http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:25:12 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/07/the_cardboard_tree_trunk.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/07/the_cardboard_tree_trunk.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:25:12 -0800 history. ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/06/one_hour_under_a_tree.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/06/one_hour_under_a_tree.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:30:20 -0800 ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/06/what_could_make_us_feel_like_a.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/06/what_could_make_us_feel_like_a.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:13:27 -0800 be another living thing. Essentially becoming/transforming into the other. Through the Storied Experience participants can learn, sense and eventually come to understand what it feels like to perceive the world from the other’s perspective. In the simplest terms, I would like to explore how we can use advanced technology as well as simple science to create a layered experience that gives us the impression that we, as well as our senses, have changed. The participant will be given visual, auditory and tactile cues based on the cognitive understanding and instinct of the chosen entity. Perhaps gesture can play a part as well. (Scope - TBD). Thoughts...we can't change our mass but we do have materials at our disposal that can give the perception that our mass has changed. Oobleck, for example, can easily give the perception of walking on water - much like the Basilisk Lizard can. How does story work its way into this understanding? How can story enhance perception? And, when working in tandem can story and perception create a uniquely rich and profound experience. In the case of this thesis the perspective will be of either a crow or a tree. Why a crow and why a tree? They are both characters in the children's story I am writing - which is an integral part of the project. But, my goal is to create a format or structure by which the methods used to create the experience could be used for any living thing. Some questions: How does affordance work its way into this? How do I articulate the affordances of a crow or a tree? How do I differentiate between anthropomorphism and science in this context? Do I have to differentiate? Does the integration of story lend itself solely to anthropomorphism? American Heritage Dictionary – Anthropomorphism – Attribution of human motivation, charactersitcs, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals or natural phenomena. Does the project have to be untainted by anthropmorphism…can anthropmorphism be attributed on some level to human instinct – why is it given so little voice? A bird ascribed human charactersitcs or a human ascribed bird characteristics…maybe we just have similar characteristics. ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/04/thesis_notes_on_storied_experi.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/04/thesis_notes_on_storied_experi.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:16:33 -0800 I AM DESIGNING storied experiences that immerse the doer into a world from which they will walk away with the resonant feeling that they were part of something bigger than themselves… BECAUSE I want to explore the extent to which these experiences can be appropriated and applied to life… IN ORDER TO enhance human understanding AND DEVELOP a lexicon for the methods, mechanisms and approaches to creating effective storied experiences.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/02/548_thesis_statement.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/02/548_thesis_statement.html Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:34:32 -0800 Part 1: Pick 3 objects a) Something significant from your childhood, something important to you - a toy, a talisman a memento. Noah’s Arc wooden toy. b) An inspiration - a quote, a song, a book, a lyric, a piece of art, an experience, a philosopher, a scientist, just ONE. Jeanne d' Arc painting and transcripts of her trial. c) Something you've done or pursued on your own initiative (scholarly or otherwise) that is deeply interesting/satisfying to you. My Changing Planet ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/01/ctin_548_assignment_1.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2008/01/ctin_548_assignment_1.html Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:02:39 -0800 What resources will we need? Hardware: Projector Microphone and cables Mic stand Speakers Computer Software: MAX/MSP +Database of movie fragments +Pitch tracking +Voice recognition What research will make this project better? Prior Art - Don Ritter Books: Bill Buxton Sketching and a book on body language and meaning What will your deliverables be? A scaled-down (3 objects w/ dozens of movies) version of the project. Ultimately, we'd like to have 10's of digital dwellers appear and disappear on the screen. For this semester we'd like to get everything working with at least 3 digital dwellers. Written documentation.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534_the_promise_of_an_empty_sp.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534_the_promise_of_an_empty_sp.html Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:03:40 -0800 Nowhere: an unknown, remote, or nonexistent place or region.* A secret place so secluded no one even knows it exists. It isn't on any maps and doesn't have a zip code. It stands at the intersection of three counties and therefore isn't in any government records and doesn't receive mail. The address is next to the llama farm, at the end of the overgrown dirt road, on top of the hill. Nowhere is the world I will build in this class. It is also the fictional location of a children's book I am writing. *Random House Unabridged Dictionary]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/532_building_nowhere.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/532_building_nowhere.html Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:21:07 -0800 The Promise of an Empty Space Take the promise of an empty space and an empty screen then fill the space with your own story. All of the digital storytelling mediums take place on a screen. The promise of the blank screen or the empty space is that a story will unfold before our eyes. We may interact with that screen but for the most part we are being told a story - guided through an alternate space. What if we flipped the unspoken arrangement between digital storyteller and viewer? What if the viewer was given an empty room and a blank screen? What if when the viewer began to tell their story the screen(s) would slowly become filled with people (or digital dwellers from familiar stories) listening to the viewer. When the viewer stops talking, or disappears, the digital dwellers would disappear - retreating back to the space just beyond the edges of the screen. Timline/Production Schedule ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534_interactive_project.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534_interactive_project.html Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:00:13 -0800 Articulate a collective participation strategy (i.e., how will you take advantage of being part of a participatory culture?) Wikipedia defines Participatory Culture as “a reference to the sum of the customs or ways of life that lead consumers to create and circulate new content on a medium.” If the words of this sentence are rearranged it could read, “a reference to content created by consumers to circulate new customs or ways of life.” I am interested in exploring that deep ravine that lies between learning about something and actually taking action to change it. Recently a seed of pessimism was planted in my brain. It has just begun to sprout even though I have been trying to starve it into submission. This past weekend I realized that the seed had grown when, after a 3-hour drive along the central coast, the mustard colored hills (Joan Didion called them this), made me think of the parched landscape of a planet whose inhabitants are slowing burning it up. I kept having to remind myself that we live in a desert, the hills are supposed to look like that. No matter. It got me thinking about taking action and how does one encourage…no, demand…no, subtly COERCE people to willingly make change in culture - to participate and understand all of the consequences. That brings me back to the rearranged Wikipedia sentence, “a reference to content created by consumers to circulate new customs or ways of life.” Is this a challenge? Decide on and articulate your own strategy for creating a productive tension between theory and practice in your work. In thinking of a strategy I have to first answer the question of whether theory or practice comes first. For me, theory is going to come before practice. In the past the practice of my work has always come before theory. I would like to switch it around. That said, my first step is to read. Define proficiency and an economy of value for the realm in which you intend to work (i.e., how do you want your work to be judged?) I would like for my work to be perceived as one of a group of works that helped change the way a generation (or two) understood the world they lived in. And also…encouraged…no, demanded…no, COERCED people to willingly make change. 3 things you do really well Manage Produce Motivate 3 things you want to learn To draw To tell a story To garden 3 things you want to be great at Articulating ideas Remembering (people, places, things) Balancing home/work, life/love, theory/practice Post a few links, names or readings that you are interested in exploring as part of the research for these projects. Coming soon. ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534questions_answered.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2007/09/534questions_answered.html Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:21:52 -0800
"In an age of microscopic technologies and sweeping Google-earth panoramas, Will Wright, the world's most successful video-game inventor, has set out to create the game (or is it the art form?) that will teach us how to really see."
- by Steven Johnson
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08games.html?_r=1&oref=login]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/10/will_wright_and_the_long_zoom.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/10/will_wright_and_the_long_zoom.html Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:50:24 -0800 USC's Public Art study program is doing a walking tour of LA and then going to the LA County fair. Walking Tour 3: 9/24 (Sunday All Day, beginning at 9am) Fair Exchange: LA County Fair www.millardsheetsgallery.org/fp/foundations/MillardSheets/exhibition-future.asp Starting point to be determined, but there will be a caravan from USC. Carpooling encouraged. There is the possibility of taking the MetroLink train from Union Station to Pomona. For information email: lovins@usc.edu http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/09/la_county_fair.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/09/la_county_fair.html Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:11:12 -0800 Elephant today got me thinking about Henry Jenkins' testimony before congress in 1999 after Columbine. Here is a link to that testimony. It is long - but since we are media makers, it is worth reading through to the end. http://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/articles/index_dc.html On another note, for those interested in the cinematics of the film rent Bela Tar's Werckmeister harmóniák. It was the inspiration for a lot of what the film feels like and is visually stunning: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249241/]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/09/gus_henry_and_bela.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mchuri/2006/09/gus_henry_and_bela.html Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:58:15 -0800