topical media & game development
[] readme course(s) preface I 1 2 II 3 4 III 5 6 7 IV 8 9 10 V 11 12 afterthought(s) appendix reference(s) example(s) resource(s) _

talk show tell print

print / present

part i. digital convergence

more than the art of turning base metals into gold, alchemy is a system of cosmic symbolism

perfect solutions

digital convergence


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2

reading directives

 In these first chapters, we will explore the notion of multimedia, look at it from a historical perspective and discuss in somewhat more detail the issue of convergence, the mix and interchange of media that has become possible in the digital era. In the second chapter, we will give a precise definition of information spaces, and an overview of the history of hypermedia.

Essential sections are section 1.2, which characterizes digital convergence in a more precise way, and sections 2.1 and 2.2, which respectively characterize information spaces and hypermedia. Section 2.3 may safely be skipped by readers not interested in the philosophy of media and creation.

perspectives

The topics treated in this part can be looked at from multiple perspectives. When you write a paper about any of these topics, as suggested in projects paragraph, you should be aware of from which perspective you tackle your subject.

In summary, we can in a non-exhaustive way, distinguish between the following perspectives:

perspectives -- digital convergence


  • historical -- media development timeline
  • sociological -- communication relations
  • psychological -- experience limits
  • aesthetical -- dynamics of creation
  • technical -- divergence & competition
  • philosophical -- re-mediation
  • commercial -- what is the economic model?
As an example, the psychological perspective deals with an interesting issue, namely how much information can we digest and what are the limits to our perceptual system that determines whether the experience offered by a virtual reality interface is really effective.

essay topics

 The issues treated in these chapters may be used as topics for an essay. As a hint, here are a few titles:
  • digital convergence and the future of mobile multimedia
  • media @ home -- the windows media center
  • media art -- merging technology and aesthetics
For a first essay, I would suggest a paper no longer than 5 pages. If there are technical details that you do not want to omit, then consider an appendix of 2 to 3 pages. For hints on how to approach writing a paper, see appendix 5.

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the artwork

  1. alchemy -- an illustration from a book about alchemy, from which also the quote is taken, the quote is explained in the afterthoughts.
  2. signs -- ancient chemical symbols,  [Signs], p. 171, 172.
  3. photographs -- Jaap Stahlie, from portrait series.

print / present / tag(s)

1

digital culture

life is becoming digital

learning objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to define the notion of multimedia, recount the history of digital entertainment, explain the concept of digital convergence, discuss the future of cyberspace, and speculate about the commercial viability of mobile multimedia.

We live in the digital era,  [Negroponte (1995)]. We are surrounding ourselves with gadgets and we are consuming immense amounts of information, that is increasingly being delivered to us via the Internet. We play games, and we still watch (too much) television.

Some of us watch televion on our PCs, and may be even looking forward to watch television on their mobile phone. This is multimedia. For others, the PC is still a programmable machine. Being able to program it might earn you a living. Understanding multimedia, however, might even provide you with a better living.

In this chapter, we study what trends may currently be observed in the creation and delivery of multimedia information, and we explore what impact the digital revolution may have from a commercial perspective.

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11

questions

1. digital convergence

concepts


technology


projects & further reading

As a project, consider the development of a Java-based mobile game using J2ME, see  [Morrison (2005)], or a web-based game using Visual Basic .NET, see  [Santos Lobao and Hatton (2003)].

You may further explore multiplatform game development, and find arguments to choose for either Java-based or managed code based implementations.

For further reading, I advice to have a look at the special issues of the Scientific American,  [American], and the CACM on the next 1000 years of computing,  [CACM (2001)], and, for getting an idea where this all leads to, Schneidermann's Leonardo's laptop,  [Shneiderman (2003)]. For Second Life, see  [Rymaszweski et al. (2007)].

the artwork

  1. photographs of art works by Marina Abramovic, Art must be beautiful, Blue period, Dissolution, Dozing consciousness, In between, with (pending) permission from Montevideo. See also section 10.2.
  2. medium, according to the Visual Thesaurus.
  3. fMRI Research on Virtual Reality Analgesia, see section 1.1.
  4. television and communication, according to the Visual Thesaurus.
  5. TV Today, exhibition at Montevideo, februari 2005.
  6. visible world -- taken from  [Rosenblum and Macedonia (2002)], see section 1.2.
  7. personal event database and personal gadgets, from Freeband project.
  8. Thomas Lips 1975, Thomas Lips 1993, from Marina Abramovic, with permission from Montevideo.
  9. scanlines from Woody Vasulka, 197x, with permission from the artist.
  10. VU @ SecondLife, taken from  [Eliens et al. (2007)].
  11. signs -- people,  [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 254, 256.
The work of Marina Abramovic has a strong existential flavor. It has also served as the material for a case study in developing a digital artist dossiers, the abramovic dossier, discussed in section 10.2. The work of Woody Vasulka is of a more experimental character, and shows the joy of discovering the possibilities of the, at the time, new electronic and digital tools and materials.

print / present / tag(s)

2

hypermedia information spaces

everything must be intertwinkled

learning objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to define information spaces in a precise manner, position the hypertextual capabilities of the web in a historical perspective, explain the difference between multimedia and hypermedia, and argue why computational support for narrative structure in multimedia applications is desirable.

However entertaining it might be presented to you, underlying every multimedia presentation there is an information space. That is to say, irrespective of the medium, there is a message. And being confronted with a message, we might want to inquire for more information.

In this chapter, we will define the notion of information space more precisely.

We will extend this definition to include information hyperspaces, by looking at the history of hypertext and hypermedia.

Finally, we will discuss visualisation as a means to present (abstract) information in a more intuitive way, and we will reflect on what is involved in creating compelling multimedia.

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10

questions

2. information spaces

concepts


technology


projects & further reading

As a project, I suggest the development of a virtual tour in a city, museum or other interesting locatoion.

You may further explore the implementation of traversal within a context, taking into account the history of navigation when backtracking to a particular point, issues in hyperlinking and interaction in multimedia applications, and computational support for narratives.

For further reading I advice you to take a look at the history of hypermedia and the web, using online material from the W3C, or the history of media as accounted for in  [Briggs and Burke (2001)] and  [Bolter and Grusin (2000)].

the artwork

  1. book covers --  [Weishar (1998)],  [Eco (1994)],  [Burger (1981)],  [Kunst],  [Betsky (2004)]
  2. Federico Campanale -- Oxygen, fragments from video installation, 2004
  3. Vasarely --  [Diehl 1973].
  4. Vasarely --  [Diehl 1973].
  5. Vasarely --  [Diehl 1973].
  6. Federico Campanale -- Oxygen, more fragments.
  7. student work -- from introduction multimedia 2000.
  8. Rutger van Dijk -- mobius, interactive story, opening screen, see section 2.3.
  9. edgecodes -- screenshots, see section 2.3
  10. signs -- people,  [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 244, 245.
The work of Vasarely has served as an example for many contemporary digital artists. It is playful, mat may be characterized also as formalist. The highly aesthetic video work of Federico Campanale who, as he told me was strongly influenced by vasarely in his early years, shows a similar combination of formalism and playfulness. The interactive story by Rutger van Dijk has a rather different atmosphere, it is highly romantic, with slick graphics. The musea sites are included to point to the existence of (an increasing number) of virtual tours.
[] readme course(s) preface I 1 2 II 3 4 III 5 6 7 IV 8 9 10 V 11 12 afterthought(s) appendix reference(s) example(s) resource(s) _

(C) Æliens 18/6/2009

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