Completed project

I have finally been able to complete the main necessities of my project. It is now able to track a person's hands, mask the webcam to that data, record a video of that masking and playback that video straight after. This has taken longer than I expected but also has helped me pick up some very important lessons in programming. Speaking of which, through making this project I can now say I am sufficient at both using Isadora and openFrameworks. This learning has been created through trial and error experiences. While I did try tutorials to learn more about the softwares I would say most of what helped me adapt was the experimentation and work needed to complete my goals.

The next steps are refining the code and fixing any minor glitches. They are:

- The speed difference between the hands being removed from tracking and the recording being rendered is too fast for the program to handle and most likely will lead to crashing the application.
- Resizing the video so the 'canvas' aspect takes up the whole screen.
- Copying the code to the Mac computer.
- Creating two windows so the hands and mini display are displayed on the computer screen while the main display is on the monitor.
- Create a mixer or opacity difference between the masked video and video playback so they intwine better.
- Any other alterations which can make the project cleaner, more intuitive and effective.

Oh and also complete my exegesis.

 
Hand tracking to video masking, recording and video playback from Matt Martin on Vimeo.

Programming update

I have been able to make a more efficient recorder of the live stage. It now records at 5mb/s (or whatever I choose) instead of 970mb/s. I had to search through some old code to find it but was able to get one that allowed me to choose the bitrate for the video encoder. I am pretty sure what I found was the original version of osxVideoRecorderExample which has this feature but I could not find it with the present one. Now my version is a mix of the two and is a lot quicker in frame rate. The last big step is to put the two programs together, let's do this. Video of the demo is below.


openFramworks live mask and video recording loop from Matt Martin on Vimeo.

Software expulsion

Over the past week I have been able to discuss with other programmers and digital artists in Melbourne who also use programming languages to manipulate and mix video. The main point I received from our discussions was by keeping solely to openFrameworks I will be able to use less use out of my computer and generate a more efficient program. I have known sticking to only one program would be better for processing video but never questioned not needing Isadora - which is a video mixing software - and replacing it for basic programming to do the video mixing and recording. The comments I received were of openFrameworks being possible of doing a large amount of anything (from a video jockey). Two weeks ago I would not have even considered this an option but I have been able to adapt to openFrameworks quickly and steadily.

With a 20 minute search looking at replicating the visual aspect of Isadora to openFrmaeworks [1, 2, 3] it appeared possible to achieve that same level of work but without needing the two different softwares playing at once. Within two days I was able to replicate most of what Isadora could do in openFrameworks. This isn't to say that learning from Isadora wasn't invaluable, it gave me the chance for quick programming to construct ideas and concepts in a short amount of time. I have however found using HD video tricky for Isadora to handle.


Video masking and recording in openFrameworks from Matt Martin on Vimeo.

The next step is combining the hand tracking code with live video masking and recording. I am planning to deliver the practical element within the next few days which will allow me more time on completing what is left of the theoretical and presentational elements of my studio project.

References

masking an image with another image - openFrameworks forum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://forum.openframeworks.cc/index.php?topic=339.0

ofxFenster addon to handle multiple windows (rewrite) - openFrameworks forum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://forum.openframeworks.cc/index.php/topic,6499.0.html

Processor Resources with OF and Video - openFrameworks forum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://forum.openframeworks.cc/index.php?topic=12771.0

Revision

As I become more involved into the technical work, I have begun to reevaluate what my project is and what it could/should become. When considering the next planned step I started to realise how impractical and time consuming it would be. I have been able to get openFrameworks working as a hand and finger tracker, thanks to KinectCoreVision. This can then send data to Isadora to allow it to do its masking and video recording.

KinectCoreVision to Isadora from Matt Martin on Vimeo.

The next step was to understand how to make the computer recognise similarities between a recorded video and the live mask and then merge the two together. Not only that but to alternate between different video categories when there are different connections. So if there was a lot of a certain colour or a tree on display, all related content to that would show up on the screen, like previously recorded green trees. It would mean for video categories of different subjects and visually linking them. Colour connections would be possible but identifying objects is less plausible. It leaves me with deciding how to prioritise my time and I have decided feedback is the biggest priority. Also because an adaption of my work has been accepted for public space, I have to consider the reality of getting that working the way they want it to.

The project is now more about giving the audience a collage of everyone's chosen experience, not subjective to what is on screen. It is not of the screen acting as a mind relating what it sees with connections of what it knows. It now acts as the super experience, mixed of all performer's interactions of what they see and what they choose to include. Essentially when the performer interacts with the installation, it will play a video recording over and over while including the new mask of the performer's experience. I don't mind this except for it feeling a bit of a copout. At least now I can create a stronger, more finalised project. With feedback I can also adapt it accordingly. I also have to remember the practical is not the part to the work.

References

KinectCoreVision. (n.d.). GitHub. Retrieved September 27, 2013, from https://github.com/patriciogonzalezvivo/KinectCoreVision

Plan for assessment

https://vimeo.com/20904879#at=0

With the mid semester assessment coming up I have begun planning what to show so far. Most of this will be the practical elements I have been testing and exploring. The real element I want to get is the feedback which has been delayed from following installation instructions for out of date programs. I will give one more try to getting KinectCoreVision with openFrameworks working on Monday, if I don't I will remake the one I have to fit with what I want even if it's not that accurate. I want to make sure I get that feedback by next week and to see a final focus point before the holidays. I am fairly sure that I can get simple concept (webcam input, simple finger detection, recording of video etc.) ready in the week. The problem lies within the time to set it up in one go and how much CPU it uses. As I can change the quality of the video Isadora records I can make sure they don't require a lot of use.

References

Patricio Gonzalez Vivo. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2013, from http://patriciogonzalezvivo.com/index.php

Practice progression

I have lately been working on technical tasks related to my project, not that they are the most vital aspects but will give some idea to what is possible as I plan my final result/direction earlier to develop new ideas. The faster I move onto this the more time there is for the revision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHX5jzHFM4

One of the first issues I had towards the last semesters project was how well the interaction worked. It is vital and needs to be understandable for everyone. I want to know what my options are for this and what is possible to recreate. I have been looking for a stable and accurate way to track the hands or fingers of a person. So far the results vary, but with accuracy comes complexity. Most decent tracking systems point towards using a framework called OpenNI with a lot of other software required to perform. Unfortunately this has led to long read me files and broken links, eventually I was able to find out that even though the official website stated having a Mac beta version available that it is not actually possible because of Kinect SDK being required (Kinect SDK does not work on Mac. Now I am back to finding other solutions or alternatives. Right now I have found some more videos using Processing with the Kinect which look to be promising.

The other, less probable task was looking for a way to rerecord video from the stages in Isadora. What looked almost impossible (because of the dependency of the files loading to the media section in Isadora to be usable in Isadora) actually already included an actor to record files from video input devices connected to the laptop, such as a webcam. Unfortunately there was no plan to capture for stages. A trick around this was to make Isadora think there was a "capture" device connected. Instead using Camtwist it used the laptop display screen (including the stages) as video input for Isadora to detect and allowed for video file to be created. I might switch to something other than Camtwist as there are lots of options out there, but for now it will do. So progress.

In fact here is a video of the Isadora patch in action, using a really bad webcam.

References 

About OpenNI - 3D sensing Technology for depth sensors | OpenNI. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.openni.org/about/

CamTwist. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://camtwiststudio.com/

Download the Kinect SDK & Developer Toolkit | Kinect for Windows. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows/develop/developer-downloads.aspx

Installing OpenNI, NITE  and SensorKinect for Mac OS X. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://developkinect.com/resource/mac-os-x/install-openni-nite-and-sensorkinect-mac-os-x

Kinect Hand Processing - Gestures. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHX5jzHFM4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

record stage - TroikaTronix Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://troikatronix.com/troikatronixforum/discussion/790/record-stage/p1

Setting up the Kinect on OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion)- Coding Color. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.codingcolor.com/featured-articles/set-up-kinect-on-osx-10-8-mountain-lion/

Continue of project

Two weeks into the semester and I'm getting back into the flow of things. So far I have not made groundbreaking development which is why I have not posted recently. I am aware though that reflecting on what is not progressing could lead to positive alternatives. That is partially why I am making this post. The other point is to illustrate the direction I am heading towards. I already have some leeway to getting there and will look to follow through with this.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-13/nike-installation-turns-your-body-animated-digital-art

So I am trying to get into the creating aspect fairly quickly. I am doing this by exploring similar works and tutorials to get myself into a practical way of making. From completing the basic Isadora tutorials I understand more on its capabilities and generate ideas through that. So far I am thinking along the lines of live video interactions, heading away from cameras and more towards expressive technology. I want the performers to choose their experience input to the art piece. I will still focus on the art piece being the one with the experience, which is dependant on the performers direction and choice of perspective. The next few days will be about testing live video and the possibility of capturing live video.

I found an article with a different perspective towards how technology is used for experience. Stating technology that is used to express an experience is actually supplementing the real experience (example given was of online social activities strengthens physical social interaction rather than replacing it). As the person gains more knowledge and interest around an experience it will lead to the experience itself being more engaging. In terms of my project constituting around the camera as a way to express a persons experience, it would lead to a better (or different) engagement for the person who was to look at the footage and later then try to replicate the experience. This way of thinking though is becoming more about certain rules I am looking for rather than an idea to express. I have to be wary I do not become one who follows with "This is like this therefore..." statements.

References

Digital Technology and How We Learn, Interact, and Experience Our World. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://matthawkhistory.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/digital-technology-and-how-we-learn.html

Nike installation turns your body into animated digital art. (n.d.). DVICE. Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-13/nike-installation-turns-your-body-animated-digital-art

Tutorials | TROIKATRONIX. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://troikatronix.com/tutorials/

Isadora

Now I am busy practically testing round with what I want to present in a month. I have done a bit of everything involved. My project conceptually won't change much except for fixing the holes. These holes can be fixed by how I technically create the artefact. The more I show people what I am doing the more I can see how it is perceived to others, this makes me drive into other ways of showing this content in relation to my concept.

The Auckland Museum. My choice of filming location. View looking outwards. 

What is important right now in my content is the experience location I am trying to express. There are different elements that can affect it. For one I want it to be a place that is an impactful situation that I myself have felt. It also should be a place that is generically pleasing to the audience and gives this impression of wanting to be there for a sort of aesthetic reward. Once they enter and interact with the projection it changes to the perception of a camera that then needs to be interesting to explore and move around in. Right now I am looking at a place that I find rewarding personally while also a tourist location for taking pictures. It has a mix of everything to help with being generic. I think my photography skills and the technology used may influence how great this content is.

Isadora editing

An affect created using Isadora

I have been looking into installations that give similar effects as to what I want. The program I am using for the video editing will most likely be Isadora. It is simple to use and looks to do what I want it to. When playing around with both this and when using After Effects for the simulation video I realise how many variations I can create of my artefact. I am aiming to showcase my artefact as best as possible to fit my concept and this is where the technical components can be manoeuvred for that. Right now I have a close (but laggy) version created.

Right now most technical aspects are there and I have most of the problems and questions answered for. It just needs to be formed together as one.

References

About | TROIKATRONIX. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2013, from http://troikatronix.com/isadora/about/

In Order to Control | NOTA BENE Visual | Digital Experiences | Istanbul. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2013, from http://notabenevisual.com/interactive-typographic-installation/

Isadora & Live Feed Video Mask [How to...]. (n.d.). Graham Thorne. Retrieved May 24, 2013, from http://vjskulpture.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/isadora-live-feed-video-mask-how-to/

Artefact draft concept

As a way to help myself and others understand what my artefact I plan is to be I have made a simulated version of the two screens involved. I don't expect what I plan now to be exactly what I show at the end of semester but it is in the direction I want to take it. When I thought of this idea I knew it had a lot of holes but I expect to fix that through development and feedback. I don't mind if people don't completely understand the meaning of the work, they can make their own meanings. I do however need to explain clearly how I see it. Verbally speaking about it can make it confusing. Hopefully the simulation video and a typed explanation is clearer.

Perspective Experience - Video simulation Here

There is a projector screen, the user and an interpretation of a camera (basically a screen that looks like a camera). The user is facing the projector while the fake camera is behind them. The projector screen displays out a video of a photogenic scenery.  To begin the experimentation the user first has to move into a specific position, one that makes them look as if they are holding a camera. The projector then initialises into a 'camera mode' perspective. What the user sees on the projector is from the viewpoint of what a camera would see when a person is taking a picture/video within that scene. As the user moves their hands around the camera view moves with it in the photogenic scene space. The user can choose to look at whatever they want, the scene itself is meant to be curious enough to look at things at different times in different places.

Projector > User > Fake camera

While the user is experiencing the perspective of a camera, the fake camera behind them is seeing from the perspective of a person as if they were in the scene taking pictures with the camera that the user is pretending to hold. The fake camera displays/outputs what the person in the scene might be perceiving/consuming in their mind. This output is a mix of what the person is looking at and past connections relating to the current experience. There is the displaying of the eye's focus point visual consumption which degrades as the focus point changes from one place to another. Think of it like a person quickly closing their eyes and briefly seeing the last thing they saw inside their head, eventually it disappears and comes part of their memory. The current focus point also pushes out what was previously there with this fresher view.

The fake camera's output also creates a mix of past experience with the current. It is to simulate the perception of the person's experience. This includes past experiences that are influencing the current one. This recollection of the similar experience creates an alteration in both the past and present experience. When the user goes over an area that the camera has already been to it triggers a recollection on the fake camera's output that was similar in area, merging the two experiences together. This relates to a memory being relived in present time and becoming altered to the orignal experience.

This work is still currently conceptually broken. I see there are parts of the work that are not fully threshed out and are technically holding me back. For one what I am explaining is just the simulation, and two it is still in its early stages of development. Lots of holes to poke through. I feel what the fake camera is displaying isn't enough. There should be more things happening at impacting the current experience of things. I also don't feel like it acts as the human eye intakes. It needs to look more like a human eye perspective just as the projector has a camera's perspective. I want recalls to happens not just around what the user is looking at but in other areas of similarity. Show a better feeling of mixing between current and past experiences. I think I can do this by relating objects on screen to similar past objects rather than just by location.  The installation will become more interesting the longer in time it is shown. The more users play with it the more there can be a mix for reappearances of what happened.

Post clean out

So I have been getting a lot of post info bundled up and never completed. With the constant call for my exegesis to be written it is time to keep a track of things. There are topics and research that didn't have the best place to publish so I have decided to fill it out here while it's still relevant.

Healing pool - Brian Knep

Around a month ago I found an interesting interactive art piece using projectors. A glowing pool is projected onto the ground which allows for viewers to walk over. When they do it creates ripples in the pool, breaking up the patterns of what was there. The patterns will eventually repair themselves but now are formed in a different way, causing for what has been done to be a permanent alteration in the artwork.  

http://www.blep.com/healingPool/

These "alterations" I find interesting because the more the people interact with this pool the more it changes into something else. Similar to a memory being interacted with or recalled, the more it alters from the original experience. I want to know if I can allow the user to interact with something they perceive as a memory and show it visually changing into something it originally was not.

Enter The Void - Gasper Noé

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IdVXI09pswBB4Ipn5GRNnHPsy_rpFtwXoNZlosq70gxXt_C2EvCdkSyzAtp8AUwgSCscwqcrQzgJszUxHWMJWcYpWJyJupoElSiHh8-GVYjrLykWaXkMCdC0dg8IfzRPns6lenfSie6B/s1600/Enter-the-Void-18-31770.jpg

Well, a week ago I watched a very unique film (do not read this paragraph if you plan to watch it). This film used POV camera techniques for the entire film, getting the perspective from a single individual. It plays through out of body experiences of a persons memory that are almost completely linear. All memories seem to be big parts of the person's life. This film I see as being someone's life flashing before their eyes, taking the biggest memories the person has. The reason I am typing about this is because I think it is similar to what is possible for my artefact but on a smaller scale. I want memories coming from a specific experience timeframe, most likely around the time someone would be recording using their camera. This film also allowed the audience to be a character while also watching themselves as that character, this may have also influenced my current ideas. 

Technology as Experience - John McCarthy and Peter Wright

Some old research from the book I read. First there is a brief cheesy statement on the aesthetic experience, followed by the threads of experience. These threads are useful to be conscious of when I create and discuss my project, they could be used for or against what I state and I need to be aware of that.

Aesthetic experience:

There is the self and the other. The other is the experience and is what is formed by the self from the self's perspective. The self requires for the other/event/object to respond back to the self to gather authorship. It gives the self unity and completeness. The relationship between one consciousness to the other is part of the aesthetic experience. How much is sent and received between the two will change the overall aesthetic quality.

There are four threads of experience, all of which are happening simultaneously:

Sensual threads

Sensory engagement can become fractured when the person is distanced with the subject at hand. If a product has been developed and sent on to someone else who wasn't the one who developed it then they have become part of a process without feeling the initial part. On the other side the person can become enclosed with the product and take away irrelevant senses when they are so absorbed with it. The way our senses interpret objects or people can change our experience of what is happening. Our interpretation is from our history, culture etc.

Emotional threads

How our emotions work in an experience is dependant on what is there and how that relates to the person. The person doesn't just create an emotion from themselves but rather it is created from how an object might respond to the person and how the person responds back. If the situation or object did not exist than the person would not have that same emotional response in the experience.

Composition threads

If the aesthetic part of the experience is to exist than there will be some effort from the person to think about it. They have to be thinking about what meaning it gives them, how they see this experienced framed, such as if an object gives them pleasure or just functional use.

Spatio-Temporal 

This I believe gives a bit of reasoning to my cinemagraphs. The experience itself can change what the time and space relationship is. The amount of time an experience goes for can feel like it lasts a very long time even if it only lasted a few seconds. A ball being thrown in a football game to score the winning touch down might seem to be forever in the air for the fans. The same can be thought for the feeling of space. What is happening in the experience can give the person an awareness of being crowded or restricted from a space. What I find interesting is how we can connect time as being one moment. Past, present and future all happening as one.

References

Brian Knep : Projects : Healing Pool. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://www.blep.com/healingPool/

Noé, G. (2010). Enter the Void. Drama, Fantasy.

McCarthy, John C. Technology As Experience. MIT Press, 2004.

Inception App

I found an Iphone Inception application. It takes in the sounds around you and distorts it in different ways that is outputted into your headset. It takes a bit to get into but when it's used in everyday activities it can disorient yourself with what is around you and what is real and what is not, especially when the Inception soundtrack plays in the background. Depending on where the person is, acts and moves with their phone will change how the device responds.

http://evolver.fm/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/inception_promo1.jpg

I found it interesting for a device to react and shape the experience output. This constant change in sound distortion has a similar lining to how I want my project to act as a distortion or change to a persons recollection. How the person acts or remembers will be connected to what visual output happens.

References

Inception The App | Experience your life as a dream. (n.d.). Inception The App. Retrieved May 9, 2013, from http://inceptiontheapp.com/

Video editing reflection

My video editing practice has recently been completed. The outcome of this work, visually, I am moderately pleased about. I hope this isn't because the content I used enhanced it and I do wonder if using my own material could still give the same reaction. The outcome conceptually and as a development of my overall project was surprising. I did not understand fully when making these edits what it was I was doing it for.

Through this process I decided to test the experiment on someone else. See what would happen if a person unfamiliar to the show was to watch it and see what they could recall a day later. Their outcome gave recollections quite similar to mine but what was difficult to understand was how exactly it appeared to them outside of what they were telling me. This was how I understood that I am making these clips to come as close to a simulation of what I was picturing in my head when I was recalling them, which is not what the recording devices are doing even if our intentions for them is.

What this means is when we go out and use recording devises to take images and videos as ways of collecting experiences and moments we don't fully understand what we are wanting for the outcome. The outcome we get from the devices we think we are satisfied with because that is the only outcome we have seen from the devices. If the visual output was to look as it might in the mind (which my practical work narrows down on that comparison) what would the reaction be like? The video I made however may only be fully understood by myself as I was the one who know/sees both outcomes, memory recall and video output. Really this is all a stage of how I am looking at human intentions with technology and the right satisfaction from an outcome.

Another question to ask is are we are using these 'devices' for acting as our brain or using them because we think they are better than our brain? Do we want the recollection from the camera to be the same as the memories?  

 References

Hunter, T. (n.d.). Mad Men. Mad Men. AMC.

Maddening memories

A week ago I decided to generate some ideas through some practical means. An experiment I committed to was doing something as an experience that would be recorded. I would then wait over a certain amount of time and then recall what I remembered of it in quick succession. The pieces of the experience I remember would then be used to edit the recording of the experience and create a new video of just the remembered parts. This is to be compared to when someone recalls an experience in their head as they communicate to others.

I decided to use a television series I have been watching called Mad Men. I watched a new episode, waited a day, then wrote down in 5 minutes as much as I could of the episode. Elements to this were quite interesting. For one I wanted to get as much content down as possible so I imagined the people on the show, not in a particular plot point but just in a certain context. They would be doing something but I would not be remembering why and in relation to the scenes order of the episode. Something like a woman breaking a chair or a man standing by a door frowning. I also did not recall any sound in the memories, maybe their voice but nothing definitive  Something else that was interesting was everything I remembered I saw as being the same length in time. When editing the parts I remembered I found went from half a second to 30 seconds. The memory of the experience is compressed to an undetermined amount of time. Right now I only have rough cuts of the work but will refine it into how I remember remembering it.

One of the distinct recalls I had when watching.

I know there are a lot of variables that tampered certain parts of my result. As I am quite familiar with the characters so I could recall things pretty well. I also have the recording of what I was watching instead of a recording of the real time of me watching it. I am not doing it as a test to see how well I can remember it and what impacts there are of me remembering it. I am instead doing it to understand what my recollection of the experience looks like through recording technology. Its about the perspective. Taking our memory of the experience out of the context of our head and into a video.

A man frowning

I do know that my final project will not be just screen based work like this, I don't want it to be about video editing and just people watching a screen. It also won't be that personal which is something I need in my work. I see there being an interaction of some sort. I have been doubtful of the usefulness of experiment for my project so far and a little unsure as to what it is I am trying to get from it. I also think this is focused to much on memories rather than experience. I do want to get the most out of this work and give it a completion. I plan on having other people try the same experiment with the same video and make a video edit out of it as well.

References

Hunter, T. (n.d.). Mad Men. Mad Men. AMC.

Technology As Experience questions

As I read through this book on experience and technology I thought it would be good to reflect on what has been discussed. There seems to be quite a few good pointers in there and I need to grasp what they are. I also haven't found much other research yet so this might help with that too.

Someone who came up in the book was Brenda Laurel. She looks into our engagement with computers and how it brings forth an experience similar to theatre. Her work is a little outdated but can still be relevant for the purpose of the type of engagement technology can give us.

Further on in the book some questions were brought up for the quality of engagement for certain types of technology:

Do the technologies connect or fragment experience and life?

Do the technologies help to enrich our experience of what we already
value, or do they impoverish it?

Do the technologies facilitate unfolding potential, critical perception, and
engagement?

The second question is exactly along the lines of what my project is looking into. I don't expect to be able to just gain my answer from the book but I am confident it will give me some justification to what it is I decide.

The book goes on to discuss the aesthetic experience as being fulfilled by the response of the person to and from what it is that is happening/ being experienced. Philosophers John Dewey and Mikhail Bakhtin are exemplified for the theory:

"For Bakhtin, then, enriched, aesthetic experience is created from moments of answerability, the weight of which is located in the relationship between self and other in that moment. For him, the weight of lived moments of experience is felt in answerable engagement with a responsive other. According to Dewey, aesthetic experience involves the interpenetration of self and the world of objects and events, or self and other, according to Bakhtin. This interpenetration of two centers of value, involving what Hicks (2000, p. 231) calls “richly seeing,” entails felt commitment to the other, seeing the other as a center of value."

So I take from this that what the person is expecting, seeking or wanting a response from (i.e technology) will change the engagement of the person's experience. This outlook is becoming quite useful for redevelopment of my project but is still broad. I need a medium.

References

Brenda Laurel. (2013, April 3).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brenda_Laurel&oldid=545332938

McCarthy, John C. Technology As Experience. MIT Press, 2004.

The repetition of experience

For the past week I have been looking into and trying to understand what underlying link there might be about what I could/should focus on when it comes to someones experience. As of right now my project is still broad. I have been a bit practical (outside of reading the book Technology as Experience) by playing around with videos and giving a repetition to certain parts that for me I remember distinctly when recalling them. I see a lot of "re" work happening around experience and technologies use for it. We like to remember past memories and repeat them to others, we capture a moment with our camera to relive later and we try to recreate historical events to gather understanding from them.

                                                    Bonobo : Cirrus [Official Video]

This isn't a big lead to go with but it gives me a better purpose for experience. Someone who works with a similar use of repetition in image is a freelancer called Cyriak. Although his work does not necessarily aim for the users experience, it does flow and move visually with how I could consider a person recalls memory. Especially when that memory becomes distorted from over remembrance.

References 

cyriak’s channel. (n.d.).YouTube. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/user/cyriak

McCarthy, John C. Technology As Experience. MIT Press, 2004.

Studio V: Experience

Now that my project has been given the go ahead I better start documenting the work. To start with I will give the basis of what my project is and where I begin to start:

Experience

A theme that I am wanting to explore is based around what an experience is and what influences them. This will look at the highs and lows of impacts to the certain experience. To be more specific I will focus towards impacts by current technology, directly recording ones. This feels to be quite philosophical/psychological/conceptual and for now I believe it is. This will allow me to see what other works are out there and what I can utilise by technical interest. I don't want to be stuck to my computer and books the whole time though so I have made a decision to become indulged in events and activities outside of studio time and continually relate it to my work. Thankfully the electives I have chosen for the first semester are also quite practical based to add a mixture to the work.

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/084/cache/hands-holding-camera_8447_990x742.jpg

The research I have collected already should keep me busy. So to keep record I will give a few of them here.

Here is a one sided look at why tourists and cameras are destroying the travelling world. This actually is where my thoughts were leading towards when I thought of the idea while on holiday. Another article from The New Yorker has the author question his strength in memory without technology. Based on an experience he had without taking any snapshots he felt looking back now it still sits clear in his mind. I would like to know if taking a picture really causes for it to withdraw specifics from your memory and into the digital form.

 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_g8CMDiA3baA/SY0tZ3j6RTI/AAAAAAAAAac/JnwdAvdChTQ/s1600/cellphones.jpg

Daniel Kahneman's TED talk on memory vs experience. This talk explains the importance of the memory of the experience. After an experience has past it is believed that the largest impact and the last moment of that experience will be what we remember. This makes me question the importance of recording our experience as it looks to be a lot more important than actually being in the moment.

Some readings that will be looked into are "On Photography" by Susan Sontag and "Technology As Experience" by John McCarthy and Peter Wright. The first one looks specifically at photography and its interventions with a person and their camera, what it is they become and the affects it has. The other looks at technology and how it changes what our experiences are or how we access these experiences. While it's broad with the technologies, it has importnat information on the 'capture' aspect of technology on experiences.  

What I am creating will be under entertainment media art. This will be anything from installation to interactive game to contemporary art. I want to do this as a stepping stone towards getting my work into events and festivals and then eventually working towards project management of larger works. I know I should keep talking to tutors who are already part of similar programmes. 

References

Beller, Thomas. “Saying Goodbye to Now.” The New Yorker Blogs, December 4, 2012. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/12/saying-goodbye-to-now-how-do-iphone-photos-impact-our-experience.html.

 

McCarthy, John C. Technology As Experience. MIT Press, 2004.

 

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. Picador, 1977.

 

Daniel Kahneman: The Riddle of Experience Vs. Memory | Video on TED.com. Accessed March 15, 2013. http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html.

 

“James Durston: Photography Has Ruined Travel.” CNN Travel. Accessed March 15, 2013. http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/tell-me-about-it/james-durston-photography-has-ruined-travel-361992.