WNMwork

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Technical Implementation and Design can be thought of as the ability to effectively integrate technologies and immersive designs into spaces.  

Our tasks are almost always to integrate artistic pieces into spaces. These pieces aren't the whole space, even if they are the focal points of space, so being able to work within the existing confines and designs of a space is a critical component of technical implementation and Design.

In the real world, Technical implementation and Design can take on a lot of forms. Some of these forms are simple, such as having creative ways of hiding cabling or keeping equipment safe from pedestrian traffic. Some of these forms are a lot more intricate, such as fabricating interesting and appropriate housings for sensors, or weight-bearing structures for LED installations. Anyone with some lumber, drywall, and some tools can create a wall, but we all know creating a beautiful space with walls takes experience and creativity.

The second element is that Technical implementation and Design needs to work with both immersive design and immersive technologies. This means that you’ll often times need to have both an understanding of the interactive technologies (their limitations such as range, power consumption, cabling, etc) to integrate them into a space functionally, and an understanding of the higher-level design to integrate the solutions into the space artistically (with an appropriate fabricated housing, audio-visual output intensities, heat dissipation etc).

The third element implicates both new and pre-existing spaces. Both have their own challenges. New spaces will more likely be like approaching a blank canvas and will have their own challenges, where you might need to consult construction, electrical wiring, floor plans, and the overall design of the existing space. Pre-existing spaces will have slightly different considerations such as whether wright-bearing structures exist, how your installation will feel as a part of a larger design, and if there is enough power available to meet your installations requirements.   

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Now that we have a bit more understanding of exactly what interactive technologies is I will now explain different categories that are under this concept. There are six categories that would fall under this. 

The Internet of Things:

“The Internet of Things collects under it all things connected to the Internet and all services and applications built on the Internet. This include services like Twitter, Google, and hardware such as smartphones”.

Gestural Technologies:

“Gestural technologies are all the technologies that create experiences similar to the Tom Cruise film “Minority Report”.These technologies allow us to control technology with the wave of our hands and generate interactive content with our body motions. This category includes the ever-popular Microsoft Kinect, as well as other technologies like traditional cameras, Leap Motion sensors, infrared lasers, and more”.

Physical Interfaces:

“Physical interfaces range from simple hardware remote controls (similar to the one for your television) to in-wall control panels to more interesting and experimental methods of interacting with objects using physical objects or surfaces”.

Spatial & Environmental Sensors:

“Spatial & Environmental sensors include passive and active sensors that monitor all aspects and elements of a space or environment. This include sensors for elements such as temperature, movement, and sound levels”.

Actuators:

“Actuators are the things that go boom AFTER you interact with one of the other kinds of interactive technologies, or types of physical hardware you control. We’ll briefly go over some common ones but this will be mostly in the technical implementation sections”.

Computer hardware:

“Finally, computer hardware will explore the new and groundbreaking form factors available for interactive computing. This will range from traditional tower computers that live in back-of-house racks to the latest in wearable computers, micro controllers, Raspberry Pi’s, etc”.

Immersive design plays a big role in interactive technologies. Being able to understand all aspects of interactive technologies, including how immersive design works is key to being able to fully push the boundaries and create something that’s worth it.   

Four areas of immersive design will be investigated in this series. They are:

Triggers & User Experience

Real-time & Generative Content

Social Media Interactions and Content

Data-driven Displays (or Info-displays)

Triggers are important and are the output of our interactive technologies. Sometimes they are simple and other times they are very complex, but more often than not, they need to be used and chained together and create a meaningful interaction. Whatever kind of data you decide to source from your interactive technologies, how you chain that data into a cohesive user experience, how that user experience affects the environment or narrative, and how you manage to do that without giving every user a training session is what constitutes Triggers & User Experience.  

Real-time & Generative Content is the driving factor of immersive design. The prevalence of last and affordable computers has allowed for audio and video assets to be created in real-time, which has in turn created a demand for interactive technologies to control these video and audio elements. Knowing what kind of content can be generated in real-time, what kind of things are “generative art” , and how such elements can be affected and grow over time constitutes as Real-time & Generative Content.    

Social Media Interactions and content extends the ideas of Real-time & Generative content by integrating the vastness of all different kinds of social media. Knowing what kind of data, how often that data can be accessed, also how to create User Experience & Triggers out of seemingly unrelated social data constitutes Social Media Interactions and Content.   

Data-driven Displays (or info-displays) takes the notion of using social media as a data source and extends it to the myriad data that exists on the internet. We will explore the use of data sources like weather, traffic, news, and sports, in interactive installations. We will consider how they can be used in entertaining was, but also how they can be used as a valuable sources of information for users and the community.

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Interactive content allows the customer to engage with the content. Instead of passively observing, the customer enters the story and influences the results. Interactive content creates an experience for the viewer, and the content automatically becomes more memorable to them.

Interactive content is essentially anything that requires the viewer to take action. Through technology that becomes a part of the story. People’s attention spans are short in a hyperactive online world. Interactive content captivates users’ attention better than regular and keeps people’s attention for longer. It’s harder to stand out now on the Internet than it was before. Interactive content is still relatively new and makes you stand out with memorable, engaging and more personalized experiences.

Something people get confused about a lot is what interactive technologies is and how it works. Here’s a quick definition.

Definition: Technologies that are created and developed for real-time applications with a focus on human/user input and environmental sensing.

But I guess the thing with its is that there’s so many layers to how it works along with the different types of inter activeness you can have on top of that. I found a really good analogy that carefully explains how interactive technology works. This is an outtake from an article written by Elburz.

“Think of the letter “E”. It is the most common letter in the English language, but yet every word that it is a part of has a different meaning. An example are the words “love” and “hate”. Both contain the letter “E”, but have opposite meanings. Many available interactive technologies function at this level, providing raw data that has no meaning without creativity and integration with other technologies and processes.

The same idea applies to interactive technologies that focus on faster prototyping. These technologies may have pre-built layers of complexity that can process raw data into simple actions and triggers. These simple actions and triggers may not be suitable for productions, but they can be very useful in prototyping applications and experiences. Think of these technologies as singular words, like “jump”. They have inherent meaning, but their use in the context of a phrase can be very different. For example, compare the phrase “jump into the swimming pool” and the common expression “I’m jumping through hoops for this job” (frequently said be me…). Both use the word “jump” but imply very different meanings, as the expression doesn’t represent a literal jumping through hoops.”

As such Technology can come in many different shapes, forms and sizes. The list goes on from hardware sensors, to phone applications, web services. They definitely range from being completely digital for example web services, as well as having analog components, such as sliders, buttons, switches like those that are built into control panels.

The second element would be the notion of “real-time applications” . An important concept for interactive technology and immersive design. Real-time technologies are contrasted by more traditional “offline” or “non-real-time” technologies. A situation that many creative professionals can relate to is rendering/saving images or videos. Designers, advertising, Architects and much more work with other disciplines work with computational media that’s really expensive. Such as 3D modeling, multi-tracked audio, high-definition video. Every one of these formats have very similar workflows, where a user will input data, process their assets, preview the output, and then set their software on the job of the rendering the final product. The length of time it takes to render is dependent on the complexity of the work and can range from minutes to hours to days.      

With the advent of affordable and powerful computers, applications have tried to move from this traditional system to real-time systems, where there is no difference between the preview and the output. What is seen in the preview is actually the final render being generated at the speed the user is working at. Simply put, “real-time” means there is no delay between user input and the final output, because the output is being generated in “real-time”. Many advancements to real-time software's have been driven by the gaming industry. Who share many similar goals with immersive design and interactive technology, because their goal is to build immersive applications and games that are built to react to human/user input in real-time.  

The third element is the focus on user/human input and environmental sensing. The ultimate goal of interactive technology is to capture and analyze the different ways humans interact with each other, their environments, and objects around them. When humans communicate with each other, much of the meaning and context lies behind layers of subtlety that are generally taken for granted, such as tone of voice, facial expressions, eye contacts, body movements, and more. All the different interactive technologies seek specific ways to harness the way humans interact. And allow creative professionals the ability to harness these interactions to change environments, drive experiences, and tell stories.  

References: https://www.elburz.io/02-interactive-technology/  

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Mental Health

Not only has social media been proven to cause unhappiness, but it can also lead to the development of mental health issues such as anxiety or depression when used too much or without caution. In March 2018, it was reported that more than a third of Generation Z from a survey of 1,000 individuals stated that they were quitting social media for good as 41 per cent stated that social media platforms make them feel anxious, sad or depressed.

So I guess before I get into it I’ll just present some facts.  

So E-mental Health. What’s it all about?  By making the most of the opportunities presented by e-mental health, we can address some of the biggest future resource challenges facing the mental health sector. The impact digital technology has had on the way we live our lives today is immense. 74% of households are online, with the average user spending 14.2 hours a week online. 91% of UK adults use a mobile phone. 30% of all adults use a smartphone, and among younger adults aged 16 to 24 this rises to 52%. Public expectations of health services, and how they interact with them, are changing. Through greater use of technology, the public are becoming more active, informed consumers in their own healthcare. Service users and their families have different expectations about how their relationships with mental health services, and professionals, should be.

Now I’m researching how I can personalise my exhibition and what tools I need exactly to be able to execute my project. I think materials is a key next step if I do want to do what I want to do.      

How I can personalize it? I really don’t know. Laurent suggested coding so that it could scan your phone and see which apps you use so then cater whatever apps you have on your phone to you. But to be honest I’m not the biggest coder and doing this solo I think it does hold me back from making this something really amazing. But it is what it is and I think with the skill set I do have I can still make it something quite unique. I think now is the question of what materials I need and whether I need to order them from overseas. One thing that happened with my group project from last semester was that we had to order one of our core materials from online which wasn’t a major issue but it could have easily been a big issue if we didn't look into what materials we needed and how long it would take to be shipped here. So that was best case scenario. And at this point going into the semester break I really wish I saw Laurent or Donna because this is my first time attempting to work with any kind of holographic material and I’m not even really quite sure where to start. It’s really stressful I guess when working on a solo project for multiple reasons.    

I suppose I should start looking at other holographic exhibitions to get a better idea of how exactly I am going to do this. The artist I actually referenced in my work is actually Michael Bleyenberg. And what he uses for his work is dot-matrix hologram prints. Which I’m not sure exactly what or how it works but    

References:

https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/ResourceFinder/social-media-in-mental-health-practice.pdf

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More...

Firewall - Mike Alison - http://aaron-sherwood.com/works/firewall/

Firewall is an interactive media installation. So what it is exactly is a stretched sheet spandex serves as a membrane interface sensitive to depth that people can push into and create fire-like visuals and expressively play music.

“so this membrane represents a plane that you can experience but never get through. As hard as you try to understand what’s in between life and death, you can never fully know.” A very interesting concept as well as visually stunning too. I really enjoy the interactiveness side of this particular project in regards to the material used as well.

I think so few projects really incorporate on visuals that they tend to neglect I guess the deeper side of things or even how much more weight they can give the project, well at least I get caught in the trap where you want to create something so capturing to the eye, so visually impressionable that you forget to give it person which truly awakens a project and gives it something to live for. And so I guess that’s kind of where I am at this point in my project. Is what I want to do too much on the visual side of things and not enough of the meaningful and purposeful side of things. I guess that’s something I’d have to look into.

EGO – Klaus Obermaier with Stefano D’Alessio & Martina Menegon

https://vimeo.com/119042339     

“In psychology the mirror stage describes the formation of the Ego via the process of objectification, the Ego being the result of a conflict between one's perceived visual appearance and one's emotional experience. This identification is what psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan called alienation”

“The interactive installation EGO re-stages and reverses the process of alienation by enhancing and deforming the mirror image by the movements of the users.

Although an abstraction, it quickly becomes the self and reestablishes the tension between the real and the symbolic, the Ego and the It, the subject and the object.”

This interactive display involves diving into our minds and how we perceive ourselves. As described above the exhibition plays with the idea of our egos through the process of objectification. I think it undoubtedly executes this really well. From the moment you step forward into the area the projection starts off as a scribble on the floor. Then as you step forward the scribble is formed into the figure of a boy or girl depending on what you are. And as you move around the newly formed figure starts to follow your actions using a kinect which is the mirror stage. I think from the thinking behind this project and how it works is very well made. And for me personally the idea of the meaning and reasoning behind the project is more important than how the actual project works.

Because I do think that the project itself can be more fun and interactive. I guess because of the kind of project it is. It’s more targeted to an older audience, but that’s not to say kids won’t be able to enjoy this. But I think after a little while it can get quite boring and repetitive.  

SYNERGY - FUTURE HOME

https://vimeo.com/256365619

I’ve seen similar exhibitions to this popping up all over the place and even did something similar to this concept myself last semester for our studio project. I think the way this kind of interactive display is executed can be innovative and really deliver the message in a different unique way if done properly. What this exhibition focuses on

“Come in and discover the exciting energy innovations being developed today, and for the future. Tomorrows closer than you think.”

Honestly there’s really no fault in this display. It’s been executed so well by Sam Price and his team. From the touch displays to the on touch animations that flow really nicely. Although I do wish maybe it was a bit more colorful. A display like this is already amazing but just adding life to it and being able to make it come alive even more would have been great. Or maybe it’s just me coming from a slight visual arts background. Although it is just a straightforward project with not much depth or meaning to it. I still think it can turn into something amazing.

I want to kind of focus on our project while were here because it was literally the same. We focus on the ocean and micro plastic and how this constant cycle of micro plastic and humans are affecting the ocean and our bodies. It could have been a lot better than what we produced and even with our five members something I regret is not I guess making it visually appealing. We spent a lot of time on the production I guess that when we came to how it looked and moved it lacked a lot. I hope for my project this time around it can be just as innovative and appealing.  

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ITS: examples

In Order to Control - NOTA BENE Visual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnq4rvPT4Qc&feature=youtu.be

“A text discussing about the threshold on ethics and morality was looping on the floor, people who step on the typographic area to read it, realize themselves on the wall and the interaction process starts.

Everything that's legal is not always fair. Everything that's fair is not always legal.”

What I like about this exhibition is that it’s confronting and it does it in a way that anyone can interact with it whether you’re a kid or an adult or any age for that matter. It reveals to you the truth while still incorporating this interactive and playful side to it. Which I think can be a hard thing to balance. To make an interactive exhibition where its both really insightful and holds value to the purpose you’re trying to communicate but at the same time allows users to really be immersed and not get bored right away. And I think that’s what works here. As well as what I could take away from here as in somehow try to keep my exhibition on the same balance of being both interactive and insightful and not boring or hard to engage with.  

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch:

A show that touched on ITS  is the episode of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. A new take on the beloved series and a first in the world of direct interactive television. The story follows a young boy whose passion is to code video games. He soon comes across an opportunity of a lifetime when he’s offered a huge deal to produce a game called “bandersnatch” and must overcome all sorts of obstacles that may or may not be the reality he sees. It plays with the idea of how we perceive reality and what exactly is real.

And well what’s the ITS aspect of it you ask? It’s kind of like a typical “Life is strange,” game where you decide which path the antagonist goes with. But in this shows case if you choose the wrong path you have to go back until you get it right. For there are only a few paths with the right outcome.        

Understanding Experience in Interactive Systems

I’ve found this great article that explains why experience is important in interactive systems.  

“Understanding experience is a critical issue for a variety of professions, especially design. To understand experience and the user experience that results from interacting with products, designers conduct situated research activities focused on the interactions between people and products, and the experience that results. This paper attempts to clarify experience in interactive systems. We characterize current approaches to experience from a number of disciplines, and present a framework for designing experience for interactive system. We show how the framework can be applied by members of a multidisciplinary team to understand and generate the kinds of interactions and experiences new product and system designs might offer.”

A number of models and theoretical approaches have been developed to help understand experience. These include contributions from design, business, philosophy, anthropology, cognitive science, social science, and other disciplines. These approaches examine experience from a number of perspectives. We have grouped these approaches as product-centered, user-centered, and interaction-centered

Interaction-centered models explore the role that products serve in bridging the gap between designer and user. Here, too, we see approaches from a number of disciplines. For example, the philosopher John Dewey has been instrumental in helping designers understand the qualitative and definitive aspects of experience [17,18]. Essentially experience is a totality, engaging self in relationship with object in a situation. Researchers and practitioners in a variety of disciplines have built on the foundations of Dewey’s theory to create knowledge about how people engage with products and the world. Wright et al. [55] discuss experience from a design perspective as consisting of four threads: compositional, sensory, emotional and spatio-temporal. The threads contribute to actions (such as anticipating and recounting) that create meaning. Margolin, a design historian, provides four dimensions that clarify how people interact with designed products — categorizing operational, inventive, aesthetic, and social uses [41]. Pine and Gilmore differentiate between passive and active experiences, and experiences that are immersive as opposed to those that are absorbing [48]. Overbeeke and Wensveen focus on the aesthetics of interaction and the ways in which form and behavior support feedforward and feedback. Information in interfaces and action are coupled in six ways: time, location, direction, modality, dynamics and expression  

Mikami Seiko: Desire of codes:

“Desires inspired by a system of multiple views and perspectives and this installation involving visitors as subject s of both observation and expression.”

This installation consists of three parts. A large number of resembling tentacles with built in small cameras are placed across 1,5m x 4,5 wall (90 wrigglin Units), while six robotic search amrs equipped with cameras and laser projectors are from the ceiling in the center of the exhibition space (with six multiperspective search rm observe and follow visitors with insect like wiggling moves. As well as a giant round shaped screen that looks like an insect's compound eye is installed in the back of the exhibition space.  

[Compound Eye Detector Screen]. Projected onto this screen is a complex mixture of images transmitted from the wall-structures' built-in video cameras, and footage recorded by surveillance cameras installed at various places around the world, stored in the Desire of Codes database. In addition, superdirective microphones set up at various places inside the venue pick up voices, machine sounds and other noises in the installation space caused by visitors and by the work itself. Based on the conditions of each of the three parts, sounds are culled from a database of previously recorded audio files, to generate a constantly changing acoustic setting. The installation' s acoustic environment and projections, together illustrating a new reality of fragmentarily recombined aspects of time and space, investigate into contemporary appearances of human corporeality and desire via the visitor as a subject of expression and surveillance at once.

Such a brilliant and smart exhibition. I feel like only a few times in your life do you come across an exhibition that really stands out. But that's because there’s so much thought that's been put into it. And not only is the background work behind it amazing but also the way it is delivered is on another level. I hope my exhibition can have the same delivery. Finding out how I can incorporate traits that I want to insert such as a display that helps people with hopefully their mental health. I hope My holographic display really delivers the message I am trying to deliver.

I still don’t have a clue about how exactly I am going to do all this but I have the sem break to figure out exactly what equipment I need, how much it’ll cost, how exactly this is all going to play out. But I plan on getting on to it right away.     

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Color theory

After looking into semiotics and kind of understanding how exactly that ties into my project, I think the next step is to research a similar concept which is color theory. Color theory is just as important to my project if not more than semiotics is. Personally I find color theory super fascinating as color in general are a fascinating topic. 

So to properly understand how color can influence our way of thinking, we need to first understand the basics of how our mind deals with aesthetic stimuli. So things like color and other visual cues have the ability to shape people’s perceptions in two ways: through embodied and referential meaning.

Embodied meaning: is intrinsic—it’s inherently inside something and doesn’t rely on our emotions or experiences to have meaning.

Referential meaning: is dependent on the network of associations activated when we are exposed to the stimulus. In other words, we create meaning through what we immediately think of when we see it.

While some studies have tried to argue that there are intrinsic meanings behind each color (such as green is for growth or yellow is optimistic) most of this research is flawed and almost all empirical studies show that there is no one universal meaning for each color.

What almost every study will tell you is that how we feel about a color comes from the culture we we were raised in, our own perceptions, and our past experiences, so not from any intrinsic value they might have. Here’s a small pic of how that may look. 

So if we can’t use any intrinsic meanings behind colors to influence people, how can I work with the referential meanings that colors have? And that’s where color association becomes vital.

What Neuroscientists have found is that associations we have with visual information (such as color) is one of the most powerful factors influencing us when we make quick decisions. New studies have even suggested that this is evolutionary—that we might like the color blue because a blue sky signals good weather while darker colors are linked to danger and are consistently ranked as more depressing and less appealing.

In the Impact of Color in Marketing what researchers found was anywhere from 62 percent to 90 percent of snap judgements about products can be based on color alone.

So certain colors can influence the way we behave. But if there aren’t any clear-cut answers how do you choose a color that will have the desired effect when each person’s associations are different? For the most part, you can’t. But what you can do is create your own referential meanings around your colors. 

“Creating a color story is one of the quickest ways to connect all your values in a visual manner.”

References: https://thenextweb.com/creativity/2015/05/16/the-psychology-behind-color/

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Semiotics

Researching all these topics Laurent has given I think has helped put more depth into my project for sure. I knew what I wanted to look into but I guess I was still lost even in that process. So currently I’ve been looking into color theory and more specifically Wassily Kandinsky as well as semiotics. Semiotics to me has been a topic I’ve particular grown a interest to and I think it blends in well with exactly what it is I’m trying to do. Looking into signs that is. I’ve always wanted to do something with significance and symbolism and I think what I have going here is something interesting.

So from the researched I’ve acquired from this topic is that as a species we are driven to by a desire to make meanings. We are homo significans-meaning-makers. We can’t avoid interpreting things, and in doing so, treat them as ‘signs’. Signs can take forms of objects, words, images, sounds, odours, actions, flavours, and so on. But these have no instinctive meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning. And I guess that’s when the world around us comes to play and what were surrounded with growing up and even now. (Peirce ccp 2.308) declares that nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as ‘signifying’ something it is the meaningful use of signs that is at the heart of the heart of the concerns of semiotics.

References to the ‘meaning’ of something have very different senses which are important for any understandings of signs. These two dimensions (or reactions) of meaning are conceptual meaning (‘sense’) and interpretation meaning (‘reference’). In this context, the sense is a specific meaning in the mind.

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ITS Really late blog post

Coming into this new semester things are already in full steam ahead. Interactive Technology systems i thought would be a concise paper with knowledge already attainable about the subject online but man was i wrong. The whole concept of ITS is almost not talked about online, from what I've come across. A lot of my research has lead me to assume that it’s still a developing or ever changing topic of discussion. Or a newly found concept that has been around for years.

From what I’ve gathered ITS is a      

Interactive media can be implemented using a variety of platforms and applications that use technology. Some examples include mobile platforms such as touch screen smartphones and tablets, as well as other interactive mediums that are created exclusively to solve a unique problem or set of problems. Interactive media is not limited to a professional environment, it can be used for any technology that responds to user actions. This can include the use of JavaScript and AJAX in web pages, but can also be used in programming languages or technology that has similar functionality.

Interactivity-allowing or relating to continuous two way transfer of information between a user and a central point of communication system, such as a computer or television.

Interactive Media:

The internet

Mobile devices/Tablets(Touchscreens)

Motion control

Augmented reality

Video games

Beginning:

FIrst interactive media/technology for the masses was a video game called tennis for two. The game was played with two controllers that were hooked up to an analog computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen. It was introduced in October of 1958.

There were even touch screens before the birth of the web. The first touchscreen was created in 1965, but it was not multitouch. The first multi-touch screen was introduced in 1982.

The first smartphone was the IBM Simon. The Simon was a “wireless machine”,

It was a pager, an electronic mailing device, a calendar, an appointment schedule, an address book, a calculator, and a pen-based sketch pad. It is the first product to combine touchscreen tech with a telephone.

Smart interactive company:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaVFRzTTP4

PS vita interactive technology:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXWSpcTnKTw

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Aftermath

So after talking with Laurent once again and getting feedback on what I’ve got so far he gave me really good advice. I think what I needed was guidance and someone to help me really see what it is I’m trying to do. I now have a list of things to do and I am ready for the heavy workload ahead. I think? I’ve never before handled a solo job with this much work load before. Even when did my solo project last year I feel like it was lacking in so many ways. I wish I worked harder on it but I guess all I can do now is look back on it and learn and grow from it.    

What I needed to do was use perspective and see what my project would look like from the other side. I guess that’s something I never think about when working on my projects even though that’s such a huge aspect of every project. Understanding and knowing exactly what could stop the user from experiencing my holographic display. Laurent asked me to use him as an example and pretend as if he were a person trying to understand my project and was asking me questions about the project and in way even though I kind of knew where I was going with my project he helped me to see just exactly what it would be like in the eyes of the world. Looking at it from every detail. So that’s something I would like to incorporate into the process of my project is play-testing and using people to better my project. 

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Progress

After talking with Laurent briefly and asking for feedback he told me to make a mind map and really write down or draw a good idea of what it is I want to do exactly. And so I sat down and thought really hard and looked at everything I’ve gathered an took down statements of what it is  I would like to achieve throughout the duration of this project.  

Exploring the human psyche

Playing with perception and experience

Diving into social media and mental health

Using imagery, light and color

Focus on realization and self conscious  

I think all these are nice step by step

So at the moment this is exactly what I want need to focus on.

Looking into ways I can make the holographic display more personalized

look into color theory

use people to test how the display would work leading up to open studio

look into other holographic displays and artists

and work hard to blog more!

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More artists

I’ve been looking at Bolygo Balint, he looks and explores into the similarities of the scientific mind and the artistic.   

Bolygó’s work explores the similarity between the artistic and scientific mind. His work explores how both minds are motivated by the same need to discover/uncover, and turn resulting ideas into totalities.

His work explores the artistic practice through a process of invention, science and engineering. His mechanical instruments become autonomous and investigate the making process independently. The relationship between the cyclic and predictable nature of the machine and the unpredictability of the human touch conjures up both notions of random chaos and universal order. With the elimination of the artist’s touch, the natural universal forces become the creators of the artwork and the emphasis shifts towards the ‘act of creation’ being the object of beauty. The machine’s process and the resulting images become inseparable dynamics of the work.

Steel weights, wires, motors and pulleys are transformed into mechanisms animated by natural universal forces. In constructing these devices the artist is creatively challenged to investigate how an underlying scientific structure or process can change or shape an object. The practical solutions to physical problems concerned with friction, weight, tension, and compression are all elements that give idiosyncratic aesthetic to his kinetic devices.

The mechanisms often explore the passing of time, and they record traces of particular events and movements on a surface - paper, metal, plaster, glass - through the build-up of complex patterns, highlighting the connection between space, matter and time.

Here are a few examples of his work:

Reference: http://www.balintbolygo.com/

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Artists

An artist work I’ve come across is Michael Bleyenberg. He explains his work to be “light architecture.”  

He goes on to explain: “once to construct buildings and communities with requirements beyond everyday perception and experience, not just using solid building material, but the ephemeral medium light. After several years working as a free-lance painter, I gradually began to replace brush, canvas and tube colors by laser, mirrors, lenses and other optical device. I left the traditional painter’s studio for a light laboratory (at the Academy of Media Arts, KHM, Cologne, Germany) that revealed a completely new and radical, visual field. The basic change took place around 1992/93. My decision resulted from a fundamental re-thinking of the traditional forms of visual expression. I was deeply unsatisfied with the possibilities and had a dead-end feeling when it came to fine art. Moreover, I thought there must be more than the traditional means of artistic expression. A contemporary artist should be able to look beyond art. He has to anticipate, feel, critically explore and adopt other developments, for example in science and technology which in return will affect the way his image of the human being is represented in art.”

Here are a few examples of his work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5nNJggGoek (3:19 mark)

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Finally getting started

Stream mix up:

Well the start to this semester was honestly a mess. From stream switching to making a group to that group breaking up then unsuccessful stream switching Its been an interesting start to this semester for sure. I originally was in Wednesday stream but tried switching to Tuesday steam, but that was unsuccessful so now I’m back at square one with Wednesday stream. I think?

This semesters definitely been more self taught from the start. First week was for sure something I didn’t expect. And in terms of what I want to do I think I have a fair idea of exactly what that is. When I was part of a group we wanted to focus on lights and the human psyche and how it works and how we could play with it. So I guess I still would like to incorporate that but focus on mental health and social media whilst dwelling into the human psyche. But deciding how I would like to deliver has been a challenge. For me to develop an idea I like to ask myself questions just to get the ball rolling. Like whats the purpose and how can you help other with this? Because I always find myself doing projects that don’t have that much depth as I prefer to be on the more visual side of things.

So what is it exactly I want to do:

After looking at pinterest, and continuously looking through multiple projects a couple in particular stood out to me. As I’ve mentioned before playing with light was something I wanted to particularly emphasize on. And I guess through looking at projects similar to light i came across holograms and different projects to do with it. I still remember going to a communication design exhibition years ago and seeing a holograms through multiple pictures on display. For some reason it stood out to me more than the other projects on display. Its a media that I haven’t really thought about working with in the past but it is for sure something I would like to play with. 

SO in saying that I would like to to a project that revolves around self awareness when it comes to social media and our mental health. I would like to take this opportunity to really bring to our attention how harmful social media can be as I personally think I have fallen victim to it and its affects on my own mental health. So yeah I intend to look into the effects social media has on our mental health as well as dive into the human psyche and really dwell into what makes us or what provokes emotions or feeling on top of that but that’s more minor thing but still connects to my main focus i think. 

I guess after getting more of an understanding of the topics I can incorporate how we can treat it in a form that’s both visually and aesthetically pleasing to suit the taste of our generation  and maybe looking into relaxing soothing alternatives that make us look at what we’re doing and what we are feeling as well as why.  

I want to create mental health awareness and its connection to social media with holographic or light media. 

I hope through looking at examples I can get a grip of if i want to work with something holographic or work with a light display show. Both sound really ideal in terms of the “how” i would like to touch the audiences with. It’s just a matter of which can deliver my “why” more. And i know for now my why, what, and how all seem blurry. I think I'm on the path to having something quite different that I've never worked with before. Specially with the media i have in mind.

I know It’ll be challenging and hard especially since I’ll be working on this alone. But i guess that’s the challenge with BCT. is that sometimes you get to be able to work in a group, bring minds together and really bring something to life. Or sometime u plan something but that all goes to the bin and you end up having to work alone fourth week into the semester. That’s alright its still quite early that i can pick myself up and make something amazing.

[wnmwork-blog]

Conceptual/Contextual statements

Conceptual Statement

The majority of the following text is written by Rachael Li. Other group member inputs are referenced.

Most people tend to just forget about trash once it is in the bin. Out of sight, out of mind. It just “disappears”, but where does it go? This is the aim of this project, to show a scenario where your trash may potentially end up if it not able to be recycled and to also educate how it will affect the consumer. Ultimately, the plastic used by the consumer will affect them somehow. We specifically look into microplastics cycle and its effect through a narrative.

The mentality we followed for the entire semester was that “If we had to stand there and explain our project during Open Studio, then what is the point of it?” Meaning that if you had to explain the project then it means that it didn’t work. Your project should explain itself.

We looked into many different areas of study and problems to look at as the brief given was very broad. The chosen topic we looked into was pollution in New Zealand, specifically looking into littering and waterways. After research into those topics, this was then narrowed down into microplastics as it was widespread and also affects everyone. As for the actual project itself, there were also many broad concepts and ideas, from fear mongering using live fish to hopeful documentaries. It was still too broad. From looking at similar projects, we realized that they all had aspects of interactivity, education and communication. These are the things we would need in our project, communication using interactivity and education. Using these aspects we came up with an interactive infographic poster combining narrative and relevant statistics.

Educating the audience was something that we wanted to focus on as a group, we felt educating through immersion would be most appropriate for our concept. This is how we would get our main message across, to let the audience know, be aware and learn of the extent of the problem and to look into solutions to better themselves and the world around them. The education aspect of this project would be the statistics that show up with the smaller objects. These are carefully selected statistics aimed to impact the audience to reflect on their actions, their consumeristic idealism and their contribution to the trashing of single use plastics.

Interactivity was another important aspect of this project. Humans are curious and learn by interacting whether it is with an object or another human. By incorporating interactivity with conductive and reactive graphics on an infographic, we aim to leave a lasting impression or lesson in the mind of the viewer. Hopefully educating the consumerism mindset of buying for the sake of having. The obvious interactive aspect is the touching of the actual infographic. The deeper interactive is the actual storyline of the large objects. The intention of these were to give the audience a scenario of how their single use plastic usage contributes to the larger problem of how microplastics in the environment affect the flora and fauna and most importantly, our health. We believe that if we can show the user how they directly relate to the issue, they will be more likely to consider their actions in the long-run.

Contextual Statement

The majority of the following text is written by Rachael Li. Other group member inputs are referenced

Although banning of plastic bags is gaining traction in New Zealand, it still is not enough (Ministry for the Environment. (n.d.)). The effects of the reduction of plastic bags are barely noticeable when we are still surrounded by so many other single use plastic packaging items. The plastic bag ban may temporarily help with a consumer's guilty conscience about the effects of plastics to us and the environment.

Plastic pollutants, littering and illegal dumping are a problem in the Auckland area. The restoration and upkeep of New Zealand’s environment is necessary for the preservation of a  “clean and green” image (Ministry for the Environment. (n.d.). This is important not just for our tourism industry but also for the enjoyment and education of our future generations. There is obvious plastic pollution that you can see such as plastics and litter on the streets, beaches and parks. However, there are more plastics that many of us can’t see, such as plastics on the ocean floor or small plastic particles in the environment called microplastics.

For this project we have decided to look into the invisible dangers of microplastics (Orb Media. (n.d.)). Some plastics can only be recycled through manmade processes, leaving the rest of single use plastics to end up in landfills and other areas. The plastics that are not recycled do not biodegrade, they gradually break down into smaller pieces through physical and called microplastics.

The invisibility and the widespread of it is quite concerning . Plastics are harmful in the natural ecosystem. The ingestion of plastics may cause harmful effects on the entire ecosystem, microplastics are ingestible to small aquatic organisms (Zeng, E. Y. (2018)). The plastic additives and the absorbed toxins leach into the gastrointestinal tract of a small ocean organism, the ingested toxins are concentrated into the surrounding body and flesh, when eaten by a larger organism, the toxins moves up along the food chain (Frederic Gallo, Cristina Fossi, Roland Weber, David Santillo, Joao Sousa, Imogen Ingram, … Dolores Romano. (2018)). Ultimately, being ingested by those at the top of the food chain, us (Johnston, I. (2017, July 26)).

Plastic has been around for 100 years, the production of plastic has drastically increased and it is now a commodity. However, we never really looked into effects it may have on us and the natural environment or how to properly dispose or recycle it. Now that it has reached the point where everything around us is plastic, what can we do with it?

Consumerism is a factor in the demand and production of non-recyclable materials. This is a mindset we hope to change eventually. To make better purchase choices and to always question whether it is that you need it or just want it. In the average consumers minds, the usefulness and convenience outweigh the damages it may cause(Miles, S. (1998)).

There are many different organizations and campaigns already targeting plastic pollutions. However, as a group we have decided to focus on the effects of widespread microplastics. Looking at similar projects such as Plastic Oceans (Plastic Oceans. (n.d.)) and 4Oceans (4Ocean. (n.d.)), we have realized that communication and connection is key to educating youth and the general public. This is a good way to make them aware of consumer tendencies and the dangers and effects of singles use plastics on the entire planet and even themselves. As seen, this could be done through many different mediums such as campaigns, powerful documentaries or even recycling waste plastics into an object that someone could purchase.

References:

Ministry for the Environment. (n.d.). Single-use plastic bags to be phased out | Ministry for the Environment. Retrieved from http://www.mfe.govt.nz/news-events/single-use-plastic-bags-be-phased-out

Miles, S. (1998). Consumerism : as a way of life. London : Sage Publications, 1998.

Zalk, N. (2017, August 31). Why are New Zealand’s waters so polluted? Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2017/08/zealand-waters-polluted-170831090454283.html

Our clean green image: What’s it worth? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/clean-green-aug01-final.pdf

Pressures on our water environment | Ministry for the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/state-new-zealand%E2%80%99s-environment-1997-chapter-seven-state-our-3

Waste generation and disposal in New Zealand | Ministry for the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/state-new-zealand%E2%80%99s-environment-1997-chapter-three-production-3

National Ocean Service. (n.d.). What are microplastics? Retrieved from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html

Zeng, E. Y. (2018). Microplastic contamination in aquatic environments : an emerging matter of environmental urgency. Amsterdam, Netherlands : Elsevier, [2018]. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat05020a&AN=aut.b2532469x&site=eds-live

Frederic Gallo, Cristina Fossi, Roland Weber, David Santillo, Joao Sousa, Imogen Ingram, … Dolores Romano. (2018). Marine litter plastics and microplastics and their toxic chemicals components: the need for urgent preventive measures. Environmental Sciences Europe, Vol 30, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2018), (1), 1. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1186/s12302-018-0139-z

NZ Herald. (2018, September 20). Microplastic pollution much worse than feared. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12012070

GreenFacts. (n.d.). Marine Litter: 3. What are microplastics and how do they enter the marine environment? Retrieved from https://www.greenfacts.org/en/marine-litter/l-2/3-micro-plastics.htm

Johnston, I. (2017, July 26). Plastic microparticles found in flesh of fish eaten by humans. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-microparticles-fish-flesh-eaten-humans-food-chain-mackerel-anchovy-mullet-a7860726.html/

Orb Media. (n.d.). Invisibles. Retrieved from https://orbmedia.org/stories/Invisibles_plastics/

4Ocean. (n.d.). 4ocean is Actively Cleaning our Oceans and Coastlines. Retrieved from https://4ocean.com

Plastic Oceans. (n.d.). Rethink Plastic. Save Our Seas ? Plastic Oceans Foundation. Retrieved from https://plasticoceans.org/

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Final

Getting inspiration was tough for the poster. With such a simple concept i felt as if playing it safe was too safe or should i go all out. So i decided to try and meet in the middle and make something simple but different. I liked playing with the whole sea idea as the background since our project is about awareness of micro-plastics that linger in the sea. I automatically just thought to myself to do a nice sea illustration in the back and i think the outcome was really nice. Although it was such a quick process there wasn't really much to it, but i think because i got to where i wanted so quick was because i knew the process and respected it. And i feel like i only got there because of what i learned and my experiences in BCT.

(Final)

I’m really happy with how the final outcome of the poster looks. I know it still has a lot of work to do but I’m quite satisfied.(Our title was truly another challenge and a constant working progress)

Looking back at everything we’ve done this semester I’m grateful for Donna approaching us with our current project. Honestly what we had at first was not thought out properly and is not really something our degree stands for. BCT is about being creative and new and trial and error. And what we had going for us at first was definitely not. Although i didn't quite get to dwell in the other parts of this project such as the coding and working on the mapping i’m glad i got to at least observe and learn a thing or two with these unfamiliar programs we used for our project. Because that exposure ultimately i think helps me to grow and know what resources i need when i want to do a project similar to this again.

In conclusion i think this semester has had a lot of ups and downs but i think this semester definitely been one where I've learnt so much, and i really appreciate all the help Donna and Sangeeta have given us.    

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Conductive things

Finishing up the final screen pints were a task.

Playing with the conductive paint and getting it aligned and working and testing it out on different fabrics and materials was difficult, with some working and some not. But we got there in the end

With the help of Donna so kindly giving us one of her fabrics. So after we had out final pieces of fabric confirmed we decided to do our final prints but on a much larger scale to what we first practiced on. With the help of Straun we put our illustrations onto large frames and started applying it onto our fabric with our conductive paint. At first it was quite hard to get all the paint on because the fabric was so thick. But we after doing multiple roll ons we just decided to finish it up by hand and paint in the unfinished parts. I'm glad i got to try something new this semester and i'll definitely be returning to screen printing room one day.

After being assigned to research and getting the information we needed for out info graphics, and after helping with the posters i was gladly assigned to our poster. Which was something down my alley and that i actually really enjoy doing. Working on out poster design was exciting for me because it involved my creative side and not my research side.

Getting inspiration was tough though. With such a simple concept i felt as if playing it safe was too safe or should i go all out. So i decided to try and meet in the middle and make something simple but different. I liked playing with the whole sea idea as the background since our project is about awareness of micro-plastics that linger in the sea. I automatically just thought to myself to do a nice sea illustration in the back and i think the outcome was really nice. Although it was such a quick process there wasn't really much to it, but i think because i got to where i wanted so quick was because i knew the process and respected it. And i feel like i only got there because of what i learned and my experiences in BCT.