Beth's Digital Media Design Blog

Dissertation

2008-05-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

My dissertation was based on the idea of realism, and how it effects viewers visual perception and belief in a narrative of an animated film.
I discovered that the concept of realism in art is a wide and complex debate and many arguments became apparent whilst constructing my dissertation.
I explored the latest technological innovation of CGI and Traditional forms of animation and found some interesting discoveries.
The main body of the study considered the differences between 2D and 3D animated forms and discovered that despite their diversity it is clear that the main task is to make their work believable.

Walt Disney 'Pinocchio' (1940)

Pixar Studios 'Toy Story' (1995)

The aim of CGI is to capture or replicate an external reality, whereas traditional forms relied on the concept of anthropomorphism (injecting inanimate objects with human qualities).The main argument was discussing which of these two animated forms is more believable, whether the audience valued Manoviche's 'less is more' theory whereby the imagination plays a part or adds to the illusion of an animation or they were driven by technological developments of CGI and its constant drive towards photo-realism.The key themes of the dissertation was the consideration of fantasy realism, photo-realism,integration and visual perception on behalf of the audience.

Visual perception varies with each individual, people have different views and ideas as to how they percieve animation, I realised that it was impossible to establish which form of animation was more believable.

I really enjoyed writing the dissertation. I chose a subject which I found of great interest. The creative writing process although at first I found to be quite challenging, I found it to be a very enjoyable experience and I am very proud of what I have achieved.

Part [1] INTENTIONS - Exam Project proposal

2008-04-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Project title: The Body - For young and older readers

The Aim: is to create a visual solution which communicates the body and how it functions to two audiences. Merging two age groups into one product, converging something which is usually separate into one which will hopefully deliver a sharing experience encouraging both parties to investigate further. The book is intended to be an educational support which provides the older reader with facts and the knowledge to guide a child through the learning process.

The Brief: An illustrated explanation of the body’s functionality in the form of a book. The book as a whole will be created as an encyclopaedia/manual which will be divided to accommodate both adults and children. Both age groups will have access to scientific information of the same facts but the style and content will differ according to the age group.
The older reader or parent will be provided with a biomedical illustrated manual with information about the body’s functionality. The younger reader or sibling will be provided with a colourful and playful illustrative explanation about different parts of the body and how it functions.

Style: Adults
The adults section will form a manual which is part text based and part illustration, with the inclusion of black and white diagrams/technical drawings.

Style: Children
The child’s section will be in the form of an illustrated encyclopaedia, containing colourful illustrations and simple text. Experimentation with textures and pop-ups with in the book will encourage a child to explore and interact with the book.

Both young and older readers will have a clear divide in the book, as the illustrative elements and language used with in the book will differ and be contained on the left side for adults and the right side for children.

Childrens Book Festival

2008-04-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today Me and Kelly went to the children's book festival held in the Theater over at Grande Parade, and it turned out to be a very valuable experience. I came away feeling very positive. Some interesting and helpful points were raised from a professional panel of illustrators and book authors giving advice on self promotion, getting an agent, legal issues and getting published. Their backgrounds varied from graphic design , Literary agents and successful publishers from Little Tiger Press and Puffin and authors.
(Look on kelly's blog for more info and pretty pictures about the festival, she's done a great job of explaining it in more detail).

Easter Break Up-Date

2008-03-31T02:50:00.000-07:00

Over the Easter break I spent some time working and researching for my dissertation. The subject is on realism in animated films and focusing on how it effects the viewers perception and belief in the narrative. I discovered a book called Understanding Animation by Paul Wells.

Contents
Explains the defining characteristics of animation as a cinematic form.

Outlines different models and methods which can be used to interpret and evaluate animated films.

An explanation of narrative strategies.

An analysis of how comic events are constructed.

A discussion of representation.

The book was intended for the dissertation but its subject matter particularly discussions about anthropomorphism has influenced me towards my exam project.

My ideas are quite vague but I have a couple of starting points which I can begin to work from.
I have researched heavily on the subject of autism and have found it to be a fascinating subject.
I like the idea of breathing life into inanimate objects, children with autism don't look at things in the same way as other children without the condition, they can become terrified of objects and things for no apparent reason. One day an object may seem like a normal harmless thing that they don't pay attention to and don't even notice, another day the child can become very distressed if they are in close proximity to it.

I'm thinking about bringing my book for the d&ad to life in the form of an animation, concentrating on autistic traits particularly sensory sensitivity (vision, hearing, touch). Distorted vision - long flat planes of coloure, amplified sounds -industrial machinery.

I don't think as my self as an animator, I have done some animation in the past and its certainly not something that comes naturally as Im not impressed by the stuff i've created to date, but its definately something I would like to get my teeth into and who knows maybe i'll just make another book its still early days.
I've got a lot to think about, but at least its a start towards my exam project.

PYRS - My illustrated Book

2008-03-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, I have come along way with the progress of my book. I am happy with the look and style of my illustrations. I have experimented allot with the layout and have finally got the pages complete.

I had to figure out exactly who the book was for: Children or Adults?
Was I going to include text in my book?
I decided that I wanted my book to be aimed at both, as this would make my book appeal to a larger audience. The book contains colourful self explanatory illustrations combined with simple text for children, and a descriptive paragraph ranging from 1 - 4 lines which is on the opposite pages for adults.

I found the text for the book the most challenging as I have never had to write a book before especially for children, I had to research allot of children's books and work out what age range the book would be suited to.

Permission to use Quotes
I am really happy as I have gained permission to use some quotes from the National Autistic Society, which are in the adults section of my book. I explained to them what I was doing and they were very supportive as long as they are credited, are shown a copy of my book and i also have to fill out a form online. I have used 4 Quotes all together and I feel they really deliver the message i am trying to get across in my illustrations. I thought it was important to include some facts about autism in the section aimed at adults and I'm very pleased I have.

My intention for the book beyond the D&AD brief is for an educational purpose, and to illustrate autism in a positive way, I feel I have managed to do this and am happy with the result.
I have received some very positive feedback from the tutors and they also gave me some ideas and tips which would improve the book, for example: justification of text, reducing the amount of text as its important to get across my ideas in as short a paragraph as possible as nobody wants to read mounds and mounds of text, as its an illustrated book after all.

Printing
Lee Oliver from the city college printers has been an absolute godsend, I gave him a mammoth task to print my book, I chose a fantastic heavy weight paper to print on. My book contains 16 pages, but because of the adults text on the opposite pages it means that they all have to be double sided, and the printer cant print double sided on the paper weight which I chose, so he had to turn each page manually. Then I wanted him to print the front and back covers on a different type of paper, you know me I've gotta be awkward. I spent all morning with him giving him tasks and he kindly said leave it with him and he gonna get it sorted by tomorrow morning which is great as I can then figure out how I'm gonna bind it. LEGEND!

Illustrated Book

2008-02-24T14:39:00.001-08:00

I have gone with the illustrated book idea which is based on my cousin Pyrs. I have done allot of research on autism and each case is different. I spent the weekend at Pyrs's house and learned a great deal about how he copes with the condition. We are a close family, but living away for the past 4years means I havn't had that much contact with him, and spending time with him and his Mum was lovely in some ways but quite upsetting in another. Pyrs is such a happy child and has a wonderful life but at the same time autism is stopping him from doing things that I take for granted.
The book is not going to be a documentation about autism but a story which illustrates Pyrs's life and as autism is a huge part of how he lives on a day to day basis I have chosen to pick out certain autistic traits to illustrate.
Autistic Traits:
Hypersensitivity to sounds and certain colours.
Sounds are amplified and he gets very distressed in public places, he especially hates roadworks and electronic machinary.

" People everywhere, talking, wearing bright colours. The talking is like the pounding of horses hooves. The bright colours are blinding, the talking hurts my ears, the bright colours hurt my eyes"

(Quote taken from The National Autistic Society, Parant Book by Jane Shelds.)

Single Attention Span:
Pyrs becomes absorbed by one thing or object and he devotes his full attention to it. Its as if every one around him is transparent or don't exist. He becomes so absorbed that he doesn't respond even if you shout his name. A typical object would be a spinning coin or ball.

Obsessions:
Pyrs has a couple of odd obsessions at the moment but they do change quite regulary. His current obsession is with toothbrushes, he has loads of them. The toothbrushes are of the same style and brand but do vary in coloure. He likes them lined up in his playroom. He wouldn't accept any other style or brand of toothbrush as its not the same, it has to be the same.

Medication
Pyrs has to take prescribed medication on a daily basis which aids the condition.
Routine and Communication
Pyrs hasn't got a fixed routine as it would make the familys life difficult if there was a change.
His Mum communicates with a visual timetable which illustrates whats going to happen now and next. Pyrs must know whats going to happen next so he doesn't become distressed.

I am also going to illustrate his interests and hobbies.

Here's one of my illustrations for the book.
Hypersensitivity To Sound

Three Responses To The D&AD Briefs

2008-02-20T06:26:00.001-08:00

Three ideas and responses to the brief:
1) Illustrated book about my cousin Pyrs.
Pyrs is a 6yr old boy who has autism and struggles with social communication, social integration and social imagination. people with autism have said that the world to them is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of. Pyrs thinks in pictures, meaning that he communicates mainly with visual timetables, he needs constant reassurance of what is gong to happen next. Pyrs has many autistic traits such as obsessions with odd things and objects, and is frightened of bizarre things like raisons and carkeys. Autism a side, Pyrs is a very happy child and has lots of hobby's like any other child his age.
My intention for the illustrated book is not a documentation about autism, its going to be a story about my cousin who happens to have the condition.
Im not intending to make a dramatic sob story which highlights the devastation caused by autism, Im going to try and get an understanding of how he copes with everyday things. focusing on his like, dislikes, fears and obsessions etc.

2) Illustrated book about myself
A series of illustrations which focus on my fears and anxiety's, childhood and future aspirations.
Place my self in another time and place, how would I fit into society?

3)Create a character based on my autistic cousin Pyrs.

Single attention - becomes absorbed by one thing and devotes his full attention to it.
Routine - character repeats a routine over and over again, then the routine is broken. What happens?
Sensory sensitivity
Personality traits and quirks - Curiosity, clumsy, obsessive, fanatical,
Create a character inspired by one of Pyrs's toys.

I have discussed my ideas with the tutors and I have decided to go with my first idea of creating an illustrated book about my cousin Pyrs.

D&AD

2008-02-20T06:23:00.001-08:00

I have looked at the briefs for the D&AD awards and a couple of them are quite open for personal experimentation and I feel that these are the breifs I would like to look at closer.
The two briefs which appealed to me are:

HSI London - Create a character then portray its personality through animation.

Davisystems - Produce an illustrated book about yourself or someone else.

Both briefs involve the creation of an existing or fictional character who's personality is illustrated in a book or brought to life using animation methods.

Its half way through the final year at Uni and I feel that I need to create something which demonstrates my abillitites, and shows personal experimentation. The two briefs are quite open and this is my reason for shortlisting them.

Time to update

2008-02-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Been a while since my last post , so I better update and write about what ive been up to over the past three weeks.
Berlin/Transmediale
Berlin was amazing I really enjoyed the trip, the week was jammed with things to do every day. Transmediale was interesting, at the time I wasn't sure about some of the stuff that was being shown as I didn't realise that the festival would be so theory based with mainly seminars and was expecting to see alot more installations and art pieces. But since coming away from Berlin I am beginning to really appreciate Transmediale alot more. The festival was held in a lovely building in the centre of Berlin and there was a really nice relaxed atmosphere at the festivel. And some of the stuff I saw was very interesting and there were a couple of videos that I found inspiring.
Berlin itself was a beautiful place, I was shocked at the sheer scale of the city. I saw fanatastic sights but I would have liked to have seen alot more, I would definatley like to go back sometime in the near future.

Scotch Egg

2008-01-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today Scotch egg came into uni to give a presentation. Scotch Egg is an experimental Producer/Dj who creates compositions using a gameboy. Yes a gameboy , not a nintendo or a Psp but a gameboy. I think it was a realy interesting use of nostalgic sound coupled with minimalistic style. The nostalga comes from the music and sound from the gameboy which is directly relational to our own childhood. Would be interesting to see how people who are not from the same era as us would react to his work.

Design for Interaction/Interactive Story Installation

2008-01-18T02:22:00.001-08:00

Rationale
Interactive Story Installation

I have developed a concept for an interactive installation where the audience’s movements is an integral part of the piece. An interactive story that’s responsive and engaging even when the overall story has a single path structure. The story illustrates the negative effects man has on animals and there habitats. (Habitat destruction, Poaching, etc). When a habitat is destroyed or tampered with by man, the animals that occupy that site have no place to go, they get separated from their families and simply die off.

Viewers enter a long room (Installation space) an animation of animals grazing quietly is projected onto the far end of the room. The animals aren’t aware of the viewers at first. As the viewer moves closer to the animation they unknowingly set off sensors which triggers sound and effects to the animation. The animals look up and become aware of the viewers whereabouts. The closer the viewer gets the more sensors are triggered extracting more sound and frightening the animals more and more until eventually they fade away.
I see it as a progression through distance and space, an installation involving sensors which plays on the reaction to the audience’s movements when looking at the installation. Viewers have a choice, of how close he/she wants to get to the animals, they may decide to stop still or walk away from the installation knowing they are having a negative effect on the animals, or they may decide to continue to approach and move closer to see what will happen to the animals.
The story is offered to the viewers but its up to the viewer how far they want to take it. The concept will hopefully have a lasting effect on the viewer and will educate them about the negative effects they have on animal habitats, realizing that animals and there environments should be left alone.

With regards to the brief which describes new media to offer a viewer a new form of empowerment, this concept does just that but not visually, there are no buttons to press or paths to follow, the viewer has a space to move and walk around in, setting off sensors which create change in the story. Viewers will gradually figure out that the closer they get the more dramatic effect they will have on the animation and the choice is there’s as to how close they wish to get.

The technical parameters of the interactive installation would be as follows. A computer which runs Flash. A back projection screen positioned half way down a room, a projector pointing at the back of the screen projecting the animation. The animation would be designed in Flash. 4 PIR sensors pointing down from the ceiling which triggers the sound and changes in the animation, interfaced to flash through a Bluetooth enabled Arduino board. Speakers suspended from the ceiling which activate with the animation. This installation concept is possible to create given more time, and the technology needed in order for it to function is relatively cheap and easy to purchase.

2008-01-12T15:06:00.001-08:00

New Idea?

2008-01-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

My new idea remains an interactive installation which involves shadows as I feel I have researched a great deal in this area. My proposed concept is an interactive story installation which illustrates the effects humans have on animal habitats. My idea is inspired by a film I watched about habitat deconstruction and fragmentation. When a habitat is destroyed or tampered with by man, the animals which occupy that habitat have no place to go, so they simply die off.

The installation is an interactive story, an animation is projected onto a screen, virtual shadows or silhouettes of animals in there habitat grazing silently, e.g. deer, birds, rabbits etc. The animals aren’t aware of the viewer at first but as the viewer gets closer they unknowingly set off sensors which triggers sounds and effects the animation. The animals look up and towards the viewer. The closer the viewer gets and setting off more sensors the animals react and become more frightened. The sounds that would be triggered could be for example, crackling sounds like a workman standing on sticks and rustling through bushes, gunshots and machinery. If the viewer gets close to the animation the animals shadows begin to fade away.
The viewer has the choice of how close he or she would like to get to the animals, the types of animals and there movements depends on which sensor has been triggered by the viewer. I believe that the viewer will become aware that they are having an impact on the animals and they may decide not to get any closer or they may decide to walk right up to the animals.
When the viewer walks away from the animation, footprint shadows of an animal follows in the viewers footsteps. I think this would be a nice way to end the installation as animal tracking is a method used by hunters and poachers.
I believe that the set up and technicalities of the installation would be similar to my original idea. A room divided into two by a back projection screen, behind is a projector projecting the animation. Infrared sensors pointing down from the ceiling which trigger sound and changes in the animation e.g., animals looking up.
I’m unsure about how I could get the footprints to follow the viewers as they walk away. The idea of footprints following the viewer was inspired by an interactive installation called case-sandbox by plaplax, they used a system called I-trace but I haven’t had any luck finding any info about this.

plaplax (case-sandbox)

2008-01-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

"at " is an interactive work using i-trace system*.

Footprints of various animals (e.g. cat, lizard, rabbit and elephant) follow users who step into the desert image projected onto the floor.
When someone crosses the other's footprints, people in the environment can catch a glimpse of the animalﾕs habitat such as sea, meadow, flower garden, etc., as if the crossing evokes
each animal's memories. Imagine the presence of animals from those footprints and scenes.

Animal tracking is a skill to read animal's footprints left in the nature. Tracking tells so much information (such as species, size, sex, territory and habit) which makes it possible to
characterize the animals vividly.

A footprint itself exists in the place but also tells the existence of someone there sometime ago. ("at" is a word not only for a point in the space but also for a moment in the time.)

* I-trace is an interactive system for illuminating the space developed by Yasuaki Kakehi. Using human tracking, computer graphics and projection technology, this system enables to draw one's trace and their crossing with various dynamic images in real-time.

Lucid Dreams

2008-01-07T04:49:00.000-08:00

A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams, it is possible to exert concious control over the dream characters and environment, aswell as to perform physically impossible feats. Lucid dreams are known to be extremely real and vivid.

My installation could be based on a lucid dream where the viewers focus shifts from small static objects on the ground to being able to interact with the objects shadows with there own shadows, giving them control over what happens to the shadows and the environment in front of them.
I like the idea of basing the installation on a childs lucid dream, objects could be toy soldiers and marbells etc. the objects them selves dont change but there shadows do and the viewer is able to interact with the shadows with there own shadows.

Interactive shadow installation idea

2007-12-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

Playing with Scale: small objects are placed in the centre of a room, lights projected onto the objects create large shadows around the room.

When an object is touched its projected shadow changes in someway (comes to life), which sets off a sensor which triggers a light which will project onto the viewer making there shadows enlarged and become part of the installation.

The viewer can interact with the shadows using there own shadows, when the viewers shadow touches an objects shadow, the shadow will change again.

Viewers interact and create change in the artwork by physically touching the physical object and interacting using there physical shadows to virtual shadows.

There are three particular things that have inspired me and driven me towards my idea.

Christian Boltanski's Les Ombres

Tiny figures hung in the centre of the space, suspended from a wire structure and lit gently at floor level. The images were projected onto surrounding walls, where they appeared as surreal and macabre shadows.

"Shadows are essentially early photographs" (Christian Boltanski)

Samuel Van Hoogstraten: Shadow Games

Minim++ - Tools Life
When useful physical objects are touched, their shadow-like silhouettes magically begin to move and can assume a wide variety of forms. The objects themselves do not change their shape, whereas there shadows reveal there true character or secret wishes. I experienced this interactive installation first hand at Sonar Festival Barcelona 2007, It was very impressive and alot of fun too.

Geraldine Pilgrim : Dreams of a Winter Night
Site specific installation which allude to the dreams of a young girl the night before her coming out party.
This installation has inspired me to look into dreams of young children and triggered some ideas for objects which may be used in my installation.

Observing Systems - Art from a Systems- Theoretical Perspective

2007-12-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

I found the essay quite hard to read at first, the wording was realy difficult and I found it quite tireing. Dan went through the text with us and I found it very helpful and began to get an idea of what the essay was about. Dan explained some of the wording and the essay its self made alot of sense once it was explained. I am going to continue to look at systems theory in more detail, as I found it realy interesting. I will look at how systems work and what systems I will be using whilst creating my current project, which is design for interaction.

Some interesting points from the text
Ghetto-isation - a seperation from everything else
Systems Theory applies to everything
De-materialisation of an art object (Theres lots of ways we can consume culture, its not just one way eg Big Brother. Theres 24hr television, News bulletins,teletext , internet)ect.
Inter-media
Renaissance = re-birth of classical values
Cybernetics
Quontum physics

More shadow installations

2007-11-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Big Shadow is a public installation promoting the Xbox game Blue Dragon in which the viewers shadow becomes a dragon during fights.
The promotion of the game using Big Shadow is based on shadow-play:

"We projected magnified shadows of ordinary people in town and created a system whereby they could play with their own shadows. A person’s shadow is projected as a giant shadow image, which can suddenly change into the shape of a dragon. This creates a new and engaging interactive experience.

A shadow can also be manipulated via the Web while viewing a webcam image. We wanted to provide a fresh experience that links the city and the Internet as well as people and shadows."

Shadows

2007-11-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

I would like to make an interactive installation using shadows in some way. I have experienced quite a fiew interactive installations and the ones which I enjoyed the most and were most memorable all used shadows and light in some way.

John Lewis's most recent advert uses shadows, although not interactive it is beautiful aesthetically.

New brief - idea generation

2007-11-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Just recieved the new brief- design for interaction and its got me thinking about some installations I have seen over the past couple of years. There is one in particular which was fanstastic, it was an interactive installation called Shadow monsters by Philip Worthington

The video doesn't do it justice.

Focusing on large scale and tactile interactive experiences that engross and envelope the visitor, Philip Worthington (1977-) created Shadow Monsters, a digital version of the traditional shadow puppet, as part of his degree in Interaction Design from the Royal College of Art.

Through a complex interplay of computer graphic and photographic programming, fantastic monsters materialise from the shadows cast by the hands of participants, reacting to and elaborating on their gestures with sound and animation. Wolf-like creatures, birds and dinosaurs are among the characters that speak and squeak as imaginary mouths open and close.

‘Play’ and ‘playfulness’ are words Worthington frequently uses when describing both his work and his approach to interactive design. As the London-based designer says, “it is a platform for experimentation and a space for the imagination to run wild.” His other projects include a digital version of the traditional toy race car track, an online community graffiti network and a colony of digitalised leaf-cutter ants that mimic the behaviours of actual ants as they forage around an interactive tabletop in search of real objects on the surface.

Worthington’s designs inject spirit and humanity into our increasingly technologically driven society. However, interaction designers today are not only concerned with the expressive and communicative possibilities of new technologies but also with their social and cultural consequences. The vision recognition software Worthington has written for Shadow Monsters could have applications beyond growling wolves and squawking birds to incorporate graphical commands for the physically disabled. While exploring all available avenues for his truly immersive and interactive designs Worthington continues to make existing and emerging technologies more meaningful and relevant to our lives now.

Design futures presentation

2007-11-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

IT SHOULD BE RED. Don't know why the slide has changed from red to blue, but it changed colour when I uploaded it so never mind.

I presented my concept to the class on Monday, I was quite nervous but apart from that I felt that it went pretty well. I was pleased with my PowerPoint presentation as I spent a long time preparing the slides, however I would have liked to have made an animation to present , but time was against me.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the other presentations, it was great to see what every had
come up with and how different everyones was.

William Kentridge Exhibition

2007-11-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

One of the world’s most influential contemporary artists, Kentridge will exhibit a selection of his work including prints, installations and film, in Brighton this autumn. This will be the first time that most of these works will have been shown in the UK, and will constitute his largest exhibition here to date. Born and resident in Johannesburg, Kentridge produced work that engaged in the struggle against Apartheid. Today, his work continues to infuse political sensitivity into the making of his graphic representations and in his filmic and theatrical productions in a manner that discovers politics in the daily traumas and dramas of human experience.

Future Concept

2007-11-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

After many long days and weeks of research I have finally reached the end of the project, I'm pleased with my concept and I have learnt a great deal a long the way. From my researched I have discoverd that the majority of today’s most significant technologies have been evolving for a decade at least, and combinations of technologies are often more powerful than single technologies and innovations on there own. The process of combining technologies should be driven by consumer needs, looking at consumer demand and seeing how existing and underexploited technologies can fill the gap.
I have developed a concept which I feel could exist in the future, a portable device which offers better viewing experiences. The idea of sharing and improving vision is the key to my concept, converging current and emerging technologies and developing a product that is portable which ables users to be self sufficient.

OLED (organic light-emitting diode)

2007-11-08T13:11:00.001-08:00

New OLED prototype is a roll-up TV

Related Entries: Cell Phones & PDAs : Future Tech : Personal Computers : Portable Entertainment

Universal Display Corp. has shown off a full-color OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen that's extremely thin and, more importantly, flexible. The prototype's screen measures just 4 inches diagonal, but it's a miniscule 0.004 inches thick. Resolution is said to be pretty good, too — about 100 dpi, so even a screen as small as the prototype could render most of the detail in a TV image. So far, OLED displays have appeared in some car head units and a few portable gadgets, but none of them have taken advantage of the technology's promise to make screens bendable like the UDC screen pictured here (Monitor Roll-ups, anyone?). Okay, now combine a flexi OLED display with a fold-out keyboard, and you can put all the functionality of a PC into a gadget the size of a PDA. Somebody please build this! — Peter Pachal

Pileus

2007-11-08T13:02:00.001-08:00

The Pileus System is a tangible browser to make rainy days fun. The Pileus Umbrella and the Pileus WebService construct the system. At the demo, personalized photo-logs are projected on a screen of the Pileus Umbrella . User can take photos with a camera on the top of the umbrella. Taken pictures are uploaded and shared on Flickr with some context tags immediately via the Pileus WebService. The grip module has a web connection and ID for a social contents sharing for the WebService. Snapping action is used for a browsing operation with an accelerometer installed on the grip.

A Fun Concept but what about the Health And Safety Issues?

PicoP

2007-11-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

video on your mobile phone and mp3 player is the latest thing; in fact full-length movie downloads from the likes of iTunes are almost common place. Too bad you have to watch all of them on that itty bitty screen. The world's smallest projector technology could change all that.

Microvision has invented PicoP, a laser-based projector that could someday in the not-too-distant future be placed inside portable cell phones, MP3 players, and other handheld devices. That's because the actual projector will be no larger than an Andes thin mint. The company unveiled a working prototype last night at Pepcom Digital Experience, a CES 2007 pre-show event that actually has no official affiliation with CES.

Using three tiny lasers (RGB colors), a combiner (to bring together the laser colors into a unified color pixel), and a tiny one-millimeter mirror, PicoP can project up-to-a 50-inch image in darkened room.

Images are not high-def, but they do appear in a sharp 800x 600 SVGA image at a 60 HZ refresh rate—that's because the combiner is shooting the combined pixels onto the mirror line-by-line. PicoP uses neither a projection bulb nor a focusing lens to produce the image. In fact, it conserves energy by only turning on the lasers when it needs them. So for an all green image, PicoP will turn off the Red and Blue lasers. This all happens in a fraction of a second. Microvision representatives said the technology inside is remarkable simply and actually resembles a DVD player's pickup head.

In the demo at Digital Experience, PicoP cast a vibrant image of Disney's Finding Nemo on a common piece of 8.5-by-11-inch white paper. The image was clear, but the amount of light in the large conference hall did not offer an optimal viewing environment.

Bluetooth Virtual laser Keyboard

2007-11-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Remember when you were promised all those amazing future tech innovations? Just around the corner was supposed to be a shining technology utopia with flying cars, personal space travel to distant galaxies, and bio-implantable cell phones. It's almost disappointing enough to make you sit at home and watch old episodes of "Space 1999".

Don't lose hope! An amazing glimpse of this promised future has just arrived at ThinkGeek in the form of the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. This tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface... you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. It really is true future magic at its best. You'll be turning heads the moment you pull this baby from your pocket and use it to compose an e-mail on your bluetooth enabled PDA or Cell Phone. With 63 keys and and full size QWERTY layout the Laser Virtual Keyboard can approach typing speeds of a standard keyboard... in a size a little larger than a matchbook.

Future Concept so far

2007-10-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

Having researched over the past 3 weeks I am getting closer to my final future concept. I have been thinking about ways that can share and improve vision.
My first idea was to create a projector mobile phone which ables the users to share there videos and images with others, but after carrying out research on this concept I found that it has already been done and is currently in production and is due out next year 2008.
Secondly I came up with a concept which is a laptop that has an extendable screen, which would ultimately improve vision by making the screen larger, this would be ideal for design students etc. The laptop would have an extendable screen, would also be portable and the user can choose when and where to use it. I wanted to capitalize the screen, an extendable screen isn't enough, so i was thinking about the current trends in communication, connectivity and interactivity, social networking etc.
I have been thinking about the possibilities of having multiple interfaces, the extended screen could be used as one single platform or can be split into three screens. I started thinking about video conferencing which ables people to interact from different locations, this laptop would able a three way conversation. I have also thought about touch screen interfaces I came across the new HP TX1000 laptop, the LCD screen has an integrated touchscreen that swivels and folds flat to render the laptop keyboardless, this is an area that I need to research further before I decide to include this in my concept.
Last Thursday I presented my ideas to the class, I received some good feed back. Currently I am thinking about converging my original idea of a projector phone with my extendable laptop screen. I'm looking at the possibilities of integrating a projector in the back of a laptop. A miniature projector has already been fitted into the top of a mobile phone so, I know that small projectors are out there and I think this would be possible .

Dan Mellor

2007-10-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

Dan Mellor is a very successful freelancer who specializes in animation and uses 3d and aftereffects, he came in on Monday to talk to us about what he what does for a living and showed us a show reel which contained examples of his work.
He trained as a sculpture and enjoyed fine art before moving to London where he became a prop maker. He became interested in animation and began to experiment with software, he is self taught. He gave us some tips about working in the freelance industry, pitching is a very important aspect of his job this means weather you will get the job or not, you can use templates and textures included with software to pitch and give the client an idea of what angle you are coming from. You have to be able to manage people, you cant be to precious about your work it as it has to get done quickly. In freelance you don't always do jobs you like, he has an agent in London that gets him work when he has hasn't got any on. Organization is very important, always keep up to date with software and include buying your software in your quote if you haven't got it already. Interacting with peers is very important and try and get an office or studio with other creative people for inspiration. Don't ever undersell your self, charge what you think your worth and don't go in with a low price to undercut people.
To become a successfull freelancer you have to be general in your work, if you specialize in something you are better off in a big company in London. ( Double Negative is a large company in London who often takes people straight out of college).
Dan recommends getting a fulltime job in a big company to get work experience before going freelance, in a large company you will begin to specialize in one aspect such as rotoscope etc.
websites. blink.com, comptonskylineproject.com, now.com, game.tv, un.cutmidnight.
Dan also recomends 3d world magazine.

Guest Speakers

2007-10-15T02:49:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks we have had guests that have come to speak to us about there professions and have also talked to us about our developing ideas concerning the brief and have given us feedback and ideas which has been of great help.

Week 1. Daniel Pryde-Jarman and Sam Butler

Daniel Pryde Jarman is an independent artists who runs a gallery called the Grey area which is situated in Brighton. He put forward some of his own thoughts about art and culture which led to a discussion about high and low culture, pooterism(self indulgent, mundane), street art and conceptual art. Some very interesting points came out of the discussion. We talked about Banksy's art work which is located outside a pub near Brighton station. Banksy's work is cultural, controversial and taboo,

Robert Smithson (Cultural Confinement 1972)

"When placed in a gallery it loses its charge, and becomes a portable subject or surface disengaged with the outside world".

Sam Butler works for a web technology group in the corporate and public sector, the budget his company has to work with is usually between £100.000 and £1000.000.
The elements of the user experience diagram is an overview of what Sam does.
I found Sam's session very helpful, he gave us some very useful tips about design in general and also specifically for the web, he discussed the language which is used in the web design industry and gave us some very useful websites. del.icio.us.com / www.fwa.com
N.M.A- magazine. Top 100 New Media Age - jobs.

We discussed Web 2.0 styling

Using a site is more like a piece of software
Everything should serve a purpose, don't overcrowd a page
Every graphic should represent something
Less is more

Mike Blow (Arts Technologist)
evolutionaryart.co.uk
Genetic Artwork
CAT
William Latham
Hardware interfacing
Immersive installation
Computer-controlled Air Pump
Phidgets
Arduino
Physical installation
Infra red sensors
Above are terms and areas which Mike has worked in.

Principles

The idea is king
Technology should be transparent
Technically keep it simple
Be critical of work, especially your own.
Be prepared to justify your artistic decisions
Collaboration (with artist and industry) can enable you to achieve results you could not do on your own.

Rona Inness
Moshimachine.com
Rona Innes is a sole trader, she has her own company and works from her studio in Brighton. Her work is flashed based and designs for the web.
Rona provided us with some useful advice and tips about setting up our own company, she discussed tax issues concerning company's and also the benefits that we would be entitled to.
She gave us advice about the presentation and content of our show reels and some usefull websites to search for jobs.

Epic
Wired Sussex
BANG
Curb
Littelab
Workmedia
Chinwag.com
Creative catapult/wiredsussex

Angie Taylor
Angie Taylor's work includes Animation, Illustration, Motion Graphics Design,
Visual Effects for film, Tv and New Media.
She is currently working for Apple as a demo artist. She has a book called creative after effects 7 which is one of the most successful books concerning after effects on the open market today.
Angie has worked with Chris Cunningham on the Aphex Twin video, her job was to morph the characters.
She feels that you should be diverse as a designer to become a successful freelancer and that your show reel should show a range of techniques and styles which would appeal to a range of people, however she does think that you should specialize with one tool such as after effects as its impossible to learn multiple software applications and be able to work to a high standard. She said that you should know your limitations, don't take on a job that you don't think you can do. Always share your ideas, you get what you give.
Angie concluded with a tutorial in after effects which was great, we learnt new skills and tricks of the software. We looked at expressions and adjustment layers.

Angie Taylor's Future Idea
Software to be made modular.
mobstar.com
LSM
Moderntoss

We were also given Some useful sights to look at which include information about expressions after effects.

JJ Gifford.com (good at expressions)
AENHANCERS.com
Other sights:
Zaswerks.com
Creativeaftereffects.com
Bliptv/angietaylor
Creativecommons.org
Book recomendation- How to cheat in photoshop

Future Concepts-Research so far

2007-10-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about how technology has progressed and developed over the past ten years. In my opinion some of the hightlights of the past ten years include, Increased internet access, Java technology,Usb, Mobile phones and Plasma and LCD Tv's.
I feel that the innovations mentioned above have had a dramatic impact on our lives as electronic consumers.
The Breif is concerned with the development of a concept that addresses the future our concept has to include an element of reality and be informed by any emerging or current trend.

Converged Technology in 2007
Technology as we know it today has come a long way in ten years, technology that we use on a day to day basis is becoming converged. The mobile phone used to be one seperate product in its own right, but now mobile phones are combined with camera's, Video,MP3 players and have access to the internet. Technology is becoming personal. Computers are now becoming a second self, our lives and personal interests are stored inside te machine, we use them to have video chats with freinds and family, watch tv and dvd's, listen to music, pay bills, all these things and more used to be seperate elements or products but are now combined and converged into one product.

Research into designers future visions
I Purchased a book ( ON/OFF New Electronic Products by Mel Byers) which I have found of interest for this breif, the book includes products that are already in mass production but also a number of concept models are included, revealing designers future visions.

Hella Jongerius - 'My Soft Office' Future Concept.
Hella Jongerius has taken technology to an ultimate personal level she combines technology with homely living objects that we use everyday.
Check out her work at www.vividvormgeving.ni

First session (Ba hons) multimedia Top-up

2007-10-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday October 1st 2007, I am in the process of writing my first blog.