Bruce Sterling has been talking about them for years, but spimes are just now moving from theory to reality. Spimes are objects that are precisely located in both space and time and more importantly, spimes are self-aware. (As Peter Morville explains: “They ingest their own metadata. They accumulate histories. They network with peers.”) This session will explore the effect on interaction design when content can tell you how it should be managed. We’ll study a major New York City museum where spimes came up as part of a digital wayfinding project. The museum's wayfinding depends on hand-held devices and those devices need more functionality than a traditional CMS can deliver. It’s time to bring in the spimes!

Dan Willis is a designer, information architect, usability expert, digital strategist, author and illustrator. Somewhat of a brand whore, he created washingtonpost.com’s first user experience group, was PBS’ first Director of User Experience and spent a decade at various print and online ventures for Tribune Co. As a part of his current gig as a consultant for Sapient, Willis led the development of a hand-held wayfinding prototype for the American Museum of Natural History. Willis has presented at several IA Institute summits and is the creator of UX Crank (http://www.uxcrank.com), a resource for user experience professionals.