We thought about creating Bots that illustrated relationship dynamics based on proximity. One Bot could read the proximity of the other Bot and produce feedback. We also thought the feedback response produced from each Bot would in turn elicit a response from a human observer.

The first “emotional machine” that came to mind for us was Tickle Me Elmo. The enormous popularity of this toy could be attributed to its disarming emotional quality. The human does something and the Bot responds with positive feedback. It laughs and vibrates when you tickle it. They want to tickle it again to get that fun response again.

What if we took this idea to a more adult relationship level. We thought about creating two Bots who are involved in a perpetual relationship cycle in which the human user plays an intimate part.

PSEUDOCODE
The Bots are in one of two states: together or apart.
In either state, the bots are unhappy and ask the user to change the situation.
When apart: Feedback indicates the Bot is lonely and needs the other
When brought together: Feedback indicates satisfaction
When together too long: Feedback indicates aggressive dissatisfaction

SENSORS
What would these Bots react to? Basically we need a sensor that can detect “together or apart.” Sensors we are investigating include Xbee sensor that could sense the relative position of the other Xbee sensor and produce a response.

FEEDBACK
What would the feedback be for the human user?

FEEDBACK: LIGHT
When the Bots are together or apart, the feedback could be simply color (blue for “lonely” changing to white for “satisfaction” to red for “dissatisfaction”). These could be achieved by relay with string lights or through LEDs.

FEEDBACK: MOVEMENT
The feedback could also include movement. Rocking for “lonely” still for “satisfaction” and vibrating for “dissatisfaction.” This could be achieved with a small pager vibrator motor or stepper motors.

FEEDBACK: SOUND
The feedback could also be sound. We could indicate sobbing or sad music for “lonely” changing to giggling or upbeat music for “satisfaction” to growling or dramatic music for “dissatisfaction.” We could also simply have these bots talk about their state explicitly and literally ask the user to change the situation. We could achieve this feedback by hacking an MP3 player or several players to produce different tracks. (Small speakers etc.)

ATTRACTION
In order for this to work, the Bots will have to be sturdy, easy to pick up and battery powered. They’ll also have to look cute enough (or at least interesting enough) for a human user to start interacting with them.

CREATING THE PERFECT PAIR

Eugene and I wanted to create a pair that would need each other and also have that endless cycle of magnetism: I miss you. I’m happy to be with you. You’re pissing me off!

The list of items we needed to create this pair were:

THE INFRAREDS
We needed to create a system that would allow the pair to recognize each other and react quickly. IR Communication would allow each unit to be programmed to only react to the other unit’s frequency. We settled on using an IR communication transmitter (TX IRHS) and its corresponding detector (TSOP 7000). We ordered two of each since each unit would have to send and receive signals for presence and detection. Of course the parts arrived late because of a Thanksgiving Day food coma.

THE MP3S
Eugene successfully hacked a cheap (and we’re talking $15 here) MP3 player by everybody’s favorite company: Coby. We soldered wires onto the existing terminals to turn the unit on and change tracks. A happy start.

THE EARS
We wanted users to hear and see the emotional state of these bots, so creating sound and movement was needed. We decided to go with internal speakers with some assistance from either an amplification chip or a battery back up. We lucked out when we found a pair of speakers that functioned well with no batteries (again, thank you Coby). They had heavy magnets, which offset the weight consideration for battery-backed speakers.

THE MOVEMENT
At first we had the idea to make the units vibrate with a small cell phone vibrator module. But given the sound output that was part of this movement, we thought it would be lost in the sounds of crying, laughing, fighting. Eugene felt very strongly that we should investigate building a gear system to help the units “jump” or at least hop. I was pretty sure I could not build something at this level of engineering by myself that could support and move all that weight. I started to look for ready-made jumping things. After touring the holiday-swarmed stores of downtown, I finally visited the Mega Church of Latter Day Santa Clauses: The Toy R Us at Times Square.

TOYS
If you have ever thought about the virtues of a vasectomy, this is a great place to visit. Kids and their over-indulgent parents were everywhere. Toys of every persuasion, from rock star guitars and man-eating dinosaurs to gun-toting robots, this place has every personality covered in spades. As I ran to the infant department to escape, I discovered the answer to my problem for gear movement: the very idea that started our quest… Elmo.

Chicken Dance Elmo jumps and spins his head. And he’s cute. And he sings. Which made it all the easier to hack his little singing self into robot parts.

THE BODY
We decided in creating the bodies of these Bots, we would go for less cute and more robot-ish. The feet would provide direction for pointing the Bots to be “together” and the heads would have little or no trademark eyes or “faces” for personality giveaway.

The sounds and the movements would convey the emotional states. We made some preliminary drawings and settled on a box-like shape. And given the state of repair most of our shop equipment was in, we decided to go for a ready-made Kleenex box cover.

KLEENEX
Let me just say, the plethora of choices for this item is overwhelming. People really hate looking at their Kleenex boxes. So much so that they are willing to spend upwards of $40 to cover it nicely. We settled on some tasteful wood from Crate and Barrel.

THE BOT SHOP
We started to get the body together, assembling the various parts to create our FrankenMuppet. We needed 4 reed relays to engage both the MP3 player and the gear mechanism in both bots. Those worked fin, but were hard to fit on our tighter-than-we-planned breadboard. Everything had to fit in a Kleenex box AND function well moving up and down. We decided to affix all parts to the box instead of the feet unit. We also devised a board for assembling the wiring outside the cassis and inserting the whole thing inside once we got it working. Longer wires were needed after all.

BLOWN AWAY
Two nights before presentation, we realized we had blown our IR Communication chip (the TX). Having no backup, we bummed out but decided to go with IR detection (since emitters and transmitters were readily available at Radio Shack. That same night, Eugene almost lost an eye when the IR transmitter we were testing exploded on us. Thankfully I was taking a camera shot to see if the signal IR light was blinking. Eugene had moved just far enough away to avoid the blast. Maybe we should work with a lower voltage, huh?

Our IR Communication Setup

Then, Our IR Detection Setup

And the Result on Presentation Day

FINAL STRETCH
We stayed up past 3:00am for two nights in a row to get these bots emoting with each other. In the final hours before presentation our tests were not working well. Both units were sending IR signals but were not detecting each other. We were desperate to make each Bot’s signal detectable by the other. Late for our presentation, we decided to show how the systems worked and discuss our frustrations with IR detection and communication.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: AWESOME
The overall result of all this effort was great even if its technological success was mixed. We discovered quite a few things about the idea. People all loved the concept. The personification of relationships and the sound and movement feedback were all well received. We also discovered that Eugene and I work well together, both creatively and productively. It was fun deciding which tasks were worth pursuing and which of our directions supported the big idea.

We will return this project to finish using IR Communication. We had big success with the TX chip it (until we fried it). That technology made better sense with the concept, anyway. Each person in a relationship recognizes something unique in the other. Even if the relationship doesn’t work out in the end.

Two images, shadows created in perspective, their positioning is appropriate for the angles they are seated...

“You’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on.”

I groan and turn over. “Chuck, you’re beginning to sound like a wife.”

“You can change my tone if you like, but you’ll still be late.”

“Fine. Coffee?”

“Ready. We’re almost out of cream, but I ordered some from Fresh Direct for you.”

“You’re the best.”

I drag myself up on two legs and wobble toward the bathroom. A click sounds in my ear as the lights dim up and the water begins to flow into the sink, not warm yet. I pee as I stare at myself in the mirror. Not a pretty sight.

“Dim up.” Then lights brighten so I can find the razor. “Full up.” There it is next to the house input pad. I swipe the splashed water off of the pad and accidentally engage last night’s playlist. A rush of techno blasts my ears. ”Off!” The silence returns.

“Oh yeah. What a night.”

“You slept soundly, but not long enough. Just 6 hours beginning at12:37am. A dose of zinc and a juice would help.”

“Yes. Good idea. Pineapple.”

“We’re out of pineapple. On order. Orange okay?”

“Sure.” I walk out into the kitchen and reach into the service well to grab the hot coffee and fortified juice glass that are there for me. I gulp the juice down and warm my hands on the sides of the coffee mug as I pad back to the bathroom.

“News?”

“Interest, Events or Critical?”

“Interest. Then Events.” Not quite ready for Critical, I mumble to myself. Chuck raises the volume in the bathroom and a female voice addresses me.

“Scott, these stories may be of interest: ViaSym announces breakthrough in A.I. responsiveness. Spiral Genesis breeds light-emitting anaerobic bacteria. Second Skin plastic makes its swimwear debut.”

“Hi Janet. Hmm. Second Skin with video.” On the bathroom mirror, a screen appears immediately to the right of where I’m about to shave my stubble. As I lean over the sink to wash away the soap, the screen on the mirror follows until it reaches the limit of the glass. I catch a glance at swimsuits on the models playing beach paddles in Rio. A choice of tints are shown and three retailers listed at the bottom. I remember I have shopped at one of the retailers before.

“Chuck, how would number 3 look on me?”

“Let’s find out.”

The side wall that serves as full-length mirror illuminates with the reasonably realistic wireframe of my full body image. It follows my movements as I turn my head and scratch myself. The wireframe is “skinned” and given coloring as the file loads. The three choices from the video are displayed in small windows to the side.

“Load 3.” The suit appears on my avatar immediately and begins to move with my movements. “Not bad. What do you think?”

“You usually like box cuts. But this is okay. It might be a little… youthful for you.” Silence.

“What are you trying to say? I’m too old for this?” I continue to look at my avatar with renewed skepticism. “What are guys my age supposed to be wearing, anyway?” Next to my avatar, a media montage window appears. Images from various articles on fashion, news, celebrities and some recent pictures from my digital photo collection appear one-over-the-other at a quick pace. The images are all of men in my age range wearing swimsuits. Some of the men look ridiculous in too-tiny things that should be seen only in a catalog. Others look like middle aged men practicing for their retirement in Florida. Each image has a tiny source credit in the corner.

“Frequency?”

“Similar styles are shown in 12% of this sampling.”

“Sources?”

“Almost all catalog.”

“Okay, you win. I don’t need any more swimsuits anyway.”

“Back to News?”

“Sure. Let’s try Events this time.”

Janet’s voice returns. “Events today include: Telegraphic conference of the global political summit, Riots break out over water council decision, Mel Gibson released from rehab to face court ruling.”

“Hmm. More?”

“Off-shore geodetic observation system detects seismic activity near Japan; Automated translation software averts crisis of U.N. Security Council misunderstanding; Jets hang on for 31-24 win over Lions.”
“Water Council. No video. Continuous load.” As I dress, the news stories flow on without interruption, each story is introduced with a short headline to which I respond with either “yes” or “next.” The story sequence was pulled based on the subjects I responded to with a “yes” over the past 7 days. If I showed interest in a subject over the last week, related stories would be placed in the front of the queue.

“Speed read.” The pace of the reading picks up, but Janet’s voice still sounds calm and reassuring. I finish dressing. “Off. Read schedule. Today.”

Chuck ticks off the day’s events. “At 10:00 you meet with Ron for one hour to review the Pacific Region’s designs. Ron may be late. He travels by Metro North. There was a problem on the Northeast Corridor line at 7:25. At 11:00 you will continue your discussion with Angela via conference call from Denver. She and you share another one-hour opening at 2pm if Ron’s meeting run’s over. Should I reschedule Angela?”

“No. Let’s reschedule Ron if we have to. The Pacific Region designs are just preliminary, anyway. Do I have time for the gym today?”

“Yes. 2pm and 4:30pm.”

“2pm schedule gym.”

“Got it.” Chuck continues to rattle off the day’s events, then downloads the changes to the house database. After the red light on the nearest data pad turns green, I grab it, hit the power button and drop it into my pocket.

“That data unit did not sych properly. Please take another.”

I grab one from the kitchen console and head out the door. “Thanks Chuck. Lock up.” I jump into the car and insert the data pad into the navigation system. “Any traffic problems today, Chuck?”

“None. But we’re low on fuel. Without side trips, it can wait until tonight.”

My car slides into the street as I open the console and continue my morning upload from Janet. I place the headset on and wait until the car has reached the end of its launch sequence. I take the controls fully and drive it down and left, then right, then queue up for my slot on the autoport highway. I pay half-attention to Janet’s recitation of events while I actively drive. As soon as my car reaches the locked position in the autoport chain of vehicles, it begins its slow crawl toward the city center and I shift full focus to the console to start work.

“Chuck, music please. Shuffle. Acoustic.” The car glides along its track as I review the designs presented last week.

“Only four of the sample materials came in. What’s the story on the fifth?”

“I found an example of Aluminio-Polymide that has already been used in production in Australia. Ordered yesterday. Estimated delivery to your office on... Friday. FedEx tracking number…”

“Great. Thanks.”

“The phone is ringing. Your brother. He categorized this call as ‘catching-up / favor’ Take it?”

“Sure… (connects) Hi, Jim! What are you up to?” Jim tells me about his daughter at school, his new golf clubs and last night’s game. Then he asks if he can borrow my laser cutter for the weekend. Says he needs it to trim some tree branches in the back yard. We hang up.

“Chuck, remind me to put the laser cutter in the car before we leave the house tomorrow?”

“Got it.”

First, we separated our tasks and split our energy. I went on a frame-or-box hunt for the best casing. I explored The Container Store, Bed Bath abd Beyond, Sam Flax, et al. Tons of choices. Not all of which were rejected right away, but the thing to be square, which is rare in prefab articles I found.

We finally settled on the frame idea we styarted with. The matting provided the opening and a workable material to cut and stretch fabrich over. We decided to ise a rectangular frame because it fit the hand best without being too enormous as a square thing on the table.

The programming and electronic testing wqas going well (Yan Yan and Leah sweated the multiple LED array details). We had a discussion about switches, and the nature of the casting-as-random-event as it related to the switch initiating the whole sequence. We has a rocker switch, a buttonswitch, and a pressure switch that none of us could make any sense of (including Scott F.) We settled on the rocker switch for now...

The prototype was planned based on the frame idea, and Scott began constructing the structures that would support the triggering mechanism, the LED arrays on eitehr side and the Frame itself. We ultimately will have a laser cut of all the I Ching symbols right from the mat board. We created an Illustrator file that had the cuts in place (that will be cut next week, since it takes a few days to get the laser cutter request processed).

The whole thing is coming along, but we bit off quite a bit more than we could chew here for the third week. The prototype is still up on blocks in the garage, but we will have one-fine-tuned machine when it's done. Which will be next week with any luck.

Life from a Cellular View

The conceit here is that the viewer will see what a lost cellular phone would see. From the moment it falls to the street, discovered by someone and carried to a place where it becomes a voyeur “listening in” on the lives and details of the people who found it. The POV is entirely from the phone. When someone talks on the phone, we see a close up of their ear. When the phone is dropped, we see the jarring of the camera frame.

Scene 1: The Street

VIDEO:
Phone falls, tumbles on the ground, bam! The sound of the drop is masked by a car horn (so the owner doesn’t hear it and the viewers are not quite sure what it is yet. Sidewalk traffic swirls past. We see a snails eye view of people walking above.

A dog come up and sniff’s it. The owner doesn’t realize. It tries to pick it up in its mouth and is pulled away.

A hand swoops down, picks up the phone. We see only a part of the face (Scott’s) from the phone’s POV. Since the phone can’t shift its gaze, we see Scott examining it, turning it from side to side and eventually shoving it into a pocket. Ambient sounds become muffled. Video becomes total darkness. (This wipe is our scene transition).

Scene 2: Au Bon Pan

VIDEO: Scott pulls the phone out, the ambient sound becomes that of a coffee shop. As Scott pulls the phone from his pocket, we see Scott’s entire face in the shot for the first time.

AUDIO: Scott:
How ‘bout this? This would be cool, right?
VIDEO: He passes it to Greg.

AUDIO: Greg: Yeah, maybe… (he considers it) I think we should consider something else, too, like…
VIDEO: Greg examines phone quickly and dismisses it. We see his face briefly.

AUDIO: Tim: You know, I don’t think we need to go by a script…
VIDEO: Greg passes phone to Tim. We see his face as he examines the phone and begins to fiddle with it in his hands. The POV is now a rolling view of the whole scene.

AUDIO: Tim: Couldn’t we just pass this thing around and talk about it... use the footage to create some kind of narrative after the fact?

SFX: second phone rings off side.
AUDIO: Scott: I have to take this. It’s my sister. Sorry.
(He begins conversation, it fades as he walks off.)

AUDIO: Greg: Looks like we’ve lost him. Hey, I was supposed to meet someone at school right now. I’ll be back. He won’t mind…
VIDEO: We see Tim’s face bum out that his friends have left. Tim places phone sideways on table so we see only part of his torso and laptop in the shot.

AUDIO: Tim: Okay. I’ll just chill here for a while.
VIDEO: Tim types a few things on his laptop. Shot drags out a little longer than expected. Music in the background. He looks at his watch, decides to leave, flips the laptop shut and goes to pick up the phone. Suddenly the phone rings. He stares at the number for a second and picks up. Close Up of Tim’s ear.

AUDIO: Tim: Hello?
SFX: “Charlie Brown’s teacher” type voice on phone.
AUDIO: Tim: Uh… yeah, yeah. Mmm… it was around Broadway and Waverly…. Sure… I’ll meet you there in about 5 minutes?

VIDEO: Tim pulls phone away from his ear and stares at it with a wry smile. He drops phone into his shirt pocket and walks out the door, down the street, meets her.

Scene 3: The corner

AUDIO VO: Tim: Hey, are you…?
AUDIO VO: Woman: Yes.

VIDEO: He pulls out the phone and hands it to her. We see her face as she examines it quickly and puts it in her purse. (Maybe she clips the phone on her belt, so that it doesn’t have to be shoved in a bag).

AUDIO: Woman: Listen, thank you so much.
VIDEO: The view turns dark.

AUDIO VO: Tim: How about a reward? Maybe a cup of coffee with me?
AUDIO VO: Woman: (A pause) Thanks again. I gotta go.

SFX: Heeled shoes walking away.
AUDIO VO: Tim: (in the distance) Hey wait… hey… call me!

Each pairing of 2D works and corresponding moving image reel established the parallel approach artists of the day used to engage viewers. Artists (or studios) created moving image work that enhanced what the audience already was appreciating in 2D work of the day. Example: Remington studied motion pictures to get a better feel for the true movement of a horse. For the first time, untrained viewer could see movement as it happened rather than how an artist imagined it happened from memory.

At first, the experimentation with moving pictures was treated as pretty much a scientific endeavor. The subjects were studies of human and animal movement and skeletal behavior. It was fascinating, but serious business. Later, the camera was turned toward its subject to create “moving paintings” with the camera locked off and the subject studied as if in a cage at the zoo. Very little attention was paid to the context of the footage created. It was a dynamic medium being used to enhance an essentially static aesthetic. Environment was next. Panoramic scenes of the day captured movement with wide-eyed wonder. Downstairs brought my attention to the transition of the medium from a toy to a tool. .

The pairing that illustrated this for me best was the painting of “Holy Grail” at the Boston Public Library and the short film of the theatrical work “Parsifal Ascends the Throne.” Both have serious, historical subject matter and both approach the task with seriousness of presentation. The film is as much a work of art as the painting. The whole show on the lower level seemed to take the turn from novelty and craft to more narrative presentation. The last footage, presented as projection on the wall, even had comic entertainment value.

Overall, I felt the show succeeded in taking me along the curator’s journey from filmic archaeology through early cinema. It provided me with a stoic presentation of the early stages of one of the world’s strongest cultural influences.

Critical to our design was stretchy fabric. We found a very able substitute that was ready-made for testing. Also, it came in sheer with a control top waistline. Very helpful. Sizing was also a concern. “Queen Long” seemed best suited for our testing needs.

The panty hose were too sheer, but would do for this first round. A small hand print would be inked into the fabric as a direction for hand placement.

We did find a nice quality Lycra that light would shine through easily to give the user feedback, but would remain opaque in the absence of any interaction. Since it needed a cleaning, we decided to wait until the techno-guts were closer to ready before a real Lycra “fitting.” The hand area would light up to confirm that the user had “downloaded” their question and possibly give the boolean response as a green for yes and red for no. The I Ching response lights would also shine through the fabric, but along the sides.

We are going for a white clean design-y box-like object. The only real control function on the unit (aside from the hand-placement area) would be the toggle for choosing to receive “answer” or “guidance” before casting.

Here is Leah's Blog entry for the project this week: http://itp.nyu.edu/~lg221/new_blog/

Since decision-making is an internal process (unless the subjects are part of a group decision), we decided to create the situation to observe. (Warning: you are now entering the dreaded Market Research Model.) Maybe a good way to find out if people would appreciate an improvement in decision assistance is to put them in that situation, give them some assistance, and ask them about the experience, taking chance into consideration.

We composed a script of questions (Asking the Oracle) that would standardize the response structure. Tripod, camera and script in hand, we captured innocent guinea pigs from the student lounge for our research needs. Everyone was willing. Some had not heard of the I Ching. Others had, but knew nothing. Still others knew it and were excited about the possibility of casting coins for their fortune. Leah and Yan Yan were dual hosts of our decision-making talk show. I was cameraman. We took turns explaining the history, nature, and rules of casting and let people embrace the process.

Observing people as they experienced this revealed only a few things. They had varying and unusual casting styles. Some took more time to hold the coins and cast decisively (casting clip link). After the casting, the reading of the I Ching response happened in different ways. Some people glanced at the title and first paragraph, then assessed the meaning immediately. Others took a full 2-3 minutes to examine the response, nodding their heads and smiling in agreement in parts (reading clip link). The last questions were deliberately worded to be open ended, so participants could have more of a discussion on how they perceived the whole experience. Most liked it, but some took it as a serious consultation when others treated it as more of a Magic Eight Ball experience.

Our script of questions (Asking the Oracle) added more depth to our observations:

What was the nature of your question? Serious or not-so-serious?
Some asked questions with little real significance, others took the opportunity more seriously. The ones who asked more serious questions were generally more pleased with their answers. They read the answers thoroughly.

Did you find the process too time-consuming?
Most said it was not too time-consuming, although the reading of long text could be tedious.

Was the answer clear? Or confusing?
Often, people were disappointed that there was no definite yes or no presented in the answer, but they did not find the answers confusing.

Does “chance” play a role in some decisions?
Everyone said chance played some role in decision (I think), but some people considered chance a much bigger element in decisions.

Did the I Ching’s answer help you make your decision?
Overall, most people thought the answer helped them make the decision, but some thought the I Ching’s response just confirmed how they already felt. More often, these people considered chance a secondary element in decisions and they were also the ones who asked the not-so-serious questions.

Please describe your experience with this whole process:
The range of opinion ran from fine-but-a-parlor-game to I-can’t-wait-to-do-it-again.

All of us were so caught up in the process of research that we hadn’t actually had the time to determine what we had seen as a group. That would happen tomorrow (After the Pcomp lab practical was completed).

here's the program...

Link to the 20 minute video http://omorphy.com/videoclips/Applications%20GRP%204.mov

The work that affected me very quickly, thought (no pun intended here), is Dieter Appelt’s “The Field,” (1991). The piece is a series of 10” x 12” framed photographs arranged in a grid. The images are of a section of river surface taken from a bridge above the water. The camera is locked off so each shot is the exact same framing of space, yet each shot is as unique as a fingerprint, showing a slightly or dramatically different pattern of swirling water. The surface of the river is dark with silver reflections of daylight. The grid of photos is perfectly square, allowing me to perceive that there is either no particular sequence to the arrangement of the photos, or that the photos are arranged in an unstated pattern from first snapshot to last. I could imagine the rows of photos are going forward in time left-to-right and that the rows are framed progressively top to bottom signifying some other time sequence (days? seasons?). I don’t know which it is, but I’m aware that these momentary arrangements of water flow are instantly changed the moment the photo was taken. I saw the piece as a metaphor for life passing second by second. The nature of time itself is constantly moving, creating an entirely new set of circumstances with each second that passes. Each unique experience, each vibrant personal perception arrives and passes, instantly replaced by the next progressive experience.

The changing progression of these “unique experiences” is probably affected by a thousand factors. As I looked at this perfectly arranged grid of “surface moments,” I thought I could change the progression, rearranging the moments any way I wanted. If I thought I saw a pattern in the swirls, I would have the power to rearrange time to be more aesthetically pleasing or arresting. I could also make patterns that were more deliberately different. What if I inserted one repeat image? How would repetition affect perception of the experience as a whole? Then I thought this grid is just a sample; it goes out in all directions endlessly and never repeats. A theme emerged of a universe of unique experiences happening constantly all around us. We are part of a constantly unfolding series of events. And we have only a limited ability to observe or evaluate it all with any objectivity. Even a series of photos captures only a fraction of the total experience.

He defined basic principles of digital revolution, breaking it down for us to understand the qualities it possesses (numerical value, variables, scalability, reproducibility without degradation, etc.).

I thought his perspective held that mass media has always been an extension of human experience. The “digitization” of that experience (or “converting analog experience to numerical values”) creates this dynamic condition where users of media are in a position to create their own unique experience of it. In essence, users have become one of the variables in media. We access it in different ways, through different means, and with different goals for it. It makes sense that the result of ubiquitous new media will be an unfolding of infinite human-created versioning.

I was also fascinated with the ideas he brought up about database structure. He talked about the modular nature of databases and how data modules are designed to be completely interrelated, scalable, and navigable through hyperlink structure. Then he drew a parallel with the processes of human thought that is dynamically associative with new information being integrated into the entire body of a person’s experience. We are the databases that our computer databases are trying to emulate. Eventually the similarities between artificial database design and human learning patters and intuition will become less and less distinguishable as two forms of intelligence (human and artificial).

Overall, I think his theme is that computers and the interactive media they make possible are progressing in a natural manner, based on the human needs they fulfill. The computer has made the speed and dynamism of communication more breathtaking, but it has not invented principles of media interactivity. The computer simply brings these principles to the forefront, forcing man to address the responsibility of managing an accelerated media stream wisely.