Weekly Writing

Week: 2

Date: Sunday 4th September, 2022

Explore: I Love Bees, Blackout, Changing Same

Watch: What I Learned from Spending a Week in Virtual Reality

Read: Hamlet on the Holodeck, “Ch 3: From Additive to Expressive Form”, Janet Murray (1997, 2016), p.81-119, includes section “2016 Update”

Listen: The Past, Present, and the Future of VR

The I love bees video really helped me understand just how captivating augmented reality projects can be. Aside from The creative use of programming in 2004, and the commitment to a lore-building narrative, the website was set up in such a way that strategically allures interest. Through inviting users to participate in the real world to achieve a certain goal, the initiative was not only able to build a dedicated community, but also diffuse initial confusion and fear towards the peculiar premise. Through its dependency on time through countdowns, anticipation and a sense of realism grounded the website, while also maintaining a great deal of story building through different links, folders, and AI interactions. I think this is a great example of how even with simple resources in 2004, augmented reality could still be used in building a user experience so immersed and detail oriented, that people would be willing to withstand a hurricane to be apart of it.

At first, spending a week in virtual reality sounded like something impossible. As a person whose only ever experienced media through a window of technology, I couldn't imagine withstanding such an overwhelming experience. However, after watching the video I realize that VR can be a mere extension of our imagination, and take us as far as our preferences might reach. As the speaker progressed through the days, I noticed that VR helped fulfill any gaps he would usually find in real life, such as socializing with others, while also enhancing his daily activities with scenic atmospheres. I now understand that VR is not a replacement of real life experiences, but a broadening of horizons and possibilities. However, can also see how over-exposure might interfere with mental health and everyday routines and commitments. But I can definitely recognize how, like other devices, responsible and monitored use is always apart of the question.

This brings me to "The Past, Present, and the Future of VR" where the historical trajectory of VR is discussed. The focus is directed towards how accessibility to VR has increased and what positive or negative implications this might have. I really like how a distinction is made between the popularization of VR versus mobile phones in response to people comparing both. It's important to look at the development of each piece of interactive media as unique and recognize that consumer reactions are as unpredictable as the ever growing market. I like how the goal of VR was also discussed, and how our ability to lucid dream gives developers high hopes for the possibilities. However, it's also noted that that's not the only function of VR and that even in its developing stages, it still serves many valuable purposes.

Week: 3

Date: Sunday 11th September, 2022

Explore: Hito Steyerl, Virtural Leonardo's Submarine

Watch: Interior Design and Environment Art: Mastering Space, Mastering Place, Life After BOB: The Chalice Study | TRAILER

Read: Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments

Listen: How VR affects Memories and Dreams

Virtual Leonardo's Submarine felt like an overstimulating exhibition that was equally engaging and distracting. While the information was clear through subtitles and what I’m assuming to be an AI voice-over, learning to navigate the 360 degree experience using my keyboard lead to me missing most of the introductory part. The floating characters and animals, while additive in nature, were also easier to look at instead of the subtitles. I think that for native speakers of the voice-over language, this experience is less disorienting as multitasking is possible by using the senses for different stimuli such as hearing the audio and watching the images and immersive coral space.

Interior Design and Environment Art to me made a lot of sense in the context of game design, especially since I value realism a lot when exploring different games and story-modes. The three elements order enrichment and expression not only speak to the rudimentary rules of design, but can also determine how naturally flowing game sequences can be. Especially from the standpoint of interactivity and a set pathway through which the player must go through, elements in the environment need to feel almost instinctive to players and follow a logical framework or at least follow the rules that it places. However, I do beg to differ on the stance that 2D design does not require the knowledge of interior design principles. I think that even in the most pixelated forms of game media, the cohesiveness and life-like parts of interior design can add just the right amount of interesting visual components to engage gamers.

The Life After BOB: The Chalice Study trailer addresses the dilemma of how far can AI go in terms of helpfulness and durability, and where do we draw the line of invasiveness. Hardships are an inevitability in life but with the choice of escapism available, would we choose to avoid it? I think that given how escapism already takes many forms across different platforms and interest groups around the world, it’s no surprise that the dystopian nature of the film makes sense or is a plausible possibility. But I’m also interested in the question of consent and age; the participant in the film is a young girl and her first and most principle experiences of the world are being censored, is this seen as a form of control, censorship, or protection?

Week: 4

Date: Sunday 18th September, 2022

The Becoming Dragon project reveals how VR can aid personal journeys of identity in a way that is customized, personal, and noninvasive. It is clear that the creative freedom VR provides does not limit or discriminate against different backgrounds. At first, I was very concerned with how 365 days in a VR headset could be possible, but given that the user can look at the real world through a video feed, I reckoned that a connection that is balanced between reality and an altered reality maybe possible. However, given the logistics mentioned in the VR / AR Fundamentals noted how immersive these technologies can be, it is hard to deny that there maybe unintended consequences to prolonged exposure, as in comparison to the one week in VR ted talk, this one spans a much longer time frame.

When watching both the Immersive Design Summit videos I recalled my own experiences with both traditional and horror escape rooms. The discussion about how users feel based on if they need to solve puzzles or not particularly interested me because when I was in a traditional escape room, I was much more interactive with all the elements in the room, given how the end goal was to decipher a code or unlock a vault. It was strange how the heightened level of anxiety, especially when presented with a time limit, exponentially increases our familiarity with an environment and a conscious need to keep record of where things are, how their positioned, and how they’re related to one another. Meanwhile, when I participated in a horror escape room, I found myself disconnected with the environment as a means to disassociate from the terrifying atmosphere. The space, as the environmental storytelling video mentioned, was cramped and the lighting was heavily controlled to suit the eeriness. What was also strange is that we weren’t given a story or any background information as the telling stories video mentioned, which contributed to the heightened suspense. As a psychology student, how the brain reacts to such environments was explained very thoroughly in the video, showcasing how designers exploit both the reflective and reactive parts of the brain to fully immerse and cognitively overload the players. This helped me unpack my experiences more clearly and understand why I was so reactive emotionally even when knowing that the experience was deceptive.

Week: 8

Date: Monday 24th October, 2022

Explore:

Read:

(Is there a city that stood out, or that you found especially memorable? Why? Does any city remind you of a city you have lived in or visited, and if so, in what ways?)

The city "Despina" stood out to me most as it felt like an orientalist description of a middle eastern land. The stereotypes of the "veiled" dancing barefoot women and the camels with "candied fruit" and "date wine" reminded me of the movie "Aladdin" which has been abstract in its portrayal of south asia and the middle east.

However, in addition to this, it read as an exoticised version of the city my family and I call home; abu dhabi. The camel driver's view of the city described the abu dhabi I know today; bustling streets, "skyscrapers" and merchant "boats". i interpreted it as the perspective of an old citizen, filled with hope, wonder, and pride for what has become of their home. It reminds me of how my grandparents see our city, as they have the privilege of being able to compare it to how it was in their youth and so are in awe of how it looks today. Meanwhile, I relate to the sailor's view much more, as despite living in the present, i'm always eager to learn about the past of how abu dhabi used to be; a desert covered in "palm trees" and carrying with it traditional goods. Im fascinated by how both these perspectives co-exist and look at the same city.

I was drawn to how differently an outside perspective would view a place that sounds so familiar and close to me. I've always been fascinated with how what seems normal to me can be completely new and bewildering to someone from a different background. This line of thought brought me back to the reason why VR world creating is so thrilling; the creator becomes familiar with and masters the setting they make so that users get to experience it for the first time and become immersed in something completely new.