11 - Idat 210 - Evaluation

For this project I wanted to look at the journey I make through the digital world and real world and see if there are any connections or correlations. The journey was based around a holiday I had planned during the Easter holidays to Oban. Building a map for an area you know could lead you to create a map which is influenced too much by personal experience rather than from the data collected to create the map.


The keywords I chose for this project were:

- Interface

- Journey

- GPS

- Social Networking

Interface was a chosen keyword because ultimately it connects the physical world to that of the digital world. Journey is the main basis of my project, this project proved to be a journey in itself. GPS is the main technology used to put movement through a physical space and put it in a digital format and last but not least social networking, a very popular digital creation changing physical interaction between people into a digital form of communication.

Creating the maps was my first challenge, finally working through the process’s I found that simple was better using only four key points on the map created from the position of keys on my keyboard. The walk took me round both tourist and residential areas of Oban which I would not necessarily have seen. I also found McCaig tower which sat pretty on one of the hills I walked over. While walking the journey I saw even more the connection of the digital world. Advertising is a prime example of the connections. We grow up with having adverts prominently displayed whether it is in the form of a sign, poster or even on the side of a bus we pass the with ought thought. But if we are online and a pop-up comes up (forced advertising) it can annoy us, and yet if a lorry drives past with its advert in huge font on the side we just do not think about it. Lorries and buses are the pop-up advertising of our physical world.

A connection more related to my journey is taxis. If you dint necessarily know how to get to your destination you would ask a taxi driver and he will take you there. Much like Google would take you to possible web destinations when typing keywords in you are taken to a page where your request is possible displayed. People may argue that doing things digitally is a lot more time effective. This project has made me think otherwise, f you shop online you have to wait for delivery, if you physically go to the shop your purchases are instant and you get environmental benefits of getting out of the house which the digital world does not offer.

The digital world is a developing one and the connections between it and the physical world will always be there because we build the digital world with influence of what is around us.

12 - Idat 210 - Final Piece

This is my submission for the project, if you look carefully you will see some carefully layed out connections here are a few.

Google search of trips in Oban in the digital world and a seal trip sign in the physical world. All part of the journey.

This one is  less obvious the search is Oban whisky and the image displays the chimney from the Oban whiskey distillery.  There are a couple more darted round the video.

On the left you see the digital journey through webpages, on the right photo documentation of the journey the keyword "Oban" took me on.

11 - Idat 210 - Map Development

zhis is the video which i referenced the mousetracking and keyboard tracking from. Looking back over the footage i thing mouse tracking is way to iratic to create a gps map from. so that leaves me with the keyboard track. all he searches i have typed have had 2 things in common, they are all on google and all the key phrases contain "Oban" . As that is where my journey is going to take place surely this is the word i should use in my keyboard tracking.


Looking back at my drawings i recreated this. This is "Oban" in keyboard track language. a simple four point track which would make a good if a bitsimple track for my journey. This is going back to the idea of keywords.

Below is the track layed onto a map. obviously i am not a bird so i am incapable of flying in direct lines through buildings. so i will use the key positions as reference points for the final gps map.

Here is the drawing of the track i planned to take. the key positions are still the same.  This is the most direct route which makes the track look as close to that of the keyboart track as possible. Instead of my fingers traveling from one key to another, my feet will travel from one point to another.

10 - Idat 210 - Mouse Tracking Map

Here is part of the animation from the mouse tracking i used. The video took too long too render when rendering the whole thing in high detail due to the plug-ins involved so i have uploaded a low quality snippet.
The mouse tracking is not as formattted as the one from the keyboard as it has now grid to follow. it is true that it is bound by the screens edges though. You can see which parts of the screen are used most by the mouse and where the interface buttons are put in similar places where there is a higher density of mouse tracks. below the video i have uploaded an image of the full mouse track and you can see how aratic the movement truely is.

Looking at both my mouse and keyboard tyracks there is no way i can walk these as a gps map it could take me days and i would just end up going back on myself. i need to find a new wy to create a map from what i have been working on withought using all of the data which i have collcted.

9 - Idat 210 - Preliminary resources

On arriving in Scotland i picked up some maps so i could start overlaying my route.

The different map sizes allowed me to test different layouts and also gave me an idea of the canvas i was working with. I started to draw up the keyboard presses into a word document For me to reference when drawing out my keyboard tracks:

1. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

2. CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ ENTER

3. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

4. CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘S’-CAPS LOCKS ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘t’ ‘l’ ‘a’ ‘n’ ‘d’ ENTER

5. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

6. CAPS LOCKS-‘T’-CAPS LOCKS ‘e’ ‘l’ ‘o’ ‘w’ ‘i’ ‘e’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘C-CAPS LOCKS ‘o’ ‘n’ ‘n’ ‘e’ ‘l’ ENTER

7. www.google.com

8. CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘T’-CAPS LOCKS ‘t’ ‘r’ ‘i’ ‘p’ ‘s’ ENTER

9. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

10. CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘D’-CAPS LOCKS ‘i’ ‘s’ ‘t’ ‘i’ ‘l’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘r’ ‘y’ ENTER

BACKSPACE X10 CAPS LOCKS-‘W’-CAPS LOCKS ‘i’ ‘l’ ‘d’ ‘l’ ‘i’ ‘f’ ‘e’ ENTER

BACKSPACE X7 CAPS LOCKS-‘N’-CAPS LOCKS ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘i’ ‘o’ ‘n’ ‘a’ ‘l’ CAPS LOCKS-‘P’-CAPS LOCKS ‘a’ ‘r’ ‘k’ ENTER

11. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

12. CAPS LOCKS-‘C’-CAPS LOCKS ‘a’ ‘s’ ‘t’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘s’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ ENTER

13. CAPS LOCKS-‘O’-CAPS LOCKS ‘b’ ‘a’ ‘n’ ENTER

14. CAPS LOCKS-‘D’ ‘Y’ ‘1’ ‘2’ ‘3’ ‘D’ ‘N’ -CAPS LOCKS ENTER

15. ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘w’ ‘.’ ‘g’ ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘g’ ‘l’ ‘e’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

16. CAPS LOCKS-‘T’-CAPS LOCKS ‘e’ ‘l’ ‘o’ ‘w’ ‘i’ ‘e’ SPACE CAPS LOCKS-‘C-CAPS LOCKS ‘o’ ‘n’ ‘n’ ‘e’ ‘l’ ENTER

CTRL ‘c’ CTRL ‘v’ CAPS LOCKS-‘C’-CAPS LOCKS ‘o’ ‘n’ ‘n’ ‘e’ BACKSPACE X5 CAPS LOCKS-‘C’-CAPS LOCKS ‘o’ ‘n’ ‘n’ ‘e’ ‘l’ ENTER

Here is the keyboard layout i drew in order for me to create the maps. It is a replica of my computer keyboard, I later drew ponts in within the buttons from which i would connect the lines. this is similar sort of thing to a grid reference of a map.

I drew the maps out by hand because it is an old fashioned method of map creation. plus it also allowed me to lay them out and compare them. For phrases which where typed multiple times such as http://www.google.com/ i only drew one map as this was sufficient.

I layed out the mapps acoording to the key connection, as google was the main point of call when trying to find the information needed all the keywords whent through that site.

When overlayed all the maps together and came up with the image below. it almost gives off a diamond shape which is quite interesting The structured format of the keyboard gives the map its patterns and you can see the regularly pressed keys such as the "caps locks" and the "space bar"

In order to vizualise which keys were used the most i created a digital representation, the pixel size of the circles is a proportional model of how many times the buttons were used. The larger circles are over "O", "BACKSPACE" and "CAPS LOCKS" regular formatting buttons.

12 - Workspaces 2 - The Projection

This is the final projection, i have added music in to simulate the opening and closing of the club doors. also you can see the movement of the cigarette light at the right and side of the projection. i thought it would be good to see what the camera is taking in, this also means that if its light enough the people in the smoking area will be able to work out that it is them which is affecting the animation.



To Evaluate:

Working on this project has been a challenge, working with peers who see things in a different way has been both refreshing and maybe a little frustrating too. Overall the survey of the area has allowed us to see a new depth into Stonehouse  as an environment. Its different elements and sections whether its from new buildings going up or old building being half knocked down. The study has allowed us to explore hertzian space in context of a whole area and not just the area which immediately surrounds you. What started as a breaking apart of what was and is there has become a putting together of new technologies to improve/modify an area which would otherwise be left and ignored.

From doing this module i have learned that its not only the busy bustling parts of a town which are important, the quirky back streets can also offer a new way of thinking and a new ways to change space as we see it. Its important also not to only think about what we see but what we do not.  looking int other use of wi-fi has created some really interesting visualisations of environments which would not necessarily be considered. But as we become more reliant on our invisible ties to technology i can see spaces changing to match our cultural needs much like with the Wi-fi flowers a visually stunning idea with a practical purpose.

The process of study to projection has not necessarily been a fluent one, but it has been interesting. when you have so many minds in one project its always going to come up with intriguing results.

11 - Workspaces 2 projection development

It became obvious to us that the use of cartoon animations would not be that effective, they are a bit to clinical and clean we needed somethimng a bit more gritty, rough and powerfull. Searching online f

or images and inputting them into after effects we created the animation.

We also had to have a bit more thought in making the motion tracking as in the smoking area there would be some people out there to cool down or spend time with smokers. So we needed a way to only target smokers with the motion tracking. The only way we could think of doing it is using BitmapData  in flash completely iradicating the need for Arduino. So that is what we did. I searched online for tutorials on how to track colour and found an open source file online. With a few tweeks i had managed to get it to work tracking a lighter.

This was the motion tracking done. But we needed to make sure it only worked when people came outside. So using the microphone code from MOKI (http://www.oneforthedesigners.co.uk/moki.html ) I made it so the projection only kick starts once it hears something of loud volum, in other words when the door of the club opens and music blairs out the programme will start sensing movement. Below is the flow chart of how the projection works.

As we are not projecting our final piece actually in the environment we projected it in the class room we had to create and electric cigarette using an LED, 9v Battery, Resister, Wiring and rolling parifinalia:

The lit up LED will eb monitered by the sensor it will see the movement and the animation will play.

10 - Workspaces 2 Idea development

Talking to the lecturer we decided to go with the no smoking campaign. Reasons:
- The area we have chosen is quite grimy, an image of a lung getting more and more depleated and disgusting fits the area.
- It has a purpose to aid in the prevention of smoking.
- The visual aids available would make it a very effective piece.


Research: 

Smoking campaigns have started becomimg a lot more out there and clever trying to tap into the way we think and making sure there is no escape by putting them in places which we would see in everyday life.
Here are some images of examples i found on google images.

This is an ashtray found at a bus stop, the mnain compartment where the cigarettes are stored is shaped based on lungs, the glass model is supposed to show that smokers are filling their lungs with toxins.

This one made me smile, a smoking shelter with an image transfered on the roof of the view from the inside of a grave o the outside, a funeral from the deciesed point of view. To remind you that smoking is potentially deadly.

Here is another intelegent piece of imagery, lungs shaped forestry with a section deforested to give you an idea of the effect of deforistation on the air we breathe. This is not a anti-smoking campaign but can be twisted to look like one as uses the same sort of principles of the relationship between forests and our lungs. The trees are the lungs of the world.

This amusing stop smoking campaign on the back of a bus uses the relationship between the pollution created by the bus and transfers it to the pollution of the body by smoking. The image is positioned in such a way it looks like the fumes coming out of the bus is coming out of the man.

This amusing use of cigarettes to form the bodies of humans uses humor to pass accross a message, some may think it is a shocking way of doing it, i feel its an effective method of getting the message across. i also feel it could act as viral advertisment as it is the sort of image some people will pass onto there friends.

 The relationship between smoking and suicide is not allways made because of the phrase it 'can' kill you.
this full on representation of smoking is suicide usses the smoke to simulate the objects used in such acts. its a clever way of getting people to actually think about what they are doing to themselves.

1. Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
2. Smoking increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.


Facts taken from http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/harmful-smoking-effects.html .

Development of idea

Since we would use the arduino to feed data from the sensors into flash to then replicate the information into an animation. in order to effect the animation we got onto working with flash and on the animation we would use her are some early clips of the animations/working prototypes.

In this one the lungs blacken when there is more movement in the area.



This is a similar deal instead we start and end with a full figure and the lungs become more distorted. If there is movement in the area the animation plays.


This is the third prototype, this works off the idea that the alveole in the lungs act like trees in the forest converting the air for our bodies to use. Smoking kills off  these much in the same way forest fires kill off trees making future respiration difficult.

9 - Workspaces 2 Arduino and Ideas

"Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It's an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board. "- http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction

Arduino is an inexpensive, simple and cross-platform device we have been asked to use to create our projections. Using the Arduino as an electronic interface attach sensors lights and speakers, then write the programme on the computer depending on what you want doing. Upload it to the arduino and boom you have got urself for example an alarm system.

our next step of development was to come up with a way we could use this to our advantage so we brainstormed some ideas.

Stonehouse The Haunting:
- Our area is quite dark and creepy, we were thinking of using the arduinos motion sensor to detect when people walk pas, and if they do we would project a ghostly figure on the wall.

Drinking, Smoking, Eating Health Quiz:
- Quiz with big buttons when pressed the answers are put into database. Users stats and questions come up on the projection, How healthy are you?

Anti-Smoking:
- Using motion sensors as our are is located in the smoking area we thought we could touch on a no smoking campaing. Using a motion sensor to detect movement the animation would play through if theres no motion in the smoking area the animation will stop.

Anti-Drink Driving:
- Projection various full on newspaper statements and images of drink driving crashes including re-enactments we could project that on the wall to prevent people driving home after a drink.

8 - Workspaces 2 Stonehouse & GPS

Here is my map of a GPS track through Stonehouse from the university. I decided to go for a wander one eve to where the Cremyl ferry leaves. I walked down the Dessolate Western approach, accross the bustling nightlife of Union Street and down the dark Cremyl Street. Trying my best to stick to areas with lighting in order for me to be able to see where i was walking. It only really got dingy when i left Union street to head towards Cremyl street where there were not as many if any street lights.

Its a similar situation at the back of C103 where we are planning on doing our projection. The street lights do not go down the ally so it ads that extra eerie eliment to it.

The next track is of what i like to call the Stonehouse sock. The idea of using GPS to create images is used by artist Jeremy Wood who created drawings on a map and set out to recreate them. Its is quite a clever idea it is much more successfull in large cities due to the large concentration of buildings and formatted street layouts.

To see my other work on GPS press THIS link.

7- Workspaces 2 New Map

Looking into my 3D models of the chosen area i decided to do another map with experience looking into the darker areas around Stonehouse. These are the areas which have more buildings in smaller proximnity, where the sun is only shining on a small percentage at a time due to buildings getting in the way. i also decided to add the wind direction this only really effects the areas near the waters edge as the buildings also block a large quantity of the wind dissipating it over and around them.

Bellow is the group map, showing all of our layers of exploration throughout the space. This is a good visual study of hertzian space which also gives you a good idea of the environment which surrounds you. from the areas of clean and grean to dark and build up areas. git is mainly around the concentration of road networks where it is darker but you are also more likely to find wi-fi and bluetooth devices due to a larger population.

8- Augmented Reality - Final Submission

AR Band from Gavin Jones on Vimeo.

7- Augmented Reality - Testing Models

here are the other models i tested unsuccessfully with the augmented software. these models did show up just without animation. i am not using these in my presentation as part of the simulation because they are of different modelling styles and one has no material.

6- Augmented Reality - The Band

Here is the band together currently with no music in the background, i will overlay this Video onto a stage ready for my presentation

5- Augmented Reality - Software

The First sofware I tried was the basic FLAR toolkit, after modifying the actionscript code to input my model and use the correct pattern i was having little success getting my models to work. This could be due to the fact the format "collada" does not support the parameters used within the model. This left me to explore other methods.

The next piece of software i tried was ARMirai, i was confident with this software as i heard a few of my fellow students say that they were successfull.After esporting my model in the requires "ive" format i changed the route directory of the file to fit my own and booted up ARMirai, the model came up missing everything including its eyes apart from its shoulders and head.

I managed to get some sample models up and running withought animations so for my presentation i will use them to disply the size and form they will take and then play the video of simulation of AR Band using my origional models.

8 - Idat 210 - Pre-Easter Presentation

7 - Idat 210 - Further Exploration

In order to get a good view of the use of gps to track journeys I wanted to research who has used it and how they have implemented it.

This is one example of a journey over a mountain trail. It shows the gps over a 3d plane. Which is an interesting way of dealing with gps, quite a lot of gps tracks i have seen before have been using flat surfaces, this gives a lot more depth and idea into how the journey went.

6 - Idat 210 - Proposal Discussion

After discussing my ideas with Ben I have decided to go along with idea three as I think it has a more conceptual merit. Idea goes further: Key Logging a journey through digital space and replicating the visual data into a path which I will overlay onto a map, I will then explore the physical space using the map logging what I see with the use of photos.

In the second two weeks of the Easter holidays I am going to Oban (Scotland) for a 2 week holiday. I have not been there before so need an interesting way to discover the space. My digital journey will be of me digitally exploring the space, finding more information about Oban and what it has to offer including looking for photos and images.

This will be overlayed onto a map of Oban. Using this map I will create a physical journey through the space and take different photographs of my journey which i will then overlay onto the map.

Different ways of notating the space:

- Time
- Altitude
- Light
- Temperature

I could then do a comparison between the digital journey and the physical journey, in the digital journey only the time will change unlike in the physical journey where lots of elements are changing.

5 - Idat 210 - Proposal

Negotiated Project Proposal

Overview

Navigation would be a keystroke or a mouse click from page to page moving our way gradually getting to the final page. It could be knowing which page you want to go to and typing in its address getting there instantly or it could be a more indirect route via a search engine. While real world navigation could be a physical movement to a destination directly by walking, controlling your every turn and movement. It could be getting on a bus or train, obviously you know where it is going but you have no real control over how it gets to the destination.
This is what I plan to explore through this project work.

Keywords

- Interface

- Environment

- Journey

- Key Logging

- Social Networking
-Mapping
http://gavinjonesidat.blogspot.com/2008/12/idat-107-gps-data.html

Context (Research)

Navigation and journeys have been mapped in many ways over the years, now with new technologies it has become a lot easier for everyone to get their hands on navigational equipment. Mobile phones now come equipped with GPS and even internet browsers making digital journeying on the move possible. A lot of thought has gone into the development of navigation techniques for both computer and real world situations, with sat-nav for cars and search engines making it easier to find that illusive site and information online.
Computer navigation has developed a lot since the invention of the mouse in the early 60’s, they are now wire-less and are even in-built into laptops making navigation easy from your fingertips. Inventors have even built a mouse to be used by your feet. These deviations from normal ideologies of navigation are interesting aspects to explore.

Field leaders (Inspiration)

One of my influences is Bruce Branit, His video “World Builder” is about a man who creates a world for the woman he loves. It looks into virtual reality, Interfaces and augmented virtual reality. I really enjoy watching this video; it really makes me think about the connections between virtual reality and reality, using very clever elements such as sounds and visual signals to make it seem even more real.
Another Influence is Jeremy Wood who created drawings on a map and set out to recreate them using a GPS, drawing many things from animals to words using the formations of roads and buildings. It is an interesting to use a technology which is usually used to study journeys through physical space as a creative medium. GPS allows you to create digital representation of a physical journey making a direct link between a journey and technology.

Implementation (Platform e.g. video, installation etc)

I have had quite a few ideas of how to explore my chosen subject. One is a projectoral sculpture involving projecting multiple journeys onto glass planes while mapping a GPS journey through the glass planes using lasers and mirrors, the lasers would show up using some form of smoke machine. The journey would become a convergence of a digital and physical journey shown in a compact environment.
My second idea is using my exploration of the way we move through digital space using certain technologies i.e. the different forms of mouse. I want to change the way we experience the space making it more of an experience rather than just a thing we do. This could be creating a new form of keyboard or creating a physical mouse. One idea is creating a human hamster ball and turning it into a computer mouse enabling you to move the cursor while moving yourself. This idea truly combines a journey with a computing experience.
The last idea I had is visually flatter, using key Logging I was thinking of taking in the used keys off a computer over a week. Giving each key a direction and line length I plan to create a piece of generative art. I then plan to over lay the final outcome onto a map, and walk the journey the created, taking photos as I walk visually mapping the journey using imagery.
I really need to slim down my ideas and choose one to go forward with, this will be done through further exploration of ideas.

4- Idat 210 - Inspiration Through Keywords

Here are a collection of videos which i have found while exploring my keywords. Obviously i have already shown you the Bruce Branit World Builder video which i think will come to have some effect on how i look through visualizations and digitalisation is represented as  a comparison to real world environments.

This is an nteresting visualization of google earth and people mapping, it takes network visualizations to a hole new level, actually placing poeple in there geographical positon while still conecting them in their networks. It also displays a form of augmented virtual reality when putting real life imagery on a virtual globe giving you an interesting perspective of a birds-eye virtual view with  personal perspective imagery.


Here is a gps visualization of multiple gps journeys recorded over a year. I find this video particularly interesting because of the way the video has not been shown on a map but on a piece of paper each frame could easily represent an electrical circuit. It has an almost etch'a'sketch feel to it. This sort of digital vizualization of a collection of journeys abstracts from the reality of a journey, and springs into a more generative art feel.



I randomly cam across this video when looking for mouse visualizations. This is in my influences because it is making my think of alternate ways of negotiation the technologies we are given to interact with our digital interfaces. This is usefull tool for people who loos the use of their hands but it aslo opens the debate are we really utilizing our bodies correctly to truely navigate the digital world in the most efficient way. This could become quite an interesting 3d piece exploring other possible ways to interact with our computers.



After the last video i got interested in weither there were other alternatives out there. Then ifound this video, a mouse which is just ur fingertip, using sensors to detect where your finger moves the mouse on the screen moves with your finger movements. This is interesting because this completely takes away the need to move a physical object other then your hand. It also means less clutter on your deskspace. Its an interesting way to navigate a digital interface system, i could see that it almost seems magical how the mouse pointer seems to move with just the movement of a finger. Is this the beginning for mouse free navigation?

An Exploration of Social Networking

#bdat
"Social networking is a phenomena defined by linking people to each other in some way."

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Myspace have created a whole new way for us to communicate and get in touch with friends an family. It has also opened majour networks allowing people to talk to old school friends or work collegues connecting people through the method of friend referals and "people you may know". These sites open the platform for competative gaming, photo sharing and planning public events such as the Plymouth pillow fight.

Looking nto the way we scialise digitally and in the real world i want to see how i can visually show what is actually happening. Using applications on facebook i have been able to visually map my friends in how they connect with each other as well as with me. Here are a couple of examples:

Social Graph:

Friend Wheel:

TouchGraph

Although these visualizations are interesting, they give me little to work with. Just a web of connections i want to look more into what we use these social networks for, what interactions they replace in the real world. 

3- Idat 210 - Keyword Exploration - KeyLogging

"Keystroke logging (often called keylogging) is the practice of noting (or logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically in a covert manner so"

KeyLogging is origionally supposed to be used to keep trakc of the way users use computers and check which sites they use, it is also used to retrieve passwords and private details from people using the computers.i plan to use  keyLogging to explore how i move round my digital environment, which places i visit most, how i move round the computer. I also plan to look at tracking mouse movements too, this links into interface, i will be abloe to see which areas are used most when interacting with my digital environment and which areas are used less. I think keylogging could be used to create generative art, using keystrokes the data collected from a keylogger inputted into flash with each key having a pre-decided effect on a canvas.

3- Idat 210 - Keyword Exploration - Journey

"the act of traveling from one place to another"

The word journey is a valuable keyword, the path which you undertake to get to somewhere specific.

In the real world it could be the journey to University or work, you could walk, take a bus or multiple buses. It could be direct or indirect, obviously the quicker you get to the destination the better. Much like your journey to a web page or to a programme on your computer. Programmers and designers spend a lot of time trying to make it so you get to your destination as quickly and efficiently as possible. Search engines have become important parts of our journey through the World Wide Web. Acting as a "stop for directions" if you will. Obviously its a lot easier if you already know the address of your destination and dont need to look it up, use a sat nav, "search engine" or map. Online if you know the address you just type it straight into the address bar, if your driving you drive straight there.  These interactions and comparisons are going to act as a connection between the virtaul and real world in this project. Interfaces and Environments are key elements in our journeys.

Gps is one way of digitalising our real life journeys, seeing where we have traveled and how far. There are now applications on phones which enable us to see how fast we have traveled as well as our height above sea level, as technology develops so does our ability to analise how we move through our world.

This leads me to the next keyword KeyLogging

3- Idat 210 - Keyword Exploration - Environment

"the surrounding area in which something exists or lives, has its own ecosystem"

Environment is an important keyword for this project, as i plan to compare the digital environments which we live in through our computers with the real world which we physically live in.  There are lots of different types of environment. in my opinion virtual and digital environments mean different things, a digital environment is more software its a string of interfaces connecting wone system to another. While a virtual environment is a 3d worled created for games or learning exploration. Then theres augmented virtual reality, this is where real objects and people are put into virtual worlds as components. Then augmented reality this is where digital layers are put into a real environment to modify it in some way an area which i have explored in a previous section of this blog See:  http://gavinjonesidat2.blogspot.com/2010/01/1-augmented-reality.html and then of course theres reality, the rather standard world we live and breathe everyday. I wish to explore connections between the two whether its digital socialisations with facebook or myspace, virtual socialisations with secondlife or real life socialisations with lectures, meetings or a drink down the pub with friends. I want to see what similarites these have abd see whether or not they effect us differently.

Here is an amazing video by Bruce Branit, About a man who creates a world for the woman he loves. It looks into virtual reality, Interfaces and augmented virtual reality. I really enjoy watching this video, it really makes me think about the connections between vitual reality and reality, especially when she touches the railing at 5:28, smells the digital flower at 6:23 and the very clever use of sound to make it seem even more real.


World Builder from BranitVFX on Vimeo.

3- Idat 210 - Keyword Exploration -Interface

"interface is (a place) where interaction between humans and machines occurs"

Look at your screen you see buttons, stuff to click, stuff to watch, stuff to type in,...... ok its an interface, the way we control the digital world through the machine we call our computers. Interfaces keep changing as technologies develop, we are now seeing the dissapearance of physical buttons to interact with and seeing the appearance of touch screens. Allowing us to get even closer to the interfaces which allow us to surf the digital waves.


There are interfaces all around us though, not just on personal computers. When you go to an ATM to get money out even pay for a ticket so you can park. its a more physical form of interface but it still has the connection between man and machine.  a connection which i wish to explore through this project as part of my journey.

Here are some visuals of interfaces.

2- Learning Tool - Virtual Immersive Learning Environments.

An existing idea we have been looking at is the cave design which works with projectors projecting on 5 surfaces, top, front, left, right and bottom.  with screens all around you, you feel fully immersed. but this does create the issue of if you walk in this environment you walk straight into the projection screen. So depending on the way we want people to interact with there environment this may not be a viable option to work on.

This idea i like to call the hamster ball, projctors project onto a ball which acts a screen. The image which are projected are stitched in such a way which allows a whole image to be projected. The way the ball which becomes on your environment moves, allows you to move freely in any direction while still being completely immersed.

There is another option, still using the ball idea we create the environment purely using immersive vision goggles. The ball is still present allowing you tom move round in your environment withough the extra cost and fuss of multiple projectors.  We would need to implement sensors on the user so we can track there movement and be able to make the environment to react to there movements. whether it is them digging up samples or blocking the sun from their eyes. This could also work with the lab environment, when they want to pick up test tubes and such from the lab surfaces.

These are just ideas for possible methods of implementing our environment. very important when planning our interface designs, in how our user will be able to move around.

1- Learning Tool - Idea

Virtual Immersive Environments

This project is about desinging a method of learning using existing technologies. We are not required to implement our designs as of yet. For this assignment we are asked to work in pairs. My collegue is William Skates and this project is what we like to call Virtual Immersive learning Environments. For this project we are specialising on science as our learning field. We have two eliments we are hoping to explore which are "in lab" experimantation and "field trip" experimentation.

 In Lab
The purpose of  an in lab experiment it erases the issue of health and safety. In a digital experiment there are no dangerous chemicals which could either blind you or potentially blow you up. It allows you to experiment with chemicals  which have had there stats inputted into our databas to the outcome has already been recorded, to be safely explored withought weeks of planning, applying for parental permissions and also makes science a bit more fun.

Field Trip
This has the same health and safety advantages as lab experiments with an added cost benefit. imagine being able to go out and take samples to learn about your environment without the cost of hiring a coach and wasting time on permission forms. We are planning on making the environments ans interactive as possible creating the feeling that you are actually there.

Obviously if this was to be created into a produvt it would cost a lot, but think of the saving in the long run? i meen yea you can take a trip to the lakes for soil testing... but what about the moon? with our idea our learning facility we would be able to make it all possible.

At the moment it is just an idea, now its our job to work out the specifics, create interface designs and make it all possible.

1- Idat 210 - Initial Thoughts

A very open brief for this project. Being skilled in mainly software it would have to be that sort of outcome. With stong interests in the way we use both the digital environment and our real world environment i would like to experiment with connections between the two. Whether it is by looking at the way we navigate through those environments, or what we use them for.

Navigation would be a keystroke or a mouse click from page to page moving our way gradually getting to the final page. It could be knowing which page you want to co to and typing in its address getting there instantly or it could be a more indirect route via a search engine. while real world navigation could be a physical movement to a destination directly by walking, controlling your every turn and movement. It could be getting on a bus or train, obviously you know where its going but you have no real control over how it gets to the destination.

What interfaces are there in our real world?

Interface a definition: a thing or circumstance that enables separate and sometimes incompatible elements to coordinate effectively- http://dictionary.reference.com/

For this project I wan too look at the journey I make through the digital world and real world and see if there are any connections or correlations, or just see how they compare. I have been asked to select a number of keywords which will guide my thoughts through this project and hopefully lead my down some interesting paths of exploration.

- Interface

- Environment

- Journey

- Keylogging

- Social Networking

4- Augmented Reality - Models and Modelling

Thanks to Peter Starostin website: www.3dluvr.com/clisk3d.

I found Max a ready rigged model, i would research into how to build and rig my own 3ds model but due to time restrictions it is just not viable. This model has given me the freedom to move both the body and facial features in a manner perfect for this augmented project.

This also allowed my to focus on creating instruments for the band, so far creating the microphone and guitar which has ment learning some elements of 3ds Max modelling. If i was to have any fault with this model i would say the neck is a bit wide. If i plan to create a bass guitar i will probably just lengthen the neck, change the colour and reduce the strings. Just to save time on modelling and allow me to explore the FLAR toolkit.

The FLAR Toolkit is still a mystery to me and i am spending most of my time trying to input my own models into it with no success. So for the moment i created this simulation of the sort of thing i am working on:

The timing is a bit out but i had to do the sequence in 3ds Max then input into After effects to put the music in. It is a rough prototype:

Augmented Reality Band from Gavin Jones on Vimeo.

#bdat

3- Augmented Reality - Idea Related Research

Here is a video i  found on youtube exploring full size augmented reality. i probably would not work on this scale but it is definately a thought. Real size augmented bands could open the floor for augmented reality gigs when the visualization goggles becom a lot mor widely available and cost effective. This is a way in which my project could be developed into.



Another video i found while searching the web was this one which brings me to the idea of my stage. Looking at this video say i chose the book to be on ... High school musical... for a younger audience, i could implement my augmented reality in bringing the musical scenes to life with my character visualizations. Just another egsample of how it could be implemented:



Then there is also the stage option. for those who do not like crouded gigs and concerts or are too young to enjoy them, i could create physical pop up stages for my Augmented reality band to play in. you can move the band around in any formation, you could even put the drummer at the front if you want to go crazy :).

2- Augmented Reality - The Idea

My idea is to great the Augmented reality band. The band is created when placing the augmented reality printouts on a table, set your camera to view them and the band will appear playing your favourite songs, its basically a gig inside your house. I plan to create the band members in 3d form and give them animations and sound so they actually look like they are playing to you. You have 2 options of how you would recieve them.. they will come in the album or single you buy from the shop.. or you will have the option of printing the boards online once you have downloaded the track.

Disclosure: These images are not my own, but I did put them together.

1- Augmented Reality

"Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality."-Wikipedia

For this assignment I have been asked to investigate augmented reality. My outcome must augment reality using some sot of digital information. So looking at youtube here are some videos exploring possible ways of implementing augmented reality. This video uses augmented reality boards and web cameras.



Here is another example, it is an application called Layer. It is used on mobile devices and works using your gps signal. it works out your posion and the direction you are facing and displays infront of you specific data depending on your search. e.g. if you search pizza, you hold your phone up look through ur camera and you will see the position of pizza restaurants or take-aways and how far away they are from your location.



Here is an augmented reality game created for iPhone and iPod touch:



Then theres the eye cam for playstation three which also explores augmented reality. Putting you in the gaming environment and allowing your movements to control the game.

Reflexive Design - Visual Perception

Looking at resources and information on visual perception after having lectures from Katina has led me to find some interesting videos. These videos helps us explore our perception and how we see things under different conditions. This video looks at light and colour perception.

3- Reflexive Design- Storyboard

Here is the story board for the video. Pretty basic but it gives you an idea. The numbers symbolise the scenes i am using the transitions are included in the description under each image.

2 - Reflexive Design - Clouds

reating my clouds using different methods here is one of my renders. The idea was i wanted it to feel like you were going into the clouds. this render was visually unacceptable. So i planned to look online to see how others have created the "fly through" or "fly over" effect.



Here is one example which i found on "YouTube",  i feel works extremely well. changing the opacity of cloud shapes creating the idea they are passing under you and you are passing through them without the clouds dominating the screen. this gave me the inspiration to go for the less is more approach.

Researching photoshop brushes i created a strip of clouds.

I removed the blue layer and inserted into after effects. I copied multiple layers and staggered them along the timeline. by increasing the position and scale then playing with the  opacity i created the effect i was looking for. this is the result.

Reflexive Design-Tunnel Design

Looking further through youtube for ideas and inspiration i found this video. Reminded me a  little bit of a  journey from a dreamworld. Got me thinking maybe i could include this sort of idea into my video.

Tunnel/Pipe Tutorial.

Here is how I created the tunnel using Blender.

Delete the cube from your work area.

Press space, select ADD, CURVE and then BEZIER CURVE.

Next select "Edit Mode" from the menu at the bottom of the page. Right-click on the yellow dots to modify your curve and left click once you are happy with your shape.

Deselect your curve (hold Shift and right-click object) and select object menu from the menu at the bottom. Press space once again and selectADD, CURVE and then BEZIER CIRCLE. Then press "S" to shrink the circle down.

Change the object label of the circle to "X".

Then select the curve and change Bevel Object Label to "X" and press enter.

You should now have a tube. Click on the two spheres on the lower toolbar and select "ADD NEW".

Then select the animal print square button (Texture) and select"ADD NEW".

That should bring you to this screen. select "TEXTURE TYPE" and then "CLOUDS" then there will be a "COLOR" button on the right, select that.

Then click back on the spheres, and select the shaded option shown by the red arrow.

Your tunnel should now be multi-coloured.

Now to get the camera through your newly created tunnel. Right-click on the camera then hold Shift and right-click on the tunnel. make sure your mouse is in the workspace area and press CTRL+P. select "FOLLOW PATH" from the drop down menu. Select camera view. press ALT+A you now have an animation of your camera moving through the tunnel.

To slow the animation down, Go back into the object menus and increase the path length.

Here is my completed tunnel animation. Using the follow path parent technique the camera follows the tunnel withough the hassle of keyframing. In after effects i added  a solid green circle with a translusent outline to soften the edges of the tunnels exit and keyed in position and scale so it moved when the exit of the tunnel moved. I will key out the green at the end of the tunnel and replace with the cloud simulation.