Showing posts with label multi user. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multi user. Show all posts

Thursday, February 18, 2016

How Do I Find Out About Digital Tables and Software?

We get a lot of questions about our products… What kind of tables do we have available? Which apps come preloaded on the table? Where is the best place for a DIGITABLE?

We would love to have anyone and everyone interested in a DIGITABLE to come check out our demo tables at our tech space in Sydney, but for those not able to visit us personally we have put our brochure on digitable.co to help answer any questions you might have.

Check out the brochure now, or click on the image below.

 http://bit.ly/digitablebrochure

nsquared produces innovative multi-user software and hardware with cutting edge technology: smart tables for smart solutions. Intuitive technology with a unique user experience, each of our touch tables has been intricately designed to compliment and enhance your team work flow. Rethink the office table. With a range of touch screen meeting tables available, from smart conference tables and interactive desks to coffee touch tables, nsquared has the tools for you to transform your old workspace into a paperless office in the digital age.

Follow nsquared on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for updates on cutting edge multi-user technology.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

#FactFeb Week 2 Catchup


Today marks the end of the second week of #FactFeb. Every day in February, nsquared is releasing a short video showing off a particular feature of nsquared tabletop that you might not know about. nsquared tabletop is our very own operating environment, designed to enhance your multi-user shared screen experience from any angle.

This week, we featured the following:






 



 

nsquared produces innovative multi-user software and hardware with cutting edge technology: smart tables for smart solutions. Intuitive technology with a unique user experience, each of our touch tables has been intricately designed to compliment and enhance your team work flow. Rethink the office table. With a range of touch screen meeting tables available, from smart conference tables and interactive desks to coffee touch tables, nsquared has the tools for you to transform your old workspace into a paperless office in the digital age.


Follow nsquared on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for updates on cutting edge multi-user technology.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

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.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

A Whole New Interface. A Whole New Opportunity.



Introducing nsquared tabletopTM, our 360 degree multi-user operating system designed especially for the digital table.

The new design had one simple goal: a screen that lets any amount of people do exactly what they want to do.

The result is an intuitive, elegant interface which brings people together to genuinely collaborate, unlike so much technology that exists now. Using free-floating content boxes which are fully manipulable, rotatable and scalable, nsquared tabletop enriches interactions and improves productivity between people.

To bring nsquared tabletop to life, we have developed nearly 20 custom apps which are now available, ranging from productivity tools to multi-user games.

Who did we have in mind when designing nsquared tabletop? The forward-thinking office, lobby, school, library, shopping centre… the possibilities are endless. Anyone who appreciates innovative solutions and understands the value of collaboration, nsquared tabletop was developed for you.

Working together in the same physical space with cutting edge multi-user technology; welcome to the next step in collaboration.

Work. Together. Better. nsquared tabletop is available now. Contact us for more details, or visit our website, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter pages.




Thursday, August 13, 2015

Multi-User Collaborative Education on Windows 10

 
nsquared makewords: engaging multi-user educational app available on Windows 10 App Store now

The exciting launch of Windows 10 a couple of weeks ago marks a big moment for the future of apps. As Microsoft moves towards cross-platform responsive apps and collaborative technology (read our posts on Microsoft Continuum and Microsoft Surface Hub), we are excited to see substantial growth in the multi-user app market. Don’t forget to head over to the new Win10 store to check out our great range of multi-user education apps, all engaging games which encourage kids to socialise whilst learning.

Learn object recognition and differentiation with nsquared makewords.

Develop numeracy, pattern matching and object recognition with nsquared herding.

Explore words and letters virtually with nsquared letters.

Explore numbers and equations virtually with nsquared numbers.

Develop pattern matching and object recognition with nsquared snap.

Challenge the mathematical skills of players in nsquared coinswap.

Develop pattern matching with nsquared missing card

To learn more about multi-user educational apps follow nsquared on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook or check out our DIGITABLE site for more information.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Celebrate Australia Day with nsquared

While nsquared is a global company we are proud to have our development team in Australia. January 26th is Australia Day and we have created some fun educational content packs to help you get in the spirit and celebrate Australia day with us on your touch screens and digital tables.

Happy Australia Day from nsquared
Celebrate Australia Day

With nsquared makewords you can learn to spell Australian animals, places and artefacts.
Try to collect the correct number of Australian icons in nsquared herding.
Compete with your friends to match up all the Australian objects in nsquared snap.
Try to put together the nsquared Australia puzzle in nsquared jigsaw.

Celebrate Australia Day with nsquared
Happy Australia Day

If you are in Australia these packs give you the perfect excuse to get out of the sun for a few hours in the heat of the day and keep celebrating.
If you are in colder climes, then wrap up warm and learn more about Australia with your friends around the screen.

Find out more and download our free Windows 8 education apps here.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

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 :-)






Monday, December 9, 2013

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.





Monday, October 7, 2013

Our Story, Our Goal


nsquared is a leading edge development company that specialises in creating multi-user, massive multi-touch software for digital tables. We pride ourselves on standing out from the crowd by delivering unique, innovative and highly functional off-the-shelf products. Our customers can be found across a wide variety of vertical market sectors and backgrounds.

We have one ambitious, straightforward goal; to get people talking and collaborating together again to move the world forward, by putting digital tables everywhere. 

Our goal motivates us to design and build robust applications that work seamlessly in 360 degree, collaborative environments across a variety of platforms. We already have a number of amazing, forward thinking clients in business, education, government and hospitality that are embracing the vision and using our products to enhance and improve their spaces.


Each of our products is thoughtfully designed to stimulate conversation, encourage collaboration and create deep, long-lasting connections with people. Our customers recognize this and choose us because our software empowers them with the tools that make their content more meaningful.

nsquared is Australia’s only Microsoft Premier Partner for PixelSense and one of seven Premier Partners around the globe. nsquared has an extensive global footprint and our software can be found across the world in the Unites States, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Get ahead of the curve and ask us how nsquared products can take your organization to the cutting edge today. Email us - enquiries@nsquaredsolutions.com  


Monday, September 23, 2013

Free PDF Download - An Introduction to Digital Tables

Over the last couple of weeks we continue to be asked the key questions,  “what’s a digital table?” and “why do we need one”?


The demand and interest in digital tables is evident and increasing. From local libraries, to real estate agencies, to modern business boardrooms, it’s great to see how individuals and organizations are thinking forward and realizing the true value of creating a digitized, collaborative meeting space.

We have been working with digital tables since 2007 and are passionate about using technology that supports true “social” face to face communication. Digital tables, or digitables, provide a unified multi-user experience that enriches conversation and engagement.

To assist those considering enhancing their spaces, we have taken the time to put together a simple PDF document.

This FREE PDF document contains everything you should consider when implementing a digital table including,


- Number of touch points required – Find out what will give you a premium experience
- Screen Size and orientation – What’s best fit for your environment?
- Lighting – Is the hardware suitable?
- Multi-User Software - How do you enable multiple people to interact? What outcomes do you want to achieve?

And more!
If you have more questions regarding digital table solutions for your space, get in contact with us today. Email us directly at enquiries@nsquaredsolutions.com.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

nsquared in Ibiza!

Today’s nsquared blog post comes to you from the sandy, holiday beaches of Ibiza.


nsquared was recently approached by Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza Resort & Spa to provide software for their Samsung SUR40 units. In particular, the client was looking for an innovative, easy-to-use solution to help them increase their brand awareness and create a unique, memorable holiday experience for their guests. 

Multiple SUR40 units were deployed, situated in the lobby area of the brand new Ushuaia Tower Hotel and in the exclusive Presidential suite.

To enhance the resort's guest experiences with the digital tables, nsquared was able to offer a range of our off-the-shelf applications nsquared minesweeper, nsquared treasure hunter, nsquared spacelanes, nsquared 21 and nsquared jigsaw. Grand Palladium further embellished their nsquared applications through the use of the nsquared admin tool. Our unique admin tool empowers companies to upload their branded videos and images to display on the tabletops. 


Grand Palladium Palace Client and Project Manager, Kamal Rifai, expressed his appreciation to the nsquared team,

Thank you for your help Dr Neil and special thanks to Mitan. He was very helpful and very knowledgeable and thanks to him we have developed top of the notch solutions

As the technological landscape changes, forward-thinking companies like Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza Resort & Spa are embracing new technologies that enrich guest interaction.

For more information on nsquared products please contact +61 2 9262 3386 or email info@nsquaredsolutions.com

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Microsoft Education Blog recommends nsquared Windows 8 apps (Twice!)

The interest and excitement for our Windows 8 education apps continues to increase as nsquared is featured not once, but twice in articles published on The Australian Education Blog this week.


 Ray Fleming, a member of the Australian Microsoft Education team, authors the blog which focuses on what’s interesting in Education IT in Australia.

Read his article, “Collaborative learning with Windows 8 multi-touch apps– flip the screen over!” here -


And read his more recent post, “Collaborating on Chemistry on a Windows 8 touch slate” here -



Thanks Ray! :)

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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,


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 


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

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

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




Tuesday, April 16, 2013

An introduction to Digital Tables



Enhance the meeting room
conversation with a
digital table
A digital table defines an obvious meeting place, offers a true multi-user experience and enhances collaborative engagement. If you’ve started to think about purchasing a digital table then this article will help you decide what type of hardware and software you will need.

Tabletop computing and digital tables are becoming integrated into business life and work places at an increasing pace. The integration of these devices into business, education and sales spaces is largely in recognition of the increased value of collaborative activities over directed activities.

Where we’ve been using interactive whiteboards and relying on a single person to talk us through a PowerPoint presentation, we’re now engaging in higher levels of discussion for information sharing and problem solving. The technology needs to support and enhance this shift in behavior. While interactive whiteboards offer opportunities for some interaction (by one person who is often facing away from the audience) they cannot replace the humble table as a meeting place and they do not encourage face-to-face communication. 

Digital tables are obvious meeting spaces. The form factor of a table is perfect for face-to-face conversations and true multi-user experiences. The digital tabletop further supports and enhances conversations and collaboration by providing quick access to resources. Business, education and sales spaces consistently report increased engagement and long-term connection of participants interacting with digital tables, with corresponding increases in sales revenue and educational success.

Multi-user devices are designed to bring people together and help them to engage and connect at much deeper levels than they would normally. When single user devices are present, they often detract from collaborative experiences, providing distractions from the core conversation and in turn reducing the value of the conversation. Think about the differences in interactions between sitting around a dinner table and standing in front of a digital sign.

A digital table at an auto show
Microsoft released the first commercially available multi-user product, named “Microsoft Surface”, in 2008. 

Five years later Microsoft Surface’s successor, the Samsung SUR40, still provides a premium experience, though in a significantly sleeker form factor than its forebear. Following the lead of Microsoft and Samsung, various other hardware providers have also created digital tabletops. Some of them utilise vision systems and others continue with time-honoured and proven touch detection methods. Each has its benefits and drawbacks. These will be discussed briefly in the following passages.

While there is magic in the hardware, it is the software interface that will determine how the devices can be used and whether or not your space is set up for productive, engaging collaboration and discussion. The design of the software interface will determine the level of engagement and productivity that can be gained from your investment and whether or not your space is set up for true multi-user experiences. 


Multi Touch or Multi-User?

As a first step, decide what you need to achieve. Do you want to create:
  1. a space that enables people to browse digital content and discover information; or
  2. a space that enables several people to interact with each other and digital content seamlessly and simultaneously?
If you’re looking to achieve the latter, you’re looking to create a multi user space.

Digital multi-user spaces enable discussion and collaboration around digital content. To ensure that everyone around the table has equal access to what’s on the screen, you’ll require a table form factor with massive multi-touch capabilities, and a 360-degree software interface. 



How many touch points are required?


For premium experiences, we recommend that you allow for five to 10 touches per person that you plan to have around the table. That said, the decision will be highly budget dependent and for groups of two to ten people, the device and software both need to be capable of responding to a minimum of three simultaneous touches per person. This is especially true for smaller groups of two to four people. In a few cases, you might be able to get away with catering for fewer touches per person. This is generally due to the fact that as groups of adults get larger in number, less people in the group are likely to interact with the device simultaneously. Allow for three simultaneous screen touches per person at a minimum. 


Benefits of multi-user screen spaces and digital tabletops




A multi-user experience is one in which several people will be working on the same screen at the same time. A great multi-user experience can be created with a canvas where all users can face each other to directly interact while still sharing, creating and annotating digital content. Placing interactive screens horizontally, to act as the table around which the users can gather and engage, can create this digital canvas. 

In a sales meeting a digital table can help focus
people's attention on the content

The horizontal screen becomes a shared space for all the users to work together and focus on the task at hand. 


Compare this with many meeting room experiences where the participants arrive with personal devices (laptops, tablets, phones) and the activity on each device is hidden from the other people. This often leads to more distractions during the meeting as people start answering emails, chatting on IM or even other personal tasks rather than being focused on the meeting.

By keeping the people focused on the content, meetings around a digital table should be faster and more focused than those using an interactive whiteboard as the focus for the meeting.

The benefit of a table hosting the content, as opposed to a vertical screen, is that people are face to face and no one has their back to the rest of the team at any time. Vertical screens are often used for presentations, which are an exercise in pushing information out rather than creating a discussion involving everyone at the table. Horizontally mounted screens promote information sharing and problem solving better than vertically mounted screens. 


Screen Size

We consider 30” to be the minimum size required for a good experience by more than two users. Bigger is not necessarily better, once a horizontal screen gets past around 60” some areas on the screen will become hard to access by everyone sitting around the screen. Once a screen is bigger than 100” then the software needs to be designed with the consideration there will likely be an area in the center of the screen that will be hard for anyone to reach even if they’re standing. For digital tables, the most functional screen sizes are between 30 and 65 inches.


Screen orientation



For a true multi-user experience, the screen will need to be mounted horizontally like a table. This allows people to sit or stand around the device and meet as they always have, face to face around a table, and without extraneous distractions.



Placing the screen horizontally changes the way people can engage with the content.





Remember that as soon as there is any vertical component in the mounting (such as in the case of a lectern), it’s difficult to see the content on the screen from all angles and sides. Make sure that your multi-user space offers a horizontally mounted screen for multi-user engagement.


Do you want object recognition capabilities?



Do you want internal users to have quick, direct access to their own content?

Do you want to be able to place content or objects onto the table and invoke different behaviours? Do you want to be able to put your phone on the table and access specified content? If you want any of those features, you’ll need object recognition capabilities that only a vision system with camera-like functionality will provide.


Lighting

If the space has a lot of natural sunlight, or is flooded with halogen or other incandescent lighting, and the hardware you’re considering operates with an infrared vision system (such as the Samsung SUR40), you’re going to have to make some choices. 

These will most likely involve considering removing or reducing the infrared light sources by replacing halogen or other incandescent lighting with LED or CFC lighting; and (or also) the installation of physical screens like walls, or specialized infrared filtering film (3M’s PR 40 and PR 70 window films are known to block infrared sufficiently in several cases). Work with your supplier to determine what the best way forward is for you.


Software



The most important piece to the puzzle is the software. Just as the hardware needs to promote face-to-face interaction, so does the software. Whether the software is custom built or an off the shelf solution, it should always enable multiple people to interact simultaneously, and at least as they would if the table wasn’t a digital one.

Good multi-user experiences are those in which each person around the table can access the interface equally and easily no matter where they are located around the table. Everyone should be able to consider the content the right way up. No one should have to look at anything upside down. The software should automatically adjust items to the orientation of each individual viewing it.

In addition, those same people need to be able to rely on the device to respond without lag to each and every touch made. People-to people and people to digital content interactions should be intuitive, smooth, and relatively effortless.


Custom Build or Off the Shelf (OTS) Software?



The budget you have available will always be a factor for consideration. Generally speaking, off the shelf software will always be financially less taxing than having custom software built for your organization. Procurement times should also be far less for off the shelf solutions than for custom builds. As time goes on and the market for digital tables increases, it stands to reason that there will be more off the shelf solutions available.

Digital Table at Australian Museum in Sydney


There will always be cases where custom builds are required. That said, unless you already have significant experience using tabletop computers in day-to-day business activities, it’s always best to start with off the shelf offerings that provide close to what you think you need. Check the features. Many applications provide administrator tools that allow you to customize certain aspects of the application for your preferences or brand. This way you can spend time assessing whether you really need all of the features on your wish list, and whether the custom build you’d envisioned will be justified in terms of return on your investment (ROI). Good off the shelf software may be all you need and at the very least will allow you to determine your absolute requirements at significantly lower costs and delivery time frames than those associated with custom builds.


Sharing content with personal devices



People will often arrive to a meeting with content on their personal devices that they have gathered or created. A good tabletop experience will enable those people to easily transfer that content onto the digital table for the conversation. It should be a single hit transfer, where the materials being shared can be placed on the table without the need to constantly refer back to the personal device. Once the content is on the table, it is best for the personal device to be put away. Private personal devices are still an important part of the digital world and digital tables should interact with those devices in a way that promotes the content being shared when suitable. Ensure the software enables quick and easy transfer of content between personal and corporate devices where relevant use cases exist. 




Conclusion


Every situation and scenario is different, but wherever you are creating indoor spaces for people to gather in order to collaborate you can expect digital tables to enhance that experience. In the coming years you will start to see more and more digital tables emerge in meeting rooms, libraries, schools, universities and even as peoples’ work desks and in their homes.

Depending on the environment and number of people involved, different hardware options need to be considered. The software should always account for people approaching the table from any side and work seamlessly for all the participants around the table.


For More Information


If you have any more questions regarding about digital tables or which solution is right for you, contact us at nsquared:


Web: http://www.nsquaredsolutions.com 

Email: info@nsquaredsolutions.com 

AU Phone: +61 2 9262 3386 

USA Phone: +1 206 236 0354 







Monday, March 25, 2013

nsquared chemistry on Windows 8


Here at nsquared we’re excited for the future of collaborative gaming and education.
More and more touch devices are being developed with larger and better screens. This means that the encouraging nature of collaborative learning can finally make a return on PC’s and tablets.

This new form factor, pioneered by devices such as the Sony Vaio Tap 20, is more commonly referred to as the “table” computer and it may allow all of your students to play at once on a single device!



We’re proud to announce another addition to our educational suite on the windows 8 store, nsquared chemistry!
As a collaborative game, it encourages learning between players. As the game progresses, players can teach one another how a specific element is made, or which elements the next compound will contain. The game lets players build a working memory of common elements as they build each compound, and teach others what comprises an element or compound. It is an excellent accompanying tool to any level of high school chemistry as the exercises mimic those found in many textbooks.




 
It’s also one of our first games to take advantage of the “Snapping” feature of windows 8 devices. Players are encouraged to snap the app to the side and open a browser to research an exercise if they are stuck.

Also, on a technical note, nsquared chemistry is one of the only apps in the store constructed with DirectX, C++ and XAML interoperation, and also our first 3D Windows 8 game!

Have fun bouncing elements around!

Try chemistry for free here: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/nsquared-chemistry/122ae62d-6c0e-4f2f-878d-25716293959d