Final Interaction: Rock Paper Scissors REDUX

OK, so I decided to change my idea for my final project. I've had enough of Baby Stanley for the time being. I decided to revisit my midterm project, the Rock Paper Scissors game, for the final interaction. I plan on improving this game to meet my original concepts. As stated earlier in my blog I had originally intended to make the losers have to submit something about themselves to a database, so that an archive of all of the RPS players is created. This will enhance the gameplay quite a bit. Not only will you be able to learn something about me, I will be able to learn something about you, and the other players, as well.



I also want to redesign the interface of the game. Right now, it is very bland looking, and it does not have a distinct style to it. I would like my Rock Paper Scissors game to have the feeling of an old carnival game, in a retro Coney Island-esque style. The image below is an example of the style I am trying to pursue.




I have most of the coding complete for my game, but I still have to create the database, work on a new layout for the game, and figure out how I want to incorporate the database into the interface.

The Ghost of Peter Stuyvesant Audio Tour...

This tour was an interesting example of an interaction. I enjoyed certain aspects of this walking tour. The concept behind this interaction is that you are on a audio tour of Peter Stuyvesant's farm that once stood in the lower East side portion of the Manhattan Island. While you walk around the area that was once the farm, you are supposed to call the telephone number given, and enter the corresponding extension for the area that you are located. To my understanding, this is supposed to give you a sense of the 17th century Manhattan experience. First of all, I did enjoy the idea of the interaction. I liked walking around modern day Manhattan, and experiencing the history of the location via audio clips. While this interaction intrigues me, the way that this tour was structured lacks in its depth. I feel like the audio clips almost do not have enough significance, and their quality is relatively poor as well. I would rather the audio clips to be more conventional in a sense, similar to a walking tour of a museum. If there was an ambient background sound of the 17th century farm contrasted with a historical statement regarding your current location, I think it would have been much more successful. Another downfall of this tour was the fact that there was only 1 telephone number. Did the designers of this interaction consider the fact that many people would be calling this number at the same time, thus clogging up the telephone lines? I don't think they did. To solve this problem there could be a different telephone number posted at each location. This would encourage people to hunt down the next telephone number in a scavenger hunt type interaction. This would add more excitement to the tour, and also make the technology aspect of it much more functional. I feel like the ideas behind this interaction are interesting, but the execution of the ideas were not as successful.

Interactive Storytelling?

For the final project I plan on making an interactive narrative piece. I will use my character Baby Stanley as my main focus. I really liked the concepts behind Fred, Liz, and Katie's Anti-Technology piece, and I thought it would be interesting if the ideas were executed using technology. I think that an interactive story involving my character would be a really fun piece. Right now the concept is still in the planning stage, but soon enough I will be outlining and writing my story.

Stickerama

So the sticker project went over pretty well. I really enjoyed this project. We started off making a collage of our path through the city, and ideas relating to this. In my collage I incorporated ideas from Natalie Jeremijenko's "Ooz" project where she studied the habits of birds, and illustrated their path through the urban environment. I also used Google Maps to diagram my exact path through the city. After this process, we each made a sticker design and printed copies of it. For my sticker I chose to depict a character that I have been developing, Baby Stanley. This character uncontrollably transforms into a baby devil when he soils his diaper. I figured that it would be an interesting idea if I were to create a sticker for both Stanley and his devilish alter ego. When I put these stickers up around the city, both stickers were present in each location. I felt that it created an interesting spin on the assignment, because when you found one sticker you knew there was another one in the same vicinity.

I found it very interesting when I noticed other peoples stickers throughout the city. It was a very fun interaction staking out other peoples paths. I really liked Paula's stickers. I thought it was very clever how her stickers reflected the surface that they were on. I took some pictures of a bunch of stickers, but I could not send them from my phone to my email for some reason, so no pictures on the blog. O well.

Also, I was happy to hear that my stickers were being noticed around the city. One of my friends actually recognized my character and began to spot them out around the area. Also, one of my professors from another class, who was familiar with Baby Stanley, told me that he saw my sticker in the subway! I was very surprised that people actually noticed them! I really liked this little assignment. Now every day during my commute, I get to look for my stickers around the city. It turned my commute into game!

A Reaction to Paul Virilio's Thoughts..

Paul Virilio has some interesting points that he addresses in the CTheory interview, but I don't know how much I agree with most of his views. I'm not too sure if I see what he's getting at describing everything as an "accident," or how he describes TV as a "Museum of Accidents."

He makes an interesting point regarding the future:
"We are entering a world where there won't be one but two realities, just like we have two eyes or hear bass and treble tones, just like we now have stereoscopy and stereophony: there will be two realities: the actual, and the virtual."
He continues to state the we have made reality symmetrical. I found this to be a really interesting point of view, and it raises some interesting questions. Is it in our human nature to strive for this symmetry, to bring order and structure to our lives or are we simply reacting to our technological advances?

He also makes it clear that he thinks virtual reality has taken the upper hand to physical reality. I do not agree with this. I think that we are still in a primitive state of technology compared to what it would have to be like for virtual reality to take the upper hand. He talks about how the Gulf War was the first time that the virtual world really played an integral role in our lives. I found it interesting how he says that "The site of defeat or victory was not the ground, but the screen." This makes me think about how important technology is to us, but we take it for granted because it is all around us. I have been raised around technology including computers, video game systems, automated objects, etc., and half of the time I don't even realize their significance because these types of things are so normal to my generation.

Virilio raises some very intriguing opinions on technology and "accidents". While I don't agree with everything he says, it has made me look at technology and the virtual world in a very different way.

I really liked the "Audioscope" project done by Paula, Sam, and Joseph. The first thing that struck me was the unique approach towards an interaction that they chose. Instead of creating a game like most groups, they have created an interaction that alters one of your senses, creating a really unique experience. The way that the sound waves resonate through the "Audioscope" creates an intriguingly bizarre ambient noise. The warping of a sense like hearing takes an otherwise normal experience and alters your sense of space, and perception. I think that is a great approach. In my opinion it produces a much more rewarding experience than playing a game.

I thought the design of the piece was perfect for its intentions. The way that the "Audioscope" expands your peripheral sense of your own space adds to the overall experience of this interaction. The varied choice of materials fit the aesthetic of the "Audioscope" perfectly. It's design incorporates a strong style and functionality as well. Very strong piece.

The website fits the aesthetic of the piece as well. The bold font and dynamic design choices mirror the bold design of the physical piece. I especially like the camera angles in the photography used on the site. You get a full understanding of the piece and the process used to create it through the images provided.

Overall I enjoyed all aspects of the "Audioscope. The concept, the process, the presentation, and the website were all considered, and designed in a bold and dynamic style. I agree with the critic and think that it would be interesting to see how people would react to to the piece if they were in a room with multiple people wearing their "Audioscopes". It would definitely add another interesting aspect to the interaction.

Helium Hoop Site

Here's the link to our Helium Hoop site:

Helium Hoop!