Intro to Computational Media W eek 2: Properties of the Medium Properties of the Medium Week 2 (b) LCC 2700: Intro to Computational Media Spring 2005 Janet

Intro to Computational Media W eek 2: Properties of the Medium

Properties of the Medium

Week 2 (b)LCC 2700: Intro to Computational MediaSpring 2005Janet H. Murray


Film developed by

• Moving the camera• Splicing the film• Changing acting to suit the camera• ….


Properties of the Digital Medium

• Procedural: Patterns of Rule-Based Behavior• Participatory: Patterns of Participation• Encyclopedic: Patterns of Labeling, Sorting,

Segmentation, Categorizing, and Grouping• Spatial: Patterns of Navigation and Boundary

Definition


Computational Media Are Procedural

• Computer programs execute code, enact scripted behaviors

• The behaviors are conditional– If monster is nearby then make sword glow.

• The behaviors are parameterized– ( perform greeting-behavior (state-of-mind)

(relationship-to-person) )

• The behaviors can be replayed with variant inputs4 Properties: Procedural – Participatory – Encyclopedic - Spatial


Conditional, Parameterized, Replay Worlds

4 Properties: Procedural – Participatory – Encyclopedic - Spatial

Spacewar! (1961) Payroll !

http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/






The Sims 2Civilization

Grand Theft Auto 3



Computational Media Are Participatory

• We do not just watch or listen, we act & have an effect

• We contribute, manipulate, & copy digital objects

• We make & receive customized versions of digital objects

• We join virtual communities mediated by digital formats



Computational Media Are Participatory

• Wikipedia : distributed authorship of information resource

• MMORPG Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games

• Music and videos distributed online• Altering of photographs, other digital objects• Movement from few news authorities to blogosphere• Growth of videogames, passing movies in sales revenues• Growth of interactive TV• Success of ebay and Craig’s list



Interactive = procedural + participatory

The interactor askswhat does it do?what is my role?what will happen if I….?

When behavior of computer matches actions of interactor in a coherent way, we create the experience of agency



Eliza as example of interactivity

What made Eliza work?



Computational Media Are Encyclopedic

Encyclopedic in 3 ways:– Amount of memory– Kinds of media– Universal Machine: Representational Power



CM as Encyclopedic: Capacity

1 book = 100,000 words = 1MB1 cd-rom = 650 MB=650books1 gigabyte = 1000 books100 GB = 100,000 booksInternet = ∞ booksGoogle indexing 5 research libraries = 15,000,0000 bks



CM as Encyclopedic: Convergence of Older Media Forms


Storycorps

Scott McCloud

Reliving Last Night

Hot Norman


CM as Encyclopedic: Binary Code = Universal Machine



Whenever I design a chip the first thing I want to do is look at it under a microscope -- not because I think I can learn something new by looking at it but because I am always fascinated by how a pattern can create reality.

Danny Hillis The Pattern in the Stone

Patterns of Representation


Spatial Design

• Navigable space• Where am I within the

space?• What is the extent of the

space?• What are the proximities

within the space?• What are the boundaries?

How do I enter & exit?• How do I get from place to

place?



Zork

>downThe trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.CellarYou are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway leading north, and a crawlway to the south. On the west is the bottom of a steep metal ramp which is unclimbable.Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.

>northThe Troll RoomThis is a small room with passages to the east and south and a forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls.

A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room.Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.



What is Immersion?

• Spatial property: boundaries, exploration, being there• Encyclopedic property: inexhaustible, detailed, consistent


Summary of Key Concepts

• 4 Properties/affordances of Computational Media– Procedural– Participatory– Encyclopedic– Spatial

• Interactivity comes from maximizing procedural + participatory properties

• Immersion comes from maximizing the spatial and encyclopedic properties

Documents

Intro to Computational Media W eek 2: Properties of the Medium Properties of the Medium Week 2 (b) LCC 2700: Intro to Computational Media Spring 2005 Janet