Weekly Writing
Each week, in addition to assigned readings, students will explore and engage in written and hands-on exercises with different communication technologies and media. In some cases, you will be challenged to write in the style of a particular media. You are expected to utilize a web page to write responses, document your work, describe your experiences, and draw connections to course readings, presentations, and discussions. Your posts should include at least one page of original writing (300 - 400 words) plus any other requested media assets such as photos, sound, video, etc. All weekly assignments must be submitted on time. For each day an assignment is late, it will result in 1 percentage point deducted from your overall Weekly Assignment Grade.
EWRL Week 8
Having a look at all of the artists listed on the class website I chose to focus on Trevor Paglen and Daniel Steegmann as my two favorites. Their work is by far the most interesting to me out of all the artists and are the most professional.
Trevor Paglen combines art with very technical methodologies to look at current complex issues such as data collection and machine learning’s interpretation of both our environment and ourselves. My favorite work of his is ‘Clouds’ which looks at how algorithms process images of natural yet complex environments. Clouds are one of the most difficult natural phenomena to model in digital environments and Paglen tests the limits of technology that is behind some of the most advanced systems in use today to create these art pieces. Their alternate reality aesthetic is what draws me in as they are not a departure from reality and still look complete yet offer a space for interpretation.
His other work I liked was ‘ImageNet Roulette’. ImageNet is a popular image data set of tagged images used for machine learning algorithms to train on. He creates a physical instillation out of these images showcasing what is in his opinion problematic about this approach to developing software off of labeled images. While I don’t necessarily agree with his stance on the issue, his approach is refined and complete which aids his argument and makes for a well thought out experience.
Daniel Steegmann explores the physical environment and presents it through a digital lens using very cool technologies and working with ScanLAB. His work focuses on the endangered rainforest in Brazil and the presentation of it to viewers through a virtual scan of the habitat. The presentation of untouchable areas of our planet to users is a lot like the goal of my midterm project and what I am hoping to accomplish. The accuracy of the photogrammetry and laser scans are very impressive in his works and show a very surreal environment.
In both cases these works stand out due to how polished they are. Compared to the other artists their portfolios look complete and polished which presents their work in a reputable light. The unfinished, glitchy or even inappropriate nature of most of the other artists don’t appeal to me like the refined works of Steegmann and Paglen who utilize the bounds of technology to showcase our world.
Many cities are described in explicit detail—magnolia gardens, radiator pipes, facades, inhabitants—but some aspects are more abstract. How might these more conceptual details translate into a virtual environment and what we might do while there?
“Cambered, covered, on pillars, on barges, suspended with tracery balustrades”: all very detailed descriptions to describe the bridges of Phyllis. These vivid descriptions paint clear images in the reader's mind of the city's network of canals and the streets crossing them, but not every detail is explicitly outlined. The domes of Phyllis are listed as a significant part of the city landscape, but are left at that. They could be domes of all sorts but that is left up to the imagination of the reader. To me this city is reminiscent of Venice and I therefore picture the light blue dome of Santa María della Salute amongst the very elaborate bridges crossing the grand canal along with the small foot bridges intertwined in the city. Maybe these images come to mind because Marco is Venetian and states to Kublai that every time he speaks of a city, he is also speaking of Venice in a way, but also the details that are left to imagination allow me to fill in the gaps from familiar memories. There is a balance between providing every detail explicitly stated to the audience, and leaving the setting up the reader's imagination. By striking a balance between the two, the creator of the environment uses hyper detailed characteristics that prompt memories that resonate with the audience to fill in the gaps which in turn is captivating and more personal.
If this was converted to a virtual environment, similar artistic touches can be utilized to captivate the user in the environment. Awe inspiring but rigid graphical details that are flashy and draw in the user need to be combined with some sense of open-endedness that allows for a continual experience once the initial impact of the predefined space is understood. This might take shape in how users interact with the environment. Once inside a constrained digital space, users need some sort of outlet for the experience to continue to let them use their imagination. In the case of the city, this may be through the ability of users to interact with the area. Through building or manipulating the preset space, they have the chance to explore and engage with the environment beyond what was just programmed.
In a non VR environment this might look like an open world video game. Players are set in a fixed area, but the draw is really the interactions they have with the environment they are placed in. By doing something similar in VR users can not only be fully immersed in the virtual world but interact with it in a way that promotes continued engagement, whether this be in the virtual recreation of the city of Phyllis or any virtual space.
EWRL Week 3
One of the key takeaways I found in this week's various videos and articles was that most of the time, the way we perceive things in an environment takes precedence over individual events. Whether that be our hyperfocus on something going on in front of us or our natural adaptation of how a scene is presented to us through VR technology, we as humans are fairly good at interpreting environments but can be tricked into not noticing certain things.
Emphasis on VR worlds doesn’t need to be very in-depth, but rather cohesive and conveying key takeaways. In the examples provided by Laura E. Hall, some of the extra details go easily overlooked in escape rooms, but general atmosphere settings such as colors and what is expected to be seen in a scene are far more important to immersing someone in a created environment.
VR environments work a little differently than a normal digital environment, however. Due to the interpupillary distance between our eyes, the angle of viewing objects that are somewhat close up is slightly different. Mirroring this effect by separating the display of a digital environment into left and right eye views, the effect of depth is simulated in stereoscopic images. Similar tricks can be used to create a more realistic experience in audio as well. Binaural recording is much like surround sound, except that two microphones are utilized to pick up the slight differences in the speed and way that sound reaches our two ears differently.
Presenting feedback in this nature is important and brings familiarity to how we intake everyday audio and visual stimulation. Familiarity with what is being presented is important also in the way the environment is designed. Certain environments naturally give us certain feelings and associations, and playing off these can make them more natural as described by Jarrett Lantz and Jeff Leinenveber. The better an environment is designed, the more natural the environment is, and the less prompting the player needs to complete the experience in the targeted path.
Guiding users through a path is all part of a virtual experience as well. As explained by Johanna Koljonen, the alibi for interaction has to exist for users to want to participate. Cultural context dictates what we are comfortable doing and in a digital environment, knowing the “normal” behavior has to be given context. Designing an experience in this way engages users and makes them want to be a part of the experience.
A floating soldier and blue tint makes the screen hard to see
EWRL Week 2
This week’s recorded talk by Dan Cox on the crossover between interior design and video game worlds was insightful to me and something that is even more important in virtual reality. In a more traditional game environment, the developer had greater control over what was presented to a player. This is no less true when users are given greater control of their movement around the world and the ability to look around them. Interior design elements such as repetition and contrast are more useful to us as game developers than movies or games since they take three-dimensional elements which are inherited in virtual reality. Some key elements mentioned include order in a space or the expression of the tones in the room design. One of the main overarching ideas however was that none of these elements work just by themselves. Order on its own will provide orientation and pattern to the user, but serve no meaning without proper expression of ideas that are important to the story.
Taking these principles mentioned and applying them to Hito Steyerl’s virtual Leonardo’s Submarine, there are both elements that are done well and that could use work. To start the user is placed in an underwater environment. The environment works as an underwater environment. The focus is clearly at the center of the world with the coral structure, the repetition of sea creatures around adds to the environment, and the water background audio makes it sound as if the user is submerged.
The enrichment aspects of this piece are where problems can be found and why in my opinion this website does not work. The legibility that Cox talked about is quite poor as the screens surrounding the user are hard to see both due to the blue tones over the images as well as the difficulty in moving the camera as the corals are hard to stand on. The consistency is also broken by the swimming military man that interrupts the user's view and is unrelated to the story being told. The expression of the underwater world is interesting, but does not add to the story in any way and if anything makes it more difficult to understand the information being presented.
Mel Slater’s concept of place illusion (PI) is broken in this underwater environment through user movement as well. The camera does not behave as if we are swimming underwater, and interacting with objects such as the coral breaks immersion. Taking the concepts of interior design along with the requirements of immersion, we can better create virtual reality worlds that are not only cohesive but convincing to the user and therefore more engaging.
EWRL Week 1
Murray’s four characteristics of digital environments can be applied to VR in various ways, but the spatial interaction between the user and the simulated environment is by far the best-utilized aspect. It presents a world that is extremely immersive and can trick the user into feeling disconnected from reality. Due to the complete control of vision and its alignment to the movement of the head, digital worlds no longer feel 2D even though they are. That being said, there are still limitations to spatial inputs and while visually and acoustically it can be a believable experience, VR in general does not address the other issues of touch and movement as smoothly as expected of reality. In general the technologies already out there are giving VR an edge in the special characteristic of digital environments that have not yet been fully utilized. Development of the simulation of other senses will help recreate a fully immersive alternate reality as fantasized.
I’d say VR is an additive technology. Generally speaking, most of the games are very similar to those already on the market in traditional formats. The linking of the camera controller from a mouse to the movement of the head is a natural progression in my opinion. I think as VR continues there will be more focus on making games more immersive, a goal that has been ongoing since the start of video game development through technologies such as better graphics, spatial audio, and better control inputs. I’m sure there are certain exceptions to this with people taking expressive approaches to what VR enables, but generally speaking, most use cases are a natural continuation of the video game industry.
From the examples of user experiments dating to 2004 and Halo 2’s interaction with players to the talk by Jak Wilmot on spending a week in VR, it is clear to me that while the technology itself might be additive, members of the community will push it further than designed for and create something more powerful. The norm of this technology can always be pushed and the industry itself is more than just a technology that enables more immersive spatial awareness in a digital environment. Pushing the bounds of engagement from the users will make VR different and greater than just a new way to display a game.