27 August 2014

First Word/Last Word and Technology

So to speak, the easiest way to link the First Word/Last Word concept with the GHC to me is to look at the part of the FW/LW article that discussed how Last Word art is the type that stands the test of time. For example, the telephone, which was invented a rather long time ago, has been recreated and recreated and is on its way to perfection, and that’s the Last Word art. Things like that will show up on the “Plateau of Productivity” area of the graph, as the final form of an idea. They’ll get the “last word,” so to speak.

At the top of the graph, the “Peak of Inflated Expectation,” is where the First Word ideas are- all the new cool things that nobody’s ever heard of and simply the idea of them is enough for greatness- such as the 3D printer. It’s certainly not perfected, but the idea of it is so fascinating and it hasn’t been done before, and so everyone thinks it’s a masterpiece already.

All ideas when they first are incepted are First Word, and the making and remaking of subsequent versions of them are what build them into Last Word.

27 August 2014

Critical Engineering Manifesto #2

Essentially what tenet number two aims to say is that, with every advancement technology makes, technological literacy throughout society automatically ends up with a gap in it simply by virtue of there being a new innovation in existence that nobody knows about or understands yet.

A good example of this is that while most of our generation and large portions of older generations may understand quite a lot about the internet, there are still portions of modern society that not only are unaware of how to use the internet, but may not even know how to type. Computer literacy is something that, while we at CMU may take for granted, even in other parts of the country is something that not everyone understands. My grandmother, as an example, only learned how to type last year. Technological literacy is still being challenged by an invention that’s been around even for as long as computers.

27 August 2014

Technological art/design inspiration: Nevermind

Nevermind is a horror video game that, based on biofeedback and in-game choices made by the player, adapts to know not only what the player fears, but when they start to become afraid.

http://www.nevermindgame.com/

https://vimeo.com/85923375

Using the Wii Vitality Sensor heart rate monitor, the game keeps track of when the player’s heart rate increases and becomes more difficult the more anxious or afraid the player becomes while playing. Additionally, it keeps track of in-game choices and dialogue options chosen by the player to identify each individual gamer’s fears and uses that data to more frequently impose the player’s fears upon them during the game.

What I love about this project is that it’s a distinct step closer to virtual reality/augmented reality in video games, which is something that’s been an idea on the table for a long time but has been difficult to implement realistically. The game treats the player as part of the story, allowing it to become a unique experience for each individual.

The game was initially created as an MFA thesis project at USC within their interactive media department. Because the game isn’t actually out yet, I’ve had some trouble finding out exactly how many people are involved, but the head of the team and creator of the project is a woman named Erin Reynolds.

more about the game: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130538-Horror-Game-Nevermind-Learns-Your-Fears-Knows-When-You-Are-Afraid

27 August 2014

David Gordon : First Word Last Word and How Hype It Is

The Gartner Hype Cycle and the concept of First Word vs. Last Word art describe the same phenomenon. If one were to put Classical Symphonic Form (CSF) into the Gartner Hype Cycle model, Haydn’s work would have put CSF on the map, at the very beginning of the “Innovation Trigger” area. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in turn, would be the piece which finally pushed CSF into the Plateau of Productivity.

I found it funny that Virtual Reality is expected to plateau within the next 10 years. My dream and life goal, a fully immersive virtual reality which is indistinguishable from real life, is most certainly more than a couple decades away. It has been sitting within the trough of disillusionment for years and years, and I believe that it will not plateau until other technologies essential for achieving its full potential, such as the Brain Computer Interface, catch up with it. While within the trough, such technologies are quite cheap to come by, as they were mass produced during the peak of inflated expectations and are now in abundance due to lack of demand.

27 August 2014

David Gordon : Critical Engineering Tenet 5

5. The Critical Engineer recognizes that each work of engineering engineers its user, proportional to that user’s dependency upon it.

This tenet describes a concept that is in no way new: technology’s control over our lives. Interaction with a work of engineering is a two way street. While an invention may drastically improve our lives, it also alters the life it is improving. For example, I now have access to millions of hours of music whenever and wherever I am due to my smart phone and headphones, a luxury that has only existed for the past few years. The ease with which I can listen to music means that I now have the option to disconnect from almost any social situation. I have become a more selectively social person, where unexpected auditory interaction is unheard of. I no longer overhear snippets of conversations, or strike up my own with passers-by. While I could make an active effort to counteract this, the fact remains that my default behavior has been changed by the presence of a work of engineering. Thus, the invention has engineered my social behavior to become more predictable and reclusive.

27 August 2014

David Gordon : Looking Outwards

Admiration : Silk Pavilion at the MIT Media Lab

Silk Pavilion, a creation of the Mediated Matter Research Group at MIT Media Lab, is an artistic powerhouse of a project. The group started with a large polygonal frame:

Polygonal frame before assembly into its dome shape

Using a CNC threading machine, the group created a large globular web out of a single silk thread which was woven over the frame in such a way as to leave gaping holes in the structure. Next, 6500 silk worms were placed upon the webs, and left to their own devices. The worms acted as a sort of “biological printer”, providing an additional layer of silk over the CNC weaving. The collaboration of worm and machine produced a final result which cannot be called completely organic or synthetic:

Hybrid silk web, with metal frame removed.

I admire this piece chiefly because both the process and final result independently wow me. Silk worm assisted CNC weaving is an entirely unique mixture of mediums that nobody has ever attempted before. In addition, the final web is intricate, ethereal, and could hold its own regardless of its method of creation.

Surprise : etcpp

etcpp, by Benjamin Stephan and Christoph Haag, surprised me in that it is a work of art which in turn creates more art. Essentially, etcpp consists of a computer controlled pen plotter and a mound of granular matter. The device is fed an animation in the form of sequential images, which it first draws into the mound and then photographs, frame by frame. The result is a stopmotion video which imperfectly (yet charmingly) recreates the original animation. The etcpp can be used to create an infinite number of these engraved stopmotion videos.

Disappointment : LZRTAG

A LZRTAG gif tag, as viewed through an Android device.

LZRTAG is based upon an ingenious core concept: allowing the user to vandalize any surface through computer vision assisted augmented reality. However, the app fails miserably in executing said concept in an intuitive and fun-to-use manner. Firstly, in order to place anything on a surface one must first go to LZRTAG.com and create a ‘tag.’ This ruins the flow of the app, and a tag creator should have been the first thing built into the app interface. Secondly, no filter seems to exist as to who can see which tags. A “tag group” option, where only specific users can see each other’s tags, would turn LZRTAG into a primarily social app, where friends could leave each other messages on walls or add to a collaborative tag together.

27 August 2014

GHC vs. FW/LW Art

The Gartner Hype Cycle gives a sort of continuum (rather than a cycle) which contains all technologies. Michael Naimark proposes that all art is either first word art, a revolutionary idea that doesn’t follow the norms of today, or is an attempt at last word art, the pinnacle or ultimate conclusion of what is the best that can be done with a medium. As the Gartner Hype Cycle relates the use of technologies it is hard to compare the two. However, I would say that there would be a hype cycle for art as well, where first word art would correspond with the innovation trigger and last word art would correspond with the plateau of productivity.

My interests in the GHC lie in the range from the Innovation Trigger through the Trough of Disillusionment, because this is where the technology exists that is cutting edge but hasn’t yet been put to use in creative or insightful ways. Due to this, I would say that I would be interested more in first word art, as I would like to make art from technologies that haven’t been considered as a possible medium. I believe this is why Shulze prefers to work in the Trough of Disillusionment as well.

27 August 2014

First Word, Last Word, and the Gartner Hype Cycle

The Gartner Hype Cycle (GHC) is built on the idea that a piece of technology has an ongoing life cycle. While the premise of First Word/Last Word Art (FW/LW) shares with GHC the notion that each type of art/technology has a starting point, the two seem to disagree on the idea of ending.

The closest thing GHC has to an ending is a plateau, which signifies that a piece of technology has become commonplace. FW/LW stipulates that there can be a definitive end through an object that is the best of its kind and can stand the test of time. It is possible that GHC’s “Plateau of Productivity” may be where Last Word Art makes its appearance.

But what of production? Occasionally an object can encompass FW/LW all by itself. More commonly, a way of working, whether art, tech, or tech-art, must be developed over a period of time. During this period, it is necessary for a piece of technology to pass through the “Trough of Disillusionment” before it becomes a part of every-day life. By engaging with a given technology at the lowest point in its life cycle, one accelerates the rate at which it becomes improved through the “Slope pf Enlightenment”, and commonplace through the “Plateau of Productivity”. This necessary “push” may account for Jack Schulze’s preference for working in the “Trough”.

On a personal note, I find new ways of working most interesting when they are at the “Slope of Enlightenment”: The way of working is common enough that there is significant variation, but not so common that it has developed a piece of Last Word Art, which goes hand in hand with reaching the “Plateau of Productivity”.

27 August 2014

Critical Engineering: User Experience

“3. The Critical Engineer deconstructs and incites suspicion of rich user experiences.”

I’ve always been fascinated with fabrications of reality. As a kid, I attended the odd magic show now and then. While the act of cutting a person in half is certainly striking, I only began to appreciate the idea of magic once I had an inkling of how it was done.

In the realm of user experience, the goal more often than not is to create something immersive and seamless. A virtual field full of blooming flowers is made up of a digital sea of text. The critical engineer is like the magician, able to envision and create false realities through countless hours of unseen toil. When an audience member begins to question the illusion, they have become a critical engineer.

Penn and Teller do a good job of demonstrating this concept, in that they explain the basic magic trick, but then take it in a different direction that invites one to question their true methods.

(Fair Warning: Going past the 3:00 minute mark is not for the faint of heart.)

27 August 2014

Technological Art/Design: Spelunky

Spelunky, a game created in 2008 by independent video game developer Derek Yu, has much more to it than avoiding enemies and collecting treasure.

The most striking thing about this game is its level generation, which can be seen in action here (works best in Chrome), along with a detailed explanation courtesy of Darius Kazemi.

In short: A level consists of 16 rooms, with the starting room always at the top of a level, and the exit at the bottom. In level generation, a room is chosen from a set of templates dictated by where the room is on the solution path (the red blocks in the image above) between the entrance and exit. On a room-by room basis, each template has various obstacles, trap locations, and gold locations based on probability.

Such level design allows for incredible replayability, creating an exponential amount of content from a few relatively simple rules. Well-done generative design allows relatively small teams to create huge projects, and will likely play a significant role in independent games for a long time to come.

The original (free) version of Spelunky, as well as its source code, can be downloaded here. For the 2012 updated re-release, click here.

Derek Yu’s blog can be found here.