Scott Fisher

Speaker: Eddo Stern
Time: Wednesday, January 30, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC)
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Eddo Stern works on the disputed borderlands between fantasy and reality, exploring the uneasy and otherwise unconscious connections between physical existence and electronic simulation. His work explores new modes of narrative and documentary, experimental computer game design, fantasies of technology and history, and cross-cultural representation in computer games, film, and online media. He works in various media including computer software, hardware and game design, kinetic sculpture, performance, and film and video production. His short machinima films include "Sheik Attack", "Vietnam Romance", ”Landlord Vigilante” and "Deathstar". He is the founder of the now retired cooperative C-level where he co-produced the physical computer gaming projects "Waco Resurrection", "Tekken Torture Tournament", "Cockfight Arena”, and the internet meme conference "C-level Memefest" He is currently developing the sensory deprivation game “Darkgame" recently featured at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Online at http://www.eddostern.com

For this seminar, Eddo will talk about "Empirical game design , extra-diegetic Machinima", and his new sensory deprivation game Darkgame.

BACKCHANNEL LOG HERE: Download file

Posted by Scott Fisher at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Saw some interesting ideas and discussion on the IMD wiki about our use of Backchannel in various ZML events and classes and reminded me of a recent publication on this topic by UCLA professor Kate Hayles. She references IMD's backchannel efforts. The paper is called "Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes" and is online here.
Also just discovered some related (but kind of dense) notes on a "conversation" that Kate and I gave for HASTAC a while ago that Cathy Davidson has posted here.

Posted by Scott Fisher at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaker: Flavia Sparacino, Founding Principal, Sensing Places
Time: Wednesday, January 16, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC)
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Talk Title: "Interactive Media Environments & Architectural Machines"

Contemporary digital information has led us to question the traditional
meaning of presence, matter, and the human body. When confronted with
virtual landscapes on the internet such as Second Life, architecture
potentially takes on a new process of redefining itself through the
exploration of new identities and new venues. Flavia Sparacino, a former
researcher at MIT's Media Lab, believes we are witnessing the birth
of a new architectural science, combining the research of exquisite
organic forms with increasingly complex functions and communications, all
tied into areas of sustainability. She will identify current areas of her
particular research and professional work which, she argues, call for
defining new professional roles, design methodologies, and educational
directions. She will present numerous examples that her company, Sensing
Places, is developing; media-enhanced responsive environments which
incorporate tactile and visually-immersive display technology,
architecture, and filmmaking.

Bio:
Flavia Sparacino, Ph.D., is a technology inventor, experience designer,
and fellow of MIT. She is the founder and director of Sensing Places,
a company based in Santa Monica, California, dedicated to creating
cutting-edge interactive architecture. She has designed
responsive media environments for museums, corporate headquarters,
retail stores, theaters, theme parks, airports and cities around the
world. Her emphasis has been on natural computational interfaces that,
through advanced computer vision algorithms and electronic sensors,
allow people to freely interact with physical objects, digital video
displays, graphics, and light. Her installations have been displayed
in MOMA, SFMOMA, and La Scala Opera Theater in Milan, and have been
featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, such as The New York Times,
the Boston, The Wall Street Journal, and television documentaries
aired on the Discovery Channel, Japan's NHK, and
Italy's RAI. A nominated Knight of the Republic of Italy, she holds
six academic degrees, a Ph.D. from MIT, and works as a technology
consultant for large architecture studios and museums around the world.

For more information on Flavia Sparacino, please visit:
http://www.sensingplaces.com
and also review some of her publications here.

BACKCHANNEL LOG from presentation: Download file

Posted by Scott Fisher at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Speaker: Anthony Borquez
Time: Wednesday, January 16, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC)
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Anthony Borquez is the Vice President for Online and Mobile Business Development at Konami Digital Entertainment. His responsibilities include: identifying new business opportunities across multiple platforms, content strategy, technology innovation, social communities, and digital distribution. He is currently developing a strategy to leverage Konami’s back catalog of products, as well as new IP, for the online market. Additionally, Anthony’s team is evaluating digital distribution models enabling consumers to purchase online and mobile content from a variety of digital platforms.

Anthony has also been teaching at the University of Southern California since 1994. He has designed nine video game courses and currently teaches Video Game Production to Engineering, Cinema, and Business students. In 2003, he started an annual high school summer program in Video Game Design that attracts students nationwide. Anthony received his Undergraduate, Masters, and Doctoral Degrees all from the University of Southern California.

Tonight's presentation will focus on new Konami projects such as DDR - flash version, game widgets across web 2.0 sites, the impact of in-game advertising and HUD design, the convergence of mobile/PC/XBLA/Wiiware for future titles. We will also discuss the design and development of 'fear mechanics' for games in the survival horror genre (Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc.) for a possible collaborative project.

Backchannel Log from presentations: Download file

Posted by Scott Fisher at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)