James Chiny is motion graphics artist and all round designer based in Bournemouth UK. His latest project Hypoly consists of 50 user submitted Logo’s (1 per day) which he will then turn into animated idents. See below the fantastic job he did with Sneaky Badger!

Heres another technique that i have been working on in After Effects. This time by using a combination of motion tracking, bitmap explosion techniques and a variety of blurs creates this semi-real fireball effect. It still needs a lot of tweaking however to achieve a truly realistic effect. See video below for some initial tests.

I recently came across the Darwiin remote App from the developer Hiroaki. At first (after folowing the instructions) it did not seem to work and after a bit of research it seems there is a slight bug. what u have to do is connect the Wiimote via Bluetooth wait for the error then restart the App and connect again and it works fine.

Once i had it connected, i then configured the controls to how i wanted the Wiimote to handle and he-presto it worked! I then began testing it with various different Apps, it works very well and its quite precise, has a huge range (i tested it from another room and it worked) and adds a great new dimension to interacting with a Mac. The only issue i found was that there is no double click option, it simply does not work, to open a desktop folder you have to right click then select open on the menu. 

Anyway, below is a walkthrough for the Darwiin interface and a couple of tests i did on the desktop and a couple of games (excuse the poor game-play in halo, it was a bit difficult to control, haha).

Below are some of my older tests that i have conducted while using the interactive mirror, the tests include, The neon lights, The movie clip attach method (still buggy as hell but getting there) and finally the Ice fire (Original source code courtesy of G.Skinner). See below…..

Created to promote the Interactive Media Division of the Arts Institute Bournemouth via an online viral advertising campaign. This process included; Costume Design, Video Editing, Cinematography and Photography, Story-boarding and Concept Design, Casting and Location Set up. See Video Below…

I recently found a really nice little tutorial @ Videocopilot.com and thought i would have a bash at it, creating a ghoulish face warp of myself and my wife. I don’t think they turned out too badly, you can check out the results below…

My final tests for the now redundant V1.0 of my interactive mirror application. It transpired that as the lights were so vivid most peoples reflections were lost amongst the graphics. This lead me to go down a completely different route (see previous post).

I have had a lot of feedback on how people react to this graphical reaction to movement combined with reflections . Most become mesmerized by the glowing lights yet nearly all have noticed that the more they play with it, the less they notice their own reflection. This is a concept that i find most strange as humans in general are normally fixated with their own appearance, some have said the reason is because the lights are so bright they drown out the reflections and others have said that it is because the prospect is so alien that the mind thinks it is inplausable. i’m not so sure!??

Anyway here is my last test of this application…….

I have recently been playing around with a new application for my Interactive mirror technique, i call this the “User submersion technique”. It basically uses the reflective qualities of the two-Way mirror to completely submerge a user into an interactive enviroment via the use of motion tracking and a static backdrop.

In this environment a foreground is rear projected onto the mirrors surface and the background is placed behind the user, this therefor creates a field of depth. i also slung in some volume detection actions withing the test so that not only is motion and positioning detected but the users voice aswell. All these contribute to full sensory interactive experience. The next step for this is for me to create a full size working model.

Please note: a majority of the below footage was shot without the backdrop as it proved very difficult to position the camera in such a tight space.

Since the beginning of organised society, human beings have strived to achieve greater understandings of the world around them. Not only is this knowledge gained for curiosity purposes but as a means of survival, to learn the best methods of obtaining and utilizing available resources, and then to protect them. This desperation to hoard and protect all available resource information has led to many of the worlds instabilities and problems, whether it be war, environmental issues, famine or the abundance of homelessness that is now widespread across the world.

So what is the answer to this world problem? Many theorists, design scientists and philosophers agree that if all available resource information where to be freely available to the masses then many of these issues would be solved. Instead of segregating the planet into countries, race and belief, unite them as one intellectual entity. The question is: what vessel do we use to collect and disseminate this information to everyone who needs it?

With the dawn of this new technological in which we now live, comes a new opportunity to join the world minds come together and fight ‘The common enemy, ignorance’ (Fuller, 1970). It comes in the form of the WWW or “World Wide Web”, the freely available dynamic information and media sharing entity that has spread so rapidly over the past few decades. Could the web be the answer to our troubles?

Can the World Wide Web save the world?

The Distribution Of Information, a necessity for humanity.

On reflection upon how important the distribution of information resource is, a prime example arises, that of the USA’s dealings with the HIV epidemic in Sub Saharan Africa. Graham Pembrey of AVERT Against Aids; the United Kingdom based international charity states that:

Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007 and approximately 1.9 million additional people were infected with HIV during that year. In just the past year, the AIDS epidemic in Africa has claimed the lives of an estimated 1.5 million people in this region. More than eleven million children have been orphaned by AIDS. (Penbury N.D, http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm)

This epidemic of continental proportions is rife due to a variety of factors including a lack of medical supplies, poor living conditions or cultural behavior. However AVERT among many other international HIV charities and experts believe that the majority of the problem lies with the lack of education on prevention. Pembry goes on to state that:

 HIV prevalence in Uganda fell from around 15% in the early 1990s to around 5% by 2001. This change is thought to be largely due to intensive HIV prevention campaigns. (Penbury N.D, http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm)

 In 2003 the United States government created a global fund to contribute to the HIV problem named PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief) and in 2005 alone they contributed $1.1 billion US to the greater affected Countries. However, when you consider that in the same year (2005) the United States government spent a somewhat astounding $554 billion US on their own military budget the AIDS relief contribution pales in comparison. 

Us military expenditure 2001-2005, US, viewed 25 October 2008,

< http://www.globalissues.org/i/military/us-spending-2001-2009.png>.

Of course this outlines just one example of how political superpowers would rather protect their own resource information and infrastructure than help to educate the world majority and fight for the greater course. There are however many other ways in which an equal spread of information across the world could have made a difference and even have averted major conflict and unrest. One example of this is how in 1939 Adolf Hitler managed to brainwash a nation with the use of propaganda and specific information distribution to allow him the chance to realize his horrific ideals. If the German people had full access to all the available information, would things have been different?

There are so many ways in which information distribution could have averted major disasters, and still can. There are so many sectors, that if managed properly could benefit from the correct information spread over the majority, too many to list in this academic paper. All that can be said is that the right to knowledge is a human right and a necessity for a better quality of living.

Theorists And Ideals

Of course many of the worlds greatest minds have mused over this problem in the past and are still contemplating the consequences to this date, these people include theorists, design scientists, politicians and philosophers. They have not only pondered over the problem but have created theoretical working models depicting a solution and therefore futurecast possible solutions to achieve this united world mind analogy.

Teilhard de Chardin’s Noosphere

French born (1st May 1881 – 10^th April 1955) philosopher, paleontologist and Jesuit priest (soldier of Christ) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin developed a theory of human evolution suggesting that in the near future the human race would achieve a singular state of consciousness or “Omega”, a complex membrane of collective intelligence and cognitive thought. He called this theory the noosphere (or Sphere of human thoughts).

Soviet mineralogist and geochemist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky first developed the idea of the noosphere, a third and final step of how the earth evolves. The three steps consist of the geosphere (inanimate objects), the Biosphere (all Biological life) and then finally the noosphere (human cognition), with each step effecting and shaping its predecessor fundamentally.

Teilhard however took this theory to the next level and concentrated more on the idea of the noosphere. He observed that since the beginning of human cognitive thought a collective mind had been emerging exponentially, growing from ancient tribal behaviors to the more recent international treaties such as NATO (or North Atlantic Treaty Organization). He then predicted that these growing pockets of collaborative thought would inevitably reach one or “Omega” which would allow the human race to think and act as one super being, solving problems and thinking in unity.

Increasing Unification Toward Omega, US, viewed 26 October 2008,

< http://www.esalenctr.org/zimages/evosum2007/barnhart3.gif>.

HG Wells’ ‘World Brain’

World Brain is the title of a book written in 1938 by English author Herbert George Wells (21^st September 1866 – 13^th August 1946).  H.G Wells envisioned a unique self-populating database of world knowledge that would then be distributed via the then technological advances of microfilm. This would then allow any user in the world to access this information in its exact entirety.

 He dubbed this method of information sharing as “The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopedia”. He used this analogy as he had observed that the then current methods of writing encyclopedias was not only aimed at gentlemen and ladies of higher educational backgrounds but the turnaround of the writing itself was too slow to keep up with the increase of knowledge being acquired and also of those that required it. He states that:

Our contemporary encyclopedias are still in the coach-and-horse phase of development, rather than in the phase of the automobile and the aeroplane.  These observers realize that the modern facilities of transport, radio, photographic reproduction and so forth are rendering practicable a much more fully succinct and accessible assembly of facts and ideas than was ever possible before.”  (HG Wells, World Brain, 1938)

Buckminster Fuller’s ‘World Game’

American born futurist, designer, architect, author and visionary Richard Buckminster Fuller (12^th July 1895 – 1^st of July 1983) also had theories on Resource and Information distribution and how it can better mankind. He called this theory ‘World Game’ and then co-founded the ‘world Game Institute’ in 1972. In his own words Fuller describes the aim of the World Game as ‘to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone.’ (Fuller, 1970).

Fuller alleged that all of mankind’s major problems stemmed from the fact that the mentality of current civilization is on a scarcity based competitive mode and not a fully integrated ‘whole’ where profusion is the norm and paucity a thing of the past. His solution to this world problem was to evenly distribute all available information and therefore resource around the globe turning all of the worlds population into “haves” and as opposed to “have not’s’. He mused that in a world where all resource and information is in abundance, war would be obsolete and even governing bodies would no longer be required as the human race would find their own way, as one. 

After Fullers death in 1996 The World Game institute completed research on how the human race as a whole could irradiate all major issues concerning humanity. If approximately 30% of the world’s annual military budget of around $780 billion US over a ten year span, was used to address these problems they would eventually be irradiated. Below are annual costs of global programs for solving major humanitarian issues:  

What The World Wants, US, viewed 27 October 2008,

< http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/WtWW/>.

Kevin Kelly ‘Out Of Control’

Out Of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Economic and Social Systems, is the Notable book length publication of American born writer and founding executive editor of Wired magazine Kevin Kelly. The fundamental topic of his writings depict how human intelligence is not a centralized concentration that is governed by a leading body but more as a collective of minds like that of a beehive. He continues to outline what we know about self-sustenance, whether that being biological or mechanical and how if we blur the two separate ecosystems of the ‘alive’ and ‘simulated’ a greater understanding of the world can be achieved. Making the mechanical more biological and the biological more mechanical, we can not only unite as human beings but also mentally combine with our own synthetic creations. 

The Web, A Tool For Humanity?

These world issues and problems have been around since the beginning of human civilization and the theories of how to solve them been in abundance for centuries. It is not until recently, with the dawn of the new technological era that these ideals could be realized within the World Wide Web. 

The Sharing of information in non-computerized forms.

Since the beginning of civilization as we know it, the communication and sharing of information has played a key role in human development. Going back as far as cave paintings and smoke signals, the human race has strived to share their knowledge, feelings and thoughts.

 Before the arrival of the advances of broadcast the general forms of sharing such Information was in the passing of atoms, light or sound. Communication vessels such as the postal service, newspapers, books and even carrier pigeons where used as the most effective way of delivering information from one person to another. These were (and still are) slow, unreliable and costly, yet the major downfall for these methods was the fact that in most cases the information being sent was created by one or few people, often leading to incomplete or incorrect information.

 It wasn’t until the 6^th of May 1833 that things began to change with the invention of the Gauss-Weber telegraph and then later in 1894 with the first demonstration of the “wireless telegraph” using the newfound method of radio wave transmission. These methods of information sharing would pave the way for the future of communication, leading from the first use of Morse code in 1844 to the first spoken word radio broadcast in 1906 and finally the first commercial BBC television broadcast in 1936. There were significant advantages of using these technologies to deliver information, the fact that the use of airwaves and electrical currents were used as apposed to atoms meant the content was not only received almost instantly, it was much more cost effective as a courier was no longer needed.

 Even with this new lightning fast technology there still nevertheless was the issue of the content being delivered and governed by singular or small groups of individuals. In these forms, user generated or mass generated content was almost impossible. There were however some breakthroughs in this field of collective collaborations, the Oxford Dictionary and world encyclopedia being just two examples of them. Another more revolutionary form of this collaboration came in the form of Belgian born Paul Marie Ghislain Otlet’s (23^rd August 1868 – 10^th December 1944) Encyclopaedia Microphotica Mundaneum, an encyclopedia fully documented on microfilm that could be edited at will by anyone.

 Between 1968 and 1972 author and editor Stewart Brand also attempted to create a vessel in which information could be collected and renewed by its audience then redistributed, he called this experiment The Whole Earth Catalog. Later compared by creator of Apple INC Steve Jobs as ‘the conceptual forerunner of the World Wide Web’ (Jobs, June 12, 2005), The Whole Earth Catalog was basically an “atom” based catalog Blogging system where readers and staff would collaborate together to try and gather all available information. 

Sharing information within the web, a background history.

The Internet’s pace of adoption eclipses all other technologies that preceded it. Radio was in existence 38 years before 50 million people tuned in; TV took 13 years to reach that benchmark. Sixteen years after the first PC kit came out; 50 million people were using one. Once it was opened to the general public, the Internet crossed that line in four years. (Margherio. L, The Emerging Digital Economy, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ecommerce/EDEreprt.pdf)

 The World Wide Web began its wheels in motion November 12^th 1990 with Tim Berners-Lee’s first proposal for an ‘elaborate information management system’ (Berners-Lee, 1990). The Commercial Web used a TCP/IP (internet) communication protocol to deliver packets of information in the form of bits to and from remote web servers with the use of a telephone line and then modem to interpret the signal. The most notable of which were of course viewing information through a Browser, and of course the rapid development of web email systems such as Hotmail (Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia 1996).

 Although Computer engineer, Ray Tomlinson of ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency) invented the first Internet based email in 1971, it did not become widespread as a general communication tool within the Web until much later with such email clients releases as Gnus and Elm (developed by Hewlett Packard). This method of sending and receiving mail would involve the user downloading the client application onto their machine, thus allowing them to view the data packets in an ordered coherent format. It wasn’t until 1995 that email became truly remote with the first ever WebMail software created by Luca Manunza of CRS4 (or Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia).

WebMail allowed users to view and send mail directly from the server by adding an online interface, thus allowing access away from their home machines. Email was and still is the preferred method of communication across the web, this is mainly due to its speed and flexibility, sending an email to your neighbor would be just as quick and easy as sending one to a friend on the other side of the world. This along with the fact that email allows the user to send to multiple recipients or “bulk emails” has become a massive advantage for the business world, saving time, paper, physical transportation costs, and therefore money.

In these early days of the Web, Webpage’s where generally static linear creations that consisted of the rendering of Plain HTML (or hypertext markup language). These pages would generally contain little or no dynamic data and were a read-only experience for the user, much like an electronic newspaper or magazine. These pages would then be moderated and updated by either a singular site administrator or comparatively small group of individuals. The first real uses of user-generated content were in the forms of user-groups, subject comments and forums that would allow users to give some public feedback about the specified subject. It wasn’t until the mid nineties when larger online corporations began to take hold that webpage’s started to become more dynamic. Online mega sites such as Amazon (Jeff Bezos 1994) and EBay (Pierre Omidyar, 1995) began to develop new ways in which users would interact with their shopping experiences, allowing them to upload and create their own listings without the need for web development skills. 

The early Web also had severe page loading problems, this was due to the low accessibility of high bandwidth (or baud) data transfers among the general public, generally around 28.8 Kbit/s and then later at 56 Kbit/s. As a result of this low data transmission the early Webpage’s were almost completely devoid of media and remained that until 1997 when the first cable broadband arrived. 

Web 2.0 and the current situation

The Web as it stands today is a very different place compared to those early years. With the help of Higher Bandwidth capabilities with 2MBits/s being the average data transfer rate in modern western homes and the introduction of CSS (or cascading style sheets), and improved compression algorithms like MPO3 and MPEG4) cutting load times, the web has become a dynamic and media rich information sharing environment. Not only have the bit rates become much faster but the accessibility of the connections become more widely ubiquitous.

In 1997, WAP (or wireless application protocol) the first wireless web platform was released. The WAP browser was essentially designed to create a “dumbed down” version or the web via conversion from HTML to WML (or wireless markup language), this would allow it to br available on mobile devices such as phones and PDA’s. However recently WAP technology has taken a back seat to the more popular 3G and WifFi (or wireless fidelity) connection, the chief reason for this is mainly due to the fact that Wi-Fi is a lot less restrictive. This has coincided with a variety of new mobile devices with larger screen areas and laptops that now have full HTML browsers, which allow users to email or surf the entire Web remotely providing they are close to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

 The way in which webpages are created, modified and updated have also changed. This new methodology (now known as Web 2.0) of inputting information on the Web is focused on two-way web use, encouraging individual user creativity, secure information sharing and collaboration on a massive scale. What Web 2.0 has therefore achieved is a blurred line between the content publisher and the viewer. Whereas the Web of old relied on the user being “served” the information provided, the new system allows them to not only view the content but to comment upon it and edit it as well. In some cases the user can create the pages entirely and all this without the need for programming knowledge. The user-generated content approach in now rife among the Web and comes in many forms. They range from simple static text input (such as in Wikipedia (Wales 2001)) to the uploading and sharing of images and videos (such as Flickr and YouTube), all the way up to dynamic world maps that can be modified to show a variety of information at the click of a button (such as Google Earth and Maps).

Possibly one of the most popular Web 2.0 forms is that of the Blog (or Web-log). Large online companies such as Word Press, Movable Type and Blogger have created systems in which the user can download a content devoid Blog template that they can then fill with whatever they like. This has allowed a full, restriction-free, Web publishing environment for the average web surfer without them having to learn Web development skills.

Wikis, such as the world renowned Wikipedia have also contributed to this user-generated Web culture. A Wiki is commonly a collection of web pages that can be modified or updated by anyone who access’s them, they use the same principles as Blogging yet generally Wiki’s are completely open to anyone and not restricted to the website owner. This therefore allows a greater level of collaboration between users as multiple parties update the information.

Social networks have also made a massive impact of recent years. Websites such as Friendster, Myspace and then later BeBo and Facebook have been the leading parties in this revolutionary way in which we keep in touch with others. These websites however are not just about communicating with others on a casual basis but have begun to lead down a more serious route. Users of Facebook in particular seem to be leading a trend recently of mass petitioning online, using Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages. The petitions themselves range from the ridiculous such as the “When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.” Group (1,439,106 members) to the much more serious and politically empowered “Barack Obama appreciation” page (2,293,065 supporters). Regardless of the importance of these subjects, these groups and pages demonstrate a willingness among the general public to congregate together over something that they find interesting, funny or important. It also shows that if there are outlets for these general consensuses they will be used.

Where is the informational Web Going?

Many people agree that the next stage of information processing within the Web (now coined as Web 3.0) in the next ten years will tend to lean towards the incorporation of semi-artificial intelligence. This indicative summary of how the Web will evolve has been put together from a few key technologies and theories that have recently emerged.. The semantic Web is just one of these possible technological platforms. 

Diagram explaining Semantic Web methodology, US, viewed 29 October 2008,

 http://blogs.nesta.org.uk/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/26/semantic_web_2.gif

The semantic Web is an extension of the World Wide Web that will use a series of “semantic” protocols that would allow the web to become an almost independently thinking being to become, in a sense, ‘conscious’ of the meaning of the information it carries. As the situation stands at present the Web consists of packets of information spread throughout the Internet, the Web can see these packets and therefore deliver the information required by the user. It cannot however associate the relevance of one of these packets to another similarly or related packet without specific linking. For example, if the user were searching for the method of mixing cement and in an independent search (possibly in a different tab) looking for prices of bricks, the current Web would see these as separate entities. However, the semantic Web would not only find the user these specific results but it would figure out that said user was trying to build a wall and therefore suggest all other wall building websites in order of importance. This new way of which the web could work would open a floodgate of possibilities and even has the potential to predict what the user wants even before they now it themselves.

Conclusion

 So, back to my original question of “Can the Web save the world?” Or more specifically put “Can a technology solve all the worlds’ major problems without outside interference?” If this is the question that is being asked, then no, it is a much more complicated process than just flicking a switch and civilisation’s worries disappear. If however, the question could be rephrased to “Can the web help to save the world?” then the answer would be slightly more optimistic one.

 Mankind’s thirst for knowledge is what stands us apart from the rest of the biological world and Information is one of our most precious resources. The more knowledge that we as a species collect the potentially more powerful we become, and as this power builds, the more responsibilities we have to protect our environment and each other.

To join all of the world’s minds though a vessel such as the Web would help towards the world goals of equality, sustainability and awareness, yet I believe we still have a long way to go. The human race by nature can be a violent, selfish and uncaring one; war is still rife, pollution in abundance and neglect still commonplace. We as human beings need to overcome these afflictions before we can rely purely on technology. However, the Web could be that “helping hand”

we have been looking for towards a better future. We not only owe it to ourselves but to the world, as we know it. Not better said than world visionary Richard Buckminster Fuller:

 ‘We are on a spaceship; a beautiful one.  It took billions of years to develop. We’re not going to get another. Now, how do we make this spaceship work?’ (Fuller, 1970)

Check out this awesome mash up between google maps and the Twitter API. It shows a real-time geographic visualization of posts to Twitter.  check it out here