi-user technology is about creating spaces to share information together; collaborative spaces to connect meaningfully in the real world again. Multi-user technology is a different mechanism for interaction in the new world.

It’s time to re-imagine technology beyond the single-user.

Check out nsquared here, learn more about multi-user technology here or visit our Facebook or LinkedIn pages

Windows 10 is here!

 The Windows 10 Launch in Sydney  Source: Microsoft

This week, Windows 10 was launched in 190 countries in spectacular fashion. With select cities across the globe ushering in the new operating system with parties worldwide, a few of our team went to join the Sydney celebrations.

Having a number of our machines running the new operating system, the nsquared team have been testing Windows 10 in the office for a few months. As well as a fantastic vision into the future of computing (read our post on Microsoft Continuum here), Windows 10 is a beautiful new interface and we are excited to see the launch of an inspired, responsive system.

The next generation of products is a great way to reflect on the progress of technology, and we can see clear jumps from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, giving a good indication as to where Microsoft see technology heading. As Surfaces grow, ‘holographic’ technology develops and new team-oriented products such as the Surface Hub become a reality, we at nsquared are excited to see the parochial ‘single-user’ idea of technology breaking down, as the tools for collaboration get more and more traction. Hooray future!

Ok Cortana, you did good. You did good.

To get interesting updated on new and multi-user technology, follow nsquared on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

We're hiring. Are you ready to join us?

nsquared opened its doors for business in the Sydney CBD in 2008. The company has grown each year of its operation. In 2015, nsquared is expanding again.

nsquared has always been the provider of advanced leading-edge software solutions. Since early 2009, its core business focus has been centred on creating exceptional software for gesture based computing experiences. In mid 2013, it shifted its focus to include the creation and delivery of digital table hardware as well as software. In early 2014 the design and development phase for delivery of the nsquared digitable product range commenced. One year in, there have been several products designed and delivered. In 2015, the company goal is to move that process forward.

We are hiring and as a member of the nsquared team you will have the opportunity to contribute and work with an inspired group of individuals on projects that are unparalleled in terms of their uniqueness in Australia, and indeed, most of the world. The team is inspired by the idea that they are working together to change the way people meet and work together now and in the future.

As a company that is moving into its next phase of growth, nsquared encourages personal growth and rewards action-oriented self-motivated people.

The roles we are currently recruiting for are:

Sales Lead

As a Sales Lead at nsquared you will be responsible for creating and closing sales opportunities of nsquared’s premium digital table furniture and software products. You will work closely with nsquared’s Director to determine Sales targets and a plan that will ensure the growing success of the products and the company.

Digital tables are a relatively new concept to the market and a large part of your role will be in raising awareness of the product range and its many benefits to businesses around the world.

Your ability to deliver high and improving sales rates will be critical to the success of the role and nsquared.

Industrial Designer

As an industrial designer at nsquared you will be responsible for creating aesthetically pleasing tables that will run nsquared’s digital table software. Your role is one that will radically change the way people in business think about and use tables now and in the future. 

Your ability to deliver beautifully designed and finished furniture pieces is critical to the success of your role.

Software Developer

As a developer at nsquared you will be responsible for creating, enhancing and testing software products. You will work closely with nsquared’s development team to deliver monthly milestones that will ensure the growing success of the products and the company. 

Your ability to deliver high quality code to deadlines will be critical to the success of the role.

Junior Digital Designer

As nsquared’s Junior Designer you will work closely with nsquared’s Lead Designer to deliver a variety of digital design assets. The Design team is responsible for making nsquared’s digital and table products look absolutely stunning. Your teams’ role is also to educate nsquared’s current and prospective customers to understand how working with digital tables will improve their businesses day by day. 

Your ability to deliver high-class premium imagery and other marketing materials is critical to the success of the role.

For more information and to apply, check out the jobs page on our website

Shortlisted for the 2014 Sydney Design Awards

As many of you will know, we've recently launched the nsquared digitable55.
We are excited to be working with a number of customers already but the bigger news for today is that the digitable55 has been officially shortlisted for the 2014 Sydney Design Awards!

You can view the entry (and vote) for the nsquared digitable55 here .

How it all works.

Once our entry was accepted it was open for rating along with the other entries. They will be rated
by the design100 judging panel, respected industry members and the marketplace. Once all ratings are in, the scores will be averaged across the three respective ratings to ensure that the Awards showcase the best entry as determined by all three panels.
Rating closes on 17 August, 2014 and we understand that the top five rated entries in each category will be named finalists. We're hoping to be on the podium with other winners at the Awards Presentation on 20 August 2014. Time will tell...

nsquared rooms makes booking meeting spaces easy.

Did you know........ 
..........that nsquared rooms is great for finding available spaces for ad hoc meetings?

Being part of a large organisation can be a great thing. In a big company there is always plenty going on and lots of people with whom to collaborate and learn. It is often hard to find available meeting rooms at short notice. The room booking systems can be overly complicated and support personnel won't have time to make the booking for you that quickly. So you then end up in a noisy café, which is not a good scenario for a confidential chat. What if you could search for, and book a room, as soon as you knew you needed it?
With nsquared rooms you can do just that.

You can find out quickly what rooms are available within your timeframes. Better than that, you can book any of the available rooms all by yourself. It’s all connected to Microsoft Exchange so the information is updated immediately, which means interruption-free meetings.

We’ve seen it used in building foyers, at floor entrances by the elevators, and dotted around university campuses and business estates where they’re being used to great effect. Take a look here to find out more about nsquared rooms.

Make your sales pitches flexible and snappy with nsquared presenter.

Did you know........

That you can create and save multiple presentation timeline files in presenter? 

nsquared presenter is primarily designed to flip the focus of conversations by getting everyone in the room involved. It’s an exceptionally powerful sales tool, especially when you can create and save several presentations and have them ready to present straight from the table, as and when you need them. It’s a highly rapid and flexible solution.

Where we’ve seen it working exceptionally well is in the sales offices of property developers, where the sales agents have separate presentations available and ready for clients with different requirements.  Each of the presentations  includes a mix of fly through videos, location images, PDF content and floor plans, each of which can be viewed by several clients simultaneously.

Other locations getting benefit from having separate presentations available on the digital table include:

• Car showrooms, with details about different models of car in each presentation
• Media agencies; each presentation represents a set of projects for a category of client
• Project meetings; every project has a timeline of content that is built on throughout the lifetime of the project
• Financial services, different packages of options can be presented to clients depending on which presentation is loaded onto the touch screen table.

To find out how to get the most out of nsquared presenter give us a call or drop us an email at info@nsquaredsolutions.com, or leave a comment in the section below.

nsquared maps can read GeoRSS feeds

Did you know....... GeoRSS feeds can be displayed in nsquared maps.

GeoRSS feeds are a great way to include location information for web based data. Each location can have associated text and image data, so a GeoRSS feed can provide information on the map about each point.

The admin tool provided with nsquared maps allows you to add the data from any GeoRSS feed to the maps displayed on your digital tables.

Some examples of where we have seen this used are:

• Real estate agents provide all the properties for sale in a GeoRSS feed that can then be plotted on the map.
• Nation wide retailers provide a GeoRSS feed of all of their store locations to display on the map
• Emergency services provide a GeoRSS feed of incidents as they happen, these incidents can be seen as they occur on the map
• Photographers use GeoRSS to add location information to all of the images they store online. The images can then be displayed on the map.
• A manufacturer's support team uses a GeoRSS feed to provide information on all of the support calls that require a site visit. The information about each call can be displayed on the map at the correct location.

With nsquared maps you can easily add the GeoRSS information to the map on your large interactive touch screen with no programming. Simply add the URL of the web feed to the admin tool and configure the way you'd like the data to be displayed.

Find out more about nsquared maps here

nsquared thoughts has shape recognition

Did you know…that nsquared thoughts has shape recognition?

nsquared thoughts is designed as a free-form ideas canvas. It’s often used as a mind-mapping and sketching tool in business, and for small group work and tutoring in schools and libraries for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and English. 

One of the things we did to make it a better tool was to enable you to draw free-form versions of shapes such as circles, squares and triangles, and have them snap to the geometrically correct form of that shape as soon as you’ve finished drawing it.

Free-form shape recognition enables you to create additional canvases on the table.

This is great for

Sketching workflow diagrams.

Teaching shapes and how they relate to each other.

Creating separate canvases on the screen for people so that they can sketch out their     ideas independently while conversing with team members.

Mapping out decision trees.

Creating separate canvases for students so that they can take part in group writing exercises.

Capturing content created on the screen and resizing and repositioning it - Everything that is inside the shape you draw will be captured into the shape.

To find out more about nsquared thoughts, visit the nsquared web site at https://nsquaredsolutions.com/business/

How to power up your presentations with the humble USB stick.

that you can load content from a USB stick into nsquared presenter, nsquared thoughts, nsquared documents and nsquared attractor!

USB sticks are common tools for all of us. We use them as a quick way of storing and accessing content that needs to be available when we’re on the move between our desks, and homes, and our meetings. 

With nsquared software, you can use your USB drive to easily and quickly bring fresh new content and ideas to the table.

Places and situations we’ve seen this surprisingly powerful functionality being used are:

Reception areas, Waiting rooms and Sales spaces. Quickly refresh or update messaging by connecting a pre-loaded USB drive to nsquared attractor for instant, fresh results.

Project meeting spaces where attendees bring individually created content to the table for presentation and discussion. Concepts are quickly crystallised when USB content can be accessed  and shared on demand.

Real Estate sales presentations in which the Agent quickly wants to show clients some fresh and exclusive new options that might not available in the organisation’s file system. Personal or proprietary content can be displayed almost instantly when a USB drive is connected.

University group project meetings in which all team members bring their contributions to the table to share and discuss their work. Several USB drives can be plugged in simultaneously.

Product comparison discussions where fresh up to date content can be displayed on the table to make web site development decisions easier because they’re based on relatively concrete visuals from a USB drive, rather than abstract verbal discussion.

We are sure there are many more situations in which being able to load USB content is really useful and we’d like to hear about them from you. 

Drop us a line at info@nsquaredsolutions.com, or post your comments below :-)

nsquared presenter for iPhone

As a seasonal gift from nsquared we are happy to offer you the iPhone version of nsquared presenter for free.
With nsquared presenter for iPhone you can send images and movies directly to your digital tables, touch screens and presentation screens that are running nsquared presenter.

iPhone 5s running nsquared presenter

Download nsquared presenter for iPhone from here.

You can send content from your iPad to nsquared presenter screens

The Apple iPad is found in many meeting rooms being clutched by individuals as their life support systems. The iPad contains their email, calendar, and a range of other important business documents. Yet in a meeting the iPad represents an isolating and personal device. With nsquared presenter digital tables, interactive touch screens and presentation screens can display content from an iPad to be shared with the group for discussion.
Here some examples of how people are using nsquared presenter and iPads:

• A sales person keeps a range of product images on their iPad and shares the relevant images on a digital table with customers as required.
• A sales team collates ideas from their personal devices to a digital table to create a new presentation.
• Students collect research materials on their iPads and then gather around their digital table in the library to create group projects. 
• A teacher shares question sheets from their iPad to the digital table for a group of students to discuss and answer.
• A designer shares sketches from their iPad with clients around a touch table.
• A project team share progress reports from their iPads to the digital table in their meeting room in their weekly status meetings.

Sharing content from iPad to digital tables using nsquared presenter

We are growing again!

With more and more digital tables being loved by our customers we are growing our team again. We need a salesperson and a graduate developer to join our team.

If you are looking for a challenging new role in a team that is intent on putting shared screen technology in more places then please get in touch.

We are recruiting a junior developer to help us with development of vision based solutions using technologies such as kinect.

We are also looking for an energetic young sales person that can help our team with customer interactions, product demonstrations and closing deals.

Both of our new team members will need be Australian citizens or hold Australian Permanent residency visas.

If you, or someone you know, are interested in joining nsquared please send us a cover letter and your resume to jobs@nsquaredsolutions.com

You can load PowerPoint files with nsquared thoughts

PowerPoint files are everywhere in the workplace. PowerPoint is used to describe the financial position of a company, the sales pitch for a product, the concept for a new project, and countless other scenarios. With nsquared thoughts you can load those PowerPoint slide decks directly onto your digital table and annotate them as a group. Here some examples of how people are using nsquared thoughts and PowerPoint files:

1. A sales team discusses how to improve existing presentations around their touch table.
2. A sales person presents ideas to clients, the clients get involved with directly annotating the slides themselves
3. A project team incorporates slides from a PowerPoint deck into a conversation involving other sketches on their digital table.
4. A management team uses slides from their company vision PowerPoint deck to determine the validity of new project proposals.
5. A financial team uses PowerPoint slides to discuss the quarterly results of their company subsidiaries at their digital table.
6. An investment team discusses the different pitches they have heard each week and display the PowerPoint slides from each pitch on their table.

Find out more about nsquared thoughts 

nsquared feature in The Australian

Well look what we’ve just found in the nsquared archive…

Our highly publicized feature in The Australian!

Chris Griffith, a prominent IT writer for The Australian, visited our nsquared technology studio in Sydney to have a chat about the power of social computing around the Samsung SUR40.

The original article was published on July 10, 2012 – Read it here,

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/personal-tech/samsung-overturns-regular-computer-design-with-the-microsoft-surface-table/story-e6frgazf-1226421861385

We are happy to say that more than 18 months later there continues to be a  high and increasing demand for the Samsung SUR40 (and other multi-user tables) and our off the shelf applications. We have a broad range of customers from business to education, retail to hospitality – both here locally in Australia and across the globe.

Today you can find the SUR40 running our nsquared software in many schools, universities, museums, hotel foyers and even real estate offices!

Spark your curiosity?

Find out more about increasing productivity, collaboration and creativity in your spaces today by contacting us on +61 2 9262 3386 or email us – info@nsquaredsolutions.com 

How Your Business Can Benefit from a Digital Table

Are you tired of attending the same boardroom and client meetings? Are you fed up with competing for attention and compelling customers to focus on the same projected screen? Perhaps you just can't quite see what your teammate is trying to share with you on their tablet or mobile screen.

Why not revolutionize your business meeting space with a digital table? Take your meetings to the 21st Century and present your digital content horizontally with a group of people around a 360 degree interface. Better yet, why not use software that integrates multiple devices to share that digital content?

For centuries tables have been used as a space for meetings, a place for sharing of ideas and discussion arenas for business development. Now, as modern society continues to focus on developing content and ideas on personal devices, it only makes sense that we share all our hard work with our colleagues in a more collaborative and open environment.

Everything we generate - our Office documents, images and videos, PDFs and Powerpoint presentations - can be placed on a digital table that is easier for everyone to see and review. Tables further support and enhance conversations by encouraging face-to-face communication and co-operation.

Benefits of a Digital Table

- Create strong engagement

- Keep attention focused

- Create a memorable experience 

- Enhance and enrich your conversations

- Increase productivity

- Easily share and annotate digital content

- Become green friendly, save on printing costs

For more information on digital tables and applications that can be used your business environment today , read our latest newsletter here: 

FREE Newsletter on Digital Tables

http://eepurl.com/AQf5D

Like what you've read? Let us know your thoughts by contacting us at enquiries@nsquaredsolutions.com