September 29, 2005
Interface Design
Tools for Kids
By Tikva Morowati, Ahn Nguyen and Kate Bauer
Objective: To design and build a children’s game that teaches the importance of basic skills, such as brushing your teeth, picking up your toys, etc.
Concept: The game would consist of a series of screens or levels, each being its own brief lesson. There will be no words on the interface, as the target audience is mostly, if not all, younger than the typical reading age. Think: “Young Sims”
Target Audience: Primary- Children, Ages 3-5; Secondary- Parents to purchase the game for their children
Interface Design: Simple, parts you can control should be highlighted in some way: color, sounds, motion
Environment: bedroom with bathroom on the side, accessible through a door; one room, one viewpoint, objects in room either active or inactive; separate screen shows up over grayed out main screen when object is clicked on- animation occurs in this screen
Actions: things character will be able to do
Objects needed:
1. cut hair scissors
2. brush teeth toothbrush
3. sleep bed
4. eat healthy candy bar/ apple
5. read books
6. feedback/ play bears
7. turn light on/off light switch/ lamp
8. watch t.v. television set
9. see weather outside window
10. open door between bedroom and bathroom door
11. water plant plant/ watering can
12. feed pet turtle
13. closet monster
14. wash himself bathtub/ bubble bath bottle
Initial Setup:
Main Stage
bedroom with bathroom connected (transitions by moving to the right)
Secondary Stage
bathroom with bedroom connected (transitions by moving to the left)
Animation Stage
screen pops up in front of grayed-out main or secondary stage, character is on screen (portrait-view; from elbows up), and the selected objects are clickable and close-up of that part of the room is in the background of this window, user can click on the objects to make the character do something with them; once something is done, the screen closes and the user is sent back to the main stage
Note: This format is similar for every active object clicked on.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2005
Dynamic spaces : Equilibrium and Oscillations
Objective: Create a vertical or suspended structure made of several tubes and cables that can exceed 10 feet with a section about 2 inches by 4 inches. The structure is self standing on a base, hanging from the ceilling, or playing with the surface of a wall. Make a structural model from a dynamic structure, using strings, aviation cables, fishing wires, metallic tubes and wires.
"Path of Motion- Running Woman", 2 x 4 "
Posted by Kate Bauer at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2005
Ze Frank
- gaining audience & keeping and audience are two separate things
- people who write haikus together
- what is the minimal criteria necessary to get people involved
- how much narrative can you strip away
"every second counts, how long can you play"
- intimate exploration of narrative space
- What are the rules that define whol writes safety guidelines?
- no text; part of the problem of interpretation
We need a certain bit of denial to get out of bed every morning.
Age of Authorship has changed the way we think of creativity.
- Doug Rushkoff
- glorified research project
"Where do you get your motivation?/ What di you do with it?"
Facets of Authorship:
a. approach to different things, notion of expertise
b. how speed affects us (rapid ptototype > rapid release)
- flexibility in learning
- rapidity in which we are learning
Notion of Creativity (Middle of 1600s)
- post enlightenment concept/ modern concept
primary creatives > artist
secondary creatives > producer
- everyone is participating in authorship
- choice brings you closer
Are there values we are not learning right now that we do not have acess to in our education?
pedagogy:
How do we gain confidence in our ideas?
How do you get to the core language of an activity?
- disciplines involved in real-time engagement
- Stanislavsky or Misor, concepts of character- building
- practive becoming infused in this technology space
- the extent to which you realize what decisions are being made for you
What part of creativity is learnable/ malleable?
study of ".. criticality," networked systems, earthquake magnitude, epilepsy, distribution
Mark Hearst
Clay's course at ITP
Disposable Culture: based upon old notion of relationship to a product
viral marketing: specific mode of infiltration
- social computing
- emphasis on polish and packaging, study improvisation
Posted by Kate Bauer at 03:00 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
Variables and Conditionals
Objective: Programming in pairs
1. Using the setup() and draw() function make a simple shape, circle, triangle, rectangle, move around the applet window/ and/or play with changing colors based on some set of conditions.
2. Add variables to your creature/car/construction so that it can appear at different positions on the screen.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
Modularity
Objective: To turn last week's creature/car/construction (or make a new one) into an object with a function/method to draw it and a function/method that moves it. Create 2 or 3 instances that move independently. There should be some differences in color, size, and/or speed. Can also add another object/shape that interacts with your object in some way
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
Modularity/ Object- Oriented Programming
Objective: Turn your creature/car/construction (or make a new one) into an object with a function/method to draw it and a function/method that moves it. Create 2 or 3 instances that move independently. There should be some differences in color, size, and/or speed. You can also add another object/shape that interacts with your object in some way.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 02:57 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
The Frankenstein Project/Creating the Unreal
Create an environment or scene that doesn't exist, or couldn't exist. Create a stage with musicians who would never play together, unlikely actors and actresses in a film scene they never appeared in, or a magazine cover featuring a story that you would like to see covered (real or imaginary.)
Posted by Kate Bauer at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2005
Motion in space : The Dancer and the Architect
Objective : To create a motion analysis of sequences of movements. You can choose to sketch or capture digital images of movements executed by human beings or animals. Deconstruct every movements into about 12 to 15 frames plotted and drawn on plastic.
Make a sketchy model of the sequence of movements. Make a conceptual model with foamboard and a wire-cutter.
Motion Study I, 27x6x14", foam board, fishing line, vellum, marker, pins & tape
Motion Study II, 6x1.5x9", foam board, fishing line, vellum, marker, pins tape
Posted by Kate Bauer at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
Façade and Crimson Room
Façade
coming soon...
The game directs the user to the goal immediately at the start. The user can collect items, which are then listed on the right corner of the screen. These objects are also little mysteries. Through experimentation, the user will soon develop a sense of how and where to apply them. Every new discovery feels like a small accomplishment.
There are, of course, times when the user may not discover something for a long time. This leads to frustration, which can easily be cured by either taking a break or discovering something new. It has a kind of addictive quality to it, actually.
In terms of graphics, there is nothing extraneous. It seems as though everything serves a purpose. This minimalist approach is both good and bad. It seems very easy to figure out because the actual visual is not so complex. Once you realize the game is actually a bit more complicated than you had originally expected, the lack of objects in the room makes the “stuck” feeling even worse. Not only are you stuck; you are stuck in a room that feels like there is no escape.
It was interesting to play a game without all the bells and whistles that other games have. It was helpful to know from people who have played it that there is a way out of the room. Had I not known that, I might have given up a lot sooner than I did.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)
Storytelling from Multiple Perspectives
Take three perspectives on a common event. Three separate people- one event. They can be in separate places, but they share a common point of focus. Write all three perspectives, but keep them all to 55 words.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
Steven Johnson
Editor of FEED, first electric publication, author of "Emergence" & "Everything Bad is Good for You"
- concerned with the state of today's culture
* watch movie "Sleeper"
- The Sleeper Curve: all that used to be bad is now good
- George Will- against entertainment
- Dr. Spock on video games (from baby book)
- develop a new way to critique a new form
- More children choose to manage a team on a video game than just watch a game
"What Video Games Can Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" by Gee
"Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neal Postman
- Mapping social networks- most successful people are good at this
Technology of Repetition:
- VCR, Tivo, DVD
- economics reward content that can sustain multiple viewings
Meta Commentary:
- para-sites
- blogs, FAQs, fan sites, walk-throughs, commentary tracks
The Regime of Competence (We learn best in environments that are not too hard yet are not too easy)
- in game learning
- proliferation of interfaces
- the myth of the slacker mind
"Screenagers"- Douglas Rushkoff
Humans respond to REWARD and EXPLORATION
Jeff Jarvis created a following with his blog based on the saga between him and the Dell company. Eventually, it got a lot of attention from others, including Business Week Magazine. Dell has yet to respond.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
The World's Shortest Story
Write a Story in 55 words. Try to create an original story or narrative with only 55 words. Pick your genre- romance, philosophy, mystery, murder, humor... whatever.
"The Usual"
by Kate Bauer
Hungry for more, he leaned in close.
thighs so warm and tender,
On the hard wood table surface.
Time flew by quickly.
His body could take no more.
Exhausted, he let out a deep sigh.
"Ready for more?" the waitress asked,
glancing at the empty plate of fried chicken.
"Just the check, please," he answered.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
Development of a Three Dimensional Form
Objective: To place yourself - as the viewer - inside an existing space, for example your home. The viewer can seat on a chair, lie down in bed, stand against a wall or wait in other positions. The viewer does not move except for eyeballs and head rotations. Record the experience using the media of your choice - cardboard model(s), drawings, photographs or videotape - (2 minutes maximum). Build a small model in order to explain what can be seen from the point of view of the viewer. Define a specific place which is the origin of your design, the same way Hitchcock defined a specific place for James Steward in "Rear Window".
Make a model with opacities, windows, and translucent panels. Work with sheets of metallic mesh, foamboard, transparent acrylic and mirrors.
Model of Bedroom, 12x8x5", chipboard, mirror, transparency paper & glue
Model of Bedroom (Inside), 12x8x5", chipboard, mirror, transparency paper & glue
Posted by Kate Bauer at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2005
Vito Acconci
Seedbed
Vito Acconci
1972, 10 min, color, silent, Super 8 film
This film features rare documentation of Acconci's seminal 1972 performance/installation Seedbed. In this famous piece, Acconci lay hidden underneath a ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating. The artist's spoken fantasies about the visitors walking above him were heard through loudspeakers in the gallery.
________________________________________________________________
- Experimental poet, pioneer of conceptual & video art, dedicated to architecture
- How to travel over a page vs. how to travel within a city
- Concentrating on self/ body changes, adapts to stress
"a public space is occupied by private bodies... public space is the last gasp of the civilized world"
- Art as a kind of exchange between people
- Viewers have to struggle to "get" art
- Question habvits/ conventions
- Gallery/ Museum- always a private place; never public?
- Re-invent architecture/ body as a cause of architecture
"studio works bext when people argue a lot"
- If something starts out private, can it later become public?
- Viewer adapting to art, rather than art adapting to you
- How do we attach to a specific building?
- Architecture from the bottom up; inside out
"People's lives don't change by standing in front of art."
Writer > Performance Artist > Architect
Architecture as Operation:
Operation I: push & pull
Operation II: split/ separate (an architecture of strips and strands)
Operation III: stretch (architecture of landscape)
Operation IV: twist/ warp/ morph
Art as:
a.) verb
b.) noun
Tradition of art as "do not touch"
Art as isolation
Notion of things being available to everyone
When you're designing a space, you're inherently designing people's interactions within a space.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2005
Introduction to Processing
Objective:
1. Play around with Processing
2. Concentrate on making shapes and working with color
3. Write a program in processing that will draw the image of shapes that you drew in class.
[Think building blocks and make a simple constuction -- like an alien, a little creature (i.e. a triangle with lines), a car (i.e. a rectangle with 2 circles).]
Posted by Kate Bauer at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2005
Self-Evaluation
Write a self-evaluation of where you are now, your perception of the field, what you know, what you want to know and where you want to go. Keep this to a page or two. At the end of this course, it is very useful to look back at this writing to see where you were.
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2005
Painting with Space
Objective:
1- Create a create a shoe box size model of a white room, built from a 2D collage drawing using white paper, cutter, glue and cardboard.
I suggest to check examples of light studies at http://itp.nyu.edu/spatialdesign/light.pdf (2 MB)
2- Control the light sources with small mirrors in order to modulate the light color and intensity inside the box.
3- Record on videotape 2 minutes maximum with sound track or/and with voice
Make a sketch model projecting shadows with foam board. Work with sheets of foam board, paper, translucent plastics and mirrors.
Light Model, video stills
Light Model, 20x4.5x5", foam board, vellum, mirror & pins
Posted by Kate Bauer at 12:45 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Heather Greer
Heather Greer is interested in bringing technology to people who would not typically have access to it. She has traveled to many third-world countries with her video equipment and computers, enabling people to create their own work and present it around the world. She is slowly increasing access to motion capture.
Greer is known for her projects in collaboration with Save the Children in African countries, such as Malawi. In addition, she has contributed to the many individual projects including a Holocaust Memorial and a politically-driven film project called, "The F-Word." the Holocaust Memorial was made up of two walls of touch-screens. When a person touched the screen, a story would appear and remain only as long as the viewer's hand was on the screen. Greer wondered out loud," What makes people survive, despite difficult ciurcumstances?"
She organized a Greek Tragedy play that combined the actors with the images of Cy Twombly in the background. This helped to focus the audience's attention throughout the play, as the lack of scenery is typical for this kind of play. The images also mirrored the emotions of the characters, building a strong connection between the two.
One important point that was mentioned dealt with the use of technology. Heather Greer said she first thinks of the project.. what is the idea? Then after the idea is formed, what is the technology appropriate for that idea?
Posted by Kate Bauer at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)