Readings
The Poetics of Augmented Space
- The main issue of this text is the discussion of how the augmented spaces permitted by new media allow for a more dynamic dispersal of information and content. The customization of this content allows for companies and advertisements to reach a greater audience through the tailoring to one’s life experiences, however, this personally targeted audience can lead to the removal of shared space. I believe the dynamic deliverance of data is never a bad thing, as it can allow for important information to reach an even greater audience, as long as the customization of augmented space does not deceive its audience.
- It is stated by the article that we are moving from one big device that holds information to the dispersal of systems of information across space to allow for a more unique data viewing experience. I think this is beautiful as we are allowing our physical world to become more immersed in these digital technologies. This makes our reality more interactive and more exciting with greater possibilities of visual and aural stimuli.
- The dynamic nature of newer technologies allows for them to occupy a singular space and then change continuously to provide a greater potential for data to be available. I believe the progress of technology allows us for our spreading of information to transcend the limitations of physical reality. Our phones only take up a little amount of space, yet we can discover worlds of information due to their compact hardware. If we use this same hardware to occupy our public spaces with interactive technological elements, we can completely transform the way our society operates. This is defined as the variability of technological representations.
- In essence screens take up space in which electronic media is embraced. This media has a variability of substance which increases the potentiality of information expression. Boom. Great article.
Radical Technologies
- This article brings up an interesting situation where a Pokemon Go player found a dead body while attempting to catch a water-type Pokemon. This is quite an interesting phenomenon, however, it is completely unusable in such a pessimistic argument against AR. There is no problem present, everyone dies. Just because someone saw a dead body means AR is at fault. AR is a technology that allows for good or bad uses based on the intention of its programmer. It is the intention behind it that allows for its level of morality to be observed.
- An argument proposed is that our reliance on these devices can permit us to become idle human beings given that these technologies are taken away from us. I do agree that this can be an issue given that scenario, however, this once again this argument is fundamentally flawed. For example, language is an amazing art that allows us to communicate with each other our emotions and ideas. If we suddenly lost our ability to communicate that would be quite devastating. However, the possibility of that happening does not discredit language’s amazing benefit to our society.
- -Yet another argument proposed is that “AR can only ever be as good as the information that is feeding it”. However, I would like to argue that AR is something that allows for more information to be displayed than physical space is available. This allows for its users to gain a greater depth of information and understanding otherwise impossible. It uses the groundwork of our physical reality to transcend physical space with dynamic and complex data.
- I believe that this article is using the worst scenarios of AR to develop a pessimistic argument. It is one-sided and allows for an understanding through counterarguments. However, I do agree with the fact that we do need to consider the accessibility of AR, as this is an issue that we have even currently. Even though this is not an issue with the capability of AR itself, it does need to be considered if the technology becomes revolutionary enough that it will greatly benefit those who have it and greatly disadvantage those who don’t. Reality is the one platform we all share and in order to stay connected as the human race, we must all keep it stable enough that we all remain on the same page.
Situated Computing
- This article brings up a lot of interesting comparisons such as knowing the tool vs knowing how to use the tool. This is important because it highlights the difference between knowing what is possible with technology vs knowing how to achieve what we want to achieve with it. Bridging the gap between these two potentialities can allow us to maximize our progress and creativity.
- An interesting concept brought up is the idea of constructive memory. This is the ability to incorporate new experiences into the construction of new and different memories. I feel that when constructive memory is emphasized in the creation of electronic systems, it allows these systems to learn from their own functions, and not just be constrained to their original design paradigms. This allows the system to learn from its own usage and become smarter and adaptive over time.
- Constructive memory’s implementation sounds a lot like the contemporary perspective on AI. It is to be able to program our technology so that it most effectively harness its situatedness.
Augmenting Exercise 3
For this exercise, I wanted to create a story that revolves around a robot 3d model that I found on Sketch fab: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/robot-9bbe154a853f4fac94e20dfc77f5ee0c. I wanted to create a space that evokes the uncertain mystical future that technologies such as robots evoke in our day to day conscious living. The first step in my project was scaling and playing with my robot model to keep it in the right position. I then added a plane under the robot which I would use as a surface, which upon collision with a sphere I have designed, would instantiate more and more spheres. The sphere that I had overlaid with one of my favorite textures has its rigid body turned on so it collides with my plane due to the gravity physics of the scene.
I also added two text fields which are meant to provoke the thought process of the interactor. I kept the information detailed enough to cause a meddling with the psyche, but also vague enough to allow the viewer to form their own opinions about robots’ impact on the future. I created a game object which held an audio file of a glittery soundtrack which I felt evoked the futuristic, mystical vibe that I was going for in this AR presentation. I finally added a video of a pixelated scene of a futuristic city.
In order to allow the user to interact with the scene I decided to create a UI canvas with buttons that could be interacted with. I placed these buttons along the model of the robot which allows for a diegetic interpretation of the visuals. However, I realized that when uploading the application to an iPad, the visuals were connected to an overlay, and did not follow the scene. I realized that I then must change the canvas to worldview and not overlay. This allows the buttons to stay still with the robot and maintain their diegetic appearance in the scene.
I decided to have all elements of the scene un-enabled at the launch of the application, and then have the user press the buttons in order to turn the different elements on and off to their liking. This allows for a great degree of customization and also exploration to find out what each button does. There are no clear directions, however, the numbering of the buttons on the robot makes it fairly clear that they are interactable.
I connected one button to text, the second also to text, the third to the instantiated spheres, the fourth to the audio soundtrack, and the fifth to the video overlay. As the user sequentially clicks on the button, they can discover more and more hidden elements come to light. The overall outcome of my project is a minimalistic perspective in the future of robots and futurism that can be explored in many dimensions of media.
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