Meeting Notes - 20/02/17

Meeting Notes - 20/02/17

• Pressure pad possibly? - when user walks into room and sits/stands in the middle, video plays
• Need to make a way to disconnect the pressure pad after it has been initialised for the first time as if it is pressed again, video would start again (?)
• Square, big, dark room, table in the middle? Spotlight illuminating the middle?
• Explore Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Atheism, Buddhism (possibly way too much to focus on)
• Surround sound? Each video has it's own speaker?
• Differences in beliefs/parallelism in values
• Make questions interactive - audience get to choose what questions they hear the answers to
• Each member of the audience has to cooperate with each other in order for piece to play?
• Potentiometer - use to scroll round the room through the videos
• Scroll round the room at the start, each religious leader states the most important value in their religion - once the audience member has scrolled round the whole room, the video starts playing (not enough interaction/interaction not meaningful)
• When filming contact, get the religious leader looking in lots of different directions so that we can make it look as though when one person is talking, everyone in the other videos is looking at them
• Label the different religions on each panel of the wall
• Instead of labelling, let the subject state their religion within the answer to the first question
• Religious leaders speak instructions - possibly get them to speak in unison?
• Would have to be very simple, uniform sentences
• How do we make the audience more involved rather than just an observer?
• Tall Ships by Gary Hill
• Projections onto life size perspex glass i.e. Kings Cross Station
• Whomsoever by James Bridle
• i-docs.org (maybe do interactive documentary instead)
• National Film Board of Canada
• Buttons not good enough if doing installation, there must be a way to include the audience and make them feel like part of the piece rather than just pressing buttons
• PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERACTION - dealing with preconceptions etc.
• Find hate tweets about each religious group...iPad in the middle displaying them?

Religious Leaders Installation Idea

Religions- parallels and similarities 

Installation 

4 walls or circle wall 

Multiple split screen 

Low lit 

Table in middle 

IPAC pressure pad 

Another idea that we have accumulated is to do with the subject of religion in the relations to the parallels and similarities between religions despite the prominent conflict, amplifying equality as many beliefs and traditions are similar. This would promote peace between religions. In order to show this we need to consider how we would present it, whether it be and exhibition or even screen based or a combination of media. We could potentially present it in the form of an interactive exhibition where on each wall, there are multiple split screens of establishing shots that are relatable to specific religions (e.g churches, mosque, synagogue). The sense of interactivity would be provided when the consumer walks into the room... there could be a table in the centre of the exhibition, with a multiple choice of buttons or books relating to different religions (e.g bible, qua'ran etc) and they would be asked to sit down on a provided chair. On the chair would be a built in I PAC pressure pad that initiates all the videos on the walls when pressure is applied. This would show multiple people all simultaneously entering the screen and sitting down on a chair making it seem almost like a conference or social group/meeting. ( could get everyone to say please choose an option on the table ). Once the consumer has chose an option, the specific corresponding video would play where they would explain their thoughts and beliefs. Meanwhile this is playing all the other videos would still be playing but the subjects would be silent just looking at the consumer as if they're listening to each other. This could be achieved through slight movement or nodding. Ideally the content would overlap between religions and could potentially make a coherent statement when combining multiple religions together. Perhaps one would we provide an opportunity for transition from religion to another.

Initial Ideas

Group Meeting 1:

Potential Themes to be explored:

- Life and Death

• Time lapse of a birth and time lapse of a death
• hospital rooms, watching the space that is personal to a patient change when the next patient comes in
• Darkness, just using sound to emulate death experience
• ambient sounds/not being aware of what the sound is until the visuals come on

- Behind the Scenes of the meat industry

• Could be linked to initial theme - of life and death, comparing animal death to human death

- Hallucinogenics/drugs

•  360 Video - (but very costly equipment-wise)

Lesson 4 - Arduino/Pure Data

Monday 27^th February – Project proposal

o   No more than two sides of A4

o   Must include both text and image to provide visualisation

o   Format:

§  All group members names

§  Initial working title

§  Summary of the proposed project in 500 words or less

§  Presentation intentions – how is the project to be experienced by its audience? Is it an installation, app, etc.

§  Visualisation – it could be your own work or an appropriate image from your research

§  Key references – other practitioners, films, books, etc. Include material of genuine influence

Arduino

·      Digital pins/analogue pins

·      5V or 3.3V – must be careful as components can be damaged if using the wrong voltage

·      Upload using USB cable

·      Runs program over and over again if connected to power – no on/off switch

Connecting Arduino to Pure Data

·      Make serial connection to link Arduino to Pure Data

o   Redirect so that the data goes to Pure Data rather than the serial monitor

·      Tell the program that you’re initialising a serial connection in the setup

·      You need the programs to communicate at the same speed – bps match on each program

·      If part of the code is greyed out, it is not going to work – you can use this to temporarily remove part of the code – grey a code out by adding // at the start of the line

·      “serial.write” sends bites of the data to Pure Data, tell the program what it is going to send in the brackets afterwards i.e. serial.write(OutputValue);

·      If code is orange, it is recognised 

·      Open Pure Data, and open the comport template

·      The devices box will open a pop up containing all the available devices, including the Arduino device

·      Different components:

o   Moisture sensor – detects moisture in soil

o   Force sensor – senses pressure 

o   Stretch sensor – small arduinos that can be stitched into clothes etc. 

o   Accelerometer – detects orientation

o   Pulse sensor – measures heart rate

·      Additional shields to slot onto Arduino:

o   RFID reader – reads cards etc. with RFID chips in (i.e. uni card, contactless card), can be embedded into objects easily

o   GSM shield – mobile phone shield – put sim card in, connect to Arduino, it can send and receive text messages, calls etc.

o   Motor controller shield – used to make robotic elements 

Lesson 2 - Adobe Animate

Adobe Animate

·      Templates – shows and sets the stage to general dimensions for certain formats i.e. banner ad or iPhone app

·      Scale along the bottom – numbers show frames

·      Graphics are vector based, not pixel based

·      Merge drawing mode – adds new drawings to previous drawings to make them joint pieces i.e. if you remove one part of the drawing it will leave an empty space

·      Object drawing mode – draws everything as separate objects and therefore they can be layered on top of one another (for example) and therefore can be moved around without affecting the other drawings/objects

·      Animated parts of projects must have their own layer

·      To animate something:

o   Select object, and right click then select motion tween

o   Click ok on the pop up that asks to turn the object into a symbol

o   You will be able to select and add key frames in order to change the path of the animated object

o   You can also manipulate the path my clicking and dragging

·      To extend object to more frames:

o   Select the last frame that you want the object to be included in

o   Right click and select insert frame

o   It will add the object into every frame in between the first and last frame

o   OR click command and hover over the double headed arrow key to drag the object out over more frames

·      To make a button:

o   Draw the graphic for the button in its own layer

o   Select modify and then convert to symbol

o   In type, select button and click ok

o   Double click on the button to edit the button when it is “up”, “over”, “down” and “hit”

o   Enter key frames in order to change the colour of the button etc. in each state

o    

Karen (Life Coach App) Analysis

The camera angle in the way that Karen is filming is very natural in order to act like you are video calling her on your phone and even in some cases seeming like you are with her in reality. She always keeps eye contact with the audience which furthers the connection with the consumer which almost encourages them to engage and interact more as it seems as if she is really listening and responding to your answers. She also comes across as honest and trustworthy due to the aforementioned reasons. The multiple choice answers as well as the descriptive ones allows you to reply in the way that you wish.

The time intervals between being able to use the app has both pros and cons. It allows it to be very realistic but also it can cause a loss in engagement, and forget to use app at a later time. For example sometimes she quickly speaks to you for 5 minutes and then you have to call her back several hours later.

The app starts off as a life coaching app, leading the user to believe that over the course of using the app, Karen will be able to teach you more about yourself and help you work towards your goals. However, as time progresses, the app almost completely flips, immersing the participant into Karen's life. You explore Karen's past, as well as engaging in conversation with her boyfriend (?) and experiencing their unstable relationship. As time progresses, the audience will realise that instead of Karen analysing their life, they will end up analysing Karen's.

Lesson 1

Media Explorations

What are ‘interactive media’?

·      10:30 – 1:30 every Monday in J1.17, workshops for the rest of the day

·      Deadline – Monday 4^th May (crit at 10:30)

·      Research (contextualise your work)

·      Documentation (possibly in the form of a blog)

·      Explore different technologies and document the experimentation

Installation based documentary?

·      Focus on psychological interaction instead of physical interaction

Lev Manovich

·      “psychological interaction”   

·      Concepts:

o   Hypothesis formation

o   Recall

o   Identification

“The Dark Pool”

What is it? How would you describe it? How is it described?

It is an experience based immersive installation in which the participant/consumer triggers sound by interacting with different aspects of the set. Narrative environment, interactive narrative

How is it interactive?

The consumer must physically interact with the installation causing the experience to be tailored to their actions. 

Why is it interactive?

The interactive nature of the installations adds to the immersion of the experience.

Are any of them more interactive than others? If so in what ways?

What do they all have in common?

  

Creating a 1 click wonder

1. attach 2 wires to IPAC using screwdriver – loosen screw, insert wire – 1^st to ground, 2^nd into any

2. plug into usb

3. Command e for edit mode, connect keys to object – can make multiple connections

Our 1 click wonder (Taste The Ocean)

We decided to make use of the IPAC in conjunction with the ball bearing interface. When the ball bearing inside the metal canister was tilted to touch the other side, it would type a key on the keyboard, which, in turn, could be programmed to produce a sound using Pure Data. We connected this ball bearing sensor to a water bottle, so when it was used and the bottle was drank from, it would tilt, causing the ball bearing to hit the side of the canister, and therefore the 'w' key to be triggered, which was programmed to play the sound of an ocean wave. This was a good example of an interactive practical application of the iPAC and how it can be used to reinforce a brand/as an advertising technique.