Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Google get on the GPS social network with Latitude
Google Latitude lets you see your friends on a map on Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle.
Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch.
Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch.
delivery via interactive media or CREATED via interactive media???
I was interested and inspired by this viewpoint from Michael Nutley for New Media Age where he ponders whether what really distinguishes digital content is not that it's delivered via interactive media, but that it is created via interactive media, collaboratively. And the first examples of true digital content aren't KateModern and LonelyGirl 15, but Wikipedia and OhMyNews?
Digital delivery
Platform: Internet | Author: Michael Nutley | Source: nma.co.uk | Published: 12.03.09
Digital content is a phrase that has bugged me for years. It feels meaningless, but people keep talking about digital content as if there's something special out there that's different from all the other forms of content in the world.
If we consider the term at its face value, then all content can be digital. Video, audio, print - all these types of content can be delivered via the internet. And while there are certainly many issues around delivering content online, not least how it's paid for, there's nothing that makes the actual content different. I can only think of one type of content that can only be delivered by interactive means, and that's games.
So I used to have this idea that we were waiting for someone to come along and show us what digital content really is; the Louis Armstrong of the medium who would transform everything, to show us what all this interactive stuff is for, just as Armstrong transformed jazz to the point where every musician, no matter what their instrument, tried to play like him.
But reading author and thinker Charles Leadbeater's response to Lord Stephen Carter's recent Digital Britain report in 'The Digital Revolution: The Coming Crisis Of The Creative Class', made me think again.
Leadbeater's whole approach is based on the idea that what will be important in this century will be sharing. He believes that creativity is collaborative and that "our capacity for collaborative creativity will become even more powerful because the opportunities to engage with others in creative interactions are increasing".
So maybe we've already had our Armstrong moment. Maybe what really distinguishes digital content is not that it's delivered via interactive media, but that it is created via interactive media, collaboratively. And the first examples of true digital content aren't KateModern and LonelyGirl 15, but Wikipedia and OhMyNews.
And if that's the case, then there's something unique about digital content after all, and we'll have to rethink our attitudes to it pretty much from scratch.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
EA announce world's first classic literature-based action game
EA Games have signed with United Talent Agency to cross into movies and TV as they get the green light to develop a game based on Dante's Inferno. The Dante's Inferno.
The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.
The game won't be a literal interpretation. Instead it will, according to Variety, be "a modern interpretation of the epic poem and will have players fighting their way through the depths of hell". The game's yet to be officially announced, but film studios are already locked in a bidding war for rights to the reimagined property, explaining how it popped up on Variety's radar. They say the game will be out late in 2009/2010.
"UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts," said Patrick O'Brien, Vice President of EA Entertainment.
As far as I know, this is the first time that classical literature has crossed over into a computer game on this scale, and with UTA handling the film rights this could set an interesting precedent for publishers.
The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.
The game won't be a literal interpretation. Instead it will, according to Variety, be "a modern interpretation of the epic poem and will have players fighting their way through the depths of hell". The game's yet to be officially announced, but film studios are already locked in a bidding war for rights to the reimagined property, explaining how it popped up on Variety's radar. They say the game will be out late in 2009/2010.
"UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts," said Patrick O'Brien, Vice President of EA Entertainment.
As far as I know, this is the first time that classical literature has crossed over into a computer game on this scale, and with UTA handling the film rights this could set an interesting precedent for publishers.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Mediascapes at ICA
Yesterday, International Women's Day(!) I attended a Mediascapes workshop at the ICA, run as part of the Birds-Eye-View week - where women film-makers are celebrated and featured.
Pervasive Media Studio's 'Mediascapes' are rich in interactivity — full of sound and music, images and text, videos and animation, narrative and dialog, all embedded in the space where you’re standing and I believe will play a big part in the future of gaming and education. www.mscapers.com
This promotional video from HP called Roku's Reward is an exciting and insightful look at the possibilities for the future of GPS gaming and is something I will be planning to try and create as part of my research studies.
Pervasive Media Studio's 'Mediascapes' are rich in interactivity — full of sound and music, images and text, videos and animation, narrative and dialog, all embedded in the space where you’re standing and I believe will play a big part in the future of gaming and education. www.mscapers.com
This promotional video from HP called Roku's Reward is an exciting and insightful look at the possibilities for the future of GPS gaming and is something I will be planning to try and create as part of my research studies.
Friday, March 6, 2009
BBC/AHRC Knowledge Exchange
I was at the BBC Headquarters yesterday taking part in a Knowledge Exchange workshop where academics were invited to collaborate with BBC production staff to consider the future of interactive media. We were introduced to Adventure Rock and then worked in groups to create the 'impression of a public service space, environment or thing'.
I was interested in BBC research which had been conducted through a series of orientations and workshops with children, which revealed 8 'types' of game players - explorers, social climbers, collector consumers, life-system builders, self-stampers, fighters, power users, nurturers and 13 'reasons' why children play games - socialising, creative, control, explore, status, location, purpose, humour, help, video, home, shops, retreat..
We had an hour to come up with a concept of a vision for a virtual environment to which the public could contribute and with the use of coloured pens and plasticine here are some of the ideas that were generated.
I was interested in BBC research which had been conducted through a series of orientations and workshops with children, which revealed 8 'types' of game players - explorers, social climbers, collector consumers, life-system builders, self-stampers, fighters, power users, nurturers and 13 'reasons' why children play games - socialising, creative, control, explore, status, location, purpose, humour, help, video, home, shops, retreat..
We had an hour to come up with a concept of a vision for a virtual environment to which the public could contribute and with the use of coloured pens and plasticine here are some of the ideas that were generated.
It was great fun and thought-provoking and something that I will be researching further..
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
New Language
In attempting to write a script for my first (very) short film, as part of the if:book project The Museum of the Future of the History of the Book I found myself imagining the language of the future. And now I'm hooked... I have been looking into the works of Scott Westerfield who "likes the idea of language so much that, as a child, he learned Braille.."
On Notes From The Slush Pile it goes on to report about Westerfield, "Language is the reason why Scott writes young adult (YA) novels. “When you are a teenager you are still in the act of acquiring language ,” he says. “One of the reasons I really like YA is that teenagers are more interested in voice than adults.”
Teenagers, he says, write more poetry per capita. They play more word games. They memorise more song lyrics. They like to spell things creatively. And a high percentage are in fact learning a language in school.
Allan Metcalf wrote Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success, chronicling the origins of a fascinating list of words and phrases. In the process he developed the FUDGE factor – a way to measure the potential success of a word. Scott subverts the FUDGE paradigm into a means for authors to create convincing slang for YA readers.
F stands for Frequency of use. “You have to use something more than once. Use it in context and then define it three paragraphs later.”
U is for unobtrusiveness. “It might look familiar, but it doesn’t stand out. It’s so unobtrusive that when you see it the Microsoft spell checker in the brain takes less time to reload.”
D is for diversity of use and situations. And G is for Generate other forms and meanings. “Don’t just use something one way, use it as a verb or noun. Meanings will start to support each other in the text. That’s the way language works.” Eg. “Did you surge last week?” “He was a new surge.” “Surgeless” “Resurgent”.
E is for the endurance of the concept. Can you make it stick? At the end of the day, says Scott, “Slang is like reading Shakespeare – you eventually figure out what they are saying.”
So now I'm thinking it would be fun to work with groups of young people to workshop some ideas about our language as we know it. It's maybe not so thought-provoking that our 'modern day' English will be considered as verbose and 'wordy' as that of Shakespeare.. innit...??
On Notes From The Slush Pile it goes on to report about Westerfield, "Language is the reason why Scott writes young adult (YA) novels. “When you are a teenager you are still in the act of acquiring language ,” he says. “One of the reasons I really like YA is that teenagers are more interested in voice than adults.”
Teenagers, he says, write more poetry per capita. They play more word games. They memorise more song lyrics. They like to spell things creatively. And a high percentage are in fact learning a language in school.
Allan Metcalf wrote Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success, chronicling the origins of a fascinating list of words and phrases. In the process he developed the FUDGE factor – a way to measure the potential success of a word. Scott subverts the FUDGE paradigm into a means for authors to create convincing slang for YA readers.
F stands for Frequency of use. “You have to use something more than once. Use it in context and then define it three paragraphs later.”
U is for unobtrusiveness. “It might look familiar, but it doesn’t stand out. It’s so unobtrusive that when you see it the Microsoft spell checker in the brain takes less time to reload.”
D is for diversity of use and situations. And G is for Generate other forms and meanings. “Don’t just use something one way, use it as a verb or noun. Meanings will start to support each other in the text. That’s the way language works.” Eg. “Did you surge last week?” “He was a new surge.” “Surgeless” “Resurgent”.
E is for the endurance of the concept. Can you make it stick? At the end of the day, says Scott, “Slang is like reading Shakespeare – you eventually figure out what they are saying.”
So now I'm thinking it would be fun to work with groups of young people to workshop some ideas about our language as we know it. It's maybe not so thought-provoking that our 'modern day' English will be considered as verbose and 'wordy' as that of Shakespeare.. innit...??
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