Newish Media

Deb Polson's current projects relating to large scale data visualisation, interaction and game design... other yummy stuff on Deb's other tumblrs: http://designfictions.tumblr.com/ http://argplay.tumblr.com/ http://livingdata.tumblr.com/

[covertabstractions]

[linebpedersen-blog]

Virtual Reality

Today in class we tried Virtual Reality glasses. It was awesome. People had some very funny reactions! 

[newishmedia]

Lab Visit 04: Virtual Reality Part 1. 

Eyewear for Mobile VR. So much fun hearing all of the squeals of delight form the students who were all surprised by the effectiveness of the experience using such seemingly simple technology - In this case, Google Cardboard.

[letsdesigninteractionstuff-blog]

The Escape Hunt

On Monday the whole class went to The Escape Hunt in Brisbane, which is a place to play the “Escape the room” game. The class were divided into six group, two group for each theme. The three themes for the rooms were:

A murder in a barber-shop A jail escape A bomb in the Government House

Our group those the Bomb-room. 

The rules: Each group get “locked” into one of the three themed rooms and have 60 minutes to solve all the puzzles to get out of the room. There are clues hidden everywhere in the room, and you need to find out how to use these clues to crack some codes and puzzles. When all puzzles were solves we were got the key to open a box where the bomb were hidden and were able to find out who placed it there. 

It was a really fun experience and our group finished the game only 3 minutes before time. Even though the room is not really “locked”, you get so excited and stressed about the time that you really put yourself 100% into the game and feel like you need to get out before the 60 minutes! 

Next project: The reason why we went to The Escape Hunt is that our next project for the unit is to come up with some challenges or artefacts for an escape room in California. We had to experience for ourself how it’s like to play the game and how the world is set. This is going to be very fun and interesting! :) 

[newishmedia]

new inspiring creatives of a new dynamic web

The UI Design cohort for 2015 where asked to identify a ‘problem’, conduct research and collect data to justify and support their proposal to dramatise, visualise, animate and distribute an important story and inspire action using a single web page only...

So far they have kept online blogs to share their research and design progress. In the coming weeks they will work on producing the final interactive projects employing their new skills in basic web development.

A sample of thoughtful and creative responses...

The need for more blood donors: http://smagin-interface-design-journal.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/resolved-interface-designs.html

Endangered animals: http://thomas-dxb301.tumblr.com

Energy drinks: http://truth-about-energy-drinks.tumblr.com/post/115373880866/panel-12

Child vaccination: http://alanahdowlingdxb301.tumblr.com

Anxiety awareness: http://hollyhinterfacedesign.tumblr.com 

[argplay]

My most recent adventure!

HUB Studio

Where we make games

It’s only been 3 weeks since we started at the new game studio… our teams of Producers, Designers, Artists, Programmers and Sound Designers are already well into developing their first prototypes for Halfbrick, Right Pedal Studios and QUT (Research and Development team).

We will have a dedicated website very soon and we will share our progress, joys and frustrations…

For now: https://www.facebook.com/HubGames

Images above:

Akane (Aki) is working on concept art for game being pitched by Vidhi as part of the R&D Team

Designer Nathaniel and Artist Wade are working on a game prototype for Halfbrick Studios

Sound designer Nathan, Producer Trendt and UX Designer Nicky working on a game for Right Pedal Studios

[interactivecollaborative-blog]

Brisbane airport site visit with the 2014 Advanced Practices in Interactive and Visual Design crew! 

[newishmedia]

Nicky's post from yesterdays site visit to the Brisbane International Airport.

[newishmedia]

Bruce Sterling claims that Julian Bleecker 'invented the interesting term "design fictions"'?

A formal definition exists: "Design fiction is the deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to suspend disbelief about change."

I stumbled across the Wired article from another Design Fiction article on http://www.experientia.com This article also has some terrific video examples!!!

Made me realise that there was a growing community of 'DesFi' and 'Near Future' design educators out in the world... so I should clarify that in 2009 I began teaching a Masters course in Australia that I called "Design Fictions". I began using a blog to share findings and prototypes in 2011: http://designfictions.tumblr.com/  (this tumblr!) I use the term 'DesFi' as a play on 'SciFi'. In that 'SciFi' narratives and visualisations are fictional scenarios based on scientific discoveries and discussions. Im particularly interested in how the genre of 'science fiction' can provide an example approach for design students to consider when they are conceptualising potential designs for future contexts. The DesFi approach allows design students to put aside existing limitations... such as current issues around voice recognition, language translators or even access to personal data. These limitations are based in technical, political and sometimes ethical arguments that, although undeniably critical to design feasibility, can suspend design innovations if we only consider the policies, technologies and processes that exist right now. My premise to the students is that such contemporary concerns may be solved by another discipline in the near or far future. Consequently, attitudes will shift, new technologies will emerge and the criteria and inventory for design specifications will change. Limiting our design ideas to current issues may dilute the potential for innovation... but more importantly, by prototyping great imaginative design solutions, we can increase the demand for change through demonstrating the possibilities that emerge from overcoming the conditions and contingencies of designing products for only todays market and todays user. As a designer, Ive always enjoyed allowing some of my ideas to follow a 'what if?' tangent... this can take me on a journey to a ridiculous, and sometimes subversive place... or I can end up landing somewhere fantastic and inspired. Either way, something new and un-expected is bound to be found. When I enable students to follow these DesFi tangents to a prototype stage... the discoveries are always dramatic... yet they can always be re-imagined and re-specified to be installed in current contexts. They may lose some of the 'fantastic'... but they will always keep parts of the concepts that would not have been explored if they hadn't travelled on the DesFi tangent.

[scarlettjen]

The games industry is a great industry to be a part of, but with all of the negative press it seems to get I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that it must really be a really shitty place to be for a woman. And for a good percentage of women working in games dev, at some time or another it can be...

[newishmedia]

Students and friends...

You are all invited to attend this symposium tomorrow. If time is tight I recommend you try to see at least one of the project presentations that start from 1.15pm (the sessions I have made bold below).

You will get to hear how the projects were made by the people who made them! (including our ECOS project)

http://www.thecube.qut.edu.au/projects/

It is FREE.

WHEN: Friday 15 March, from 11am until 5pm

WHERE: GP-P-514 (the new building, QUT, Brisbane, Gardens Point Campus, P-Block, level 5)

The Cube Symposium: How Did We Do It?

Do you understand how The Cube works and how its current projects, such as the Virtual Reef and the Physics Playroom, were developed? Are you interested in learning about and discussing The Cube’s potential applications in research, industry engagement and public outreach?  Then come to the IFE Technical  Symposium, for QUT researchers to explore The Cube from every angle.

WHEN: Friday 15 March, from 11am until 5pm

WHERE: GP-P-514

BOOKINGS: Register now.

IFE Technical Symposia

11.00  Opening Remarks; Prof Ian Mackinnon

11.15  The Cube: Design it, Build it:  Prof Jeff Jones

11.45  48cpu’s: its all in the tech: Tim Gurnett 

12.30       Lunch

1.15    The Physics Playroom: extemporising; Andrew Sorensen

2.00    Cubit: show and tell; Markus Rittenbruch

2.45    ECOS: interacting with information: Deb Polson

 3.15         Coffee

3.30    The Reef:  playing underwater: Michael Docherty

4.00    The Flood Wall:  web works; Bryce Christensen

4.30    Where to from here: Public Engagement; Lubi Thomas

5.00    Where to from here: Research and Industry; Ian Mackinnon, Jeff Jones

5.30    Discussion

5.45          Close 

[nerdology]

I’m a week behind on this, but here’s a great read by Joshua Kopstein. (With all these link posts you can tell I’m working through my Instapaper back catalogue)

Today’s drones are everywhere and nowhere, an invisible meme metastasizing throughout literature, design, fashion, and social media.

[newishmedia]

Updates on the recently avoided Zombie Apocalypse

December 18, 2012. Dusk til Dawn Live Event.

In the later months of 2012, I designed and hosted a 12 hour ARG (Alternate Reality Game) for the Edge, in Brisbane Australia.

Please visit this website (a work in progress) for details of the event... http://zombie-arg.com/

I decided very early in the design process to make it explicit that this event was indeed a game; a game of wits, problem solving, physical challenges, and strategy, that could deviate at any time depending on the outcomes of particular scenes and on the whim of The Host.

Traditionally, events of this type proclaim ‘This is Not a Game’ (TINAG) in an effort to maintain the 'magic circle' and role-playing aspect. However, it has been my experience with ‘Alternate Reality Game’ events, that it is not as important to maintain narrative integrity as it is to provide a structure and rules as useful constraints for shared creative, collaborative and competitive commitment. As with Dungeon Mastery, The Host characters of this event were not active players. Instead their main role was to act as overseers of the structure and rules of the Event; meaning I could design any challenge without the TINAG limits of servicing an ongoing narrative and subsequently, I could change and design new scenarios on-the-fly as a direct and authentic response to the players actions and re-actions.

The effect being that the players experience a real sense of agency over the outcomes of the event; having a direct impact on the game world and game results.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Daniel Flood and Cassie Selin

[argplay]

Our annual Zombie Apocalypse is back from 8-9 December and it’s just dying for the company of night-crawlers like you.

Apply to play as a Survivor or Zombie:

Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FCZombie?sk=app_127709503932081

Or directly to Survey Monkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/zombieapocalypse

We are also looking for keen peeps to join our development crew. We are making all kinds of gadgets, traps, missions, sets, challenges, ciphers, nerf mods, etc. We have 2 workshops a week held at the Edge, http://edgeqld.org.au/ in Southbank, Brisbane.  You can contact us at https://www.facebook.com/FCZombie

Or contact me (Deb) via email: d(dot)polson(at)slq.qld.gov.au

[livingdata]

ECOS New Version Release!

This is a screen image of my attempt to make the ECOS System as green energy efficient as possible without compromising the Comfort of the ECOSphere inhabitants… based on the current live weather conditions.

http://theecosproject.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheEcosProject

[livingdata]

NEW ECOS Release!

During this session with the ECOS System, I have compromised on the Comfort of the inhabitants to maximise green energy efficiency… based on the live weather conditions. This will make it very uncomfortable for the inhabitants of those ECOSpheres in the Northern hemisphere… sorry Paris and Moscow and Beijing peeps! But this evidences how difficult it is to acheive green energy efficiency while taking into account the external weather conditions on a global scale :-(

http://theecosproject.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheEcosProject

[newishmedia]

Yesterday was a BIG DAY for the ECOS Team.

We had our first 'ACCEPTANCE TEST' (AT)... before we can claim our BETA version complete, we must conform to the AT which is essentially a list of all possible 'events' involved in the project. This includes, for ECOS, every possible feedback and control process a user could experience and exactly how the system will present data and respond to user manipulation.

The first image above is a screen grab of an early draft of the AT for ECOS to give you some idea of how the project is described in terms of 'Events'.

Yesterday, a group of 'AT' testers gathered at the Cube Studio to go through all 4 projects (ECOS, Virtual Reef, FLOOD Wall and CubIT). The projects are installed on the Test Wall set up of

12 large Multi-touch Displays and

4 huge projections 

6 computers

The second image is testing the 'simultaneous activation of all ECOSpheres'

The third image is 'simultaneous dragging of all ECOSpheres' and 'ordered layering of the ECOSpheres'

Over the next few days the ECOS Project will be 'STRESS TESTED'. We call this 'HAMMER TIME' as we use an automated piece of software to mimic hundreds of user 'events' including 'touch', 'drag', 'open' etc. This runs for 15 hours and is part of the AT.

We now wait for the results of the AT. 

However, we are feeling very comfortable... and expect no big surprises... :-/

[newishmedia]

The following article about the Living Buildings Challenge is very relevant to our ECOS Project... as what our simulation demonstrates is how difficult it is to be a green high rise building... balancing the needs of the tennants with the capacity to produce energy without mains (dirty energy) dependency. What ECOS has determined, is that there are very few climate zones that a building can operate in as a sustainable environment in terms of energy use. This is because if the difference is significant between the outside weather conditions (particularly temperature, wind speed, humidity and sunshine) and the inside working conditions ... the buildings struggle to mainatain an efficient use of green energy. (see our images above)

The ECOS project takes the same green buildings precint of Brisbane and tests it's efficiency under other weather conditions in 6 different climate zones (the weather info is live data from representative cities). The 'brown' bar indicates usage of 'mains' energy... and the 'green' bar is how much green energy is being produced due to choices made when selecting amounts of solar, wind and gas sources. The 'pink' bar is reporting on the comfort levels of the tennants. If the ECOSphere starts to get 'smoggy', this is an indication that the ECOSphere is struggling and needs another ECOSphere to provide any excess green energy it may be producing.

Excerpt from: Where are high rises in the list of "world's greenest buildings?"

27 June 2012, 5 p.m. by Jesse Steinfeld 

So, it looks like high rise towers (they are refering to a building of over 7 floors) have a high utilisation of space, but would struggle to meet Living Building Challenge standards because they have a small roof and therefore can’t generate enough energy.

...perhaps there’s a way to measure impacts as a ratio of energy or water use to production, output or comfort, so we recognise that the buildings inputs (energy, water) produce outputs (work-hours, occupant satisfaction). If this were done, I suspect some existing buildings may rate very highly.

[newishmedia]

More on the site tour - the new 5 star Green Energy Building at QUT

Providing data for the ECOS Team

http://www2.qut.edu.au/sci-eng-centre/

Solar panel garden and the solar tree orchid!

And the plant room with all the tri-generational kit and kapoodle