The Trouble with Out-of-the-Box Thinking "Many of the revolutionary ideas in the technologies and arts don't come from the person who solves the problem by thinking out of their box. It comes from the person who has seen the right solution already somewhere else -- who has other boxes to think in..." (Andrew B. Hargadon is an Associate Professor of Technology Management at the Graduate School of Management at University of California, Davis, and Director of Technology Management programs - His Book How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth about How Companies Innovate (Harvard Business School Press, June 2003).
The Future Office Project is a research project organized by the Ars Electronica Center's FutureLab. Researchers are developing prototypes for telematic tools in the workplace, including:
School-Office table The table is both an instrument of work and of communication. The prototype, as an integrated tool for getting things said and done, forms the basis for a "conference office" that is equally capable of functioning as an interface for both types of users-those actually present on site and virtual participants. This project's objective is to create an integrated, flexible, intelligent environment for a wide range of communications options.
-VR Chart The VR Flip Chart can be used in conventional fashion with paper, as an electronic blackboard, and to run computer programs ranging from Powerpoint to stereoscopic VR applications.