A Hacktivist's Computer
Speculative Computer
Having read “A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design” and having watched “Stop Drawing Dead Fish,” I picked up on a few thoughts and ideas that helped me shape my design for my community computer. I better understood the relationship between humans and tools – A tool should be addressing our needs by amplifying our capabilities.
I also started thinking about the importance of feedback and tactility when we interact with tools with our hands. One of the things I considered in my design was having a physical keyboard vs a virtual keyboard. I think that the physical keyboard would be preferred by a hacktivist as it’s important to receive some kind of tactile feedback whenever a key is pressed. I also thought about creating a display that would be foldable or rollable into a smaller form factor. That folding/rolling action would also have a certain level of tactility or feedback.
I also gave a lot of thought to the software and what a hacktivist would be able to create with the software. While people may not usually think of hacking or coding as an art form or medium, I think that there are many creative ways to create viruses or other things of that nature. And the way these viruses or pieces of code behave is very much the creation and amalgamation of both the user and the computer.
The last thing I sort of thought about was this idea of a cyborg. In many ways, humans are already cyborgs. While the technology may not be embedded within us yet, lots of devices are already extensions of ourselves. We carry our phones around with us everywhere and they are these tools that amplify our capabilities. Even something as simple as contact lenses behave like technology that enhances our capabilities (sight).
Link to the Full Project
Bending Software: Full Body Tracking Suit
Synthesiac Software & Peripheral
One of the examples we looked at in class was Rez. While Rez may look like an ordinary rail shooter, Rez actually combines the world of video games and music to create a new digital experience for the user. In addition, Rez isn't just a game with music in the background. As users shoot enemies in the game, users add to the soundtrack they're hearing. They're both playing the game and creating the music within the game. Paired with different controllers ("Trance Vibrator") using vibration feedback technology, Rez attempts to create a feeling of synesthesia by activating our seeing, hearing, and touch senses at the same time. Interestingly enough, the Trance Vibrator by Mizuguchi started out as kind of a joke.
Having read Olia Lialina's article on Affordance, Forgiveness, and Ambiguity in Human-Computer and Human-Robot Interaction, there were several points made in the article that I agree with. However, I really liked this particular quote: “User interfaces influence people’s understanding of processes, form relations with the companies that provide services. Interfaces define roles computer users get to play in computer culture.” I think it's something we often overlook when using technology, both in terms of hardware and software. There are these big companies shaping the way we interact with technology based on the way that they have designed them with all these affordances and constraints. Yet, this doesn't seem to bother most people.
Project:
I was intrigued by the MiMU Gloves shown in class and wondered if there are other applications for it and how I might expand/augment that technology. I really like the idea of physical movement in three dimensions as a way of manipulating data. What if in addition to gloves, we wore a full body suit (head to toe) that we could use to control our computers? Consider taking the way you’d interact with VR technology and applying it to our 2D screens and software. I feel like that there would be a plethora of possibilities and integrations with existing software.
Link to the Full Project
Austin Poon/潘诺贤
My Networked Identity
As described in the Glitch Feminism reading, to glitch is to embrace malfunction and they are “celebrated as a vehicle of refusal, a strategy of nonperformance.” Glitches generate ruptures between the recognized and recognizable, amplifying within such ruptures, extending them to become fantastic landscapes of possibility. The reading often contextualizes these glitches in relation to gender identity and one's body.
While I'm quite happy with who I am and my identity, I instead thought about things I would like to experiment with myself. The main theme/idea that came to my mind is how I grew up speaking and making English my primary language instead of Mandarin/Cantonese even though I was living in Asia.
The idea for my web project is to re-tell this story using HTML and CSS. I want to incorporate this duality or back and forth of languages into the experience. I want my story to be written in English and users can interact with the text by hovering over it to see the Chinese translation.
Link to the Full Project