Ecoid Babys

So, we had a session on the Ecoids that were used across the south west to education school kids on the environment. This inspired me to find a new way to visualise the data.

So what occured to me is the fact that the Ecoids are collecting data that is constantly changing, as its picking up all the data from across the south west. So I started to develop this idea of having a small little creature that you have to look after, and its environment changes depending on the data from Ecoid. You would then be given various objects to look after this creature, such as food, medicine, some form of light and warmth, a way to build a shelter. Then school children would be able to use this as a tool to explain the environment and it could be tweaked to explain the impact the environment has on creatures.

I got this idea really from my own childhood, I used to have a tamagotchi, which was a little electronic device you carried with you, and you looked after the creature inside, and it would grow, and evolve as long as you looked after it, or it would die. This is where I drew my inspiration from.

So, my first thought was, what do you look after? A dog, a cat, a squirrel? I found looking after a real animal might cause some issues, or a prejudice, some people don’t like cats or dogs, and for the project, giving various options would have taken too much time. So I decided on something ambiguous.

So this was the final design I decided on, with a little cute factor added by Karla Anker, since she can make faces look insta-adorable and for some reason, I can’t.

So with an idea in mind, I took to Flash and began to code the thing.

The issues I had in the end, was that the Ecoid Data just wasn’t up to date, and it took me a long time to realise this. I spent all my time trying to sort out variables for the various situations, that I just didn’t have the time to implement everything I wanted.

So for now, the EcoidBaby gets sick if it starts to rain, it gets cold at a certain temperature, hot at a certain temp, and you can warm him up, provide light at night, and you can heal him with medicine. If I had more time, I would have put in a timer that would allow him to go hungry, a certain amount of time would be needed in the rain before he got sick, and I would have provided shelter for him. I was also contemplating a happiness meter, but time ran away with me. I spent so long trying to figure out how to import the RSS and get it working, that I lost a lot of time to that.

But to try and fully demonstrate everything I did, I created 2 versions. For reference, I did try this first in Flash Develop but kept having problems, so i eventually moved to Adobe Flash CS5.5

The first is the version direct from the ecoid:

Ecoid Baby V1.2

And the code for this is:

stop();
var temp_in_C:Number;
var fire:int = 1;
var cold:int;
var night:int;
rain.alpha = 0;
var sick:int = 0;
var rainOn:int = 0;

cold = 0;
night = 0;
temp_in_C = 15;
trace(“Temperature level is ” + temp_in_C);

function RainClick(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
if (rainOn == 0)
{
rain.alpha = 100;
rainOn = 1;
}
else if (rainOn == 1)
{
rain.alpha = 0;
rainOn = 0;
}
Cond();

}
rain_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,RainClick);

function dayClick(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
if (night == 0)
{
sky.gotoAndPlay(2);
night = 1;

}
else if (night == 1)
{
sky.gotoAndPlay(71);
night = 0;

}
Cond();
}

day_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,dayClick);

function tempupClick(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
temp_in_C = temp_in_C + 1;
trace(temp_in_C);
Cond();
}

up_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,tempupClick);

function tempdownClick(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
temp_in_C = temp_in_C – 1;
trace(temp_in_C);
Cond();
}

down_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,tempdownClick);

function Cond():void
{

if (night == 1)
{
eyes.gotoAndPlay(111);
mouth.gotoAndStop(2);
}
else if ( night == 0 )
{
eyes.gotoAndPlay(1);
mouth.gotoAndStop(1);
}
if (temp_in_C <= 13)
{
if (fire == 1 && cold == 0)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(2);
eyes.gotoAndPlay(111);
mouth.gotoAndStop(2);
cold = 1;
}
}
else if (temp_in_C > 14 && cold == 1)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(10);
eyes.gotoAndPlay(1);
mouth.gotoAndStop(1);
cold = 0;
}
else if (temp_in_C > 23 && cold == 0)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(21);
eyes.gotoAndPlay(1);
mouth.gotoAndStop(3);
}

if (rainOn == 1)
{
rain.alpha = 40;
eyes.gotoAndPlay(111);
mouth.gotoAndStop(2);
if (temp_in_C < 20)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(41);
sick = 1;
}
}
}

function fireClick(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
if (fire == 1)
{
fire_btn.gotoAndStop(2);
if (cold == 1 && sick == 0)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(10);
eyes.gotoAndPlay(1);
mouth.gotoAndStop(1);
}
if ( night == 1)
{
eyes.gotoAndPlay(1);
mouth.gotoAndStop(1);
}

fire = 2;
}
else if (fire != 1)
{
fire_btn.gotoAndStop(1);

if (cold == 1 && sick == 0)
{
fur.gotoAndPlay(2);
eyes.gotoAndPlay(111);
mouth.gotoAndStop(2);
}
if (night == 1)
{
eyes.gotoAndPlay(111);
mouth.gotoAndStop(2);
}
fire = 1;
}
trace(fire);
}

fire_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,fireClick);

meds_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,medClick);

The other one is merely a demonstration of it pulling the data from the Ecoid using this piece of code:

var ecoidID:Number = 6;
var feedLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
feedLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, loadingComplete);
feedLoader.load(new URLRequest(“http://www.eco-os.org/xbeeGet/?records=1&source=“+ecoidID));

function loadingComplete(e:Event):void
{
var document:XML = new XML(e.target.data);
var light:Number = document.child(“item”).child(“light”).valueOf();
trace(“Light level is ” + light);
var stretch:Number = document.child(“item”).child(“stretch”).valueOf();
trace(“Stretch level is ” + stretch);
}

Ecoid Baby V1.1

There was a lot more that I wished to do with this, but due to problems with the RSS, I just didn’t have time to implement. Which is a shame, as I had high hopes for this.

2012: 05/11
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Venture Culture

When I first started this module, I wanted to set myself up for when I finished university, starting my own indie development company. But as the term progresses, I realised that while that may be what I want to do at the end of the university year, I realised that it wont be interesting or challenging enough for the module.
There are so many Indie Development companies out there, it would be hard to assess how we’re “different” and what would make us a good investment. An Indie Company is only as good as its last game, and since I am currently gameless, I needed to think of something different, and fast.

And then Save Point was born. It came from a discussion with a friend. A Gaming and Nerd culture bar. Who knew the idea would be so inspiring! A lot of gamers can be very unsociable, at least at face value. So what if there was a nice comfortable bar for them to go too? Where they can sit with friends and game on their favourite consoles, enjoy a few beers, have a laugh during a terribad evening of people rocking out on rock band… what if..

It was at this point I thought to myself, Aha! I have the idea for my Venture Culture project! A bar designed to accommodate geeks.

So, the Business idea is this:

A bar that brings the best of both digital and analogue gaming. Supplying a constant stream of games for the current generation consoles, as well as retro and bizzare board games. We’d draw in on the vast student body here in Plymouth, selling alcohol and entertainment in a way that only a handful of bars across the globe supply. In our bar we’d let you play our consoles for the mere price of a drink from our bars, and as long as you’re topping up that drink at intervals, you can stay there all night. We’d hold competitions and try to make links with large gaming companies such as Sony or EA to provide unique prizes. Loading Bar in Falmouth is directly supported by Sega, Ubisoft and EA, so there is clearly an interest in this market by the large publishers and development companies. Another thing we can do, if the bar takes off, and we do well, we have the opportunity to turn it into some form of franchise and open Save Points across the UK.

SWOT AND PEST:

SWOT:

Strengths:
providing unique entertainment to our customers.
a loyalty sysyembto promote people to return to the bar and reward them for buying drinks and socialising.

Weakness’:
we’re targeting a reduced demographic, mainly those interested in games and nerd culture.

Opportunities:
a market that is only just establishing, this means we can get in on it early and set a precedent.

Threats:
as it is an emerging market, it means others will come in and try to play the market, and try to do it bigger and better.
there is also the threat of big single player releases, this will cause a temporary drop in clients as people will prefer to be at home and play these new single player games.

PEST:

Political:
Currently a lot of bills are trying to go through various parliaments to change the fact of the internet and games. these are things we’d need to keep on top of, to make sure it doesn’t threaten our business.

Economic:
with the current growing climate, its a good time to start opening a business.

Social:
thanks to facebook, games are becoming more socially acceptable, meaning this is the perfect time to start drawing people in.

Technology:
this is an ever changing field. technology s always growing and changing. and we’d have to change with it.

Logo:

I went through a few sketches of this, I knew instantly when i thought of the name that I wanted the V of Save Point to represent some kind of save point that you find in most RPG (Role Playin Games). They normally sport a glowing circle of some kind, or an icon that glows or spins. I wanted to take this ideal and use that to influence the logo. The V with the curves beneath would be used as a simple logo for fliers and social media. It will be something easily recognisable, they’ll see the V and think that’s Save Point. That is the hope, anyway.

Interview:

I managed to do a brief phone interview with Loading Bar in Falmouth, a business very much like the one that we’re aiming to start up. When I asked them questions, it was on things that I was unsure about. I didn’t really ask “why did you do this” “what was your inspiration” but more practical questions, such as licensing and sponsorship . These are the questions, and summarised answers:

Was Licensing an Issue?
No, the property already had a license so there was no issue. Since they had already been trading for a while before they had to renew then they had no issues.

How many gaming setups do you have?
3 plus a laptop, they don’t want to scare off passing trade by having too much in your face gaming

What kind of security do you have for the systems?
There’s no security to speak of apart from having the systems in line of sight. So far they’ve only lost a single controller.

Are there any special requirements for Insurance?
Not really, the gaming systems get declared under the contents insurance.

How did you attract your corporate sponsors and what do they provide?
They contacted as many PR departments of games companies as they could find. Once they got the first one the rest followed suit as the business was seen as legitimate. The companies provide games, merchandise and branding opportunities.

How did you attract customers?
They pestered as many publications as they could find to try and get publicity, once they had a corporate sponsor it was far easier to get publicised.

How regular is trade and are there any pitfalls?
Trade with gamers tends to fluctuate a bit as the release of a high profile single player game will draw custom away from the bar. This is why they’ve also focussed on on walk-in trade.

Elevator Pitch:

Word Press wont allow me to upload the audio file, so I put it on my tumblr blog, here is the link:

http://phorxy.tumblr.com/post/19996289889/my-elevator-pitch-for-uni-transcript-save

2012: 03/27
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Theres no dictionary here..

So my first conclusion I must come to is that we don’t learn enough. Or we don’t learn well. Or the world makes it difficult to grab the resources we need to learn. Or maybe we’re just lazy. Humans are inherently lazy. Today’s world of technology shows us that. We keep getting faster, better more useful phones. The iPad. Our TV’s are getting bigger. Each year more things are coming out to make our lives easier. Humans are lazy. That is my second conclusion.

Technology is coming out all the time to help us learn. Things like this have been coming out for Decades. In the 1990′s there was a computer based learning program (CBL) called Mind Tools. This program had a series of utilities, all each designed to stimulate various cognitive process’. A paper written by G. A. Mooney, R. F. Fewtrell and J. G Bligh looked into this CBL. It was tested on a variety of students. Some stated that they prefered the linear based not taking technique of Brainstorm ( a program with in Mind tools) but others like the three resources.

There is always a critical debate about e-Learning. The idea of can Learning by Simulation be a simulation of learning? We are each to our own. Whether we believe it helps, or not. Each person also learns differently. And we can’t make someone learn any other way. Some people don’t learn by books at all. They learn from hands on experience. And while this is all relevant. My focus is on those that do learn by technology.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So you’re reading your book on your iPad, or one of those funky little e-readers, and you run into a problem. You don’t understand what on earth you’re reading. A word you don’t understand. Now it involves you exiting this program and going to another to find the meaning of the word, or glancing over it and read the rest of the sentence and hope it makes sense. Sometimes this works, sometimes it just makes it worse.

I have on my Blackberry a dictionary app, so if I’m reading a book, or a word is said i don’t understand. I can load that app up and take the time to find out its meaning and other words just like it. Being able to access these words is a useful thing. But that doesn’t help understanding the words in something and having to go back and examine it on a different app that I have to load up and type and search.

There are those who don’t use e-readers. They prefer a good paper book and will use a good paper made dictionary to find those words. And that takes us back to the differences in learning. Each of us prefer to learn, to do our studying differently.

While there are other dictionary apps for your iphone/ipad, it still requires you to change applications to access it.

So the idea is to create something that is integrated with your reading material. So you’re reading, and a word comes up you don’t understand. You can touch it, and the dictionary definition comes up on the screen. Something like this.

So the general features of the iPad involve the use of all these swanky technologies. Allowing us to read, watch movies, listen to music, explore the web, organise our photo’s. The choices go on and on and on. But we still need to access a whole new app to check our spelling. Why not integrate them? An App that runs alongside your reading program and Allows you to double click a word and receive the meaning of that word, with out changing your app.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there are different types of Dictionary/Theasaurus choices out there for your iPad.

First is the Collegiate Dictionary.

This boasts over 225000 words and saves your last 15 searches. But it gives you a minor heart attack when you see that it will cost you $24.99 just to own it.

At this cost, I’d rather buy a pocket dictionary and have the inconvenience of carrying it.

There is also Wordbook for a nice $7.99.

It makes you wonder, why do they feel the need to put a price tag on knowledge? Or at least a price tag of over a few pounds? So while there are separate dictionary apps out there, a lot of them are over priced for the knowledge they wish to provide you with.

So what about the e-readers?

From what I have looked at, the eBooks on the eReaders and on the iPad don’t come with Dictionaries integrated. Spellcheckers, yes. But not dictionaries. Even the 100 Classic Book collection for the DS has no such feature.

One thing for the DS that does something similar to what I am thinking, is not a dictionary, but gives the same concept. The Flips books for the DS. for instance, in the Artemis Fowl version, there is a feature that allows you to click on the content of the book and find out about locations and characters. So the idea is not benign. Using this sort of concept we should be able to take words in a book and find the meaning?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So to combine a dictionary to an eBook. But contextualizing it is better. I’m focusing on the way people learn. And those that learn by technology. So it would be a database of eBooks for study that you would have access too. While having access to these books on your eBook or iPad, you’d also have an integrated Dictionary/Thesaurus. As well as the ability to write your own notes around on the pages.

I have no understanding of Obejective C, as it is not a language I have ever used, but that is the language of the iPhone/iPad. But I will create a simulation in Flash to show how it should work.

Now, a lot of students can’t afford an iPad. But a lot of the students I know have an iPhone, or an iTouch. So I will work close to those dimensions.

Here is an example of the general interface. The books would appear as buttons, clicking on the corresponding book. Then pressing the menu button ( Circle with a square in it at the bottom) will take you back a screen to your book choices. This will take you into the next screen that will have the text on it.

I have chosen a yellow background rather than white because it is easier on the eyes. It is common practice to dim your screen if you’re reading for a long period of time at a computer. Or to change the background that the text is on to make it easier to read, such as white on black rather than black on white. So that is why there is a yellow background.

So here’s the finished demonstration. Only one of the red buttons work, the one on the left. Click that, then if you click the bottom of the screen it will scroll you up and down. Click on CBL or analyse to see how it deals with the dictionary, to return to the text, press the book in the top corner.

http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/e-ME-176855626

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lay out is quite simple, and I tried to keep it simple. At first I tried to have it in ‘reading mode’ and ‘dictionary mode’ and while I would have had it that way in the program, because of Flash and overlays, i wasn’t quite able to implement that as I had wanted. Though I feel this gives a decent simulation of what it would look and feel like if used. I used the summary from a paper I have been reading about e-Learning. I came to the conclusion that not all the words would need to be dictionaried. I think choice words students might or might not know would be put in the dictionary ‘list’ as it were. And that way, the dictionary database can be downloaded with the e-book. With the ability to cross reference to other e-book databases to make sure it didn’t copy the same file more than once.

While we were asked to do something innovative and different. I would say that this is. While it seems simple, and practical. It has yet to be done. I have not found evidence in all my research that e-books and books on the i-phone/i-pad have a dictionary integrated into them. so the e-Me would be an innovative and practical solution for students and their studying.

2010: 08/24
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Stonehouse

Stonehouse.

Not much I can say about stonehouse from a personal point of view, having only passed through it to reach work on a weekendly basis.

But what I have learnt is another thing all together.

Stonehouse, Plymouth and Devonport all used to be separate towns, till Plymouth expanded and soon took over the two area’s to create what we now know as Plymouth in 1912.

Despite this, Stonehouse has a very rich history. It started as a naval base for the area, the Royal William yard being where a lot of ships were built and a port for sailors. Then theres Union street; that began as a bridge between Devonport, Stonehouse and Plymouth. Being a place for the middle class. But then degraded into the drinking grounds of Plymouth. And still is. Though it has slowly begun to shut down into a street of empty clubs.

My Experience of Stone house consisted of seeing a lot of “dead” areas. Rundown buildings, few people around. I noted that there was little plant life with in the area. Stonehouse is such a fitting name in my eyes.

Just some shots of Stonehouse.

As you can see its all a little old and somewhat rundown. But they have started to renovate much of the area. The Old Hospital has now become private housing, same for the once strong naval base of the Royal William Yard. The old factories have been converted to studio’s and housing.

Mapping:

We had to take a look at the space in space. An odd concept, yes. But once you get it, its not so hard to understand. The Invisible Infrastructure. Looking at the relationships of people and place. The digital signatures in the area, or the way things feel in the area, the ambiance, or the heat. Its the things that are there but not there. Taking this idea, we had to make a map of Stonehouse. This is my key. As you can see, my ability to draw in Photoshop is a bit of a downer. Just taking in the ambiance of the place, and also seeing about the life around the place. I feel really focused on how little life there is in Stonehouse. Not so much people, but the other kind of life. You get the odd tree, odd bird. But it really is so much brick and stone. It feels so cold and almost like it wants to swallow you up or something. After having a look around Stonehouse, we finally decided on doing a piece in the Royal William Yard. This place is filled with such a rich history, that we can’t help but want to expand on this.

Postcards:

Once we’ve looked at Stonehouse, we had to make our own picture of Stonehouse. How we picture it, or how it will be in the future. With the social climate of today, and how we live in a big brother state, I couldn’t help but want to look into this a little more. With in the UK alone, there is a ration of 1 CCTV camera for every 14th person, as well as the UK holding a 5th of the WORLDS CCTV camera’s. There’s a belief that the more camera’s there are, the safer we are. But it makes you wonder if this is really the case. With this in mind, this is the postcard that I made.

So we have to ask ourselves, Stone house seems to have escaped this enslaught of CCTV madness, but with the current work going on, I doubt it will stay that way for long.

So, sound anyone?

So we wanted to work with this idea of sound. Something to do with sound. Sound is good. We were looking into making a visualisation of sound. A few things that we looked at for inspiration is the Saltash Tree Sculpture in Mill Park. The sculpture upon first observation looks like it of a slightly deformed leafless tree. But upon reading, its actually a sculpture of the shape of the river. This allows the people observing it to see the form and shape that the river takes, with out having to trek across its full length and width. Its a somewhat nice touch, and is personal to the area.

Saltash Tree Sculpture

We feel we could do a nice piece that took this concept, taking the sound levels of the area’s around Royal Williams Yard and turning it into a sculpture that could be situated with in the gardens of the yard. One Idea we took, was to go around and take the sounds of the tree’s, and make that a visual element on the map. Turning this sort of thing into a sculpture, that way we can give a type of visualisation to the people, with out them having to get the date themselves. We can give them a different view of Stonehouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Places to look?

So we had a look about Stonehouse, and looked at places that we could do a project, involving some sort of visual.

These were some of our choices. We especially preferred the grating, or the stone blocks, as it allows us a diverse range of idea’s. Such as equaliser bars going between the grating, and making it look like a music Equaliser. Or the slats on the ceiling, for an interesting affect using an equaliser also. We like this idea of a moving object to represent the sound.

Taking to the Extreme:

So we were asked to do a project using either projectors, or arduino boards. Our group decided to have a look at the Projection. Showing the old with new. So we were thinking of using sound the sound idea and advancing it. Using a projector, we were thinking of creating a “warp hole” as it were to the past. A small hole on the wall. And as people pass it, this hole would expand from the input of noise. And as it expands, it would show a picture of the past. To achieve this we’d need to make a clipping mask with in Flash, that would allow only a small portion of the background image to be shown. To start with, we need to make a shape over the image on a separate layer. For this, we’d need a circle, but it can actually be any shape you want. once you’ve done this, right click the layer with the circle on it and go down and select “Mask” this will lock both Layers and you should be left with something like this: And that’s a mask. So that is the simple bit. The real simple bit. The next bit will be adding the code to make it register the layer mask and getting it to expand the circle in relation to the amount of noise being made. Just to add, there will be various traces in all of these, because when I’m working, its nice to know whats going on, so if you see trace(something here) then that’s just flash tracing that point for me and giving me output data. http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/Stone-house-part-1-165433969 Here, I have managed to make the circle bigger with the sound.

var myMic:Microphone = Microphone.getMicrophone();




Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.MICROPHONE);


myMic.setLoopBack(true);


myMic.setUseEchoSuppression(true);






stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, stage_EnterFrame);


function stage_EnterFrame(e:Event)


{


circle_mc.width = myMic.activityLevel*5;


circle_mc.height = myMic.activityLevel*5;


trace(myMic.activityLevel);


}

This formats the Masking layer (called the circle_mc) and lets it grow with size as the mic receives activity. But to be honest, this isn’t going to be very good, it must sustain a high amount of constant sound to show that the image, and what we want is for them to see the image with out a huge tone of effort. So I need to be able to make it expand and grow while its receiving sound, and shrink when its not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/stonehouse-part-2-165434727 Tada! A more working piece! This piece on the other hand, requires a little more code, and a little more thinking.

var myMic:Microphone = Microphone.getMicrophone();

Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.MICROPHONE);

myMic.setLoopBack(true);

myMic.setUseEchoSuppression(true);

stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, stage_EnterFrame);

function stage_EnterFrame(e:Event)

 if (myMic.activityLevel >= 19 && circle_mc.height < 500 ){

 circle_mc.height ++;

 circle_mc.width ++;

  else if (myMic.activityLevel <= 18 && circle_mc.height > 20 ) {

  circle_mc.height --;

  circle_mc.width --;

trace(myMic.activityLevel);

trace(circle_mc.height);

This is the code for this piece. As you can see, we’ve had to add an if statement, so that when the activity level and the sound are at a certain point, it makes the circle bigger, but if it reaches two other conditions, then it will get smaller.

So this is the first step of the interactivity. Now, it would be nice if, say, for instance, when the person moved, the image would move with it, yeh?

Well this is done simply by registering the key presses. Because we want it to be registered in terms of a visual cognition, when you move right, the item you look at, doesn’t move right with you, it moves to your left. So we want to do that with the back ground image.

So. To get this to work, we’d need to set it so when the right arrow key is pressed, the image goes left, then when the left arrow key is pressed, it goes right. Now, once we have that working, what we can do, is take apart a keyboard, and using some foam, tinfoil, and a broken up keyboard, we’d be able to create an interactive mat, that when people step on it the image would move accordingly.

We would then be able to make an interactive mat, that allowed people to walk and interact a little more personally with the final product. I have made the final piece, and can be found here: http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/stonehouse-part-3-165440568 The code for this final piece is as follows:

var myMic:Microphone = Microphone.getMicrophone();




Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.MICROPHONE);


myMic.setLoopBack(true);


myMic.setUseEchoSuppression(true);


var keyArray:Array = new Array();


var i:Number;


for(i=0;i<222;i++){


keyArray.push([i,false]);


}


stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN,checkKeysDown);


stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP,checkKeysUp);


this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,


UpdateScreen);


function UpdateScreen(event:Event):void{


if(isKeyDown(39)==true){


trace("Pressed");


}


if(isKeyDown(39)==false){


trace("Released");


}


}






function checkKeysDown(event:KeyboardEvent):void{


keyArray[event.keyCode][1]=true;


}


function checkKeysUp(event:KeyboardEvent):void{


keyArray[event.keyCode][1]=false;


}


function isKeyDown(X){


return keyArray[X][1];


}


stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, stage_EnterFrame);


function stage_EnterFrame(e:Event)


{


 if (myMic.activityLevel >= 19 && circle_mc.height < 500 ){


 circle_mc.height ++;


 circle_mc.width ++;


 }


  else if (myMic.activityLevel <= 18 && circle_mc.height > 20 ) {


  circle_mc.height --;


  circle_mc.width --;


  }


 if(isKeyDown(39)==true && bg_mc.x > -100 ){


 bg_mc.x --;


 }


 if (isKeyDown(37)==true && bg_mc.x < 100 )


 {bg_mc.x ++;}


trace(myMic.activityLevel);


trace(circle_mc.height);


}

As you can see, this is a little more complicated, as we have to register that the keys are being pressed, then add the actual key commands.

But this is what makes the final piece work.

Final Thoughts:

So, the final piece is an interactive piece to be projected upon a wall within stone house. The piece would allow the person walking by to have an experience of the past, by creating sound, this sound would “resonate through time” and reveal a past image of Stonehouse. As well as this first level or interactivity, they would also be able to walk from side to side and receive the image shifting to their position on a designed mat.

I think that This is a somewhat interesting piece I’ve made, with a good level of interactivity. I think if I were to do it again, I’d take a more perspective sound photograph, so that it properly looked like you were turning. At the same time, I could have added some sound clips that change a little as you turn, or maybe have it that the longer you stand on the mat, the older the image gets and the older the noises projected would be.

Overall though, I have to say that I am happy with this piece.

2010: 05/27
CATEGORY: 209 - Workspaces 2
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What to Do, What to do.

So.. what to do? Its a nice open brief. Open though, is not always a good thing. Well, I lie, a little, its not a completely open brief of “Do as you want” We have some limits. Those limits being that it has to be educational in some way. We can manage this, yes? Awesome! So to create something that is Educational.

Well, lets look at educational things.

The first thing would be to directly look at RLO’s and CALs for e learning. RLO’s allow a student to pick up small pieces of information in a small interactive program (Normally in Flash), that they can pick up on small bits of information. CALs are much larger, and are normally required to be installed, and cover a much broader range of educative learning than an RLO, but slightly less convenient.

But RLO’s and CAL’s would be a way to go foreward, by exploring the possibilities that could enhance the learning of students using the RLO or CAL.

One way you could look to enhance it, is to make a game, or to add Augmented Reality. Well. Why don’t we have a look at Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is a wonderful little thing that allows us to put digital overlays over the real world.

If that’s a bit hard to understand, here’s a nice video that helps explain it.

There, now with this concept in mind, we could look into how we could use this product to enhance the learning of students. Augmented Reality was voted the #3 in the top ten technologies by the readers of the Natural News.

Augmented Reality can be used in so many ways. There is so much out there now, that to not want to take advantage of this tremendous new technology, would be foolish. The education system has become a little out dated, especially with all the new interactive learning, and Augmented reality technology out there!

I did manage to find a couple of video’s that show the use of Augmented Reality with in a learning environment.

Small warning, I can’t speak, nor read Chinese, so the first video is for visual affect only.

This was a program developed in AR to help Chinese students to develop the phonetic skills.

Or I could just show you this video, which shows the endless possibilities of Augmented Reality in the learning field.

As you can see, Augmented reality has an endless number of possibilities, and can be used in a variety of ways to assist in learning, for both child, and adult. Augmented Reality has so much to it, that it could easily be used to assist in say, teaching children to spell. We could create a program where the children would have to form letters with their bodies to spell words. While something like that could cause a class to get excitable, it’d be a fun and new way to learn about spelling, instead of rinse and repeat.

Another way to use it, would be to create some sort of system to say, assist medical students. Maybe a program that allowed them to take apart the human body, label it, and learn facts about the parts that they’re removing. Or to do mock surgeries, or dentistry things. Being able to do mock surgeries with live consequences would be a priceless piece of technology for students.

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“Distributing menus to hungry learners: can Learning by simulation become simulation of learning?” A paper by John Bligh and Alan Bleakly. The paper looks at the effect of simulated learning. With in the paper, it brings in Plato, discussing his experiment where people were bound in a cave and all they could see was directly in front of them at the wall. Behind them a fire was burnt and outside a procession of people carried objects, and their shadows would be cast upon the wall. This then became the reality for those people. When released from the cave, they were dazzled by the sun and did not trust this reality, but upon adapting they began to recognise the cave as a simulation. Plato asked ‘Why would we ever want to return to the illusions and shadows of the cave?” Why touch a simulation instead of the real world?

Which is a good question when it comes to simulated learning. But with in the medical profession it can almost be seen as a necessity. With in the paper they state that ‘Learning by simulation brings many benefits’. At the same time there is a concern that people are being ‘seduced by technology’ and not all simulated learning is for the benefit of the student, but to advance the technologies that are being developed.

I believe that simulated learning is not a substitute for hands on experience. But where hands on experience can’t be had. It at least gives the students a chance to deal with these issues. The new pedagogy of the decade involves much simulated learning, maybe too much. The biggest problem with technology is that it is constantly advancing, and everyone wants a piece of it. But when put into the right hands and used correctly, it can be a great tool for medical students to use in their learning.

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Lets get on with a bit of designing!

So, the first point we need to decide what we’re doing.

I’d like to design a piece of augmented software that allows the user to partake in doing practical dentistry on AI patients. That’ll be the goal.

Having looked at a new program in the making, that allows students to diagnose the patient, and choose the best course of action, this would be a nice addition to such a program. As the original program is to give them the experience of dealing with patients with certain diseases before their training is over. This program would be a more realistic way of looking at it.

First we need to look at the practicalities of actually doing this, ergo, how would we get something like this to work?

Well, the first point, would of course be the Augmented Reality program. This would require creating 3D objects, placing them into an AR Program and using gloves with a CPU attached that had various sensors.

Now. You would need some form of sensory grid to run the program on, so that the gloves would have something to correlate their placement and movements too. We would then need to program scenario’s so that the students would need to diagnose the problem, and then would be able to examine the patient, and diagnose the patient, as well as actually perform the necessary treatment to deal with the problems.

This is the general outline of the glove. It has a few sensory motors on it, as well as infra-red lights on it so it can be detected by a grid. A small CPU would be attached so that it could communicate with the overall program.

This is a rough look of what the grid might look like. It has sensors along it that would connect to the infra-red lights on the gloves to detect movement.

With these two would be a set of AR glasses that allow you to see and run the program.

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Polished designs:

Equipment with infra-red lighting on it.

Here is a polished design of the interface. Here you can see just a general lay out. With the ‘patients’ head in the center. Behind her you can just make out the AR tool that allows the 3D models to appear on the screen. An AR glove that interacts with the grid that is laid upon the table.

In the corner is an orange swirl. This is an indicator. If its green, everything is good. If it goes Orange then you are starting to do something wrong. It wont tell you what that is, but it will give you an indication. If it goes Red, you have done something drastically wrong and have failed the ‘game’ as it were.

This is the opening page. It has a link to the various profiles you can choose from, as well as the choice to look at your previous scores. To access these, you merely wave your hand in front of the selection you wish to make.

The heirarchy for the menu’s is as such:

Profiles

Choose by Disease

Random Profile

Practice

Previous Scores

This Week

Average

Common Faults

Exit

To log in, you would merely sign in on the computer that the equipment is communicating with.

This not so much polished, but it gives a generic look on the underside. It has infra-red sensors, as well as a motion pad in the centre, the wire coming down would be linked to a mini CPU that is connecting with the whole system.

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Improvements can be made to this, but thats the case with all e-learning technologies. Theres always something you can do differently. If I were to do this again, I’d probably look at doing a grid with three axis rather than 2. I’m not sure what made me think 2 would be okay to start with. I think with in the technology itself. The 3D model would be able to sense were your hands are, so it would require precision so that you don’t poke the patient in the eye. The only issue with this AR sort of program, is there is no pressure to actually press against. So the next step may be to make a model head that had all the points. The head would be fully integrated into the system with pressure sensitive teeth and the AR tool would be used to impose a 3d face onto the model so that it could communicate with you like a real person.

I may have been over ambitious with my choice of technologies, and was unable to really implement this in the slightest. But the finished designs really are my ‘prototype’ just distinguishing what the overall product would eventually look like.

2010: 05/25
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Idea’s For AR

I’ve always liked the idea of doing a game in AR. I have always loved games, I am very much interested in the old style augmented reality games for the PS2.

So with this sort of in mind. I’d like to try something that involves the movement of the body to stimulate the response and create a game that uses this idea. Something simple like ping pong, that would require you to wave your hand over the ball as it comes into your side of the court.

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I found something called the ARToolKit. You can download this as well as the OpenGL SDK to start developing Augmented Reality but trying to find the actual download links, or find one that’s not broken is proving to be harder than not. Then once I have it.. I need to learn to use.

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Its getting to the ridiculous point of finding this SDK now, that I’m going to just simulate what is going to happen with the augmented reality game.

The game will compose of a simple KUI that will have the user at the top with the ping pong ball court across the rest of the screen, and as the ball comes closer to them, they can wave their hand to send the ball back to the CPU.

Something I’d like to think about is the use of two player, hooking the game up across computers and allow players to play each other. Each would have the same user interface but would relay the game back and forth between computers.

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I wasn’t able to find the SDK. But what I did find was a tutorial that uses the simple webcam function in Flash. This allows you to use the various frames of the webcam. Using the difference in the frames, it can detect movement.

Using this function, I figured on a slightly different game. This would involve the user turning on their webcam and sitting in front of it. Then using their hands, wave to generate movement. This would then send a ball to those points. Using this sort of function, I’d be able to create blocks to be broken when the ball connects with them. But I need to play with the code for now.

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This new game idea is proving complicated. But it reminds me very much of the style games that you would get in PlayStations Eye Toy. Its that KUI interface that draws an object to the movement. I have noticed that Playstation have been the leading console in Augmented Reality games. With the Eye Toy, Eye Pet and Invisimals on the PSP. Even the Wii, which was revolutionary with its wii mote technology, has not taken up on the visual Augmented Reality. Play Station seems to hold that in their hands.

I can’t get the object to move smoothly, as it reacts to any movement. And I’m having problems getting it to respond to just one portion of movement.

For now I shall build a demonstration video and from there, continue to play with the code and see what I get.

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http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/Video-for-AR-163888544

Theres the final video of it. The timing is out because of the video streaming. Which is a little irritating, but the original piece streams just fine.

In this, you use your hand to wave and it calls the ball over to where it senses the movement. The aim of the game is to break as many blocks as possible before time runs out. The level would get harder, with moving blocks, and also a second class of block that makes you lose points if you break it. As well as blocks that will take more than one strike to break.

In reality, this game is a more advanced version of the traditional Block Breaking game.

http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/Block-Break-Test-113648757

This could be seen as an advancement on the old classic, taking it a step further.

I did do some things with the code, but found that in the time I had, couldn’t get it to do what I wished it too. The biggest problem being as I tried to advance it further, it just hooked onto every portion of movement that it could find. And I couldn’t make it specific beyond that.

http://happy-trauma.deviantart.com/art/Video-for-AR-2-163889176

I think with more time, I could perfect it more, and bring more too it. But for now, I will leave you with my idea’s.

2010: 05/13
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality. If you’re looking for the dictionary definition well, its where reality and virtual reality come together. I’m not sure I can best describe it, so here’s a video.

Augmented reality has been around in the world for a long time. But has only really reached its full potential now with all the technology that is developing. Games such as the eyetoy have been around since the early 200o’s and now you have the PS3′s eyepet to add to the collection.

so in essence, augmented reality is the real time based reality with technology enhancing it.

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2010: 03/21
CATEGORY: 204 - Workshop 2
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Meme – a Brief History

The term “meme” was first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 while describing the evolution of the gene in his book “The Selfish Gene”. From this point it spread rapidly to a term used to define a phenomenon where an idea, symbol or practice is spread from mind to mind through writing, speech, gestures and the such. Theorists believe that memes evolve through natural selection, that memes are influenced by their surroundings and that is dependant on its reproductive success.

But I’m not here to talk about genetics. The way that memes work with in genetics is how it so easily applied to that of the internet. if we see the Internet as one giant living organism, then its contents are memes. The first internet Memes started to come about in the early 1980′s things such as “the Internet Coke Machine” And the first ever smiley emoticons. But the meme culture really didn’t take off until the 1990′s. The early 90′s didn’t hold much hope for the meme, but by the late 1990′s we were seeing things like the Hamster Dance, Maddoxs and Mullets galore.

As the Internet started to speed off, so did the meme. By early 2000 we had Happy Tree Friends, Peanut butter jelly time, “All your base are belong to us” and the birth of 4Chan.

4Chan itself has been the origin of many memes in the world, things such as Paedobear and Anon. Anon is not so much a meme, but is a powerful mass that dominates 4chan.

Other such memes to have grown since the early 2000′s is I Can Has Cheezeburger? Rick rolling, Numa numa, “Leave Brittany Alone!”, Powerthirst, and the humours of typing minimal words into google search to find as funny a search outcome as possible, such as “Why wont my parakeet eat my diarreah” and “how can I get my sister to sleep with me”

A Meme Timeline

2010: 03/15
CATEGORY: 211 - Reflexive design
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Sound. Sound and uh.. sound.

Fear is relative. That much is true. One person could be terrified of snakes, while someone else will love them. But what can be certain is that the symptom of fear is not relative. The tightening stomach and the sweaty palms. Well those symptoms not so much. Unfortunately we are not Vulcans and fear has the capability to possess and claim us.

From the moment this project was presented to us, I instantly feel the need to do something that entices fear. Work with the emotions. I did have idea’s to do with Illusions, but upon thinking about them a little more firmly, I don’t think I could come up with anything that was truly impressive. but now, I’m not looking to impress, I’m looking to fill you with fear.

I have done a little research, mostly from personal experience. I am a movie addict, and the one thing that I love the most is horror movies. And I find that a more successful horror film has a nice way of building up suspense before it releases it in a horrifying fashion.

But what I need to look at really, is what makes a good suspense. There’s something about a good horror film that brings this suspense. But not just films. Every day life.

After speaking to a few people, and some more thinking, I think I have managed to come up with some parameters for what I want to do.

An option we were given was to use Premier Pro to do sound. This made me think a little more on the idea. Instead of doing this video on Blender, I have the option of using Premier’s ability to make 5.1 sound. And I really like this idea. After having spoken to people, and mostly reminiscing about being a child, I distinctly remember being afraid of the space under my bed. Not because there was really anything there, well that was it exactly. There was nothing there, that I could see, or that I could hear. But part of me felt that there really was something under there, that I had to leap 2 feet from the floor onto my bed, if only to avoid getting too close to the gap. I believed that a hand was going to grab my ankle. A fear that was encouraged by the film 6^th Sense.

It’s bizarre what memories can do to you. This memory of me and my bed, made me ask around about things, and came to a comfortable conclusion. That what most people are afraid of, not so much in terms of specifics, but what generates fear, is not being able to see something, is more terrifying than being able to see it. Being able to see the spider, means you can move yourself directly away from it, but if it disappears from view, it generates more panic because you don’t know where it is around you.

And it is this that I want to base my minute film on.

So with the help of a friend, I was able to access some pretty nice sound files from the game Left 4 Dead. I have found that some of these files are just too convenient not to use. For instance, it already has some nice ambient sounds set in it, meaning I can use these to set the background tone. It also has the L4D witch sobbing. Which, is an experience that I feel I want to share. I have overcome this, but, on my first round of Left 4 Dead, the sound of the witch just sobbing in the distance used to set me on edge. I had wanted some form of sobbing in the sound file as it was, but this, for me, is like a fat kid in a cake shop. I am elated to have access to these files, I feel they will enrich my piece.

I have done a lot of development work and no blogging, and also no saving. I have been through 3 or 4 different sound scapes now and feel a little at a loss. Each one doesn’t sound right, the latest started to sound like French techno. Music is a definite no no.

I had a friend test hear this for me, despite not being able to take it seriously because of the witch, he says that the over all effect is coming together. That he felt nervous and mildly uncomfortable listening to the sound scape. This I feel is a positive thing.

I have finished. Codecing was a problem, but I have finished 8D

I have presented, and figured I would just put in the verbal feedback I received while I was there. And I wholey agree with the criticisms made. I had experimented purely with a no see all hear basis, and I feel, if you’re eyes are closed, it is a more intense experience, but on a visual side, I think that adding little flickers of visuals at the edges of the screen to add to the intensity was a fair suggestion.

Just thought I’d add these verbal suggestions.

2010: 01/21
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Second Life.

Second Life, Second Life. What is it?

Well that was the big question on everyone’s lips when we started.

Before the project even started, I had already downloaded the program to have a look at it. What I found was a 3d environment in which the user can create and adapt an avatar (also known as a bot) to look just like themselves, or as something completely different.

The first thing I did when I got into Second Life ( from here on will be known as SL ) was to nose around at the free stuff.

The biggest problem I had with SL is that you need Linden Dollars (L$) to buy most things in game. There are ways to earn L$ but its either tedious or just doesn’t work. Or there’s the ability to get a job in SL as well.

But for those poor people, the free stuff that you can get can be of rather good quality and you can make a nice expanse of outfits from it. Especially when you have places such as Freebie Dungeon and Freebie Paradise.

With these free areas, I managed to make myself some nice avatars.

This was the first Avatar that I made, you’ll notice a gothic theme through out my avatars.

This was the second Avatar I made and kept this one for much longer.

Like a lot of people in SL I’m sure, I cracked under the need for L$ and bought myself some. Thats when the real fun began. While you get a lot of range with in the freebies, the sheer amount of stuff you can buy by just having L$.. its like a fat kid going into a candy store. So once the L$ rolled into my account, I rolled out into the shops. The first thing I did was buy myself some Cat ears and Tail. When ever I used to RP I loved being a half cat half human, and that didn’t change in SL.

One big thing I did notice in SL was how unhuman the walk was. It was rather.. well, spasticated. It didn’t walk smoothly, the movements were jerky and not synched very well. But what you can do, is get AO over riders that allow you to change the way you walk and stand. I decided, instead of getting a human AO, since I wanted to be a kitty, I’d get a Ferile neko AO.

SL is as diverse as our world, but in retrospect, it is much more diverse. The possibilities are endless. You automatically have a flying function, meaning you can explore across the SL word at a much faster rate.