Here’s an experience for you: sit back, close your eyes (but not really because then you won’t be able to read the post. Unless you ask that person sitting next to you to read the rest aloud for you), think of Italy-the delectable food, the canals of Venice, the Alps.
Now you’re stretching your arms and legs, jumping up and down in place to get your heart pumping, almost ready to ascend that giant pink bunny knitted by some grannies to look as if plummeted from so high in the sky to its quite nasty demise that its internal organs have exploded and lay beside it.
Yes, this seemingly delusional fantasy can indeed be a very real experience. Those of you going to CHI may want to factor in a few extra days to see this man-made anomaly.
Last week, I conducted some user studies to learn about music libraries. One of the participants commented on how cool mix tapes were yet how rarely he creates playlists in iTunes.
I started to wonder about the differences between old and new music media formats. In particular, I was interested in the differences between mix tapes (cassette tapes created by the user from other cassettes or CDs) and digital music playlists (lists of current or saved songs in digital music players like iTunes or Windows media player). I found various theoretical concepts helpful in thinking more precisely about these differences and how we might improve the design of digital music technologies.
Via Salon.com, I found a blurb about a viral video for the Obama campaign. I checked out the video, and I was quite impressed. The production qualities are high, which is what seemed to impress Salon. But that’s not what got me excited enough to blog about it; what impressed me was how authentically YouTube this video was. This isn’t some political hackery saying “me too!” to the Facebook generation. This video gets it.
One of the great, if not the greatest, creative strategies of online animations and videos is to take a work of mainstream culture and rework it, commenting on it, distorting it, and appropriating it. This is a dominant cultural logic of “hip” entertainment today (I have to put “hip” in quotes because I’m too old to use it legitimately).
While everyone loves Guitar Hero, it is reasonable to consider the environmental implications of all those cheesy plastic guitars. A company showed off an elegant solution at CES 2008: Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker. Let’s face it: it’s not the guitar that makes you a rock god(dess); it’s the slick moves and stylin’ hair. See for yourself (the video alone is worth its weight in pixels):
Holy transcoding, Lev! One of the interesting recent developments in Second Life fashion is the increasing extent to which programming and automation are a part of virtual dress-up. An interesting example of this is a line of clothing from one of Second Life’s greatest and oldest design houses: PixelDolls. What initially caught my attention was the following ad:
As I research Second Life fashion, one feature I’m always on the watch for is the language or even cultural logic of technology showing up in unexpected ways, and this sign really grabbed my attention. In plain English, it says that the skirt comes with an HUD (heads-up-display) that enables the user to change the color and fabric of her clothing while she is wearing it. According to the Universal Font of All Knowledge, an HUD is an interface or data display that doesn’t obstruct a user’s view; HUDs were originally developed for military aircraft and later became a common metaphor for first-person shooter video games. Here’s how it works:
Hi, everyone. I wrote a post on my blog that, after I finished it, thought it might be appropriate here, since it’s (kind of) about the design process. I also thought some of you might be interested in, as it relates to some things we discussed in Marty’s class last semester. Check it out if you’re so inclined:
As I have immersed myself back into the experience that is World of Warcraft, I feel as though I am really not a part of the environment sometimes. Let me explain: I don’t really play any other games like WoW and my interests are mainly in playing “party” games like Guitar Hero, Mario Party, Rayman, etc–which to me are not like Call of Duty franchise or Mass Effect or BioShock.
So, in other words, I don’t feel like a gamer and when I play WoW I am often asked questions such as, “What’s your spec? Profs? Port to Org? LF1M DPS ST!” and pretty much feel lost when it comes to communicating with people I consider part of my cohort (since we are all gathering in the same place to pursue a common goal–making it to the Outlands!).
I don’t feel that playing Call of Duty 4 will somehow alleviate the problems I have communicating in-game with other WoW players. Perhaps experience within the game/playing the game and a dedication to reading blogs, forums, and other sites that would help demystify some of the aspects of WoW that have caused me turmoil.
I’d like to thank all members of the class for participating in this blog during our class. As I mentioned, I intend to keep it alive going into the new year, and you are welcome to continue contributing (and I hope people will!). I wanted to close with a few random notes and announcements.
I was pleased overall with the final exams and papers, and I hope all of you will consider sending your paper to Tyler for "publication" in the top secret, draft-only collection he is assembling.
If you would like feedback on your paper and/or you wish to discuss moving it forward for submission to a conference, please schedule a half hour to meet with me.
The real reason for this post is that I got tired of seeing "Drunk Women on Facebook" heading up our site for over a week. Sheesh! Can’t we be a little more artsy?
Speaking of artsy, I watched some lovely films earlier this week. One is My Life as a Dog, a Swedish film from about 20 years ago or so. Not only was it poignant and moving in its own right, but it also contributed immensely to my understanding of the cultural logic underlying the phenomenon known as Erik Stolterman. The other is The Double Life of Veronique, which was made by Krzysztof Kieslowski, who also directed Trois Couleurs: Bleu, which I showed a bit of in class (the car crash sequence). Veronique was a dreamy film that didn’t make a lot of logical sense, and yet somehow felt right. Plus it was beautifully shot and scored, of course, being a Kieslowski film.
Came across this pretty recently. It kind of reminded me of when Jeff showed us examples of unintended forms of play within games. Yes, wii remotes were intended to be used how this guy is using them physically, but I don’t believe the creators intended them to be reprogrammed to interact with a software program installed on a computer. Bearded Dave, aka Beard Love, remarked that the concept, when I was describing it, reminded him of a capstone that Justin Donaldson did.
Either way it’s interesting and that’s about as intellectual as it gets for me right now.
I just remembered that I wanted to post the link to that book Among the Thugs I mentioned in the lecture about complex systems. It’s an interesting read of first-hand experience with crowds and violence and mob mentality kind of stuff. Plus, it’s all about hooligans, and who doesn’t love that cuddly bunch?
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Aesthetics, Leisure, WTF | 
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