FINAL PROJECT PLANNING-ENTRY 1

To start, the small model( to the right) was created for the first assignment of the communication with hybrid environments production section. The assignment was to make a small interactive piece over one week of the course that lead the way in aesthetic and interactive properties for the piece that you would be creating for the final assignment. This model is what I came up with. I was interested in questioning how I could somehow generate interactivity and user independence juxtaposed and ultimately taken over by a tactile control senses that the piece itself would warrant. So now I have a lot of investigating to do. Rebbecca and I have decided to work together once again, as water and wire went over so well. We did not have one creative difference while working on the piece. So we have our first meeting on Tuesday with Steve and I will blog again after that, as I am sure a lot more ideas with be brought to the surface regarding solving technical problems and programming issues, so on and so forth. I obviously have a lot of ideas about aesthetic properties. I was inspired by minimalist sculpture such as Donald Judd's work(untitled) a reoccurring piece that has been created in a multitude of materials from plexi glass to wood to stainless steel and copper.Another inspiration for me is Dan Flavin's work.
The cube is something that has always interested me, simplicity, symmetry and balance included. The cube represents something that has been stripped of any metaphorical relations, it is a neutral object . It always seems to rear it's head as a visual starting point for myself in most of my work. So For this piece I wanted to continue with the tradition of using the geometric shape as a starting point. I first initially thought about creating a drawing space that covered each side of a cube( obviously excluding the bottom). A drawing surface similar to the etch-sketch or abacus. The user would be able to manipulate the surface by moving small beads across a string and create images in each side of the box to create their own piece. Then upon leaving the room the whole piece would wipe clean, all beads would move to one side and the drawing would be evidently erased. The perceived control would no longer be in the hands of the user.

Tree- on perceiving web spaces

Tree is a program that visualizes an algorithm within a HTML page, specified by the user, and then simulates real space, by constructing a number of digital trees placed in an artificial forest within the sketch. Tree accesses source data of a web page through it's URL and transforms the syntax into a tree structure. If I understood the applet correctly, a tree is a representation of a page that is linked off of the original URL that you request to be visualized, then the HTML code that is linked to each of these pages is detected and displayed as a tree like algorithm in the trunk and branches.

I really appreciate the translation between a representation of a navigational space that we are used to seeing online in a web page to something we see every day as a navigational experience, a forest. HTML as a scripting language, has no real depth or space perception when you decipher it, but it bears the ability to take on a new form when examined on the web. I really like the concept, I like the aesthetics and visualization conception, yet I find that it is a little difficult to really understand how the applet is working because of the complexity and scale of the sketch. There is a lot of data being analyzed in a small area, and because of the way that the trees end up overlapping one another so that the visualization looks quite realistic it is hard to determine what really is going into each algorithm. There are small labels at each branch showing what text was visualized but it is very hard to read. If the piece had not been presumably created to be slightly personal, as the search engine allows each user to type in their own URL the detail would probably be overlooked and each little tag would not really be read. But I would assume, as I did, the user would want to know what was being visualized as it came directly from source code that they wrote themselves. Other than that small problem I think the piece is very successful.

I was initially really attracted to the piece because of the interesting aesthetics it is a very attractive sketch. After looking at the amount of data visualisations that we have been in the last few weeks, I feel for myself a piece of this nature is successful when it works on it's own as an image, separate from the data, something visually appealing that attracts the user, not because of the data set but solely because of the graphics. Then when the user is able to interpret the piece as well in terms of the figures that it is representing, then is goes beyond whet the user was expecting.

you can try out the applet here:
http://www.texone.org/tree/tree.php?id=applet

PROPOSAL- data visualization assignment

The compulsion to seperate youself from everyday life seems to be a pursuit that most humans share. As an escapist society, we seem to turn towards cinema with a thirst for sexuality and violence. Thus distilling ourselves, if only for a moment, to our most primitive desires. I plan to organize and visualize data in such a way that the quantity and intensity of these particular themes in cinema is clear within in a specific grouping of actors that I will select. To emphasis the primal enthusiasm that manifests itself in the viewer I intend to create a hybrid similar to the centaur, as a representation of a human with animalistic characteristics.

Compiling Data from IMDB, or the internet movie database, processing will filter information based on 1 input, that being "lead actor". As IMDB allows for specific keyword searches applicable to acting careers rather than information only specific to a single movie it would be possible to search for keywords related specifically to violence and sexuality over the duration of that specific actors portfolio. There would be a plethora of keywords broken down out of those two categories, and each of those specific keywords would be related to a specific animal swatch. The intensity of the world, or the amount of times a specific word would appear for that actor would directly effect the color of the swatch. The images would be pre edited and would be something that would be limited to certain words, so the amount of combinations available would be restrained. The final images would obviously be a misshapen and contorted hybrid, as the positioning in the sketch would be controlled, yet the swatches would not always be perfectly aligned due to size and shape constraints. But I don't necessarily see to much fault in this as it could be favorable to the outcome of the final piece.

Experience Analysis- Stop Motion in the Weston Center

Upon entering the Weston Family Innovation Center at the Ontario Science Center, initially I was quite overwhelmed with the plethora of interactive stations. I was excited to have the opportunity to explore and reflect on each individual station and choose a particular experience that I found interesting enough to analyze and document. Although I found the center fun and interesting, the majority of the experiences had quite a playful juvenile, manner to them. Not that any thing was necessarily at fault because of this, the center is very family oriented but I found that initially I was disappointed with the lack of description for why certain activities were implemented in the way that they were as I was having difficulties making connections between the content and the actual interfaces that were selected. As I made my way through the experiences, I was able to uncover how successful a liar I was, how well I could fabricate my own shoe, what type of chemistry I had with a virtual character and how well I could create a soundtrack that was appropriate to my personal life. After spending about two hours or so in the center Leif, Daniella and I came across an experience where the user has the opportunity to create their own stop motion animation sequence. Each station was comprised of a working space, where the user was expected to create their experience, this acted as the stage for the short animation. There were containers filled with trinkets and gadgets and miniatures that were expected to be utilized as props for the animation. There was a spotlight to change or enhance lighting effects. There was a camera that was there to record the action. There was a spinning wheel, which restricted the content for the animation. There was also a touch LCD screen which controlled camera settings and allowed the user to view the frames as they were being captured. Now as I found that there was a lack of description among some of the other stations this station in opposition had no problem setting out certain individual controlled and guided stations for the experience yet there still failed to be a set out pattern in which you were supposed to go about using the station. If the artist really intended for the users to implement a specific approach to create this piece, for example using the supplied props and spinning the wheel, there needed to be some sort of restriction applied where one section would not engage until the section prior to the event was finished, or simply some sort of written instruction needed to be implemented. But because this was not there, the piece became much more open and personalized for the user, intended or not.











Initially the piece did not really interest me, mainly based on the problems that I mentioned above. There were these controlled stations that made the piece seem too structured, but as you really took the time to extend concepts and manipulate the functions of the station it became quite interesting and amusing. The interesting thing about the station was that it had been set up so that the user could maneuver the spotlight and camera into different positions to alter the style and shots of your film. As this was possible, we decided to eliminate the stage all together and alter the working space to the floor of the Weston center. As a cognitive experience, the sensory reflective elements are seen in the fact that if I jumped through each frame and caught a single moment in time where I was suspended in the air I could virtually create the illusion of flight. Certain behavioural patterns would take place when I decide to place myself in different positions in accordance to where the camera was. If I placed something on the stage, my behaviour would be very isolated from the action in the film as my movements would only be significant to the arrangement of elements. If I moved back and had the entire room be the stage my behavioural patterns would be directly translated in the outcome of the film. The visceral level being the most primitive feelings that we would have had would be in relation to the fact that I can see that there are props to be used, but I think that is too simple so In turn I decided to use the human body. There is an LCD screen in where I see the feedback which I can touch to control my mistakes and edit, this I found good as If i was unhappy with the feedback I could go back and change the process of how I got to that point. Now we became the subjects and we were active in the input and creation of the piece, but also active in that we were the subject matter and we were required to move to create something. There was no real passive position that was taking on by any one that decided to take part in the creation of the film, as even the onlookers were helping pose us and suggesting what should take place in the film. As the three of us were no longer in control of the physical mechanical aspects of the project we needed someone to do that for us, so the initial need to conform that was expected no longer took place. In our final movie, 203 photographs later, we were able to create the illusion of flight as we jumped through each frame of the film. The relationship of the body to the piece differs in the way that you choose to carry out the steps in making a film. If you choose to use the props, your body is externalized from the film, as in each frame captured the action is static. Yet if you decide to create the film in the manner that we did the body is the dominant focus, and movement from the user and the body is completely necessary in carrying out the experience successfully.