Scott Fisher

This year's annual L.A. County Technology Week is featuring a panel discussion on the video game industry in L.A. The panel will be moderated by WIRED senior editor, Chris Baker, and will feature Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany( and IMD alum), Alex Hastings of Insomniac Games, Amir Rahimi of EA (he worked with Steven Spielberg on their Boom Blox games), Chris Hewish of Dreamworks animation and a "yet to be named" panelist from Infinity Ward, makers of the "Call of Duty" series of games. There will also be an interactive exhibit area where attendees can play the games produced by our panelists' game studios.

They have given us a bunch of special student discount codes. Students who register online by the 17th using the code will be given a $70 discount on the $85 ticket price (need to show valid student I.D. when you arrive at the event and receive your passes). Tickets include attendance to all panel discussions, a buffet luncheon and our keynote speaker. I have cards with the details and the discount code - will hand out at seminar and leave rest at IMD front(back) desk.

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Sonic Forest is a mesmerizing light and sound installation created by acclaimed artist, architect and composer Christopher Janney. The installation is composed of sixteen eight-foot columns, each containing audio speakers, lights and photo-electric sensors that enable up to four people to interact with each column at once. Students will immerse themselves in the multisensory installation as they pass between the electronic trees, “playing” the forest as they go by, triggering sensors by touch or movement, and creating an ever-changing score of melodic tones, environmental sounds and spoken or whispered texts, with varying effects of light. Christopher Janney has created public interactive sound-light artworks and performances all over the world. Trained as an architect and jazz musician, Janney aims to have music “wrap around you like a blanket.”

OPENING EVENTS:
Monday, October 12
6:45 p.m.: Performance on Hahn Plaza near Tommy Trojan
7:30 p.m.: Panel Discussion at Annenberg Auditorium

For the official opening of Sonic Forest at USC, Christopher Janney has composed a "truly immersive sound experience" to be performed within the installation. The piece will be performed by Stan Strickland on electronic flute together with the percussion section of the Trojan Marching Band. The performance will begin at dusk, and will be followed by the panel discussion, "Public Space, Public Art and Public Life." The panel will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Annenberg Auditorium. For more information on the panel, please click here.
Organized by Scott Fisher (Cinematic Arts), Martin Kaplan (Communication) and Patrick Morganelli (Music).

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Continue reading "Visitors on the IMD balcony..." »

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Very related to our CTIN 511 discussions on "technologies of perception":

"Released in the early '80s, Lawrence Weschler's Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees offered deep insight into the work of California-bred light-and-space guru Robert Irwin. Weschler's seminal work was recently expanded, incorporating Irwin's more recent projects — the design for New York's Dia:Beacon and the Getty's Central Gardens. In this afternoon talk at the Getty, the old friends once again chew the fat, discussing perception and the observer's role in art. After the talk, stroll through Irwin's "living art" piece, and take in the view."

– Jane McCarthy

Date: Sunday, December 14, 2008
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Admission: Free; reservations required. Call (310) 440-7300 or use the "Make Reservation" button.

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Professor Fullerton and her chair.

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Congratulations Tracy!

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Annenberg Research Park Colloquium Series: Multimedia Literacy Track
Join students and faculty for a presentation by Peter Lunenfeld on December
2nd @ 11am.

Title: "Bespoke Futures: Addressing the Vision Deficit"

As we hurl into the 21st century, we suffer from a vision deficit. One
reason we have so little faith in the future is that what¹s to come has
never been so inadequately imagined. Knock modernism, if you choose, but at
least the art, design, and architecture generated in that heady period put
forth a panoply of futures seductive enough to inspire others to bring them
into being.
Corporate culture certainly hasn¹t ignored the future. Over the last 25
years, far-sighted multi-nationals have institutionalized long-term scenario
planning to ponder upcoming conditions and their effects on long-term
investment and profits. What about the rest of us? The advent of visual
computing and massively-scaled networks has made it possible for groups of
individuals to come together and envision futures they might actually want
to inhabit.
We will talk about the creative mis-use of scenario planning as a means to
guide us towards crafting visualizations -- often interactive, immersive,
or augmented ­ which can inspire us to go back out into our own communities
or dig deeper into our own creative practices to make these visions real.

Time: The talk will be on Tuesday, December 2nd from 11-12, followed by an
interactive discussion between 12:30 and 1:30 over lunch for those who wish
to stay on for a small group discussion. It will be held at Kerckhoff Hall,
734 W. Adams Boulevard, LA 90089.

Bio:
Peter Lunenfeld is a professor in the Design Media Art department. His books
include The Digital Dialectic (MIT, 1999), Snap to Grid (MIT, 2000) USER
(MIT, 2005), and The Secret War Between Downloading and Uploading: How the
Computer Became Our Culture Machine (forthcoming). As creator and editorial
director of the Mediawork project, he produced a pamphlet series for the MIT
Press that redefined the relationship between serious academic discourse and
graphic design, and between book publishing and the World Wide Web. One area
he is exploring is the relationship between design theory and the digital
humanities.

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Great interview at GDC with IMD faculty member (and Sony Exec), John Hight. Talking about thatgamecompany, flOw, and his IMD class, "Anatomy of a Game".

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Congratulations to the flow team for winning the "Best Downloadable Game" award at GDC last night! And in good company I would say...

San Francisco - Video game publisher and developer Valve's "Portal" took home the title of Game of the Year last night at the Game Developers Choice Awards, held during the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The title also won awards for Innovation and Best Game Design. The other big winner was 2K Games' "BioShock," which won awards for Best Visual Art, Best Writing and Best Audio. Other awards were doled out to Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" (Best Handheld Game); Sony/thatgamecompany's "Flow" (Best Downloadable Game); and Crytek/Electronic Arts' "Crysis" (Best Technology).

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USC Visions and Voices Event:
"Immersion and Its Applications:360 Degrees of Difference"

Join us for an exhibition and panel discussion on 360-degree immersive
explorations in viewing. The exhibition entitled Degrees of Immersion will
include a new multi-screen stereoscopic work by Michael Naimark in
collaboration with the Ars Electronica Future Lab. Other works,
including works by students, will be displayed in the Pano Chamber, a
360-degree pentagonal plasma-screen display that is nine feet in
diameter. Viewers will enter the chamber and be immersed in a
time-based environment.

A dynamic discussion will explore the effectiveness of immersive viewing
and its potential applications for a variety of fields, including fine arts,
psychology and journalism. The distinguished panel of experts will include
multimedia artist Char Davies, founder of the Montreal-based art and
technology company Immersence, Inc.; University of Chicago professor
emerita Barbara Maria Stafford; USC cinematic arts professor
Michael Naimark; USC Annenberg professor Lawrence Pryor;
and USC psychologist and research scientist Albert “Skip” Rizzo.

EXHIBITION:
Monday, February 18 through
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Helen Lindhurst Gallery,
First Floor, Watt Hall

OPENING RECEPTION:
Wednesday, February 20, 5 p.m.

PANEL DISCUSSION:
Wednesday, February 20, 7 p.m.
Leonard Davis Auditorium,
Andrus Gerontology Center

Event website here.

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ON THE EDGE: Experimental Animation

Date: September 23, 2007
Time: 6pm and 8pm (2 Shows)
Location: Los Angeles Filmforum At The Egyptian Theater

Excerpt from Crimenals by Gregory Araya, 2003

You are cordially invited to attend
ON THE EDGE: Experimental Animation from USC’s John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts

Los Angeles Filmforum
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, 6pm and 8pm (2 Shows!)
At The Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd. Between Las Palmas and McCadden

Curators' Statement (pdf)
Filmmakers' Notes (pdf)

Continue reading "ON THE EDGE: Experimental Animation, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007" »

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"Developing multi-disciplinary research based on Computer Games Technology"

When: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Where: USC Viterbi School of Engineering - RTH 306

Abstract:
Over the past ten years the University of Abertay Dundee has taught and researched in Computer Games Technology, predominantly focused on the development of techniques and technologies associated with console games and massively multi-player role-playing communities. We have built a successful reputation within the Games industry for the quality of our work and our graduates, and developed the premiere student games competition, but in the UK this work does not impact on the traditional research community. Accordingly, we have sought to utilise the techniques and technologies developed from our games teaching and research to develop novel activities within a range of research communities and to promote multi-disciplinary research on this basis. This talk will consider some of the issues in using games technologies for research, and will present examples of successful utilisation in Environmental Science, Health Science, Smart Systems, eLearning, and Microelectronics design.

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From Eric Paulos:

Jane McGonigal will be puppet mastering a big urban game in the SOMA neighborhood of San
Francisco on Friday, March 2, 6 – 7:30 PM.

The game is Cruel 2 B Kind, the game of benevolent assassination. All
you need to play is any old cell phone. You can play alone, or you can
form a team of 2, 3, 4 or more…
It's free, it's outdoors at sunset...
So far, Jane has confirmed players traveling in from as far as San
Diego, L.A., New York City, and Atlanta…
You can read about it on Jane's blog.

Or sign up to play here: www.cruelgame.com/signup

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Dr. Atsushi HIYAMA will be visiting IMD from the University of Tokyo and will make an informal presentation about CIRT (Center for Information and Robotic Technology) at the University of Tokyo. The faculty of CIRT are hoping to foster collaboration as well as interest in potential post-doctoral fellows.

Title "IRT Foundation to Support Man and Aging Society"
Abstract: IRT is a fusion of IT(Information Technology) and RT(Robot Technology). The fusion of communication and computer technology and robot technology will drive social innovations for supporting daily human life in real world. In an aging society, an active social life is essential and should be enjoyable by even the busiest people. Innovation through IRT will provide flexible support functions in response to a variety of human activities. A collaborative system involving The University of Tokyo and seven corporations has now been crated to realize this innovation.

Time: Thursday, January 25, 2pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

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Christopher Janney, Architect and Artist: "Architecture of the Air"
Presentation at Santa Monica Apple Store (3rd Street Promenade)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Christopher Janney's landmark installations, seen in airports, libraries, parks, plazas and subway platforms across the country, combine interactive technology, architecture, light, and original sound scores into “performance architecture”. Join us for this special event as Christopher discusses his recent projects and how the Mac is an integral part of each one. He also presents his new book, "Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments of Christopher Janney". (Made on a Mac)

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Mobile TV Content Strategy and Photo Sharing

Mobile Monday LA

What: October 2006 Mobile Monday
When: October 16, 2006, 6:30-9:00pm
Where: USC Annenberg Center, INFO & RSVP , MAP
Who: Anyone interested in mobility
Cost: Free!

HyeRyoung Ok, USC
"Mapping Mobile Screen Culture in Korea:
On contents and programming strategy of Mobile TV "
HyeRyoung Ok a Ph.D. candidate in the Critical Studies division of School of Cinema-Television at University of Southern California, and a fellow at Annenberg Center of Communication. Her main research interest is in mobile screen culture and multimedia contents service on mobile devices in Korea as well as in US.

Mizuko (Mimi) Ito, USC
"Mobile Photo Sharing"
Mizuko (Mimi) Ito is a cultural anthropologist of technology use, focusing on children and youth’s changing relationships to media and communications. She has been conducting ongoing research on kids’ technoculture in Japan and the US, and is co-editor of, Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life. She is a Research Scientist at the Annenberg Center for Communication and a Visiting Associate Professor at Keio University in Japan. http://www.itofisher.com/mito

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IMD faculty and friend at the Groundbreaking event yesterday for USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
(Photo by Alan Baker)

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