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CLick here to expand all course descriptionsPosts by Hanna Moon (1) By Hanna Moon, on December 11th, 2012
W.J. Mitchell writes a collection of future scenes reflecting the impact of the digital telecommunication revolution in his book “City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn”. The book has seven chapters, each chapter consisting of a variety of short scenes of general architecture and urbanism. I am posting about this book because it has its own writing styles, historical research, and some ideas that have a short-range perspective that provide only a limited look at the issues associated with the network technologies. It provides future scenes that parallel familiar existing scenes such as digital networks and the post-industrial mines, field, and factories that we now report to. The ‘Net, like railroad which distribute farmers’ products to market and consumers, is the medium for transferring raw bit materials from suppliers to manufacturers of information. In the bitsphere, meeting forums are now despatialized, disembodied, and dispersed with virtual addresses, aliases, and chameleon personas. As Mitchell suggests, these “electronic agoras” escape traditional measures of identity. Discrimination and marginalization, moreoever, evolves in new forms with the rise of digital hermits and new information and communication access structures, erected in the form of PKI, Kerberos, firewalls, etc. After laying out the metaphor of the new bitsphere upon the template of traditional urbanism, Mitchell explores the emergent outcomes of the information infrastructure. While distance communication is enhanced by new multi-model designs that increase interactivity well beyond traditional situated roles, for example, the dark side of technological advancement thrives in new resurrected forms such as lurking telepimps, telethugs, cyberpunks, and cybercriminals. City of Bits is a presentation of ideas that are compatible with the technological artifacts and their potential role in urbanism. While reading this book , one question slowly comes to my mind. In this era, the world all wired with Internet, why still people want to move to urban places? Do all datas in the Internet keep the life in same quality as a city? I think the reason why people are still eager to move to the urban cities is that they want to be involved in social networking. Even though the Internet has great functions to socialize, the original datas and socializing are coming from the urban places. Still, online datas and physical world has not been connected deeply yet. Many people anticipate that the next generation of the Internet blur boundaries between physical life and online life. W.J.Mitchell wrote series of telecommunication relating to physical world. It explains thoroughly how some telecommunications systems operate. I recommend the “City of Bits” as a quick read of great writing that may help to unlock the closed mind to the promises and issues of the electronically-mediated future comprised of ubiquitous intelligence- and telecommunication-enabled artifacts. W.J. Mitchell writes a collection of future scenes reflecting the impact of the digital telecommunication revolution in his book “City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn”. The book has seven chapters, each chapter consisting of a variety of short scenes of general architecture and urbanism. I am posting about this book because it has […] December 11th, 2012 | Category: Books | Comments are closed
Posts by Courtney Nadine Coleman (1) By Courtney Nadine Coleman, on December 11th, 2012
The Structure of the Book Air Guitar by Dave Hickey one of those “snow ball effect” type of books, that starts off as really slow reflective biographical anecdote, but gradually increase the intensity and pique one’s interest, gradually as one begins to turn the pages. In a sense, the book is structured in such a way that it becomes increasingly more exciting to read almost could be compared to a strum on the guitar from low, the high, back to low, like a sine wave. The formatting of the table of contents is reflective of this. The book was written in a form of an anecdotal pop culture survey of artists over the last 40 to 50 years, that was somewhat biographical at some moments by Dave Hickey. The book will make you think and laugh. I highly reccomend it. One of the most interesting chapters to read in the book, was entitled “A Rhinestone as Big As the Ritz”. This chapter was an essay on the rise and fall of Liberace, a beloved pianist from the 1960s and 1970s that was often scrutinized for being suspected of being homosexual. The author reflected upon the notable time where William Connor asserted that Liberace was, “…the summit of sex—the pinnacle of masculine, feminine, and neuter. Everything that he, she, and it can ever want… a deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love”, as well as other members of the press writing devastating, denigrating things about Liberace. Eventually, Liberace died from contracting HIV. The authors account of how Liberace’s career rose and fell, was very similar Michael Jackson’s. Michael Jackson was and still is extremely popular all over the world, however due to molestation allegations of young children, his life essentially became a media circus. But essentially, there were two sides to it: There was still the side where people still loved MJ because of his voice, music, dancing, and life, but then, there was the side where the media tore him to pieces and chalked him up to be a weirdo. Ultimately, Michael Jackson eventually dies from taking inappropriately and unethically prescribed drugs by his own private doctor. I also think about the rise and fall of Whitney Houston and how she ultimately dies from drug usage. And then there’s US and UK sensation, Amy Winehouse, who celebrated her own, and was sadly celebrated by the media for her admitted drug and alcohol abuse and singing about it within her music. At the end of the book there is a chapter in it called Air Guitar, which is identical to the book’s title. As the author states, “People despise critics because people despise weakness, and criticisim is the weakest thing you can do in writing. “It is the written equivalent of air guitar, flurries of silent, sympathetic gestures with nothing at their heart but the memory of the music” . I wonder sometimes, how much the criticism from the media, and other people in the world, impact these celebrities. The media can be pretty cruel, unbalanced, and evil. With the internet, it is even more so, even quicker and even more widespread. As much money and fame as alot of celebrities have, I wonder how secure and strong these people are within themselves and nonchalant they really are, about what other people say. I suppose the lesson is that talent, fame and money don’t necessarily buy self-confidence or strength of character. The media, including the news stations, seems that it has alot of impact on what the people like, see, feel, hear, and think. They show the public what they want them to see, and from showing them this fragment of information, to change the way they see things and their view. With sites like MediaTakeOut that show celebrities in some what compromising or “less than optimal manner”. People who look at these sites often look at them for entertainment purposes. While I don’t think anything is wrong with wanting to laugh or being entertained, it is important that one only takes the fragments of verbal, written or visual data as face value, and see how the fragments fit together, in order to make the whole. The Structure of the Book Air Guitar by Dave Hickey one of those “snow ball effect” type of books, that starts off as really slow reflective biographical anecdote, but gradually increase the intensity and pique one’s interest, gradually as one begins to turn the pages. In a sense, the book is structured in such a […] December 11th, 2012 | Tags: cnc292 | Category: Air Guitar, Books | One comment - (Comments are closed)
Posts by Sanniti Pimpley (1) By Sanniti Pimpley, on December 11th, 2012
Most of us grew up believing that there is something within us, other than our brain, that makes us who we are- a mind/ a soul or just something not the brain. And for most of us, that belief has religious and cultural grounds. We believe that we perceive, think, act- are conscious because this mysterious force inside of us. But science has always failed to support this theory of “the force”. Science taught us how the neurons & brain cells are responsible for what we do. In this world of scientific observations & calculations, there are some psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists who support the theory – We are not our brains, by carefully analyzing biological observations. Alva Noe, in this book “Out of heads”, explains that “the fact that we think and feel and that a world shows up for us- we need to look at a larger system of which the brain is only one element”. That’s his mantra.
Alva Noe has based his philosophy of consciousness defining consciousness as an experience. He goes on to explain how the environment is a crucial part of our lives; how the scope of our own being is beyond our bodies- our senses are extended beyond the limits of our bodies. Noe’s main point is that, unlike popular belief of scientists, our brain is not a vat system with the rest of the body present just to support it. He goes on to prove how our brains are nothing without the environment they are brought up & living in.
I am one of those persons who have a belief in ‘the force’ within us, but have been trying hard to fit my belief with science. So, reading a theory, which, although doesn’t acknowledge my belief, talks about our non-brain-centered selves with a biological viewpoint was quite refreshing. For most part, I think the text is quite repetitive as if to hammer it in our brains that the environment is responsible for who we are. But there is one observation/theory that struck my mind- that the brain is seriously developed because of the environment. The experiment that shows this:- rewiring of ferrets’ eyes to the part of brain responsible for hearing doesn’t make the ferret hear because of visual signals but rather, see from the auditory part of brain! Many such observations prove that our brain isn’t born with parts having dedicated functions; rather, it is developed that way because of how we are placed in this body & in this world. Simple example being the brain of a newborn- having almost no sense of speech, perception, etc. But this brain gets ‘wired’ by being a part of the world around us. We begin to recognize faces, understand sounds, distinguish touch & smell, after we are introduced to them & constantly with them. The book was a good read for the experiments that have been carried out in this field. (Reading about experiments on sensory substitution, I started thinking a lot on how the theory can be applied in assistive technologies!) But I was expecting some theories about the human nature to think and act according to will. Why and how do we make the decisions we make. Although the author did make a passing comment on how the whole picture of our lives & surroundings, in present and past, is responsible for our being. This reminded me of what Stephen Hawking says in The Grand Design- to understand the future behaviour of an object, we need to have information about its present and its past states. It felt weird to think about how the past states of the billions of different cells in my body can be used to predict how I’ll act at a moment in the present.
Most of us grew up believing that there is something within us, other than our brain, that makes us who we are- a mind/ a soul or just something not the brain. And for most of us, that belief has religious and cultural grounds. We believe that we perceive, think, act- are conscious because this […] December 11th, 2012 | Category: Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness | Comments are closed
Posts by Yuliya Parshina (2) By Yuliya Parshina, on December 11th, 2012
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favorite books. Over the years, I have thought and written about it from various angles. The imaginative children’s adventure tale (technically not a “fairy-tale” since Alice wakes up making the whole thing a dream), the satirical portrayal of victorian society and the sinister, secret world of Lewis Carroll’s perhaps unwholesome fascination with Alice Liddell are some of the themes which drew me to the book. As I make my own way down the rabbit hole of ITP, I want to take a fresh look at the adventure through the lens of user experience. Since the moment of entering the unfamiliar world of Wonderland, Alice relies on clues from the environment to find her way. The guidance she receives is for the most part, confusing and misleading, resulting in many errors and frustrations. Miscommunication is one of Lewis Carroll’s favorite themes as he purposefully plays with nonsensical language and situations. Many misunderstandings arise because characters native to Wonderland take the rules of their world for granted and don’t structure their advice in a way that’s comprehensive to an outsider. Bad user experiences often suffer from the same lack of “new user” awareness. In the real world of user experience, bad labeling could set the user on a wild goose chase that ends without accomplishment of their goal. The bottle labels in the first room Alice enters are a good example. Unclear, mischievous instructions prevent Alice from entering the beautiful garden right away. Or perhaps this design was cleverer than I describe it, since it sent her on an entertaining adventure around Wonderland. If you picture Wonderland as a traditional museum, the rabbit falls into the role of a docent / guide. Hard to catch and unhelpful, he symbolizes every museum visitor’s frustrating experience. In this scenario, the Cheshire Cat could be seen as a curator. Illusive with a mocking “better than though” attitude, he floats in and out at will, leaving no room for user-initialized interaction. The chaos at the Dutch’s house is a parallel of a weekend family morning in a poorly designed museum lobby. Analyzing the irrational behavior of the Mad Tea Party could give insight into the madness of a disorganized design process. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favorite books. Over the years, I have thought and written about it from various angles. The imaginative children’s adventure tale (technically not a “fairy-tale” since Alice wakes up making the whole thing a dream), the satirical portrayal of victorian society and the sinister, secret world of Lewis […] December 11th, 2012 | Category: Alice in Wonderland | One comment - (Comments are closed)
Posts by Asli Aydin (2) By Asli Aydin, on December 11th, 2012
And then one day Alice grows up and goes to High School.. “Wake up Alice, wake up! You’re going to be late to school,” said her mother. Wake did Alice do to get ready for school. She now was in high school. She didn’t get too much sleep anymore, her dreams were shorter and days much longer. She liked school, she liked learning but it felt like, like something was missing. She didn’t see her wonderlands anymore; she couldn’t get through mirrors. She had learned a lot in school. She knew that only reflections could be seen in mirrors not wonderlands. She knew rabbits did not run around with a pocket watch talking to themselves. She knew more than that too. She was learning her history, her literature, math and art and so many other things that were very exciting. But she was so caught up with learning that she started wondering whether learning really took place or not. Why did she have to give up one in order to have the other? Why couldn’t Alice wander in wonderland and learn consciously at the same time. She hated the queen yet she was being educated by kings and queens with the same banking concept the queen imposed upon her cards – – yet she called it learning or teaching, being taught. After all wasn’t it the banking concept that led her to question everything. Didn’t she read those books in that system? (more…) And then one day Alice grows up and goes to High School.. “Wake up Alice, wake up! You’re going to be late to school,” said her mother. Wake did Alice do to get ready for school. She now was in high school. She didn’t get too much sleep anymore, her dreams were shorter and days […] December 11th, 2012 | Category: Alice in Wonderland | Comments are closed
Posts by Natasha Dzurny (1) By Natasha Dzurny, on December 10th, 2012
I have read many books on creativity, but this is the first on the subject that doesn’t assume that the reader is (or considers themselves to be) a creative person. It is interesting to analyze the process from this view. The goal of Conceptual Blockbusting is to make aware the process of conceptualization- more specifically, what’s going on in your mind while creating ideas. It asks you to acknowledge the thought processes you use when solving a problem. For example, you may instinctively and quickly arrive at an answer, but it’s not often that you consciously choose (or become aware of) the thought process you used to get it. The book suggests becoming aware of the many psychological obstacles or “blocks” that arise while generating ideas. In my opinion, the most useful and universal to be aware of are the emotional blocks. So, I ask that you read through my summary and pick one to focus on in your next creative assignment. If you have a good or bad experience from this past semester please share! What will you do differently next time to enhance your creative performance? Have a great break everyone! 🙂 Natasha
Emotional blocks- (so basically, Stop being safe and you’ll do fine.) Fear of Failure – Realistically assess the consequences- he suggests writing a detailed and precise prediction of what would happen in the worst case scenario. No Appetite for Chaos- If your thoughts are too orderly, there will be little opportunity for new ideas to combine from others. Allow your thoughts to be ambiguous. Judging ideas – If you criticize ideas too early, you may feel superior to the idea-haver, but know that this is a habit you will likely use to exclude your own ideas prematurely. Not incubating the problem- Don’t force it. If you are stuck on an idea, take a rest, stop thinking, and the answer will magically appear at a future time. Give the unconscious a chance to do the work for you. No Challenge and Quick Satisfaction – Find a way to care about the outcome of solving the problem. Take the time to come up with the right solution rather than the first one. Reality vs Fantasy- Use all of your senses to imagine. “Creativity requires the manipulation and recombination of experience.” Imagination is powerful and should be set free of the constraints placed on reality. Flow vs Angst – Creative people are not all depressed and unstable. Creative flow is the state in which time passes freely and you are in a positive emotional state. Know what causes this in yourself and try to cultivate it. I have read many books on creativity, but this is the first on the subject that doesn’t assume that the reader is (or considers themselves to be) a creative person. It is interesting to analyze the process from this view. The goal of Conceptual Blockbusting is to make aware the process of conceptualization- more specifically, […] December 10th, 2012 | Category: Conceptual Blockbusting | Comments are closed
Posts by Todd Bryant (1) By Todd Bryant, on December 10th, 2012
I had been recommended the book Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug a few times in the last few years. After all the chips had fallen and my 20s wound down to an end I found myself as a Creative Director with no creative training. I have an undergrad Biological Anthropology degree and my last Masters was in media research. Yet, along the way I had helped someone with a wordpress site here, edited a video there and in the end became a generalist in enough software packages to be functional enough to guide a research company’s creative direction. I immediately jumped on the chance to read this book and find out its insights on functional website design so I could at least hold my own in conversations with my focus group moderating co-workers. I had seen many sessions, but had never thought of myself as a usability expert like they were. The first thing I noticed was the 2006 copyright. While lolcats may have not changed that much in 6 years I am sure that functional websites have. Maybe I should have read the book when it was released instead of around the time that it needs a new edition. Still common sense hasn’t changed and therefore the approach should be the same. Essentially the book says that people shut their brains down to a low roar and navigate the path of least resistance. What this book hopes to provide is a break down of what those obstacles are that impede the flow of traffic to the end result (often a sale or a relevant article) and showcase web design conventions to facilitate these results. The books begins with many quotes of praise saying that it practices what it preaches by being short and to the point. I argue otherwise. How can a book repeat the same thing over and over again for 200 pages and be considered good. Why make a slew of chapters about different parts of a webpage if your only suggestions/recommendations are to cut down all excess images and text and make things like like their functionality. I feel like these tidbits of advice aren’t so groundbreaking since the advent of web 2.0. People in my generation have embraced large striking photography and minimalist wordings. The current trend is away from verbose blogging to succinct tweeting and image tumbling. I understand that monolithic websites are still used and needed, but anyone making those sites would need more than this book by their side. As a book for general lay people this one is only good for a quick browse over a coffee table, if only to laugh as they reference Yahoo as the major search engine of the web. I had been recommended the book Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug a few times in the last few years. After all the chips had fallen and my 20s wound down to an end I found myself as a Creative Director with no creative training. I have […] December 10th, 2012 | Category: Don’t Make Me Think | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)
Posts by Azure Tianran Qian 錢天然 (1) By Azure Tianran Qian 錢天然, on December 10th, 2012
I stepped into the flow of interactive design for the reason of enriching my ways of multimedia story telling. Chris Crawford, the author of The Art of Interactive Design, mentioned that interactivity is superior to all other forms of human expression in one way. He also claimed that interactive design engages the human mind more powerfully than another form of expression. When we truly interact with someone or something, we are truly engaged. I personally confirmed this by asking my friends who have been to MOMA that what was the most impressive exhibition to them. Most of them responded with “Talk to Me”, an exhibition of interactive projects. Among all the projects, according to my friends, those based on stories were more memorable. Although interactive media is a better way of story telling, the story itself is more important. For example, the Oscar winning “The Artist” is just a black-and-white silence movie without many advanced techniques utilized. It is the plot that seized audience’s heart. Therefore, techniques, no matter how fancy they are, should always serve the story instead of being the gimmick of box-office. The recently popular movie in theatres, “Life of Pi” directed by Ang Lee, is a good example that hi-techs such as breath taking 3D screening supported the story telling. As we grow up, the store tellers could be changed from our moms to anyone else, but the story remain unchanged. Since all arts forms carry stories, such as song, pint, opera, movies etc., what we learn and enjoy from the media is stories. Even if we now have a better technology, I keep asking myself why to make a project, what do I want share with others. Thinking over and over again, I find the main concept of communication is empathy. “Empathy” is the best friend of communication. Only if we share with the real concern about our audiences can we get better communication effect. That is to say, we need a good story to tell. What is changing now is only a method, what is not changing is human’s need for communication.
I stepped into the flow of interactive design for the reason of enriching my ways of multimedia story telling. Chris Crawford, the author of The Art of Interactive Design, mentioned that interactivity is superior to all other forms of human expression in one way. He also claimed that interactive design engages the human mind […] December 10th, 2012 | Category: The Art of Interactive Design | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
Posts by Jay Zehngebot (1) By Jay Zehngebot, on December 7th, 2012
Omer has already encapsulated the basic premise of the 10,000 Year Clock, which stands as the scaffolding within Stewart Brand’s “The Clock of the Long Now” . One part epochal timepiece, one part library for all mankind, the CoTLN (book, clock, and library) aim to foster multi-generational responsibility and function as a monument to the whole. With the large version (a smaller, city version has already been built) presently under construction in Nevada and embedded into a mountain, the clock and museum are to be a lateral step outside the ever-accelerating moment. We can follow their progress online. For me, one of the most interesting frameworks discussed in the CoTLN(the book) is this notion of different strata operating at different speeds but influencing one another in due course. In this model, Art & Fashion sit at the top as the fastest and most turbulent layer, with change percolating down through the remaining five (in order: Commerce, Infrastructure, Governance, Culture (read: religion, custom) and then Nature) The basic premise: Change at the natural level should not / can not happen at the same speed as change on a fashion or commercial level. This is difficult to disagree with, and as such, I think it a valuable tool for framing what is wrong with, say, nearly everything about our current governmental/commercial/industrial machine. Examples which affect this balance feel illustratively self-destructive, i.e. Chopping down an entire forest for one short term payoff, vs. sustainably harvesting lumber over generations for long-term steady, greater profit. I recently read another text, titled The Techno-Human Condition (TT-HC) by Braden Allenby and Daniel Sarewitz. This book explores the trans-humanist debate – whether or not we are, or are becoming, a wholly new thing. It also contains much discussion of strata – three levels of technological innovation. Level I. Direct cause and effect > i.e. Tim Berners-Lee invents the Web to facilitate sharing at CERN. Level II. The network that a level one technology exists within > i.e. the communications system. (mail, television, radio, telephone, etc., etc.) Level III. The even messier structures beyond that – a.k.a. the “earth system”, which is a fairly awkward catch-all for everything and includes both human and natural systems, in which we have practically no idea how level II and III developments will play out. This model’s divisions, understandably messy, underscore the more important point – The ideas we’ve inherited from the enlightenment (steady, rational progress, the value of the individual, separation of mind and matter) no longer serve the increasing resolution with which we understand the complexity of our underlaying level II and III systems. Must we abandon the notion that we can possibly predict what sort of fruit our pioneering efforts will bear? Ethically, how do we put any of this into practice? The CoTLN(book) sets out a handful of guidelines.
Like a pretty photo of a sunset, this list is hard to disagree with. However, it also doesn’t give us much in the way of concrete guidance. At its best, these bytes are worthwhile principals, but difficult to translate into practical, immediate implementation, especially at an individual level. At worst, it lands as grandiose, new-age techno-spiritualism. As a reader, do you take anything away from the seven points outlined above? I believe a better list – not sound bytes, but instead, valuable questions – is to be found towards the end of the TT-HC. I copy them here because I believe in them.
So now I’m supposed to ask – what do you think about the bulleted questions above? Worth considering while designing systems for others? Too slow and difficult given the current pace of market-driven competition and development ? Omer has already encapsulated the basic premise of the 10,000 Year Clock, which stands as the scaffolding within Stewart Brand’s “The Clock of the Long Now” . One part epochal timepiece, one part library for all mankind, the CoTLN (book, clock, and library) aim to foster multi-generational responsibility and function as a monument to the […] December 7th, 2012 | Tags: Jay Zehngebot | Category: Clock Of The Long Now: Time And Responsibility: The Ideas Behind The World's Slowest Computer | One comment - (Comments are closed)
Posts by Andy Sigler (1) By Andy Sigler, on December 7th, 2012
“Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design,” by Bill Buxton, was really a great read. It was to the point, had well issued pictures and diagrams, and felt like more of a conversation about what the author has found the best methods for design to be. I chose this book because it deals directly with what I’m interested in spending my time at ITP doing, that is, not only creating interactive systems/objects, but more importantly, studying the PROCESS of creating your own interface. Two points hit home for me, the first being that sketching is just as important in interactive design as it is with any other design form, and the second being that interactive designers should fake it as much as possible. I have never been much with a pen and paper. My older sister was always better than me in the visuals arts, so as a frustrated little brother I stuck to music. Towards the beginning of the book, when the author began discussing the merits of sketching and becoming accustomed to drawing, my instinct was to reject his claims. However, like myself, he admits to his shortcomings with a pen, and instead discussed the importance of sketching as a representation of ideas, rather than visuals. While these two approaches seem similar, the author dove into the very nature of sketching, and how even the form of a sketch forces different attitudes towards the idea. For example, when an idea is only just beginning to take shape, the author stresses making sketches very quickly, with little detail other than the basic outlines and features. This allows the onlooker to see it is a rough draft, instead of a finished idea, leaving room for it to grow and evolve into something else. This can then be applied to the work we do at ITP, where ideas need to be “sketched” as fast as possible, also called rapid prototyping. Building something with wires sticking out, covered in duct-tape, allows people to not hold back their opinions and not be afraid of hurting the designer’s ego, because their is obviously still room to work. The author also goes to great length in discussing the importance of sharing your sketches with other designers, and keeping them on display so that others may feed off of them and help out with your ideas. He writes about how different offices have display panels that show people’s sketches, and one’s cubicle walls would be covered with working sketching and ideas, so that those passing by could ask about them. This is something that ITP is both very good at yet lacking in some ways. Students are always on the floor, working on this and that, and through conversations you are able to understand what someone is trying to do. If I don’t know the student well, or I just see projects lying around in disarray, I have little to no idea what is going on with them. The blog posts and blog aggregating are certainly a way of alleviating this separation, but student’s projects still feel rather isolated within that class or group of friends. I don’t have a solution to how ITP could make this better The other side of the book I enjoyed, which goes hand-in-hand with the author’s point on sketching, is that when ever possible, the designer should fake it. That is, while a desired tool or application may not be possible, one can create the illusion of it with some fancy work. The example he uses is how car designers wanted a way to interact with a real-size 3D model of a car they were designing. They were originally thinking of using augmented reality and 3D-goggles and the like, but instead, the author put an iPad on a rotating stand, with the screen always facing out and camera facing inwards. The stand was like a large, double-jointed, microphone stand, so that the area covered by the iPad was roughly the size of a car. The image inside the iPad was then the 3D model of the car, almost as if the user was looking inside a window, showing them an invisible car in the room with them. This, the author says, is faking it. I love this. There are so many ideas flying around on the floor, and most of them seem rather improbable. Some of my favorite projects are when a student takes one of these ideas, and creates the illusion of its existence, almost like a magic trick. It was said in applications a while back, when the presenter was speaking about interfaces in sci-fi movies, that we should maybe be looking away from sci-fi, and instead towards magic and fantasy stories for our inspiration. For their final project in P-Comp, Adam and Surya created a story-generating thing, where the user selects pictures to prompt the device to create a story from the pictures. Creating an algorithm that coherently writes stories from pictures might be too much for a P-Comp final, so they had someone sitting in another room writing them in real time, without telling the user. Pretty funny stuff. “Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design,” by Bill Buxton, was really a great read. It was to the point, had well issued pictures and diagrams, and felt like more of a conversation about what the author has found the best methods for design to be. I chose this book because […] December 7th, 2012 | Category: Books, Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design | 6 comments - (Comments are closed)
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