Brainstorming
Experiences of Travel
Why we travel
– We travel to get away from problems
– Going on a business trip
– Visit family
– family emergencies (someone sick or dying)
– pleasure — to visit other cities around the world
– educational purposes
– honeymoons
– to find inspiration
– to create life experiences
– sightseeing
– to meet a penpal
– moving
– layover between flights – sometimes you go somewhere because it’s midway between two destinations

In each situation, people will come with different agendas and emotions

Aspects of Travel
Frustration
– luggage
– waiting in line
– getting searched
– long layovers/delays
– taking off shoes for searches / metal detectors
– find your seat
– TSA going through your luggage
– (being treated like a suspected terrorist)
– Not being allowed to take certain items out of a country
– Jet lag
– uncomfortable questions
– Everything is more expensive – pretzel for $3.36
– Being out of contact
– Being lost / feeling lost
– nothing is straight — moving from one side of airport to other
– constant anxiety among passengers especially as departure time nears
– last-minute rush to get where you have to go
– crowding
– mistreatment of minorities by authorities (some people are questioned more pointedly than others)
– getting to the airport — traffic, taxis, tolls, finding parking, etc.
– little handcarts
– lost luggage
– waiting for luggage once you arrive
– other people who are mad, angry, upset, have attitude problems

YOU ARE DESIGNING SPACES FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE ABOVE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS!

– Design a space that breaks people out of those problems, issues, and attitudes and takes them to a new emotional/physical place through an inventive use of space to find REST, RELAXATION, AND REJUVENATION

people are coming to this space feeling angry, upset, irritated, stressed-out, frustrated, uncomfortable, violated, sad

Spaces have to incorporate digital media

– what role will digital media play in the space you design?

how can you use digital media to make them feel more at home?
how can you use sensors?
how can you use ambient informatics to make people feel more at home, more connected?
create an interactive space that RESPONDS to the visitor’s mood, physical state of being, etc.
– how can your space REACT/RESPOND to the visitor in a way that relaxes him or her?

Prof. Leonhardt’s class: design a model and make drawings

My class: Two pieces of writing related to your design/space

1. Manifesto
2. Research paper

Manifesto (1-2 pages)
– explains ideas/beliefs behind arh
– expression of intentions
– Declarative and forceful expressions of the beliefs and attitudes about a given subject by a person or group
– should be very strongly written. Shock people out of their beliefs
– advocate a strong position
–
– “I combat and despise . .. . and proclaim”

your manifesto has to relate to the principles behind your design project

RESEARCH PAPERS (4-5 pages)
– write a research-based paper about the ideas, forms and cultural history behind your redesigned transit space

things you could research:
– type of technology you’ll have in the space
– history, biography, works of architects that have inspired your project
– cultural history — ex. research the history of travel and the design of travel-related spaces. ex. railroad stations, airports, etc. ex. maybe you’ll find design inspiration in the design of a 19th-century german railroad station
– not just biography — but cultural history — what *function* did that space play in society in which it was located?
– who you want to build for and what interests them — ex. building for businesspeople — include stock updates

DEADLINES
Nov. 30
– come with a paragraph written about the central idea for your space

Dec. 2
– First draft of Manifesto Due

Dec. 7
– Manifesto Due

Dec. 9
– Works Cited/Annotated Bibliography are due

Dec. 14
– Research paper is due

This unit explores the ways in which social networks have created new types of “ambient intimacies” that are now finding their way into architectural theories

Monday
READING
– Finish Urban Computing and Its Discontents
– Clive Thompson, “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy”
– Penelope Green, “Yours for the Peeping”
WRITING
– post paragraphs on Urban Computing blog post

For Wednesday
Christopher Allen, “Intimacy Gradient and Other Lessons from Architecture”

Discourse Communities
– vocabularies/concepts/conventions specific to a given community
– membership
– not just communication but also indicating a sense of belonging
– we are all members of multiple discourse communities

ex. Architectural discourse community: “construction documents,” “truss,” “poché,” “entourage”

– writing for a popular audience vs. writing for an academic community — compare Clive Thompson’s “Location Location Location” to “Urban Computing and Its Discontents”

academic discourse: symposium, taxonomy

GROUP PROJECT
– Discuss the discourse community of “Urban Computing and Its Discontents”
– Who wrote this? (more than their names: where do they work? what kind of work do they do?)
– how would you describe this discourse community?
– what are some key terms and concepts that define urban computing as discussed in this essay?
– Each group should identify 5 terms used in the essay that express important concepts related to urban ubiquitous computing
– Each person in the group should take one of those terms and write at least a paragraph that quotes from the book and discusses the way in which that term is used.

Group 1
Maritza
Michael
George
Chris

Group 2
Anthony
Luis
Jair
Eric

Group 3
Demir
Eric
Theo

Group 4
Jiayi
Alan
Joaquin
David Castro

Group 5
Erika
Sandy
Victor
Magda

McLuhan — “Every extension is also an amputation.”
– become more dependent on technology, less dependent on native senses
– blind man/cane

– surveillance

– reconnecting with old friends and with family
– sharing photos/pictures
– hosting blog posts
– discussing how crazy last night was
– picture tagging
– meeting friends
– video responses
– political arguments
– private messaging
– taking quizzes
– petitions
– promoting your band — allowing bands to speak directly to their fans
– sharing music
– seeking out bands/new music
– taking polls
– invitations to events, parties
– planning get-togethers
– updating profile
– updating status
– publishing creative writing
– discussing/complaining about homework problems
– sharing work
– drawing with graffiti application
– browsing friends lists
– suggesting friends

3. Five intense or interesting experiences you’ve had on a social networking site

– being stalked
– got in touch with an old friend
– looking at photos and being amazed at what happened that night – especially when six hundred people discuss that photo
– became best friends with someone didn’t know previously
– met a relative through photo comments
– saw newborn niece for the first time
– identity performance — pretending to be someone else online — social networking pranks
– friend leaves computer unattended — or public computer — play pranks — posting things to profiles
– video exchanges/conversations

4. Five keywords you’d use to describe your use of social networking sites
– entertainment
–addictive
– interactive
– time-consuming
– resourceful
– helpful
– connecting
– distracting
– insightful
– annoying
– open
– deceiving
– absurd
– fun
– stressful
– mediated

5. Name any social networking sites that you have used

Xanga, MySpace, Facebook, Sconex, MSN, Oovoo, Imeem, Ning, (Skype), Fotka, Naczalase, Twitter, MiGente, YouTube, Flickr, Hi5, Photobucket

danah boyd, why youth (heart) social network sites
– s.n. sites provide a way for normally shy teenagers to interact with others more openly
– many kids consider s.n. sites to be the cool thing
– cuts across class boundaries but used for different reasons
– methodology — ethnography — interviews, surveys, participant observation

Demographics
– two types of non-participants — objectors and people who don’t have access

3 popular features central to social networking sites:
– Profiles
– Public testimonials/comments
– Public lists of friends

boyd claims that music is “cultural glue” for teenagers (4).

Blog assignment: tell us a story about social networking
Authority figures monitoring usage
–

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Please see below for an announcement of an upcoming lecture at City Tech that should be of interest to members of this class.

– Prof. Gold

—

On Friday, October 9, 1 pm, in the Atrium Amphitheater, the Emerging Media Technologies initiative in the Entertainment Technology Department is presenting Joern Loviscach who will speak on Human-Computer Interfaces for Energy Efficiency.

Here is poster containing info about the event (PDF) and below is a longer abstract of the upcoming talk.

Friday, October 9, 1 PM, Atrium Amphitheater

Emerging Media Technologies, Entertainment Technology
Presents

Human-Computer Interfaces for Energy Efficiency

Joern Loviscach, Professor
Fachhochschule Bielefeld (University of Applied Sciences)
Germany

There are manifold ways to apply user interfaces to conserve energy, in particular in the home. This talk aims at giving an overview, at stimulating discussions, and at forming the basis for joint projects.

First, users can receive information and advice on their energy use, such as which means of transportation is optimal for a specific trip or which device in the household consumes how much power. Such information
may for instance be presented on Web pages using sophisticated methods of scientific visualization. It may, however, also be presented using ambient media such as the color of a room’s lighting or the choice of
music, both of which are means close to artistic expression. Based on data gained from sensors such as a mobile phone’s accelerometer chip or data gathered from the Internet such as the local weather conditions,
the computer can provide more informed advice. This will mostly rely on inference methods based on machine-learning.

Second, solutions from persuasive computing can be applied to provide rewards, ranging from blossoms that grow on one’s mobile phone’s screen the more one uses the bus to high score ratings comparing one’s energy
use to the neighbors’. Many Web 2.0 techniques lend themselves well to such applications.

Third, the upcoming smart grid to distributed electric power allows even more sophisticated man-machine interaction models: The user may choose to start the tumble drier when the real-time price of electrical power
has dropped below a given threshold. The user may also accept the electricity provider to remotely switch off the air conditioning for some minutes to cap a momentary peak of power consumption in the grid.
With a growing percentage of wind and solar power, which tend to fluctuate much, these techniques can in principle also applied to create peaks in consumption to cope with peaks in production.

Such applications of a smart power grid require user interfaces that act more sophisticated than the classic on/off power switch: Is it ok if the washing machine starts in five hours at the latest? Would the user opt
to pay more if it is finished in three hours? Does the user offer the batteries of his or her plug-in electric vehicle as a power buffer to the grid? Does the car have to be charged by 8 a.m. to drive 100 miles
or would 10 a.m. and 50 miles suffice? And how would the smart grid know? This may require a highly evolved user interface that hides a wealth of computational intelligence under a seemingly simple hood.

—

Joern Loviscach is a professor of technical mathematics and computer engineering at Fachhochschule Bielefeld (University of Applied Sciences). His research interests comprise sustainable
development, human-computer interface techniques, signal and image processing, computer graphics, audio and music computing, embedded and ubiquitous computing, and electronics. From 2000 to early 2009, Joern
had a professorship for computer graphics, animation, and simulation at Hochschule Bremen. Before that, he was deputy editor-in-chief at c’t, a renowned popular German computer magazine. Joern holds a doctoral degree in physics.

Your summary paragraphs should follow the following form:

TOPIC: What is the subject of the essay?
One sentence summary of essay topic.
Format: In “[Title],” a [type of writing] published in [publication info + date], [author] discusses [topic].

THESIS: What is the author’s point of view on the topic?
One sentence summary of essay thesis.
Format: [Author’s last name] argues that [thesis].

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: how does the author support her thesis?
Include three or four supporting points in the essay and quote important phrases.

Additional Assignment (not part of the summary paragraph):
Come up with 4 or 5 key terms from essay. Use these to help you identify key concepts in the essay.

Journalism – types of writing
Article – extended story. Presumption of objectivity
Op-Ed – opinion piece by reader or public figure.
Editorial – opinion piece written by newspaper staff. Generally
unsigned. Expression of editor’s viewpoints
Review essay—review of a book or exhibition