So going to Berlin today to check it out and look around the transmediale design festival, got a few projects on the go at the moment so wanted to the clear my head before I go away:
Dissertation (1st Draft done - want to get completed full draft done by end of feb)
D & AD Student Awards (Deadline around the 14th March - gives me loads of time to get something proffesional done, probably going for the NANDOS BRIEF, or the LASTMINUTE.COM BRIEF, both give opportunity to create viral marketing based pieces)
Client Based (No Long Stories Music promotion - new album/EP to be decided on, website needed, flyers, t-shirts to promote the regular friday nights and more)
All of these involve either a research folder / sketchbook so there is a lot of work to be done, I feel that I am organised and sufficiently underway in both.
Anyway lets go and a week in Germany, dont expect any blog posts during this week, I might even start going cold turkey!
Just been in contact with my client in regards to this brief and wanted to confirm the action plan for for promoting the new 'No Long Stories' up and coming music label.
'No Long Stories' aKa 'NL$' is a DJ company whom work closely with scratch n groove mobile disco's, they have started putting on regular nights in Eastbourne every Friday at TJ's nightclub and now they a looking to launch the new No Long Stories EP and start promoting the No long Stories Brand at their night.
I have DJ'ed a couple of times for this company and now that I more qualified and efficient with my designing skills I proposed that we promote the NL$ Label.
The client is yet to decide the name of the EP and I will base my look and feels on the name and concept. This company has yet to have a logo but have contacted me asking for a simple contrasting 2D black and white logo which could be easily altered for two other contrasting colours. This is for promotional purposes such as potentially getting T-Shirts printed.
So this is the first step, I have proposed the following similar logo's using Adobe Photo shop and Adobe Illustrator:
The film Good Night and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney was brought up in this weeks cultural and critical studies session with John Gihooly.
It has direct relationship to a proposed chapter in my dissertation discussing how some post-modern filmmakers use nostalgia and pastiche in their films. George Clooney uses a black and white effect throughout the duration of the movie giving reference to the 1950's when colour in films was rare. This is almost like a tribute to the history of film-making, it also interesting to see a film in this digital age competing against other 'CGI'/ 'Special Effect films.
Good Night, and Good Luck was nominated for 6 Oscars Another 21 wins and 59 nominations, relying on its powerful screenplay, narrative structure and intense storyline. Considering the advanced technology available in the film industry, this film doesn't really make use of the technology available, nor rely on special effects. Storyline and narrative is therefore vital for it's groundbreaking "blockbuster" effect on society:
Robert Redford, The Academy Award winning American motion picture director, actor and producer states
"The technology available for film-making now is incredible, but I am a big believer that it's all in the story."
http://www.daylife.com/article/02eTdMGayzb3y - Is Technology Killing Movies?
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses/undergrad/mediaandentertainmenttechnology/tcm682621764.php - Digital Film and Post Production Course Link (Staffordshire Uni)
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808691599/details - Technology of film (Video)
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6MgAuM3NO2QC&dq=technology+and+film&pg=PP1&ots=PdQA1_JiVx&source=citation&sig=nGpyd-o2F_aI7rLQNYpobVVlrRA&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Txh&q=technology+and+film&btnG=Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=2&cad=bottom-3results#PPP2,M1 - Thin Film technology handbook
http://books.google.co.uk/books?q=technology+and+film&source=citation&ots=amDXlrFpEH&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=bottom-3results&hl=en - BOOKS TO READ ON TECHNOLOGY AND FILM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film - HISTORY OF FILM WIKIPEDIA
Salt, Barry. Film Style and Technology: History and Analysis 2nd Ed. Starword, 1992 - BOOK TO READ
http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/digital-filmmaking-and-the-paradox-of-choice - DIGITAL FILMAKING AND THE PARADOX OF CHOICE - "BLOG"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060005696/ - THE PARADOX OF CHOICE,BARRY SCHWARTZ BOOK TO READ - TOO MUCH CHOICE, where too many options lower one’s ultimate satisfaction
Just a few words to describe this innovative character in the music industry, he came in to explain his work and gave us many references to his influences over his career.
His album - KFC Whore, was written and produced during a period in his life where he ate KFC for a week, Mmmmmm...Greasy....
This album has a very simliar concept to the music of DJ Shitmat:
This music has a very loud and "bassy" influence, using simplicity and limited sampling is also a key factor to this genre. Such artists as Bach, Wendy Carlos, Steve Reich, Moon Dog and John Cage all influence the music of Scotch Egg, essentially working on the idea of minimilism and repetition.
As you can see from the previous scotch egg post, Scotch Egg uses games-boys (which have only 4 layers to work with) immediately toying on the idea of minimilistic sound. Using these samples from a game boy, he puts them into software such as Ableton Live and Nano Live to produce a completely unique sound.
This idea of minimilism can be applied to visuals, for example using limited components to create a visual image. It would interesting to use say only 4 colours or 4 components within the creation of an image, reminding me off Chris Kelly's piece for Design for interaction e.g. using only 4 colours in the random patterns sequence creating in Flash.
Minimilism and simplicity isn't all DJ Scotch Egg is about, Cutting up music and re-arranging them is also a key area of Scotch Egg's music. For example simliar musicians such as the Naked City:
As you can see this unstructured genre of music was a heavy influence to some ofScotch Egg's music, this can be seen via his myspace.com/djscotchegg.
One of the orginal cut-up musicians is Karlheiz Stockhausen...
Other influences to SCotch Egg is based within the film industry (relevant to my dissertation), for example films such as "Clockwork Orange" and "Blade Runner" and "the Shining and "Escape from New York" .
All these films have famous and emotionally powerful soundtracks, affecting emotion is something that I always try to do as a DJ. After all creating an atmosphere and reaction form an audience is arguably one of the most important factors to being a succesful DJ. Provoke emotion, give the audience a euphoric feeling...
END OF YEAR EXHIBITON - A VISUAL / AUDIO DJ PIECE
Through this discussion and chatting with DJ scotch egg afterwards, I am now considering a final end of year piece for the exhibition involving audio mixing and visual Djing, this is definately something I can see working after looking or should I say, listening to Scotch Egg.
As a Dj and producer I am also working with audio, as a designer I am always working with visuals so it would be interesting to see how these can be played around with and brought togeher.
It would be nice to create abstract music with abstract visuals with the sound affecting visual and vice versa, like like Semi-Conductor. The main idea being to create a completely orignal emotionally provoking style.
Course leader in MA Printmaking and Proffesional Practice and MA Digital Media Arts.
I have definately considered further education, it something that I would like to take into more consideration, maybe after having some work in the real world after my degree.
A very proffesional lecturer from a character who is involved the art and design world in all areas of the world.
A very informative lecture, especially in relation to the following:
Currently working on the essay but there is above 1000 words in the previous proposal, I aim to get approximately 1000-3000 words done of the actual dissertation before the deadline on Friday 25th Jan 4pm.
You may have noticed the little 'print it' tab at the top left hand corner of this page:
I was finding that printing my blog was a complete pain! Took forever making screen grabs and spending hours to resize them and fit them on a word document.
Visit the link below to get this feature , really easy to do and takes about two minutes to attach to your blog.
I hear DJ Scotch Egg is coming in on thursday, im a big fan and love some of the experimental stuff he does, heres a few videos on him to get you in the mood!
Absolute nutter and brilliantly unique. Nice clip from Berlin as well (although in German you can understand how it does what he does - third video above). Proves that music can be very abstract and surreal...
"If you can put a person inside the sphere and have the sphere rotate, you will have limitless possibilities of traveling in virtual reality."
Alexey Palladin, former CEO of VirtuSphere.
I was doing so research into different designs for the new interactive immersive treadmill. I have decided on making the treadmill a sphere, mainly through the influence of this article on the VirtuSphere:
I also found this video on youtube which shows the virtual environment as well as the person using the sphere to navigate:
Obviously some alterations will be needed to make it more suitable for a gym and I will need to include some traditional gym controls such as speed, distance, difficulty of a workout. I will also need to consider safety precautions as well as accessibility, considering those with disability.
Just thinking about my final idea and discussing it with Micheal, I have come up with a simliar but new concept:
A Virtual Interactive Environment simliar to those seen in games such as Tony Hawke and Grand Theft Auto, as a gym user you can log into these worlds from a specific immersive gym machine location (which I will still design). Once logged into the environment and the chosen workout machine (via a VR Headset and using Track IR to control your avatar's motion) you can race and carry out various competitions against people who are also using the same gym equipment.
One issue that was raised in this discussion was connectivity and bandwidth between users of this product, would they log into a virtual environment or be connected via a network! If they were to log into a virtual environment then it would be important that simliar bandwidths compete against each other as this could slow down performance in the virtual environment.
If users were connected via a network this wouldn't be that much of a problem however it would wipe out the idea of an online virtual gym community. What I will probably design is essentially a networked system which can be installed into a specific section of a gym, then gym users could simply walk into a room, log into the virtual environment and race each other in a more exciting, interactive and immersive way. I could then propose within my presentation that an online community is available, maybe a forum where you can select what type of race/machine/workout you wish to have.
So theres a quick summary of my latest idea! Now its probably time to change my current designs and concepts!
This is a great proposal in relation to my current action plan - Looking at VEE (Virtual Exercise Environement).
Virtual reality (VR) can transport people to real or imagined worlds and allow them to meet or compete with friends in distant locations. As a result it offers a unique approach to addressing the exercise needs of people with physical and cognitive disabilities.
Virtual Exercise Environment (VEE) Makes the user feel immersed in a recorded trail environment. The VEE consists of a target exercise machine, audio and video displays, and a workstation to drive the displayed percepts. In the initial phase of the project our work included the development of novel recording techniques to capture video and physical trail properties such as tilt and distance. The VEE display system renders immersive surround (panoramic) video in a Head Mounted Display (HMD) while tracking head position so the user can ”look around” at all sides. The system also modifies resistance (bikes and ergometers) or tilt (treadmills) according to recorded properties of the trail.
So looking at my current progress in this project it is clear that I have a lot of work to do, I have decided on creating an interactive immersive series of gym products that enhance the experience of a fitness session or workout, to have this completed I have decided on:
Create a 3D or 2D design of one to three gym products (probably the treadmill, rowing machine and underwater goggles).
This would involve having an animation explaining the setup of the interactive product which would be installed into gyms.
A flash based design of the interface(s) of each product, explaining the new and improved levels of control and how the user can select not only the difficulty of the workout, but the environment they workout in and more.
Create a manual for the product(s).
Create the 500 word reasoning behind the interactive product and project.
Along with this I also need to back up my ideas and explain the main influences towards this project, this will be included in the 500 word evaluation of the project.
Other issues such as Usability and Disability and Proposed Cost of Product(s) will also be established.
Taxonomy of Natural Hand Motion in a Motion Space has two natural motion dimensions: Extension-Flexion and Adduction-Abduction having Apposition-Opposition in common.
This is an interesting link and I feel like I could apply these to my research into hand gestures and controlling interactivity. I feel that interaction is most immersive if your body is in motion, I hope to incorporate this into the design of my final interactive gym product...
To start off this blog I would like to quote qhat Mike Blow said at the beginning of the session:
"The work changes you and you change the work..."
This is a great quote to conisder in the design of my interactive project, especially considering that I am creating an interactive piece which is immersive and involves gettting improved feedback within the interaction, so you actually feel the piece, rather than just see it. This relates to a lot of my previous research, including the science museum's simluators and my research into "haptic" i.e. feel and touch.
CHAT WITH MIKE BLOW:
I managed to have a quick chat with Mike Blow about the current interactive project and laid down some of the following ides for my final design / product:
- An Interactive Immersive Gym Experience
- Using Immersive Interactivity and Virtual Environments I hope to digitally enhance the interactive experience of using gym equipment
- For example, running on a treadmill could be enhanced so it feels like your running through a meadow (using simluation simliar to that seen in the Sim-Ex Simulator in the Science Museum).
Mike and I then discussed that using technologies such as Accelerometers could really improve the interaction, for example when riding a bike you have a sense of steering and this could be easily incorporated into a standard bike workout, see previous blog post).
He then introduced me to a more artistic reference and piece by Jeffrey Shaw (also researched earlier in blog) called 'The Distributed Legible City':
This new version of The Legible City (1989) encompasses all the experiences offered by the original version, but introduces an important new multi-user functionality that to a large extent becomes its predominant feature. In the Distributed Legible City there are two or more bicyclists at remote locations who are simultaneously present in the virtual environment.They can meet each other (by accident or intentionally), see abstracted avatar representations of each other, and when they come close to each other they can verbally communicate with each other.
I can definately use this piece as a huge influence towards my final design and has really opened my eyes to the world of immersive interactivity.
Research Plan:
- Accelerometers used in gym equipment (Treadmills have constrained movements unlike Bikes).
- Physcology of sport and fitness (working harder in competitive environments, does music affect work rate, does visuals affect work rate etc.)
Surely these concepts can be applied to other gym equipment, maybe using equipment such as the TRACK IR can also enhance the experience to make it more exciting, challenging and immersive...
Following from my chat with Micheal before the christmas break, I looked up roller racing, it was interesting to see a brief history of cycling equipment and I could only think how the development of digital technologies has effected sports equipment. Now with the age of computers and advanced technology, I am sure there would be no need for such a large clock!
Heres some diagrams giving you a idea of what it was like:
Also here is a link to an interesting article, promoting cycling and health to kids.
Check out this link in relation to the guys from Zoe Mode, interesting to see how the introduction of new technologies (such as the PS3) will effect immersive interaction and gaming.
As I am looking into the world of immersive interaction and trying to improve interactivity involved in gyms, i feel that this concept relates to my research.
If you look carefully you can see the floor moving in the opposite direction to the person (just like a treadmill). I was wondering if it is possible to apply something like this to treadmills / other gym equipment to make it feel like you are running on different surfaces (like through a tranquil meadow).
DJ / Producer / Designer & all round entrepreneur! Graduate from Brighton University In Digital Media Design.
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