Introducing interactivearchitecture.org
Interactive Architecture … is about the potential for digital systems to make decisions about our living environment and then influence that environment.
I need to spend a bit more time on this website but I’m a bit scared I might never leave :)
Check out the resources page for how to make ‘anything unexpected become interactive’.
Thanks to Haunted Geographies for the signpost.
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I’m applying to do a Masters this year. It’s the MSc in Human Computer Interaction (with Ergonomics) at UCL.
I had to write a statement outlining my academic interests and why I want to do the course. Thought I’d share it with you.
I’m fascinated by the way our lives are changing and adapting to a ubiquitous web; we’ll soon see a time when almost all devices will necessarily be web enabled. Interfaces are being increasingly judged on usability and interoperability yet the way we interact with content is becoming more complex. How should interface design evolve and improve whilst supporting significantly more intricate methods of content production, syndication and participative social systems?
This shift towards a ubiquitous web will also have dramatic consequences for the workplace as work and home life merges. We’ve started to see a change take place already with web applications such as the Google suite (docs, mail, calendar etc). Skip forward a few years and people will no longer expect to use a different - often more complex - application for work uses and companies will no longer expect to finance training courses for basic software. Employers will see good interface design as being integral to a productive workforce.
In relation to my work of recent years in the gov/non-profit sector, I’m interested in notions of authority and expertise online. The newest generation of web-users (who are ‘digital natives’) are source agnostic and are likely to trust information from peers more than from figures of authority. What does this mean for cultural institutions, education systems and government departments who are in the business of imparting knowledge?
As content is increasingly syndicated, how do people interpret and engage with expert content when it may be sitting alongside content produced by amateurs? The role that interaction design plays in this is unclear and something I’m interested in exploring.
A third area of interest for me is with the human to human interaction facilitated by social media applications. There is great potential for collaborative working and forming genuine relationships through websites such as Twitter or Seesmic. I’m interested in exploring the impact that the ubiquitous, social web will have on human relationships, communities and collaboration.
Popularity: 49% [?]
April is going to be a busy month one way or another so I thought I’d draw up a list of nice things to do in the moments when I’m not in total meltdown…
And now for something I don’t want to do this spring (but have to anyway):
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I heard Charles Leadbeater speak about his new book at the British Library last night.
We Think explores how the web is changing our world, creating a culture in which more people than ever can participate, share and collaborate, ideas and information.
The talk was entitled ‘We think: will the web be good for us?’ (here it is on Upcoming) and it focussed on how creative expression is changing in light of social media, open-source, creative commons etc.
It was an extremely interesting evening and it complemented the recent Clay Shirky talk beautifully.
Here are the (edited) scribbles from my notebook:
Innovation
Innovation happens in groups - most innovation is the result of a far more collaborative process than it may at first appear. The technology behind the iPod was developed around a century ago (Me: eh?).
ilovebees
ilovebees.com was used as an example of group innovation. It’s too complicated to explain in detail here but please consult wikipedia for the full low down.
The gist is that a website was created as a viral marketing tool promoting the Halo 2 video game.
The website contained GPS co-ordinates but no explanation as to why or what. People visiting the website worked out that there were a series of payphones at the GPS co-ordinates. What began was a treasure hunt involving these payphones and the web. Eventually payphones located all around the world were involved in the game. People were given messages down the phone line and they had to communicate them to the other people playing the game. Sometimes in only a few seconds messages had to be circulated round the globe.
What’s remarkable about this example - and the reason it was mentioned - is because of the complexity of the organisation of the group. There was no leader, nobody told people they had to figure out the GPS co-ordinates even, it just happened.
Craftsmanship
The web may represent a mass return to ancient ways of working. The notion of work as creative expression is actually a pretty archaic approach as a general approach in the work place.
If you consider Linux coders for example, they are a bit like bee keepers or iron mongers - these are specialist crafts that require specialist skills but also these people LOVE what they do; their jobs are their craft, their vocation.
Me: My work has always been my vocation so it’s hard for me to see how this is something new
Collaboration and creativity
Notions of artistic creativity are brought into question when creation is collaborative. Some things cannot be created collaboratively. Imagine open source poetry - ‘it would be awful’.
Me: Actually, open source poetry could be really interesting. Hmmm [hear those cogs begin to whir]
Is this kind of collaborative creativity a predominantly first-world thing? It’s certainly possible that the most radical experiments involving collaborative tools (via mobile phone of course) could take place in the developing world (this is one example of that, are there any others?).
Don’t make me think
The web doesn’t appear to be a place for people to think together because we tend to join together with like-minded people. I wonder what we can do about that?
Content free for all or lock down?
The question we are going to face on every project from now on is should this be opened up (open source)? Or should it be locked down?
The corporation approach is to keep their work locked down, unavailable to the masses. But ultimately this approach probably won’t succeed. Brian Eno agrees.
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There’s a war going on on Twitter and it has a hue.
We used to play color wars at summer camp. Near the end of the year the entire camp would split up into colors, red, green, black, blue, etc… and compete in a series of events: tug of war, egg toss, basketball…
I LOVE the idea of playing games on twitter.
So I started a thread using the concept of chain stories which I think would work really well within the 140-character medium.
Here’s how it went (read bottom to top):
Some immediate issues surfaced:
Possible solutions:
I’m inclined to take the latter approach. As long as an individual is monitoring the thread they could draw everything back together if tweets got out of control. Alternatively, the story could be allowed to branch off by changing the hashtag (#story, #story1, #story2 etc).
Ultimately for a game like this to work, it has to be spontaneous and simple. I’ll give it another try at some point and document it here.
Some other game ideas:
Popularity: 67% [?]
Hello, I'm Jenny Brown.
