The Glorious Online Lair of Traumatron

Black Swan

2011-03-31T10:57:00.000+01:00

The end!

2008-07-07T15:58:00.002+01:00

Wotcher.

This blog is pretty much defunct now. However, You can keep up with me and my horrible adventures over at traumatron.co.uk

Dissertation.

2008-05-14T11:56:00.002+01:00

Ahoy shipmates, it's a blog about me dissertation yer after is it? Well, better late than never I suppose.
The title of the the essay was 'Is the act of trolling destroying or unifying the internet?'

what did you discover which was new?

To be honest the subject I chose was one close to my heart and one I was involved directly in, so I was more writing from experience than casting out my line for new ways of thinking. I read, I had an opinion, I reported, I explained. During my further research into the Internet Meme and various troll activities I did find some funny and some quite scary stuff, mind you.

what was enjoyable about this?

I chose the subject with the full intention of enjoying writing the essay, because the antics of trolls are amusing to me, and I enjoy taking part in online communities - but did find myself running on empty towards the end, when I realised the points I was making were kind of obvious. I tried to focus on how the nature of anonymity on the internet does as much good as it does harm in terms of internet relationships, but really ended up stating what most will already be aware of - people are generally quite irresponsible when you mask their identity.

what was difficult?

I don't generally find writing that tricky, but in this case I found it difficult to bulk out the essay when I tend to work in a 'to-the-point' style. Like I say, there was no great deep understanding of the troll by the end of it, as it was venturing into realms of the nature of humanity and good and evil - which would have taken the writing to a place that perhaps was not in keeping with the rest of the work. What was most difficult was explaining the logic and actions of the troll to as large of a readership as possible. Trying to not be esoteric or use terms that wouldn't make sense to anyone who wasn't an avid web user. Considering the needs of the audience for any work I do is generally quite a challenge.

a summary of the theme, title, main points

Ok, I suppose you've gathered most of this already, but the main points were about bringing to light the different acts committed by the troll. Some of them nauseating and unforgivable, and some of them noble, and how it is possible that a singular mindset can produce those two extremes. Of course it transpired that the 'bad' and 'good' acts are not committed by the same individuals, but by individuals using a common name and identity to hide themselves. I'm intruiged by the nature of the group 'Anonymous', the multi headed hydra of the internet, that often ends up fighting with itself due to the ambiguous nature of it's name. I found simply that we, as human beings, sometimes assume the name 'anonymous' when we want to strike out at something, be it a noble pursuit or petty one.

Stuff and things

2008-03-31T10:47:00.002+01:00

Hello! I've been looking at some pretty cool things over the past couple of weeks while we've been away, here's a few of them:

The Orphanage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3TuClW65s8

A spanish horror movie that returns us to old ghost story favorites like Turning of The Screw (Or The innocents, seeing as we're talking about movies), in the sense that we have no excessive gore, fancy editing or cgi special effects, just lots of darkness, sounds and going slowly insane. Very spooky and very much reminded me a theatrical performance The Woman In Black.

Don Hertzfeld's Everything Will Be Ok

Don is an animator of some great renown and his steadfast simple style is refreshing in a world of CGI like Beowulf! This short film deals with the life of Bill, who is seemingly driven mad by the banality of his own existence.

Alter Ego by Robbie Cooper

A book about people and their online persona's within MMORPG video games. It's interesting to see just how many different types of people there are included in here, from the sick and old to the young and glamorous - breaking the stereotype that its only young white males that play videogames. It's generally quite a strange tale that the mesh of all the se people weave, and is a major influence for me in writing my essay about how people transform online - but still manage to fit into pigeonholes that have been specifically created to describe internet users. I'll expand on that later!

Mass Effect - Bioware Games

A video game where you play as commander shepherd, an elite member of the human alliance, charged with stopping Saren, an...alien. guy. he's evil. Yeah, it's fairly standard sci-fi plotting, but the difference with this game is level of conversation the player has with his computer controlled team mates. lots of story lines develop naturally, and it's not something I've seen done so well in a video game before. I've started playing this game for second time, this time with using an attractive female as my avatar, to see if how it affects the other characters in the game - I've played previously as a man, who was quite a goody two shoes, so now I'm keen to see what kind of scrapes my femme fatale type character will get into to. I'm playing all the conversations using the negative, threatening reply options, and i have to say, it's quite a lot of fun being bad. I've had her punching people in the face for talking back, calling people cowards and extorting money. She's my kinda gal.

So yeah. What I've been focusing on a lot lately is how the internet transforms us. Because I really think that it does. The internet certainly did a number on me, and I chronicled that change in the previous illustrated book project. The things I've seen and the things I've done sound bizarre and ridiculous when applied to the real world. But on the internet it's all very 'serious business.' I'm currently watching my friend throw a red alert because I told him a guy that the admitted to his internet message board is a little bit creepy. He's becoming just like I was when i was in charge of the message board, I fear. I was frequently far more interested in witch hunting that I was with running a fun social group. Oh well. I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

Gah.

2008-03-14T09:34:00.003Z

So, I got my prints back from the guys here ta the college print shop, but found that I had made a deadly mistake.

Lee, the chap doing all the printing for me had asked if I could extract the files from the PDF I housed them in, as the printer would not print double sided for the weight of paper that we were eusing. He needed individual files to print one set - then re insertthe paper and print the other side. So, away I go to sort this out by importing the PDF into photoshop, which split it back up in PSD files. Something it also must have done during this process was to rasterise all the images, making them a slightly lower quality that they were for the previous prints I had made. So what I've got back from Lee is a bunch of prints that have jaggy edges on all the text. Plus, the prints are really really dark. Some of the images, this works really well, but not the majority. Also, the jaggys do give all the images and text the appearance that you might be viewing them on a monitor rather than in a book - which is interesting, but I think way too risky to not simply be seen as a flaw in the output by D&AD judges.

It's a crying shame, but I still have a few really nice prints out of the experiment. So as it is, I'm sticking with the copies of the book I've already made for both the college hand in, and the competition hand in. Even though there some changes to the text, as Micheál suggested, I'll have to stick with the previous version - at least for the hand in date. Which is now only a few hours away.

Turnaround

2008-03-10T14:48:00.003Z

Sigh.

Well, Kristos has just returned from the print shop with a damn fine 300 gsm matt print of his work, and it looks great. Far better quality of stock that the one I currently have. So I may very well do a reprint with Michael's suggestions in terms of text alignment ready for tomorrow. Thankfully, I didnt bind my second copy on sunday, so the materials are ready to use on the new book. Plus, I now realise I have more time to finish the book so I can tart the cover up as well.

Ace-tastic.

Oh, and the guys have just mentioned that the last couple of pages should have more emphasis on the different context of the text. The penultimate page of text is supposed to look like a blog entry, so I can make some alterations to that. I think it'll be worth doing to just push the product that extra few percent.

Books and books

2008-03-10T12:20:00.003Z

Hello!

Been a long time, hasn't it? Did you wonder what had happened to me? hmm? Did you fret that I'd vanished? Of course you did, you sentimental old fool, you. You love a bit of it.

Any way, down to business. I'm afraid, in my neglect, you've not seen the book project taking shape. I may very well be able to remedy that for this week, as I create an accompanying document for handing in on friday.

Today, I showed Michael the copy of the book I intend to send to D&AD. His feedback on it was a huge help and confidence boost. I was fretting that the story I'd laid out was not entirely clear, and that my idea of attempting to translate things that happened to me on the internet would not translate well to a number of illustrations - but without spoon feeding from me he was able to quickly garner was was going and form a critical response. Without blabbing on endlessly about what was good and bad, he did raise some flags which must be responded to. These are as follows:

Paper Color
Quality of the product
Font and alignment of text

Paper colour
Michael mentioned that the paper the book was printed on was 'too white.' Now, that might sound silly, and it didn't immediately make sense to me, but upon his producing of a magazine and comparing the colours of the paper, all became clear. The paper was indeed, very very bright. This is not a problem for the pages with the illustrations on of course, but the pages with text on, in his opinion were a touch harder to read than he would have liked.
Its something that I had not considered in the creation of the book, as I always thought of paper is paper and that's that - it's not. O f course it's not. The colour of the paper, even if it is the tiniest different shade of white, can make a significant difference in terms of accessibility.
This led to me taking a trip down to the print room here at city college (which i only found about today - the colleges best kept secret, it seems!) to have a word about different types of paper. Sadly, it seems the stock they are using is recycled, and rather thin. The same paper as we have here in our work room. Its not as white, sure, but the thickness is going to cause a problem if i did decide to reprint as the text or images would show through. That would look even less professional than the result I currently have from the mouslecoombe printers.
That said, I've spoken to Beth and Kristos and everyone seems to have different story when it comes to the print rooms services, limitations and such. It doesn't make it very clear for when I'm trying to make a decision whether to reprint and remake my book.

Quality of product
I'm fairly pleased with the quality of the product. It's hand made by myself. The pages are sewn together, and glued to card and other craft paper that I've bought and cut. It's not something that I've done before, and on the face of it seemed like a mighty challenge, but in practice was actually very straightforward. However, the hand made quality doesn't really fit in with the work I've done before. My work is generally all digital, and when I have had things printed I've had them made professionally and, yeah - it's cost me more money but I've been pleased with the results. It seems important for this project to actually hand make the item though. It's a book about me so...I should make , I think. Even though there is the worry that the product will not look like something you would purchase in a shop.
At the print shop I visited today I asked about binding, and they said that they can do it with a wire ring binder and a plastic cover - but that's really not going to be suitable. Not for what is really supposed to be an art book. Quite a personal article shouldn't really be dressed up in plastics which are far more suited to formal documents. It would just look wrong, I think. So that's another mark against reprinting. A plus would be that they said they can shave off the little white borders that I'm currently getting with my prints. An unavoidable side-effect, apparently, of the limitations of printers.

Font and alignment of text
Michael asked about the relevance of the arial black font choice, and I attempted to explain the the font is synonymous with my design. In general. Its a font I always use, and people that have seen my work identify the font with me. Does that make sense? That's the reason for the choice, as opposed to using a font that is perhaps more likely to be found in book of this kind, some thing like the regular arial - which does make an appearance in the book toward the end, the relevance being that it mimics the font in online blog posts. Er, like this one!
As for the alignment, I had to defend my decisions once again, as I've centred the text on each of the pages. This again, is unconventional, and Michael found it jarring. My view is - if he, or anyone is to look at the book and question or react to the text in any way other than 'yeah, that's fine.' then there is a problem. I always thought that if you actively notice the design of something like text, then there is an issue of some kind. But yeah, like I say, the text has been aligned, coloured and the font chosen for specific purposes, which may have to be highlighted in the document that accompanies the book when i send it to D&AD.

Input!

2008-02-22T12:32:00.002Z

Things that have been influencing the project thus far:

DEXTER
TV series. By day, Dexter is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami-Metro Police Department. In his own time, Dexter is a serial killer. He was taught by his foster father, Harry, to only kill other killers who have escaped the traditional legal system, or were never suspected in the first place.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
It is an apocalyptic mecha action series which centers around the efforts by the paramilitary organization NERV, to fight monstrous beings called Angels, primarily using giant mecha called Evangelions which are piloted by select teenagers, one of whom is the primary protagonist. It follows those teenagers and other NERV members until the defeat of the Angels and the eventual apocalyptic ending.

Events in the series refer to Judeo-Christian symbols from the book of Genesis and Biblical apocrypha among others.^[3] Later episodes shift focus to psychoanalysis of the main characters, who display various emotional problems and mental illnesses; the nature of existence and reality are questioned in a way that lets Evangelion be characterized as "postmodern fantasy"Hideaki Anno, the director of the anime series, had suffered from clinical depression prior to creating the series, and the psychological aspects of the show are based on the director's own experiences with overcoming this illness.

ARKHAM ASYLUM
is a graphic novel written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dave McKean. It was originally published in the United States in both hardcover and softcover editions by DC Comics in 1989.

Book Progress

2008-02-22T11:54:00.003Z

Well, it's been a week of mulling things over and facing up to things in my past and indeed my present which I'd rather not have done. For the sake of this book, you understand.

I'm going with the idea I had about my online alter-ego Traumatron, and how I ran the UK group over on suicidegirls.com. Its simply a bunch of illustrations based on some of the stuff I got up to while I ruled over that little message board like it was the most important thing in the world. So I had to rejoin the site this week to regain access to all the old threads and pictures and such. And...I'm not entirely glad that I did so. I found a thread about 'members we miss the most'. Was I mentioned? Sure. By one guy, who then later changed his mind! It honestly wounded me a little bit. I poured alot into running that group and apparently no one gives a shit.

What did I do it all for? The recognition? The friendship? or was I really just some guy on a stupid power trip after all? What did I expect to see when I got back there? Weeping women? a statue in my honour?

Christ, I'm such an idiot.

I left the site due to my dislike of the way the whole thing was being run in respect to paying the models, and reputation the site had regarding internet drama. I didn't want to be associated with anything like that as I finally become an adult and get on course with my real life as an artist or designer.

You can't put 'internet group tyrant' on your CV. You also can't say that that your hobbies include "flaming n00bs and pointing out attention whores for great justice."

The truth is, I thought I knew who I was. Now, I'm not so sure.

Does the internet give us a chance to augment our personalities into something bigger? Or does it simply expose us for what we really are?

As far as actual work on the book is going, I've done a 'style test', if you like. A self portrait. I sat in front of the web cam and pulled typically Traumatron-esque poses. Clawing at the sky in rage at someone's stupid comment. Laughing manically as I clear out the lurkers. Scowling intensely as I read the journals of brainless teenagers with problems I deem banal and worthy of scorn.
Then, I scrawled angrily over the pictures of my face in Painter X, transforming myself into what I see Traumatron being personified as. Screaming, corpse like and staring.

This is either going to be very difficult, or very cathartic.

Links and such

2008-02-11T14:17:00.002Z

Propaganda
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bpx/sets/72057594117941491

Mizuno Junko
http://jmnews.exblog.jp/

Tweekhed
http://tweekhed.com/

Toby Hanes
http://www.eltobe.co.uk/

2008-02-07T12:37:00.000Z

Design an A3 16 page Illustrated book all about you. Make sure it revolves around an original illustration style of your own.

Target audience
What is the purpose of this book beyond a D&AD brief, its subject matter and your unique
illustration style(s)? For example, is it for self-promotion, for publication, is it art? Make sure you tell us the reason for the book when you send it in.

Response1: I wanted the chance to fully realise the idea of creating an online persona and having that persona dominate not just the online portion of your life, but the offline portion also. What would life be like if I really was my avatar?

I once ran an internet message board on suicidegirls.com. My self appointed job was to turn the group from a meeting place online, to a meeting place in real life, where the models of the site could meet and interact with the users of the site. It was essentially a private social club for people in the UK who had the common interest of a fondness for the alternative lifestyle. Er, and pictures of pretty girls.
My girlfriend Nicola created and ran the group before me, but decided to hand it over to someone else when she became too busy to give it her full attention. I put myself forward to run it, as I had been constantly suggesting rule changes and often had to alert her of any drama happening. I said it would be better she just handed it all over to me and let me sort it out.
She did. It was the best and worse thing she has ever done.

My first act was to delete half of the members that I deemed not active enough, or whose accounts had lapsed. That was around 150 people. I wanted to make it clear that I was not one to be fucked with. I re-wrote the rules for the group. I had essentially gotten entirely carried away with the idea of being in charge, and my background in performance probably didn’t help. Or did help. Whatever. I was Traumatron – the terrible robot king of SGUK (suicide girls united kingdom).
The group picture changed from an image of Nic presiding over a classroom of south park versions of the members to an image of myself, gigantic and metal, destroying a city and zapping members with my laser eyes.
People referred to me as “The ‘tron”. On the internet and in real life. There was a respect there that was neither earned nor deserved – but people seemed to really enjoy the idea of a maniacal robot character running their message board. It was ridiculous.

So yeah. In a nutshell, that was who I was. Getting into fights, being privy to personal information about all manner of things, Models came to me asking for certain members to be banned, members came to me asking for me to reprimand people that they were too afraid to. I was the ultimate bad guy and scapegoat, but a coddling mother at the same time. Bully and nanny. It filled all my time. I was obsessive about what was happening with whom, and how I could help, or destroy that individual with my newly acquired internet powers.

It fucked me up, to be honest. But it was sort of funny. Tragi-larious. I made as many friends as I did enemies.

So the idea is then – if Traumatron was real…and he sort of was, and he ran the world, instead of a message board, what would that be like? The book could act as a manifesto, and be full of propaganda posters. People would always joke with me about banning people from real life, and I said I’d do it if I could. So really, Traumatron was more of a villain than a hero. In the illustrations, which would be both autobiographical and self analytical I can explore the me that was, and never was. The fiction that was me.

Response 2 : I think we are defined by our influences. We think and act the way we do because of the people that came before. Whether they are fictional or real, we are deeply affected by the actions and teachings of others.

Do you remember when you were little and you played games where you were playing the role of your heroes on the TV? Were you the good guy or the bad guy? If you think about the people that most affected you throughout your life, all those heroes and villains, how different would you be if you never picked up that particular book, or watched that particular movie?

Generally, I was influenced by villains. I was a sucker for a good baddie. All the way from Skeletor to the anti-hero Bill hicks, I’d like to give something back to them. A portrait for each. A book full of respects to the dead and the fictional. My heroes.

Response 3 : How many movies have you seen where you wish you were the main character, or thought – that’s me! This story is about me! I’d like to put myself into those amazing cinema moments. The moments that define me.

Essentially, this is a very simple idea about drawing myself into movie posters and scenes. The illustration style would vary dramatically from movie to movie, which would make it interesting for me to explore. But I worry that because I wouldn’t really be expressing my own style, I’d be emulating many others, so it may not fit with the brief. But then there’s nothing to say I couldn’t transform the look of all the movies to look one particular way.
-------------------------

Feedback plz!

Christmas comment on consumerism- treatment document

2007-12-13T10:09:00.000Z

At this time of year, people seem mainly focused on the purchasing of expensive gifts for loved ones - despite the fact that this misses the entire point of Christmas, as referenced in Dr. Seuss' epic tale 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'.

Our proposed piece concerns the use of the ultimate Christmas symbol of consumerism - the Christmas tree and a public toilet.

The tree is situation in the toilet bowl, and a video camera placed outside the cubicle, watching myself and Kelly Purves (local political degenerate designer) decorating the tree lavishly with ornate baubles and tinsel. The performance is dedicated to the work of Ellie Rees, in the sense that it will be in all one take.

The tree, in it's fully decorated form will then be flushed down the toilet - symbolising societies 'throw-away' mentality.

As the tree is downloaded to the sewers below - the finished video will be uploaded to to youtube.

This may or may not be a terribly serious proposal.

Observing Systems-Art from Systems-Theoretical Perspective

2007-12-10T12:05:00.000Z

Just had a faintly confusing morning session with Dan in which in which we sat around bewildered by the seemingly needless complexity of a piece of text about Art Systems and attempted to decipher it together. Here's some the ideas I've got from it:

As usual we had the old argument surrounding the use of the term New Media, and how it fits in with 'old media' or more traditional approaches to art.

"In the May 2005 issue of The Art Book Charlie Gere makes the following claim:

'If new media art wishes to be taken seriously then it is necessary to start to develop appropriately robust and convincing means by which it can be examined critically. He continues that a potential problem facing the discourse concerning so-called new media art was one of ghetto-isation; in other words, as Gere claims, 'not that there is no critical discourse, but rather that it remains the preserve of those involved, with little or no connection or engagement with outsiders.' 1"

Got that? Heh. We essentially got into talking about the systems of art, that is to say the context in which the work the shown, and how it came into being.
I'm wondering that if the processes are revealed about a piece of work whether that knowledge imparted to the audience gives the final piece more power, or whether it detracts form it. Phrases like 'A magician never reveal his secrets' regarding his illusions comes to mind, where the audience focuses on the end product of the illusion, and then is left to theorise about how the feat was achieved. I'm especially interested in this kind of ambiguity in the kinds of work that we produce. I'm of the opinion that there is more than a touch of malign towards the work of the digital illustrator because people assume that the computer does alot of the work instead of the artist himself. This isn't true - well, not always true. Plus, the digital artists work may not always be shown in a specified art space like a gallery, a recognised area for which to view artistic endeavours. Our work can be seen on the internet, on television, in magazines and I wonder if that lessens the impact of the work or strengthens it. Is the work worth more if a greater number of people experience it, or fewer? Does it matter what kind of people they are? I suppose there is a strong argument to say that art loses its status as art if it's mainstream and everyone likes it. No one is ever going to call the Harry Potter stories art, because they are so widespread in their appeal. I wonder why art seems to have to be so much more exclusive if it is to be respected. To repeat myself a little, no one is going to called the original Star Wars triology art, but that doesn't mean that it isn't important to cinema or important to sci-fi genre or to popular culture - because it is.

I suppose then it's a question of definitions I'm really quite comfortable with the title of 'Designer'. 'Artist' just has far too many connotations, and most them feel so negative to me at this point.

A brief and petulent outburst.

2007-12-07T09:34:00.001Z

Fine art.

"It's all about showing the work in context."

We know. We know all about context. We embrace it. We study multimedia. We have a perfect grasp of the form and the function of creative works.

And we know when to put it on youtube.

Being an artist is all well and good but let us factor in the distinctions between what is art and what is design. You are an artist. The pieces made largely for the self, to be viewed by others and appreciated as personal views. The content is yours to decide, as well as the form. You have total control. Your work is viewed by the precious few, in distinct areas.
We are designers. We are trained to read minds, and create wonders from someone else's specification. We have to grasp every available medium and dazzle with our knowledge of various techniques. We're an invisible faceless army, turning the wheels of popular culture. Our work is everywhere you look.

In short, it's pretty tricky. So don't talk down to us when we haven't heard of a Spanish film-maker from the 60's whose influence has spread over precisely 0.2% of planet earth's population.

You make art.

We'll make money.

Quick thoughts

2007-12-06T10:53:00.000Z

Sitting in class right now, and we've just had a natter about interactivity. To summarise what I got out of it:

It seems interactivity relies on a loop. The loop starting with people, then people being surveyed by other people in order ascertain what is 'normal', and then those people being informed by the survey, aaaaaand, I'm not sure I'm going the right way with this actually. Heh.

What I really got out of the discussion was the idea of the audience becoming the author. The best example being the 'Lost' TV series, that caused a big stir on the internet due to the ambiguous nature of the story in its opening stages. I was involved in the initial stir, because I was drawn in by the mysterious aspects of the narrative and was keen to wax lyrical about what could happen next, and theorise about the events in the program. This was the enjoyment of the show for me. As the series continued, and the initial questions were answered, I became unsatisfied with the results the show gave me. I was much more interested in just being given the outline, and left to play with ideas contained therein.

Shall we change this title a bit? hmm?

2007-11-29T14:46:00.000Z

I just wanted to note my concept down in a nutshell for anyone visiting my blog and being totally bewildered as to what's going on!

What I'm doing:
I'm offering a user the chance to interact directly with a fictional character from an original story.

The product is a robot's head wired up to a laptop computer. The user is to use both the computer and address the robot directly in order to discover how the robot came into existence, and what happened to it to leave it in the state it currently occupies.

How I'm doing it:
The robot head is a sculpture (or re-purposed toy) with a webcam and microphone in it. The cam and mic are for the use of the actor that is playing the role of the robot to enable to see, hear, and speak to the user. The user has to firstly activate the robot by following on screen instructions, then then the actor introduces itself and asks for help to remember it's story. The user helps by asking questions, which the robot can answer both by speaking, and asking the user to interact with the data that is inside it's head - presented on the computer screen in the form of videos, documents and image files. The user is essentially viewing the robot's memories, that have been damaged severely. All tasks carried out on the computer will be presented in the after effects software.

What I'm hoping to achieve:
I hope to present a unique point of view for an interactive story. The user will be asked to make a choice whether they will ultimately help the robot regain his former power, or to deactivate it once and for all. This choice comes about by the user asking as many questions as possible in order to reveal the truth about the robot's past. I hope that the user will have an emotional link with the robot and that the emotions provoked will inform their interaction. I'm offering a user the chance to become directly involved with the continuation of the story.

Inspired by:
The Blair witch project movie, online marketing and book
Donnie Darko Website by Hi-Res
'Play With Me' interactive art installation by Van Sowerwine
Alien 3 Movie
Star Wars Episode 3 Movie
Blade Runner Movie
I, robot short stories
Metal Gear Solid character design
Akira anime movie
Guyver (Bio booster armour) Japanese anime series
Chris Crawford's Storytron software

Developing robot head idea 5 - The Story.

2007-11-28T20:58:00.000Z

Ok, I've had some more ideas about the story, so I'm going to try and list out the sequence of events of the robots life here:

Gencorps' Autonomous Vigile Unit presentation to the government

Acceptance and deployment of AVU's.

General acceptance of the AVU's under Genus' control

Genus' physical deterioration

Government review - decided that that Genus must be removed from controlling the machines due to his sickness. Genus devises a way that the robots can go on securing the city by way of nanomachine implants that make them more human and able to act on their own impulse.

AV Unit's re-deployed with nano implants. The implants fill in the gaps that the machinery left behind, organic parts and a human mind.

Genus' use of nanomachines to repair his body.

Mutation - AV units characters begin into splinter into five separate identities. Each robot becomes self aware and physically mutates to reflect his burgeoning personality. They give themselves names: Mercy, Myopia, Malice, Mistrust and Malignance. They are all a refraction of Genus' policing. His personality. They are a portent for what is to come.

The mutated robots turn on Mercy when he releases some child offenders from custody, believing them to be innocent. They destroy him, cutting his head from his body and leaving him for dead.

Genus is psychically linked to the robots without the use of machines due to a mutation caused by his use of nanomachines to repair his body. He is becoming Tyrrus, a monster that has lurked in Genus' dreams since the early days of the Autonomous Vigile project. He has become a fusion of machine and man. His robots become redundant in his wake as a superpower in the city.

Tyrrus takes over as ruler of the city after his crushing defeat of the government.

Genus has become a monstrous mother figure, coddling the remaining people of the city with one hand, while crushing any that display signs of resistance with the other.

By this point, the nanomachines in Genus’ body have given him the ability to merge with objects on a molecular level. He realises that he can be everywhere at once, if he runs his entire body and consciousness through the security system of the city. He would become a vast, living city, able to control absolutely everything within it.

The resulting trauma on his mind that this action instigates destroys his mind to the point where he no longer has a single identity. The city becomes a psychic playground. The remaining humans and robots, under the control of the nanomachines play out scenes from Genus’ scattered memories. The city becomes a grotesque, nightmarish puppet theatre, detailing Genus’ sad tale.

The city becomes a living storybook of man versus man, by way of machine.
-----------

So there you have it, the first draught of the revised story.

Developing robot head idea 4 - Eureka

2007-11-28T16:15:00.001Z

Heh. It came to me in class this morning when we were analysing some texts about interactivity. I can put my fears aside about marrying the head with computer, if I simply have the user talk to the head. There's your interaction. At first, I thought bout getting the head/robot/actor to show the user the videos or data or whatever remotely, but I'm sure how I could do that. So what would have to happen is this:

The user talks to the head, most likely asking questions. The robot then asks the user to open the files on the screen in front of them with the mouse. The idea being that depending on the question, the actor controlling the robot can choose which of the data files to show the user to best illustrate their reply to the enquiries.

Example:

Having followed on screen instructions to turn the robot on, the robot introduces itself and asks the users name. He then states his own name, or asks the user to give him one.

User: So what happened to you? Where are you from?

Robot: My memory is badly damaged. We will have to figure this out together. You can help me remember. I can show you my earliest memory. Click file number 00AVG1.

Video content plays, showing how the robot came into being. There should be other files to back this up, like newspaper clippings, pictures, maybe even a poster campaign for the robot product. The user can look at this at their leisure.

I'm off to work in a minute, so I won't write too much more now. But this is all becoming much clearer in my mind, which is a definite step forward.

I thought about how the finished piece should be presented, and it occurred to me that there should really be a time limit for each user. I'd prefer it if people were to engage the project individually, as there might be more chance of an emotional connection between user and robot. In a group, this may be diluted.

On another note, I think I'll be able to make the computer content all in after effects, and with a DVD authoring program to choose the files the user will watch. In an ideal world, the product would be in flash, and more interactive elements would be involved, but for now I'm content to to make the user converse with the robot - that's where the real interaction is, in the performance of the actor/robot and the relationship that gets struck up between them and the user. It could be that the user doesn't trust the robot, and so doesn't want to help it remember. I t could be that that the user sympathises and wants the robot to return to full power.

We shall see upon writing the script and content.

Oh, I should point out that this idea was stemmed from the text we read today, more specifically about story tellers of old reacting to their audience and modifying the tale to suit their tastes. No plot set in stone, just a sequence of events that can be explored in as much or a s little detail as the user requests.

Developing robot head idea 3

2007-11-27T16:33:00.000Z

Ok, so I've had a natter with Mike Blow regarding my concept, and he put forward some ideas for me to consider, namely the interaction with the actual head of the robot, as opposed to the on screen stuff the user has to do. He seemed to think it was a good idea to have the head controlled by an actor- that is to say that that the user would be able to speak freely to the head and expect intelligent responses - because they'd be that of a person. Mike suggested using Skype, and obviously a microphone and possibly webcam setup inside the head so the actor could monitor and respond to the user.

The trouble here is - why would the user want to/have to speak directly to the head? That needs to written into the story and the...game plan? Yeah, let's call it the game plan. My initial idea was to have the head introduce you to the game plan, and explain that it needs your help to remember how it came to be severed from its body and left for dead. Then maybe it could pipe up with some cryptic speech, or offer clues if the user becomes stuck. Also, I'm quite keen to creep the user out a bit, since my recollection of the super disturbing 'Play With Me' interactive video art installation. Why would I want to do that? Because fear is a very strong emotion. If I can gain the users trust at the beginning, and then get them to question whether helping the robot is a good idea or not, and making them sympathetic or mistrustful could be a really interesting thing to explore. I'm keen on emotional gameplay, you see.

As for the design of the head - I've been out and about today looking for a suitable toy robot head or mannequin for me to modify to my purposes. Sadly, it seems like the Doctor Who voice changing Cyberman head remains the closest thing I could use - but it's pricey at thirty quid, and the design is way too distinctive. It seems like a cop-out to simply repaint a toy. Oh, I should mention that the re-purposing of a toy idea came from Sohelia, who spoke to us a while back regarding her amazing interactive art installations. I'm keen to follow in her footsteps a little bit with this project. I really should contact her and see if she can help with the emotional side of the project, and very possibly the technological part too.

When I came home from searching for head, defeated, I took to Ebay for help - again, very little, but there was a nice plastic mannequin head that may serve well - that was when I stumbled upon the skulls. You know, the kind of skulls they use in science class that come apart and are super realistic. I wondered If it might be a good idea to skip over the point in my story that I had originally planned to set this project. You see, in my story, the robots later get upgraded by way of the nanomachines, which bond the machine parts with human parts. So when the user fiddles with my robot head, and pulls away the front piece, a bloodied human jaw could flap lifelessly from within the machine housing - revealing its true monstrous nature. Trouble is, that would mean re-writing the story to fit this - which isn't really a big deal, as the story isn't set in stone anyway. But yeah. Just another idea, really.

As for the stuff on the screen, Mike reinforced my ideas about how there could be a product user manual to help the user of the installation out in the beginning, and the hiding of clues within pictures and text. I also thought about using the video clips as the payoff for the game play parts. Looking again at the Donnie Darko website gave me some better ideas about how to present information from a corrupted or confused source. It also occurred to me through looking at that site that if I do decide to say that my robot head is actually part human - that would explain away the idea of seeing the creatures dreams within the on screen stuff. It would also explain a good deal of the data corruption - for when the robots became more human like due to their upgrade, their brains would have gone decidedly bonkers from the fusion of data and human memories, dreams and feelings. So in fact - in terms of my story, that would very much be the final point, after Genus turns into a monster and destroys himself and the city. So maybe the content for the on screen stuff should present a summary of events right from the inception of the robot guards, right through to their destruction. It would have to be a hugely ambiguous tale - but all told from his point of view. Which fits in rather snugly with my interest in exploring different narrative forms for a single story. Chris Kelly summarised it nicely in his presentation for the last project. It was a strange coincidence that we both had similar feelings about how interactive a story could be if you only freed it from conventional story telling methods.

I really need to start outlining these ideas properly, so they can be presented back to my tutors and the class, because I imagine trying to follow this blog is a major headache.

Developing robot head idea 2

2007-11-23T14:04:00.000Z

Ok, I've had some ideas that fill in the gaps in my story and concept.

Dr. Genus has a 24 hour robotic guard (or nurse?) to look after him while he wired into the security robot control system. The robot is in place because it is able to watch over Genus constantly. There are no other people that interact with Genus other than the robot.

When Genus becomes unwell, due to over-work, he confides in the robot.

Genus reaches the conclusion that his research into nanotechnology can help him recover his strength. He begins to use nano machines on himself, despite the lack of testing into the effects upon the body.

The robot notes changes in Genus' physical appearance, and mental health. Due to the robot's unfaltering logic, it is able to predict what continued use of the nano machines in Genus' body will have. It can see how Genus will mutate into something other than human.

Genus, in his confused and semi mutated state, destroys the robot to prevent it from transmitting the data to the government officials about his controversial use of the nano machine technology, and the secret of his disturbing outbursts.
-----------------

Yeah, it isn't Shakespeare, but it works from my point of view. I found a really interesting after effects tutorial about making people look monstrous, so I've got Genus' mutation covered. I suppose I'll be playing the role of Genus, unless I can find an actor willing to work for no money.

The way I see it, I'll have a few videos, that have been treated in after effects, obviously, that represent what the butler, er, I mean, robot saw. Maybe it would be best if they were the pay off for each mini-game you play in your search to retrieve the data from the robot's head.

I should really have another good think and then produce a treatment document for monday.

Developing robot head idea

2007-11-23T14:01:00.000Z

Story idea.

The idea is that inside the robots head is a lot of separate different types of data file that all relate to each other in a specific order that tells a story, and/or gives a glimpse into another world.

I’d like it to Link with the sci-fi story I’ve already written.

The user has to make their way through the files, and piece together the information so that it makes some kind of sense. There could be video files, audio files (maybe the robot could speak a set of pre defined phrases that are also clues) and images. Maybe the user has to gather these things and use some kind of drag and drop interface to put the various pieces in order once they’ve discovered and/or unlocked them.

Do I want to say that the robot is from the future, or the present?

Present:

Perhaps the robot could have been a one of a kind machine, which was destroyed because it knew too much. Witnessed something it shouldn’t have. Maybe it was destroyed and buried because mankind isn’t ready to wield robotic technology. Maybe it was destroyed as part of some kind of cover up operation by the government.

Future:

The robot is from another planet, and reveals details about another civilisation, that mirrors our own.

The robot is from the future, was destroyed upon entry to our time, and the data we pull from its head is a message that was of dire importance to our civilisation.

It’s just occurred to me that if the robot was from the future, it wouldn’t be able to wired into a laptop. Well, alright it probably could. But I wouldn’t want someone to sit down and immediately start questioning the hardware, as opposed to getting involved with piecing together the pieces of the story.

…maybe it’s for the best that the story remains fairly ambiguous and open to interpretation. Or is that a cop out? I’m quite keen on the idea that when all the info is joined together, it producing a very dream-like (nightmarish?) recollection of events. We are pulling memories out of a head, after all.

Interactive brief - first idea/s

2007-11-22T09:34:00.000Z

Yup, it's new brief time once again. This time, we're to come up with something interactive. The only constraints being that the final product must all be viewable on a computer.

Now, I'm not overly keen on simply producing a website design, or an interactive DVD...but at the same time I might have to in order to fit in with the idea that I've currently got.

Do you remember the bit in the 'Alien' series of movies where Ripley hooks up what's left of the damaged android (Bishop, was it?) and asks him about....whatever it was? The alien, I suppose. Anyway - that image really stuck with me. This damaged half human, covered in goo and wiring, speaking his last words - words that could save Ripley's life.

This gave way to an idea I had years ago about astronauts finding a broken old robot as the sole survivor of a deserted planet. The astronauts then take the robot back to their ship and begin extracting all the information they can about what happened on that planet. So they pull off transcripts of conversations the robot had, sound files, video files, all manner of stuff, until they finally begin to piece together what happened to everyone on the planet.

Well...I never really wrote the story to a conclusion, and the project never got off the ground but...maybe this time eh?

Ok, my second idea is based more in the past. My girlfriend Nicola is currently enrolled in a burlesque dance class, which she joined on the basis of us visiting The Monkey's Paw, a show fronted by local colourful character Michael Attree. I was inspired by his performance as an English gent from yesteryear who became involved in paranormal investigations. I thought about maybe having a natter with him, seeing as we are now moving in similar social circles, thanks to Nicola's friends in the dance class - about maybe reprising my old stand up act, albeit with some major modifications. I thought it might be quite funny to play some kind of gentleman necromancer, who raises starlets from the dead for altogether unwholesome purposes.

Uh..anyway! how does this link with the project? Well, I wondered what manner of things I could do on stage that are suitably spooky and victorianesque. I'd heard previously of something called a Phantasmagoria, and wondered about creating something like that for this project.

I'd prefer it if I can link the remaining projects I'm doing this year to the central concept of my sci-fi story that I posted in an earlier entry, as there's a steady stream of very visual ideas in there to bring to life. It's very clear that the robot head wired to a computer links to that - but the phantasmagoria may be a different matter altogether. Plus, it may be rather rather limited in terms of interaction when compared to the robot idea. I'll think on it further, and see if I can't find a way to bind the two ideas together.

Reigning it in

2007-11-09T12:35:00.000Z

Hello again.

Yeah, that last blog got way out hand, didn't it? Let's focus on the here and now, and what's going to happen over the final few days.

After some research into crime statistics in the UK, I've found that the majority of recorded crime, and crime that most people are most aware of and affected by is burglary, vehicle theft, vandalism and personal theft - with links to violent crime.

This puts a different emphasis on my robobcops. It was pretty naive of me to think that machines could take the place of the entire police force and their many varied duties. How can a robot deal with delicate situations like domestic abuse? Quite simply - they cannot.

Therefore, it may be a better idea to go right back to where the research began - with the security robots deployed in Japanese Malls. If I stick to what the robot body is most capable of - mobile surveillance and apprehension of criminals, I'd be in a better position to pitch such a controversial product.

Also the idea of a team of robots being controlled by one man is too much to develop in such a short time. I'll leave that premise on a back burner until there is a better time to introduce that element to my sci-fi story for another project.

So now I'll going to try and pitch the product based on reigned in version of their abilities.
So then, the application of the robots is thus:

1-A guard for a commercial, industrial or domestic area, capable of recording any unlawful activity and reporting it to the proper authorities.

2-Given the appropriate user-set permissions, the robot can function merely as a surveillance droid, watching and noting unlawful activity, or be fully employed to take the place of a security force. That is, actively apprehending intruders on the set property or area.

for example-

In a domestic area such as a shopping malls and housing areas, it may only be necessary to have the robot act as a sentry, warding away wayward youths, by way of voice commands, using physical force as a last resort by way of any standard issue hardware of a regular security guard.

In a industrial or commercial environment, the robot can be employed to stop any unlawful activity that is taking place, by force if necessary - while remotely reporting the crime to appropriate authorities.

In military capacity, the robot is able to use camouflage to blend with the environment, and has increased accuracy with ranged weapons over the average human soldier, making the machines ideal for a variety of applications be it first wave assault, surveillance or tactical manoeuvres.

Along with the above applications, the robot is also equipped to identify hazards such as fires, and can tackle them.

3- The robot is superior to a regular security force in the following ways:

a- Increased physical durability. Faster, stronger, more accurate, never tires. Has the ability to enter dangerous areas humans cannot. Fire or smoke filled areas, for example, pose little threat to the robot exterior.

b- Increased visual capability. Can 'see' in the same way a sophisticated camera can see. Utilises multiple vision modes, such as night-vision or infra red and has the ability to objects at a greater distance than a person can without telescopic aid. The robot is also programmed with recognition software, that will allow to remember a previous felon and carry out duties appropriate to the individual based on past offences or encounters.

c- Increased aural capability. Is able to monitor record and human voices, to be stored for evidence as reviewable sound files, or to be transmitted to the controller for further appropriate instruction.

So there you have it, that's the sort of thing I have to include in the presentation, along with the visuals for the product actually looks like, and illustrations of the various applications, and getting in crime statistics that prove why such a force should be employed. Oh, and the technology behind the robots too - which is essentially lashed together from the research I've done about current robots.

So now it's case of putting all this together, probably by way of photoshop, illustrator and dreamweaver, as I've very little intention of using dry old powerpoint, and I'm too uneasy with flash to make good time with what little time is left available to me.

Apologies for the delay...

2007-11-06T10:57:00.000Z

Time has caught up with me considerably, and the deadline is a mere 11 days away. Thankfully, my ideas are very clear in my head – but that’s where they are currently languishing and really need committing to paper! So let’s summarise the story so far:

1: Ideas.

I had two ideas to start with, one concerning the future of videogames and the second concerning the future of law enforcement via a team robotic guards.

Summary of Videogame idea:

Videogames have come an awful long way since the days of pong, and are rivalling cinema in terms of drama, characters and plot – but to what extent can they be considered on the same level of artistry as film? Most seem to argue that the videogame is way off point in rivalling the cinema experience. I wanted to investigate this and find out what is stopping video gaming from being considered art.

In my opinion, the problem lies in characters and voice acting. Also, plots tend to be goal driven, rather than emotion driven. This might be a terribly obvious point to make, these are interactive experiences after all, but why shouldn’t there be games that are driven by our relation with NPC characters, and how we feel about them? Why can’t the characters in games be more intelligent, for example, to the point where they have their own goals in the virtual game world?

Result:

I pretty much abandoned the idea as it wasn’t really going to fit with the brief in terms of producing a product to present and pitch. There’s a lot of theory here, rather technology based research. However, all was not lost, as this idea ties in heavily with the subject of my forthcoming dissertation regarding the evolving nature of the videogame.

Summary of Robocop idea:

This was my dangerous and silly idea. This became a far less silly idea upon looking into the subject of robots in the military and surveillance operations. Robot development has reached the point where we have the sci-fi type humanoid synthetic being design. Coupled with the applications current robots have been used for, the idea of a team of robot sentries is far from ridiculous. Robots already exist that patrol shopping malls in Japan that can identify anything suspicious and act accordingly – although they are not fully autonomous, and relay the information back to a regular security force. I am more interested in creating autonomous humanoid robots that have multiple abilities, and are better equipped than humans to deal with multiple types of threats to domestic society such as crime, terror attacks and are able to take the place of the police and fire services we currently have in place.

Result:

Very determined to make the best of such a fanciful idea – I focused my research on current robots and have found their applications to be very diverse. As previously mentioned, sentry-bots exist. Their abilities include ID scanning, threat identification, and have a limited ability to tackle fires. The majority of robotic applications are focused on helping humans, be it to keep them safe at the mall, or the rescue them from a vehicle trapped in a snowdrift. Military robots are focused on reconnaissance and entering dangerous territories that humans cannot enter. This starting point of research gave me enough to go on and decide to proceed in producing a robot product of my own.

Concept – what am I making?

The idea is based in science fiction – there is getting away from that. I’m more than happy to embrace how fanciful this idea is, but drag it into the realms of reality by way of the presentation. What I’m torn between is:

…A potentially rather dry product website which shows a summary of the research I’ve done into the technology of the robots and some designs of what they would look like, a list of their proposed applications and abilities all drawn together in a pretty design, and present it on the projector, clicking through the links and acting as a representative from the company that intends to produce these machines. I would also have to field questions about the controversial nature of introducing autonomous beings in the place of our regular emergency services or make an FAQ page for the site that covered all concerns.

OR:

…An animated film that shows the aftermath of such a deployment of a robot police force and its effects on society. This conjures up a lot of fun ideas for me in terms of embracing the sci-fi ethic that I began with. There are a wealth of stories out there to inform the story and aesthetics. The worry is that the story will be altogether too obvious, and end the tedious cliché of robots rising up against their human masters.

Thankfully, I’ve been sitting on a sci-fi story idea for quite some time, and may be able to make the story more compelling.

OR:

…a bit of both? It’s a tall order, but it would certainly satisfy all aspects of the brief while allowing me to have some fun with subject matter. We’ll have to see what time allows.

My Sci-Fi story.

My research has led me to find that most current robots are remotely controlled by humans. I wondered if this would be the key to getting people to agree to a robot police force. Science fiction generally illustrates that robots with their own brains will eventually evolve far beyond our own understanding, and rise up against us – so maybe it would be better, in terms of people being able to trust the machines, for the robot police force to be controlled by humans, or a singular human. That way, it’s still sort of the same as using the phone to speak to police force when you need help. The robot acts a transceiver to transmit the problem to a human, who then commands the robot/s to act accordingly.

So the story goes something like this:

Dr. Genus, prodigious thinker, robotic engineer and scientist unveils his plan for a robotic police force. Five robots, with identical abilities, which he (or the user) can control via a brain implant. He demonstrates the robots abilities and wins the trust and consent of the government to implement the force with Genus as the controller during the first year.

Genus finds that the level of concentration required controlling the machines and the massive level of information being fed into his mind is becoming too much for his body to take. He begins to use nanomachines to assist his body and help repair him, without the need for food, sunlight or other human necessities. Something else Genus had not prepared for was the extent of horror that the crimes he was helping to combat would affect him emotionally. Again, he used various treatments to numb his emotional responses in order to keep his police force operation to maximum efficiency.

Genus is becoming less and less human, and when the evaluation by government comes around, he is quickly removed from his position as overseer and his robots put out of commission.

Genus however, is opposed to the government’s position and declares that he has made the city a far better place to be. As far as he is concerned, the city belongs to him. The government declare him dangerous, and move to have him incarcerated.

Genus, in his mutated state retreats to his now shut down base of operations, where he regains control of the police robots. In his furious and confused state, he uses the robots to attack the government that have forced him into hiding.

His tactical precision and knowledge of the city allow him to easily crush his opponents, leaving him as the sole ruler of the people he swore to protect. The people of city rally against this and protest – and are destroyed due to Genus’ new take on the law being –‘all who oppose me are unlawful.’

Genus has become a monstrous mother figure, coddling the remaining people of the city with one hand, while crushing any that display signs of resistance with the other.

The city becomes a living storybook of man versus man, by way of machine.

Bugged.

2007-10-10T09:18:00.000+01:00

quote [ Oh my god, look at those, I look up and I’m like, ’What the hell is that?’ They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects.” ]

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too.

“I’d never seen anything like it in my life,” the Washington lawyer said. “They were large for dragonflies. I thought, ’Is that mechanical, or is that alive?’ “

That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Well, that would be science fiction stuff, right?

http://www.correntewire.com/bush_stasi_deploying_insect_like_surveillance_drones

http://www.correntewire.com/bush_stasi_deploying_insect_like_surveillance_drones#comments

Wow just google: "insect-like surveillance drones"

Beware the Spy Fly - insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools. ... insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools. Comment on it! ...
http://snaps.snapsoid.com/~Beware_the_Spy_Fly

Gnatbots are the result of twenty years of animats and miniaturization. Tiny robots, often just a few millimeters large, controlled by simple minds with insect-like behaviors like scouting, hiding, escaping or flying. Their use for surveillance and exploration are obvious. Some Concordat roboticists are working on a nanotech version, which would be a swarm of submillimeter flies able to act together.

Cockroach (IRSD 34): a standard gnatbot design that can be customized, made by several robotics companies such as Cybernation Mobile Robotics, Mekatronix and Securetech. It is mainly used for inspections inside machinery, rescue operations and scouting. Around the size of a large bug (around two centimeters long) with a carapace of hard plastic (coloring depending on maker and customizing). The Cockroach is fairly tough and has an active time of several hours of moving before needing a recharge.

Mosquito: An advanced spy gnatbot; the prototype was developed by Seiko, but several other groups seem to have developed their own versions or copied theirs. The Mosquito looks practically identical to a small, transparent mosquito, complete with mosquito-like behavior. It is made of light plastic, and contains a small neural net brain and advanced vision systems. It cannot hear, but can transmit what it sees using radio or infrared. Price: 1,000 IOU Spec, Ill

Mite: The state of the art in the Concordat, the result of a collaboration between NRG1 and NMS Brussels. The mite is just 0.2 millimeters across, a silicon microbot with a nanocomputer brain and simple behavioral programs. It is completely autonomous, and controlled by simple stimuli such as sunlight, pheromone commands or pre-programmed instincts. It can record up to 24 hours of sound before its memory is filled. Price: 9,000 IOU Dev, Ill
http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/InfoWar/robots.html

Or perhaps an insect-like flying machine that can refuel itself by grazing off ... sensors to tiny insect-like surveillance drones for use in combat zones. ...
www.physorg.com/news85857909.html

Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801434.html?hpid=topnews&hpid=artslot

http://science.howstuffworks.com/spy-fly.htm

No student Loan? READ THIS!

2007-10-09T13:03:00.000+01:00

Ok guys, for those who haven't seen their loan come in - there is a problem, and here's the steps to resolve it.

The problem is that the contact has not been made by Brighton Uni to the Student Loan people - the reason for this is that the Uni are stating that they need your student support number in order to action your loan, and for whatever reason - they haven't got it.

Call Brighton university (01273 600900) and ask to speak to Registry. Identify yourself with your date of birth, as chances are you don't know your student number off by heart.

The chap to speak with is Mr. Manear. He is expecting your call - because I just told the guys in registry that my whole class is out of pocket.

You need to tell him your student support support number. This number is on your financial Notification document from the student loan people. It should start with BRGV.

Mr. Manear will then call the student loan people and action your loan manually. It takes three working days for your loan to come through - so as long as you act fast, you could see it come in on friday.

Hope this helps you guys out a bit - and remember, don't give anyone a load of grief over the phone, I'm going to scribble up a letter to the uni and ask for an explanation as to why there was a problem and so many people got left high and dry, so that hopefully this won't happen to people in future. There's no point giving a guy a hard time over the phone about it, because it'll only slow up him helping us out.

Great research resource blog

2007-10-09T10:19:00.000+01:00

"Slam your eyeballs against this."*

A whole bunch of technology articles and links to other techy blogs.

*remember that quote? it's from a cartoon theme song. If you guess it right I'll...um. Well I dunno what I'll do, but you will have earned at least 5 cool points. Or geek points. One of the two. Points will be involved, anyway.

Robot links.

2007-10-08T12:50:00.000+01:00

Robots in police state article

Robot Police officer

Robot soldier

Two ideas

2007-10-08T10:30:00.000+01:00

Yes, I'm aware that this blog hasn't exactly been methodical in its approach to the brief but...bear with me!
Ok, I'm sitting in class, and I've just announced my two ideas. So here they are with some extra blah.

1: Robotics in military and law enforcement and how they effect society.
Ok, it's a sci fi idea for sure. "You mean Terminator and Robocop, right?" Well...yes and no. Those movies are a kind of starting point for what I'm trying to achieve with this idea. Presenting this concept involves researching current technologies used in military and law enforcement in connection to artificial intelligence and robots.
Straight off the top of my head there are such things and bomb disposal robots, robots the police send into hostage negotiation situations (I'll find a video clip to illustrate this at some point), and sentry robots in shopping malls in Japan (thanks for the link, Lucy!).
So - I want the research to inform the design of a race of robots that protect us...or not. And produce an aesthetic design based upon the tech. I want to introduce a narrative idea in the same way that the Halo mockumentary that I posted below does. It presents a 'what if' scenario that could be a really fun format to work with. I'll have to take another very close look at the brief to make sure I'm heading down the right route by producing something similar.
The only trouble I for see in making a short film like that is that I might not be able to show as much research into the robots as I'd like to without boring everyone to tears. As a solution to this, I thought perhaps an accompanying website to show the design process and specifications of the machines in more detail. Oh, I could embed the movie into the website, couldn't I? Make the whole thing one neat package for presentation.

To clarify then:

The presentation piece is short animated film in a documentary format that introduces the design and implementation of robots on the battlefield, and in our own neighbourhoods, and how that technology affects our society. It will deal with present day, the near future, the far future. The content of the animation will take the form of artwork of the robots. What do I mean by that? er...well, things like propaganda-esque posters to make society fall in love with the idea of being protected my mechanical saviors, and eventually how society was fooled by such a dangerous implementation of near indestructible creatures being allowed into their daily lives. So you'd have images of the machines rescuing cats from trees, helping old ladies across the road, saving babies from burning buildings, standing atop a pile of vanquished enemies, intercut with footage of men in suits arguing, and flags and all that other nonsense that crops up in documentary spoofs.

So...any good?

2: The future of emotional and community based gameplay in videogames.
This the idea that is alot more grounded in reality, and is probably my safe option. What I'm focusing on here is the development of NPC characters in videogames. All too often, the characters in games might as well be a stick with a poster on it with a few words telling what do do next. You can't really believe in them. I'm of the opinion that the level of interaction with NPC characters needs to be raised to the point of not knowing quite whether you're talking to an NPC or another player in the game world.
I wondered if this could happen via users logging onto a website and submitting backstories, dialogue, and emotional responses for an NPC in a similar way to the way we use wikipedia. I like the idea of a character in a game being able to have a really rich background and enable an emotional response from the gamer.
The trouble is - what kind of game would you have advanced characters like this in? A totally new type of game? An RPG, almost certainly.

I think a talk with Micháel may help with honing this idea to same level as my robots idea. Perhaps I can pin him down this week to help me out.

Still no Student Loan

2007-10-05T13:49:00.000+01:00

Alright, strictly speaking, this post shouldn't make it into a design blog, but I'll be damned if I can think straight when I've got £30 in the bank to last me until this amazing disappearing loan rolls in.

I feel like a nihilist with a marmot.

See?

Halo mockumentary

2007-10-04T14:45:00.000+01:00

I was scrabbling around the net searching for this, when I finally came across it again on Gizmodo. Have a look.
It's quite a silly 'what if' scenario, but it's nicely presented.

Gaming Article

2007-10-02T14:11:00.000+01:00

My missus just found this article, which is a really great starting point for my research into gaming for my dissertation. I want to explore narrative in games, and the decisions players make within a game world.

The amazing accidental idea generating machine.

2007-10-02T10:02:00.000+01:00

I use a browser plugin for firefox called stumbleupon, which you may have heard of. It's pretty handy for both procrastination and research. So it's like...I can accidentally do research while I'm pissing about on the internet. Awesome.

Anyway, hitting the stumbleupon button lead me to this blog.

I wasn't 100% sure what the big deal about blogging was before, but this one is pretty close to some of the stuff I write on the various message boards I frequent.

Oh, no - this link isn't of any use to anyone whatsoever. Certainly doesn't help with our terrifying project brief. I just thought it was cool that this average person could go ahead and write about her life, the world and the way she sees it, and have other people read it and enjoy it. Alot of other people. Which leads to wonder about the human race becoming a singular identity via a digital medium like the internet.

Yeah that's right, I turned procrastination into research accidentally ONCE AGAIN! Thanks, Stumbleupon!

Rock and enroll

2007-10-01T14:34:00.000+01:00

Ok, so here we are on day one of the BA course. Um. Yeah. We've got the brief, and it's terrifying. It's essentially asking us to conceptualise a potential future technology, and asking us to come up with some kind of presentation based on existing theories and technologies to support our conceptual design.

Told you it was terrifying.