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 iv. applications & tools

a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

chinese/japanese proverb

applications & tools


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reading directives

 In this part we will look in more detail at virtual environments as an interface to complex multimedia information spaces. In chapters 9 and 10, we will consider the issues that come into focus when creating digital content, and more in general, when developing a multimedia application. In chapter 10, the final chapter, we will look at some examples of multimedia application development.

Essential sections are section 8.1, which argues how virtual reality interfaces may be relevant, and sections 9.2 and 10.2, which provide examples of multimedia application development. Dependent on your experience you may skip sections 9.1 and 10.1, which provide rules of thumb for respectively content creation and application development.

perspectives

Even in a more practical sense there are many perspectives that may characterize your academic stance. Design and application development, obviously, does not only consist of aesthetic or technical issues. So, non-exhaustively, you may look at such issues from the following perspectives:

perspectives -- multimedia applications


  • technical -- algorithmic effects
  • sociological -- stakeholders and teamwork
  • tool selection -- Maya vd 3DSMAX
  • political -- negotiating support
  • scientific -- experience design
  • computer science -- tools and technologies
  • artistic -- portfolio as a design product
For example, the issues you may come across in an actual project may have to do more with people then any thing else, in other words may be more of a political nature, than of an aesthetic nature.

essay topics

Even when you are primarily interested in the practice of developing digital content, it might well pay of to reflect on more theoretical issues. For example, consider writing an essay about:

  • 2D vs 3D aesthetics animation -- stills, sequences and stories
  • elements of style -- diversity and confluence
  • models of creativity -- a critical evaluation
In writing about such issues you should always beware of the risk of abstract speculation. So, look for examples in the domain of art, design or street culture to demonstrate your point.

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the artwork

  1. walking figure -- sculpture by Alberto Giacometti,  [Giacometti].
  2. signs -- meteorological symbols,  [Signs], p. 214, 215.
  3. photographs -- Jaap Stahlie, commissioned work, using traditional non-digital techniques.

print / present / tag(s)

8

virtual environments

augmented virtuality acts as an intelligent looking glass

learning objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to characterize the notion of virtual context, discuss the issue of information retrieval in virtual environments, explain what is meant about intelligent multimedia and discuss the potential role of intelligent agents in multimedia applications.

From a user perspective, virtual environments offer the most advanced interface to multimedia information systems. Virtual environments involve the use of (high resolution) 3D graphics, intuitive interaction facilities and possibly support for multiple users.

In this chapter, we will explore the use of (desktop) virtual environments as an interface to (multimedia) information systems. We will discuss a number of prototype implementations illustrating, respectively, how paintings can be related to their context, how navigation may be seen as a suitable answer to a query, and how we can define intelligent agents that can interact with the information space. Take good notice, the use of virtual environments as an interface to information systems represents a major challenge for future research!

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questions

8. virtual environments

concepts


technology


projects & further reading

As a project, I suggest the implementation of storytelling in virtual environments, with (possibly) an embodied agent as the narrator.

You may further explore or evaluate the role of agents in multimedia applications and virtual environments.

For further reading in (real) VR, I advice  [Sherman and Craig (2003)], and for gaining an understanding in story telling and applications you may try to get hold of the proceedins, of TIDSE 2003, and TIDSE 2004.

the artwork

  1. another series of dutch light.
  2. virtual context -- Dam Square, Amsterdam, see 8.1.
  3. VU Campus in VRML -- student project.
  4. CWI 3th floor, floormap and model, see 8.2..
  5. query -- on 3th floor of CWI.
  6. navigation -- on 3th floor of CWI.
  7. soccer game -- image from WASP project, see section 8.3.
  8. digital beauties -- taken from  [Wiedermann (2002)].
  9. digital beauties -- taken from  [Wiedermann (2002)].
  10. VU @ Second Life -- screenshots.
  11. signs -- sports,  [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 276, 277.
Another sequence of dutch light, opening this chapter, is meant to make you wonder about realism. Is virtual reality less 'real'? With a reference to section 2.3, where I quoted  [Bolter and Grusin (2000)] on re-mediation, I may remark that the graphic style chosen for presenting the virtual environment strongly determines whether the environment is experienced as 'realistic'. In our culture this is generally a photorealistic style, as for example in the Mission Rehearsal Exercise discussed in the next chapter, section 9.2. The digital beauties are not only a pleasure to look at, but do also display a wide range of postures and styles.

print / present / tag(s)

9

digital content creation

post-modern design allows for sampling

learning objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to mention some basic rules of digital content creation, discuss what criteria your portfolio should meet, describe how you would approach the design of a logo, explain the notion of user-centered design, and characterize the issues that play a role in dveloping multimedia for theatre.

Whether your ambition is to become a professional designer or not, also for students of information science and computer science, a course in visual design is a must, I think.

In this chapter, we will treat various aspects of digital content creation. The first section discusses how to approach visual design and gives a number of basic design assignments, that can be used to get experience with visual design. Section 2 discusses the issue of workflow and tools, and investigates how design fits in with the process of developing multimedia applications. In the final section, I will elaborate on a theatre project I was involved in, for which I had to develop an augmented reality application.

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questions

9. digital content creation

concepts


technology


projects & further reading

As a project, you may develop a dialog engine for non-linear interactive story telling or a collage generator, that produces artworks from a collection of images.

You may further explore the various presentation platforms, and assess the tradeoffs with respect to the support they offer for authoring.

For further reading, I suggest to study interaction design patterns. It is also worthwhile to get some books on modern art, to gain some knowledge about art and design.

the artwork

  1. street logos -- images from  [Manco (2004)].
  2. photograph of oilpaint box.
  3. Mark Veldhuijzen van Zanten -- the six roles in their agency.
  4. Mark Veldhuijzen van Zanten -- to design for the salon, periodic lounge evenings in musea and art institutes.
  5. Geert Mul -- interactive multimedia installation.
  6. Geert Mul -- multimedia installation in dutch consulate in India.
  7. website of Institute of Creative Technologies, showing scenes from Mission rehearsal Exercise (MRE).
  8. street logos -- more images from  [Manco (2004)].
  9. website for Visual Sensations, a yearly VJ contest in the Netherlands, developed by the agency of mark Veldhuijzen van Zanten.
  10. Geert Mul -- Harbour Sound & Vision, 1999
  11. screenshots from virtual atelier of Marinus Boezem.
  12. left: don't spit, a chines poster against spitting during the SARS period, taken from dutch newspaper; right: filmteckarna,  [Wiedermann (2004)].
  13. sketches -- from filmteckarna,  [Wiedermann (2004)].
  14. sketches -- from filmteckarna,  [Wiedermann (2004)].
  15. sketches -- from filmteckarna,  [Wiedermann (2004)].
  16. game -- pizza boy, developed by Headland, see 9.3.
  17. signs -- health and safety,  [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 258, 259
The artwork for this chapter is meant to emphasize context. The street logos opening this chapter, as well as the work of Mark veldhuijzen van Zanten and Geert Mul, must be experienced in a context to fully appreciate their meaning.

Also for the MRE application, it is the context, in this case the stress and anxiety of a war situation, that determines the impact. The photorealistic graphic style of MRE, wellknown by the trainees from other games, is meant to strengthen the experience of immersion. Notice that the street logos assume an almost iconic character.

print / present / tag(s)

10

application development

learn the craft, break through the magic of engineering

learning objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to discuss the multimedia development process, to indicate the need for information system support in the cultural heritage domain, to characterize the notion of digital dossier, to provide solutions for navigating complex information spaces, and to discuss the data representation issues involved.

As you gather from reading this book, the field of multimedia is widely divergent. However, when you develop a multimedia application, you will find that all topics treated so far will become relevant. There will be a need to mix multiple media formats. You will have to find suitable codecs for your video. You will be asked whether search is possible. And, not the least important, you will have to balance navigation and presentation.

This chapter is based on the work we, that is my students, have been doing in the domain of cultural heritage. In the first section, we will introduce the notion of digital dossier and outline our general approach. We will then in section 2 look at some examples, and describe how we deploy concept graphs as a universal navigation tool for complex information spaces. Finally, in section 3, we will explore the options for presenting multimedia material and discuss the design issues as well as the technical issues that have arisen in the course of our work.

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13

questions

10. application development

concepts


technology


projects & further reading

As a project, develop a data format for text, images and video in XML, and implement stylesheets in XSLT to convert the format for display, for example in HTML frames or using SMIL.

You may further explore the formulation of criteria for selecting software and tool support for developing multimedia applications.

For further reading I suggest, apart from the manuals and learning materials that come with your tools, to study example projects and in particular the workflow, that is the dependencies between stages in the production, as for example explained in  [McCuskey (2002)].

the artwork

  1. website of Montevideo Collection Catalogue. To avoid being parochial here, I should also mention similar institutes abroad, such as Electronic Arts Intermix from New York, USA, and LUX, from London, UK.
  2. website of INCCA.
  3. tangible virtual museum -- from  [Rosenblum and Macedonia (2005)], see section 10.1.
  4. digital dossier -- concept graph for abramovic dossier, see section 10.2.
  5. digital dossier -- presentation gadget in abramovic dossier, with video of Relation in Time, with Ulay.
  6. digital dossier -- installation Terra dea degli madre, as 3D model.
  7. conservator's studio -- Self-Portrait with Braid, see section 10.2
  8. diagram -- task world ontology,  [Welie et al. (1998)].
  9. tower of babel -- location where the event took place, see below.
  10. tower of babel -- projection of tower of babel project, see section 10.3, submitted by Katelijne Arts. The project is a concept of Katelijne Arts, Tineke Goemans, Franka van de Goor, Leidi Haaijer en Bert Vogels.
  11. tower of babel -- a view from the inside of the building.
  12. PANORAMA architecture -- from  [Si & Eliens (2007)].
  13. signs -- sports,  [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 278, 279.
The artwork for this chapter is selected to emphasize variety and experiment. The collection of Montevideo contains a great number of works from the early history of video art, including the works of Nam June Paik and Bill Viola. Yet, despite the experimental flavor of these works, contemporary media art shows a strong sense of context, experience and communication, as demonstrated for example in the tower of babel project. The issues of preservation we dealt with in this chapter, may now, to conclude this chapter, be summarized as: how do we preserve the context of experience of contemporary media art?
[] 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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