Research

The problem with doing too much work is it means less time to update the blog. The last week I've been working out the technical issues with the project. The project has been renamed WebEcho also as hear the web does not accurately reflect the project as it now stands. For this some posters had to be done up:

One of the first tests was to make sure the files were working correctly in conjunction with the projector. Even though the files worked locally they were reading the old cookie for the information to display rather than the current. After much scratching of my hair I discovered a solution, if I put the code in a separate file and called that from the main page it worked with the current cookie. Another issue was an added little extra I had developed which was a myspace page search, this would search myspace for songs with he search term, this would not work in the college as a certain port was blocked, however I replaced it with a soundcloud but after some testing it was deemed unnecessary as it just confused matters further so I left this out.

Some more testing was done on the GUI, some simple things like the cursors changing, disabling links and other usability issues were brought up and sorted. The issue of stopping the user using the computer as a computer was sorted by putting the menu on the window with the projector, making the window fullscreen and disabling keyboard shortcuts. It also meant moving to chrome from Safari as Safari has no standard full screen. How does this look? I had not put time aside to videotape the projection in operation yet but this should give you an idea:

This is the result for 'Mario'. Most the issues that came up early in the day were sorted out by the last tests.

This picture shows how the interface will work, except in the space the computer will face the projection so both are bombarding the user at the same time. Tomorrow is moving day! Time to install it in the space and pray the network in the gallery lives up to the task!

Developing it further...

One of the complaints was that the aesthetics of the visuals were too confusing. With this in mind I remodeled it to look more like something so the user would apply a context to the piece. The look of it is based on a traditional paper but with an online edition feel. The title is taken from Google, the images are taken from Flickr. One of the critiques on the first iteration was that the montage was too confusing, that a way to go through the different images would be better.

I did this using a jQuery function, so now the user clicks on the image and it hides that and shows the next until there are no images, then a user can click 'show images'. As well as this another complaint was about the sounds, that they repeated sometimes, I edited the code to resolve this problem and think it's working.

As an extra feature I added a myspace search. I tried implementing this in the main page but it crowded the interface and since it's using a lot of code it works better in a pop up. To pass the search term from one window to the next I used some php to set a cookie. This is also the method for the image search to get the info.

As it stands, the user enters a term, this term is passed to external sites via php or APIs, this information is then structured using css and jQuery, it also returns sounds related to the terms, if the user wishes they can check to see are there any songs related to the terms and click on a pop up, at the same time the image search results are returned.

The idea is the user is bombarded with the different impressions and meaning to the words, this is sourced from the internet dynamically so the experience is created by the user and all medias are returned. The user gets a cross or multi-media bombardment of the results, in what they see, what they read and what they hear.

Research

One of the perhaps neglected areas in the development of my Project is research. AS my Project went through fairly radical changes (from making music from tweets to a studio of semiotics sourcing content from the internet) I always felt I needed just a bit more work done to move ahead to the testing and review stage. In someways this development process was a bit hectic but I can't say I didn't learn from it, I've had to use Flash, OSC, Twitter API, PHP, Javascript and jQuery to get to where I am.

Finally happy at getting good results from my piece I did some testing. The feedback was invaluable to say the least. Although I had explained the concept about the piece, that the meanings are not always the meanings you apply the users commented the Layout was too confusing. They suggested making it look more like a news site, so that's what I've been working on. They also suggested putting in suggestions as they were not sure exactly what sort of results to go searching for to yield interesting results.

I worked on implementing these changes. One of the tasks I had to do was research what terms yielded interesting results. As the data is being pulled dynamically these results might vary but after a few days even though some change they still yield the best results. The terms searched and there results are thus:

Monkey, lol, DJ, Hurling, Jam, Dance, GAA, Sing, Robot, Recession, Opera, Dalek, Balincollig, Rock, Tony, CIT, War, NFL, Happy, Guitar, Baseball, Surprise, Cute, Russia, Germany, Guitar solo, Bluegrass, Folk, Arab, Osama, Cool, RockNRoll, Fun, Kids, Coda, Libya, Bailout, Taoiseach, Crash, Whisper, Hanut, Style, Chocolate.

As well as this it was suggested that the image results be spruced up, to make them more visually appealing, the idea is that this would be projected while the comp would display the mainly text, along with an image, this image was originally a collage of the results but testing showed this as confusing. Instead the images are shown on top of each other and when a user clicks, they see the next in the results. The image search can be seen here, it might not suit all screen sizes as it is being developed for use on only one screen.

A name?!

Well this is the Exhibit piece as it stands:

As I've mentioned it's an installation featuring an Audio piece, the Audio is representing the rate that people emigrated from the country from in the period mentioned (ie one every 8mins 4seconds). After some brainstorming I settled on using a visual metaphor as well to house the speakers. So I settled on an open packed suitcase, this would also be a suitable way to display the title and Information. My Biggest problem as it stands is this - I don't have a name! All suggestions are welcome, please comment below!

HUMAN+

Hope someone else hasn't done a post on this, my google reader has 1000+ posts in it! One of the most literally relevant Avant Garde related Exhibitions that I've come across is called HUMAN+ (or humanplus). It is a study of Human kinds increasing reliance on technology. It also comments on the trend that our interaction with technology is becoming more direct as technology advances. There are many very interesting exhibits on the site but a number stand out. One of these would be the prosthetic head by Stelarc.

Stelarc is Chair in Performance Art, Brunel University West London and Senior Research Fellow at MARCS Auditory Labs, University of Western Sydney. Stellarc was well ahead of the trend with probing his own body and how it will interact with technology in the future. His exoskeleton Exhibit is quite freaky. Annoyingly , and after the fact, I discovered he gave a talk in our local Gallery in Cork City, something that would have been great to attend. The Head is an AI of sorts, it is somewhat creepy and reminds me a bit of the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz. The user can interact with the head as if it were a person. Also check out http://stelarc.org/_.swf - here you can see the texture used for the face, it uses flash but if you click on the top right hand corner you can 'turn the page' a bit annoying but interesting. Judge for yourself.


Another stand out Exhibit for me is AREA V5.

Be Your Own Souvenir

Another interesting project I came Across was Be Your Own Souvenir from blablabLAB. THis project takes advantage of perhaps two of the most exciting technologies becoming available to students,artists and hackers in recent times. Notably the Microsoft Kinect, and 3D printers. 3D Printers really have the potential to change how our world works, at the moment the price is the issue keeping it out of most people's hands but in the future it might be possible that if you break a Hoover nozzle you could download and print a replacement! Anyway, I digress, check out the video.

Be Your Own Souvenir! from blablabLAB on Vimeo.

I really like the description 'This proposal aims to connect street users, arts and science, linking them to under-laying spaces and their own realities.' The fact that the brilliant Golan Levin approves in the comments is also a big feather in their caps. It is also worth checking out their other projects, such as HABERLANDT. All their projects have an academic basis so are very relevant to the study of Avant Garde.

LEDs etc

One of the most interesting Blogs I've come across about LEDS and other electronic projects is Limpkin. He is a DJ and is very capable technically, creating his own displays and projects. The detail in his Blog is very interesting too, there is a clear step by step order that is lacking in others. One of the more intriguing projects he has done is involving an LED display and a webcam. The full post is available here, it does get quite technical as it's a fairly in depth walk through. Very cool though: