Class Notes

Notes from the Major Studio: Interactive class.

2007-01-22

  • link
    • studio objectives
    • schedule
    • grading
      • 40 % part
      • 60% projects/final
  • we're doing...
    • online sharing
      • online socially-driven media sharing
      • how networks exists
      • how they speak to each other
      • how do the audience and creators realte to each other in this experience
    • toy design
  • schedule
    • after midterms, you're on your own
    • small projects with web, etc.
    • subject to change
    • 5 to 10 page paper at the end
  • readings
    • Code by Charles Petzold
  • blogs
    • searching
      • technorati
      • why specific searching
        • immediacy
        • get around the backlog of old cached material
      • others
    • tagging
      • metadata in blog post
    • comments
      • not just the views it has, but also the comments
  • youtube
    • boring?
    • sad?
    • new communities
    • blurring the lines between tv, flim, internet video, etc.
  • documentation
    • document everything!
  • arduino
  • homework
    • reading

2007-01-25

  • Content
    • Creation
      • a few shows have huge viewship, but it's a long tail
      • people, all people, are able to express themselves
      • now you can put yourself in the encyclopedia
    • Distribution
      • you can go get it at any time
    • Filter
      • Editorial Voice
      • Critical Voice
      • Blogs
        • Top Blogs
          • Political
            • DailyKos
            • Wonkette
            • Huffington Post
            • Andrew Sullivan
            • Early Movers have leverage
              • Like Sullivan
          • Technical
            • Slashdot
            • GizModo
            • Scripting News
          • Art
            • Interactive Architecture
            • We Make Money Not Art
            • Cool Hunting
              • small but influential
            • Psychogeography
          • Fashion
            • Daily Candy
          • DIY
            • Make Blog
          • Gossip & Media
            • TMZ
            • Gawker
            • ain't it cool news
          • Food
            • Cooking
            • Dining
              • chow hound
        • Blogsphere
      • General/Filters
        • digg
        • Boing Boing
          • The big one
        • del.icio.us
      • Search Engines
      • Filter for the whole world
      • Global Voices Online
      • Main Stream Media
        • AP
        • Other news feeds
      • Music
        • Pandora
        • last.fm
      • Portals
        • Yahoo
        • MSN
        • AOL
      • Forums
  • Viewer behavior
    • internet
      • solitary
        • or is it?
      • interactive
    • TV
      • more social
        • or is it?
      • less interactive
  • Video Sharing
    • YouTube
    • Others
      • Guba
      • Grouper
      • Dailymotion
      • Bolt
      • video.yahoo.com
      • video.google.com
      • metacafe
      • magnify.net
      • photobucket
      • revver
      • veoh
      • vidilife
      • ourmedia
    • art id always mediated by the medium
    • lonelygirl15
  • Homework
    • Blog
      • BlogRoll
        • Include yer classmates
        • Inter-linking is important for ranking
        • Make drupal module
      • Change Banner
      • Add Stats
        • post which module you're using
        • e.g. Google Analytics
    • YouTube account
      • 5 favs
      • 5 subscriptions
      • 1 post
      • Embed post on blog
      • And embed a favorite
  • Toyfair
    • Cady Bartholemew
    • Feb. 10-14
    • Email Yury about this
      • be sure to add [majorstudio2] in brackets

2007-01-29

  • MySpace
    • The Essence of MySpace
      • Can it pay off?
      • Not making it feel like a big company
  • MTV
    • My Super Sweet 16
    • Potlatch
    • Urge
      • iTunes-like
  • Casts
    • Broadcast
      • Medium
        • Airwave
        • Cable
      • Cultural Products
        • Very wide reach
        • Give cultural cohesion
    • "Narrowcast"
      • Medium
        • Cell phones
          • small content
          • thin pipe
      • Cultural Products
        • niche
        • specific
        • Internet
        • Personal
    • Podcast
      • Medium
        • Internet
        • Player
      • Cultural Products
        • Radio/TV
        • DIY
        • Mix Tapes
        • REcipes
        • MEdia Commentary
        • AV Blogs
        • Citizen Journalism
        • Conferences
        • Classes
        • Anything that doesn't get past the b-cast door
  • Blockbusters
    • How to manage so many kinds of content?
    • Especially physical stuff
    • Power Law curve
      • Lots of things with few views
      • a few big hits
    • Celebrity
      • Will there still be celebrities?
  • Homework
    • Read Chap. 1 - 5
    • Bring Arduino
    • Etsy Party Thursday

2007-02-15

  • Wii
    • Handful of the best little components
    • Console Game: A Short History
      • Games are social
        • Especailly console games
        • first console was you against a second player
        • because of its contrl scheme
        • Games are a space to play in
      • 1st Gen
        • Magnavox Odyssey 1972
          • all games pre-programmed
          • jumpers activated the built in games
          • color overlays on top of the screen
          • not popular
        • Pong 1975
          • analog paddle
      • Early engines of innovation
      • 2nd Gen: The Cartridge
        • Atari 2600 1977
          • weakest
          • yet most successful
        • Intellivision 1980
          • 16 bit
        • ColecoVision 1982
      • Crash of 1983
        • very crowded console market
        • bad decisions on next gen consoles
        • Commodore 64
          • stole the show
          • cost about as much as a console
          • guilt tripping parents into buying them instead
        • Bad Games!
          • Pac-Man
          • Custer's Last Stand
          • E.T.
            • made 4 million
            • sold 1.5 million
            • buried the remained under cement in New Mexico
        • Lots of reverse Engineering
      • 3rd Gen: After the Crash
        • Famicom (NES) 1985
          • had to call it an entertainment system
          • not a video game system, after the crash
        • Sega Master System 1985
        • TurboGrafx-16 1989
      • What's the Magic Number: 16 bit era
        • Systems
          • SNES
          • Sega Genesis
          • Neo-Geo
        • Starting to be more like Hollywood
          • profit margins shrunk
        • PCs started competing in the video game market
      • 2 1/2 Console Theory
        • 4G
          • SNES
          • Genesis
          • SNK NeoGeo
        • 5G
          • Sony Playstation
          • Sega Saturn
          • Nintendo N64
        • 6G
          • Sony Playstation 2
          • Xbox
          • Nintendo Gamecube
        • 7G
          • Wii
          • Xbox 360
          • PS3
      • Evolution vs. Revolution
        • Only 2x powerful as GameCube
        • Only 2x RAM
        • Expanding the market rather than competing in the same space
    • The Wii Remote
      • Should look like other remotes
      • blends with what you know
      • feel available
      • affordance
      • multiple approaches to it
      • Communication
        • Bluetooth Radio to console (30ft)
      • Sensing
        • IR positioning system
        • LED bar
        • could use candles instead
        • Orientation on the 2D plane
        • Accelerometer
          • Can't fix itself in 3D space
          • not positional, just gestural
      • Nunchuk
        • Also has accelerometer
        • and an analog thumbstick
      • Limits
        • Must be trained
        • programmer must imitate the move
        • Tutorials adapt to what the user is doing
        • even games have a training phase
        • try to stay within the mean
        • If they get close
          • then they store that gesture
          • different for every player
      • Components
        • Bluetooth Boarcom BCM2042
        • 11 inputs
        • Analog Devices ADXL330
        • IR camera (monochrome 1Mpixel)
        • speaker
        • rumble
        • power button
          • disconnects BT and powers down
        • Player LEDs
      • Gestural
    • XWand
      • visible LEDs
      • IR Led
      • Magnetometer
        • feels the earth's pull
      • PIC micro
      • accelerometer
      • gyro
      • button
      • RF transceiver
      • 4 AAAs
      • 1.5" diameter
    • Class Project
      • Darts?!
        • Could be VERY cool
        • Similarly, making/throwing a paper airplane
      • Marble Madness
      • Put multiple people in the same place
    • Suspension of disbelief
      • Believing the you're controlling it
    • Space is MORE important
      • it's not always going to go more and more for the Net all time
      • pendulum swing
      • overloading on different design paradigms
  • Class Blog
  • Prototyping
    • How you sell a concept
    • Rapid Prototyping
      • only so many hours in a day
    • Iterative Design
      • 3 time iteration
      • but some things are iterated indefinitely
      • not just one person iterating
        • could be an entire culture iterating a genre
        • iterating techniques, media forms, etc.
    • Midterm Wii Project
      • IR camera
        • Computer vision
        • tracking
        • Can we even do this?
      • Accelerometer
        • acceleration on 3-axis
        • motion
        • change in speed
        • gestures
        • communication
        • must decodify the forces back into gestures
        • Serial Read
          • do the gestures
          • look at the data feed
      • Bluetooth
        • Calbe replacement
        • Wireless connection
      • Vibrating Motors/Tactile Feedback
        • Use at least two
        • More fidelity
        • replaces sound
        • replaces another modality
          • helpful because it's not disruptive
          • works in areas when other modalities don't work
        • alerts you to someone trying to contact you
          • tap!
          • look at me
          • no message in itself
        • the white rabbit effect
          • filling in the gaps in sensation
          • timing just right
        • haptics
          • joysticks
          • buttons
          • most modern media forms start off with adult entertainment
            • in fact, this might be the touchstone of a potential mass medium
            • photos, videos, Net
        • tactics
          • virtual thing coming at you
          • effecting environment
      • Screen
        • iPod is only as good as the songs you have on it
        • Getting the Arduino into the computer
          • processing
            • push toward this
          • max/msp
          • director
        • 4-5 button switch
        • interactive eye candy
      • Then we combine each into three groups
      • Communication
        • Network of blogs?
        • Wiki?
        • E-mail list?
      • Presentation
  • Assignment
    • Quiz 6-11
    • Focus on 8 and 9
    • Bluetooth
      • Compile resources
      • make parts list
      • possible example code
      • examples of use (youtube video)
      • game examples