kellee's blog

Presentation, presentation, presentation. It has been a large part of our existence here in the DIM. You mean, I not only have to think of the idea, but I have to communicate it to others?

However, there are different reasons to present, and each of these deserve their own focus:

1. Communicate an idea/philosophy.
2. Teach an idea/philosophy.
3. Pitch an idea/product to people interested in purchasing your idea/product.
4. Mediate a debate/discussion on a specfic topic.

I feel that we have covered #3 in depth. This could be because there is a lot more pressure to sell your idea, the result is typically binary (Interested/Not interested), and we have had the benefit of many business experts come through here who are practiced in the art of teaching the pitch and giving constructive feedback.

However, in academia, thesis-land, and at conferences, 1, 2, and 4 are of much greater importance. When we give these types of presentations in class, the feedback is generally targeted at analyzing the idea. While this is absolutely appropriate most of the time, maybe it would be helpful to have one presentation that is targeted not at analyzing the concepts you are discussing, but the way you are presenting them. Particularly concerning the innovative concepts we are attempting to tackle on a daily basis here, it is important that we understand how to communicate our thoughts effectively to an audience that, more often than not, don't understand what we are thinking.

In researching the subject, I discovered a slew sites regarding scientific methods of teaching:

Scientific Basis for the Art of Teaching

Constructivist Teaching and Learning Models

Wikipedia: Socractic Method

Teachers.net The Ultimate Teacher Resource

NDT General Teaching Tips

Tangentially, I will note the best quote I found was from "Constructivist Teaching and Learning Models":

"Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat"

Posted by at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So much has happened since I last updated the entire department on my thesis. So this post may be a bit long. I'll try to keep it to nice word-bites to ensure that I don't lose your attention, and in hopes that if you read it, you might be interested enough to comment or chat with me about it sometime.

The Three Alphas
As expected, working on fleshing out three projects helped me to realize exactly what aspect of physical and gestural interface design I wanted to focus on. Maybe more importantly, it helped me to realize which project would give me the most leverage for my efforts. The choice was...

Digital Puppetry
1. Motion capture is the motion tracking technology I know the most about.
2. I had more contacts in the motion capture industry and performance fields than I had in the related fields of the other projects.
3. Even though it's mind-numbingly frustrating at times, I still enjoy working on it! Hopefully, this third reason will help me get over the most difficult hurdles I have up ahead.

However, from the beginning of my thesis project, I knew I wanted to explore dynamic relationships between subject and art in digital puppetry. Typically, with motion capture, there is a one-to-one realtionship between the performer and the character he/she is controlling. My right shoulder = the character's right shoulder, for instance. Or, in instances of physical personification, my right shoulder equals the chair's right back side.

The important thing here is that, generally, there is a single continuous relationship between the point being tracked in 3D space and some point on the subject's skeleton.

Dynamic Uses of Real-Time Motion Capture to Inspire Dance
What I will be exploring in my thesis is the possibility of one point having a dynamic and changing relationship with video elements. For instance, the speed of my right hand moving relates to the numbers of stars being born in the sky.

I am inspired by the relationship a traditional puppeteer has with his/her marionette. That the right pink finger controls the puppet's right foot and hand, for instance. I have yet to see a live digital puppetry performance that has justified the use of the actor's entire body. Usually the constraints of real-time output only allow for limited mobility in the character's body.

...and the dance part?
I was also inspired by my African Dance teacher at NYU, who taught us how to dance by inspiring motion, rather then demanding it. Instead of grand jete's across the floor, we were leaping across streams, trying to grab the sun.

My goal is to create an experience for one to two people that inspires them to move freely in a compelling, interactive and (if budget permits) immersive experience.

Content content content...
For my content, I am looking to the Big Bang. Two people work together to conduct the big bang (or maybe it's a SECOND big bang, so I can try and get away from the God implications). I chose the big bang because it's a story everyone is vaguely familiar with that has a beginning, middle, and end. There is also plenty of room for artistic interpretation.

Hurdles Ahead
Visual Art
3D Engine - Would allow for more flexibility in projection, with the possibility of complete 360. However, this cannot be done unless I find someone who is equally interested in this project and who has already developed content (Doox and the Bushido guys come to mind, but they might already be over-stretched as is).

Motion Builder - the program currently used for most real-time mocap output. But I know nothing about it. Is it worth learning? This week I have a meeting with the Animation Department's Kathy Smith, who teaches a section in her motion capture class on experimental animation using motion capture. Maybe she'll be of help...

Flash - I can read Vicon in MAX. MAX can talk to Flash through Flosc. But if I want to use the phasespace system, will that be an easy transition? The Vicon system we have is so old and clunky; will it be up to speed in time for my presentation? I don't know Flash, but I know it's not too difficult; however, my results will be exponentially richer if I could recruit someone(s) who already know it.

The Keio Factor
In a little over four weeks I'm due to land at Keio University, in hopes that they will let me play with their digital puppetry system. They have a real-time system up and running, they have engineers and artists who are familiar with the technology... huge leaps could be made on my own project while I'm there. At the very least, I'm sure to get more done then if I stayed in LA, and I'm glad I scheduled this thesis "winter retreat" for myself early on in the process.

Posted by at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tomorrow, Thursday October 26, Kellee Santiago will be giving her 1 hour presentation for 555a Advanced Interactive Project. The presentation will cover the basics of Motion Capture. This presentation will cover

- What is motion capture?
The theory of motion capture
The technology used

- Why do people use motion capture?
Applications in entertainment
Applications in science

-The business model of motion capture
In-house mocap studios vs independent vendors

When: 2-3pm
Where: ZML

Posted by at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Noah Keating has generously lugged a whole bunch of DVD cases from his apartment to the GIL. These are for use on student game projects, so enjoy! They are in the bottom two drawers of the cabinet closest to the door(s).

In honor of his donation, we have named these drawers:

Thanks again!

Posted by at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I recieved a mass email from a friend. You know, those friends that have decided to put you on some list with a whole bunch of other people whose only common ground is that they have all been deemed appropriate for mass email consumption by this one person. These emails are typically crass comics or family news, but this morning I recieved a rare bit of dissipated information with the intro "Thought you might find this interesting..." and, well, I actually did.

The email pointed me to a website, Family Watchdog. At this site, I can casually look up a listing of my local sex offenders, interfaced with a map that actually shows me where they live or work in relationship to my address.

Now, I realize that once someone is charged with a sex offense, this is a scar on their record which they carry with them forever. And many communities with families feel that they have a right to know this information about the villagers who are going to be raising their child. But I couldn't help but notice that the two related links advertising on the site are

1)Instant Detective, which advertises "Unlimited Background Checks on Anyone," and

2)Neighborhood Check, which displays an interesting dichotomy between their home page with the statement

"Find Old Friends, Missing Family, and Former Classmates,"

and it's advertisement on Family Watchdog, which reads,

"Criminal Report: Case Numbers, Fine Sentence Dates, Offenses & Pleas."

How much information am I really interested in finding out about my old classmate?

This site, while possibly well-meaning in its means, points to an incredibly eerie end. Forget Homeland Security; I'm scared of that gossipy neighbor that just got a laptop and WiFi connection.

Posted by at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The results from the IGDA Game Developer Demographics Report are in. The first report of its kind, IGDA gathered responses from nearly 6500 game developers to attempt to get a clear picture on the makeup of the industry.

Key results of the demographic survey include:

Male = 88.5%, Female = 11.5%
White = 83.3%, Black = 2.0%, Hispanic/Latino = 2.5%, Asian = 7.5%, Other = 4.7%
Heterosexual = 92%, Lesbian/Gay = 2.7%, Bisexual = 2.7%
Average age = 31 years
Average years in the industry = 5.4 years
Percentage of people with disabilities = 13% (e.g., cognitive, mobility, sight, etc)
More than 80% have a university level education or greater
More than 60% of studios claim that obtaining diverse applicants is challenging

The Complete PDF Report

Posted by at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Coming soon to a game console near you: a Steven Spielberg video game. The acclaimed film director and producer has agreed to develop three new games under a long-term exclusive deal with video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. The deal to be announced Friday reflects the increasingly intertwined interests of Hollywood and the video game industry.

The deal involves much more than the Hollywood director merely putting his stamp on a game or popping in for quick consultations, said Neil Young, vice president and studio head of EA's Los Angeles studio.

Instead, Spielberg will have an office in EA's studio. He plans to work side-by-side with game developers to create original gaming content beginning with the concept — not a game based on a movie, or vice versa, both of which are common practices nowadays.

via Yahoo! News

Posted by at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

This past Sunday, a number of us attended Andrew Sacher's class, Theme Park 101a. Soon after class began, I realized it would be an extremely valuable experience I would never forget.

I have heard Andrew speak before on Disney Imagineering design concepts, and am probably more familiar with the Disney theme parks then I would like to admit. However, it was incredible to experience the application of those design concepts while simultaneously learning them. Not a revolutionary teaching method; it felt similar to a film studies class, in which a filmic technique is discussed and then shown. However, it is rare that I get to experience location-based entertainment with colleagues and engage in critical-theory discussion whilst screaming as I'm being dropped 13 stories.

It was certainly the most intense class I have attended while at USC. To go from debating the validity of Tomorrowland's dystopia to singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da and getting soaked has left me still reeling.

I hope this post can act as a forum for more attendees to share their experiences as well. I'm still processing everything that happened, but I wanted to get things started and, of course, give props to Andrew.

My number one take-away was the benefit of putting together a cross-disciplinary team. For instance, so many of the spacial-design concepts we touched upon can apply to the design of game worlds. Even though game programs at schools are encouraging students from different backgrounds to apply, this attitude has yet to be translated to the industry, which still only allows gamers to design games. Andrew - is Disney Interactive looking to change the dynamic of their game design teams?

Posted by at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

via the Time Warner Newsroom

In online content that ranges from music to movies, travel to tech, food to fashion, medicine to mortgages, 85 new topical websites now call AOL and AOL.com home – providing online consumers with new micro-communities where they can connect, debate, editorialize, comment, and learn.

America Online, Inc. today announced that is has signed a definitive agreement to acquire one of the online medium’s leading blogging companies, Weblogs, Inc. of Santa Monica, CA and New York, NY. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement was signed Wednesday, October 5, and is expected to close next week.

[ps. why isn't there an "social software" site section?]

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Posted by at 1:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On Erin's via Lenoard's reccommendation, I tried Voodoo Pad, Flying Meat's "digital junk drawer where you can jot down notes, web addresses, to-do lists... Anything on your mind." Bascially, it works like a personal Wiki site for your computer + internet digital worlds.

For the past week I have used Voodoo Pad to create one document with a center Index for my entire digital note-taking life. I started at the very beginning, with my homepage:

As you can (kind of)see, I started with the basics. Projects, Classes, Work, Journal, and the original homepage, which included some tips.

In order to create a link, it's as easy as highlighting the text and clicking on "Link." A new page immediately pops up for me to edit. I used this feature the most while taking notes for classes. Trained in the traditional I. A. 1) a. method of breaking down notes during a lesson, I found the wiki-page method translated easily, as I just translated each list of subjects into a series of pages, one for each subject.

Next time I type in that word, it automatically generates a link. So everytime I type in the word "Positioning", it links to my page with Mike Maser's definition of "Positioning" from my Business of Interactive Media class, and that page then leads to various definitions and resources on the subject of "Positioning."

Also, in order to create links to other documents, videos, music, and other media on your computer, I only have to click and drag the file into the body of the text, and it generates a convenient link to that file. (I have not seen if/how much it freaks out if you move where that file is located, though.) In order to create links to internet sites, I can copy and paste or type the url, and the link is created(like in Word).

As a personal organization tool, it felt like I was redesigning my "Finder" with notations. In fact, one could use VoodooPad for simply that purpose. Instead of sorting through folders in organization methods that have long since been dated in my memory(remember that time I was sorting everything by what food I was eating that day?), this way the folders can be organized and cross-references in a variety of ways; whatever catches my whimsy. Maybe it's the digital equivalent to the "organized mess" - even though it looks a bit crazed, I know where everything is.

All in all, despite my lack of use of Wikis on the internet, I found a Wiki to my life very intuitive and extermely handy. Is it wise to centralize my entire life into one program? I decided it was worth the risk, and invested in the program after my trial too quickly expired.

Posted by at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)