Category: Blog

Books as Video games

The new technology that I’m creating is by incorporating books into videogames. By introducing videogames because when you think about books and or plays like Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet even the Odyssey. These all have very distinct forms of syntax and diction that could often be difficult for a student to understand. This item would focus on the age range of children between the ages of 18 to 30 years old. Around this age, the types of literature that are being given to read in high school even at the college level can be quite tricky and difficult to understand. So, by incorporating videogames and books into an art form this would see an increase in the way young adults follow along and read in class. This product would work with any current game console that we use in today’s modern age (i.e. Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo switch, etc.) It would be manufactured like a normal video game it would be sold in any store that sells videogames. The video games would be a third person perspective where you control the character and learn as you go throughout the story. For example, with Mary Shelly “Frankenstein” you would play as the Dr. Frankenstein and you would go throughout the whole narrative as the main protagonist and learn about the character an on ways that the character goes throughout the story.

For example, for the Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. The story of the book isn’t difficult to understand it’s the language and the vocabulary throughout the story. For example, “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel…” (Mary Shelly). Something like this would be a slight challenge for someone to interpret. So, in a way a student can learn is by exploring throughout the game and finding letters what are taken directly from the book and have subtitles underneath the quote so students have a better understanding of what the quotes mean or in a way of having the quote translated in a way that is used in modern English. By doing this method it gets the reader engaged and they aren’t just going through the game and listening to the narrative. They have a way of interacting with the story an being more engaged in the story seeing how the interpretation of the monster that Frankenstein created come to life on the screen in front of you. By also expanding it and taking on the monster’s perspective and learning and imaging how the monster is experiencing certain stimulus that affects him. This is more than just a videogame it’s a game that influences learning, teaching a student on ways that aren’t commonly conventional and make reading a more enjoyable and easier method of doing. Since in this day and age videogames are such a strong selling point that people doing anything else.

Augmented Reality for Science Textbooks

I have an idea that will help with learning and gaining knowledge of a science textbook through augmented reality. This is when visual images that are not originally part of a screen appear digitally through an electronic device. I think this will be the best way for people to learn, especially if they are visual and/or kinesthetic learners. Before I get into the product, let’s start with these two styles of learning and how augmented reality can be way of helping with these techniques.

Every person is different and has their own style of learning. A visual learner is one who best retains information by using any visual representations such as images. Kinesthetic learners are physical learners who best retain information with hands-on activities. Since augmented reality can be a visual and interactive representation, this form will help students better retain information about what they are learning. This is also why kinesthetic learners prefer the physical textbook because “Print texts also offer the reader a different kinesthetic experience” (Harbin and O’Callaghan 5). Andrea R. Harbin and Tamara F. O’Callaghan also feel that “The physical act of turning pages, which have both weight and texture, may engage our brains differently…” (5). My idea goes a little more in depth about using AR with Science textbooks.

I want to propose augmented reality textbooks for college students who are looking to study science, by using an app and special highlighters. This product is open for college students who currently study any branch of science including biology, botany, ecology, geology, meteorology, zoology, or oceanography. I have personal experience with learning science in college. In my freshmen year of college, I wanted to study Biology, so I took the pre-requisites needed for it. As time went on I found myself struggling with retaining the information. And I know that science is a complex topic to learn about. I am more of a visual and kinesthetic learner, so I preferred having a physical textbook as well.

The students would purchase a textbook, download the app and use these special highlighters. All science textbooks would have an app that works with both IOS and Android. The app would be programed so that college students could use it on any science textbook. There are two highlighters, a pink and a green. Students use the highlighters to mark what they do and don’t understand. Green for “understanding” and pink for “explanation needed”. Then, they go into the app on their phone and the app picks up the color of the highlighter. If green, the app will show a 3D model of the highlighted portion and the student is free to touch the model and observe it. If pink, the app will show a 3D model and a speaker will explain the concept of it. Although augmented reality amongst textbooks exist, having an app pick up these special highlighters makes the experience better because it encourages the students to read through and highlight what they do and don’t understand. Either way, they can use the app, hover over the textbook and a model will show up on their book. The students practice note-taking by highlighting key points and learn through visual, 3D representation. Since the models are interactive, it’s great for visual and kinesthetic learners.

 

Harbin, Andrea, R. and O’Callaghan, Tamara, F. “Print Texts and the Reading Brain”. The Digital Arts and Humanities: Neogeography, Social Media, and Big Data Integrations and Applications. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2016. https://www.dropbox.com/s/src95mtx9ivucxq/text_and_sensorium_harbin_ocallaghan_DAH_2016.pdf?dl=0

Visiting Writer

I am unable to attend the actual event of Carlos Hernandez due to a night class. However, since my creative capstone class is offering us to have lunch with the writer, I believe that will suffice.

Gerald S. Majer sets up the lunch gathering for us students so that we have the opportunity to ask an author questions about from learning to express creativity to getting published. It is at 1 p.m. at the world languages room over at Greenspring.

As the students munch on potatoes and salad, they ask Carlos Hernandez about how he became a writer as well as his upcoming short story collection with Disney Hyperion. He discusses the conflicts he had with other publishers about his work and learning to approach story elements from different angles.

Then, Carlos has us write down ideas for a story. Ideas that drive us. Ideas that ignite our inner creativity. I look at my sheet. What drives my creativity? Something that makes me excited to write? Carlos wants us to write something science-fiction related. Well, I think to myself, there is this one science fiction element I have had on my mind. I take my pencil and jot that one idea–artificial intelligence.

Now, what would make a good story surrounding artificial intelligence? Where would I take this idea? Something about the person that creates A.I.? Something that is about how we give away our identities, our protection?

Unfortunately, I fail to come up with something good by the time Carlos has the students share what we wrote.

One student wrote robots. Another wrote empathy. They get to me. I tell Carlos I wrote down artificial intelligence, but I failed to come up with a direction to take the idea.

“That is a great topic”, he says.

“So, then what drew you to the topic?”

I look at my sheet of paper and brush my hair in frustration.

“Security. How we become increasingly reliant on it,” I say.

“Okay,” he says. “Why don’t you work on that. It’s a great topic.”

I stay silent and nod my head.

Then Carlos dismisses us.

My experience with Carlos was interesting. It was impressive that I got to talk to a published author about writing. It gave me a good insight on how to write compelling fiction.

Writing compelling fiction is not about putting your weight on a compelling premise. It is about doing something with the idea you create. In other words, Hernandez taught me that it is not what a story does, it is how it executes its ideas.

Karl Stolley

On Wednesday’s class, Karl Stolley Skyped in to discuss various fonts. This was an interesting conversation as the topic of fonts isn’t one commonly talked about. In fact, I realized just how little I actually know. For example, the terms “serif” and “sans-serif” are relatively new. Although I have certainly heard these words before, I never knew that serifs referred to the little tail lines on the ends of  the strokes of each letter. Another bit of information I wasn’t entirely aware of what the history behind some fonts. I, like most people, assumed fonts were just created by calligraphers or artists to get add an additional bit of aesthetic to the page. But Stolley showed how some fonts are actually based of historical inscriptions in monuments, which are formulated that way for particular reasons such as preventing the cracking of stone. All in all, I found that the topic of fonts is far wider that I ever realized, and that there is still much to learn behind each font on my laptop.

Karl Stolley

Karl Stolley skyped with our class and discussed different types of fonts. For most fonts we discussed and that he told us about were fonts that I didn’t really know. Some of the fonts I was common with for example Helvetica and Calbri. Then he told us that for most brands use fonts that I wasn’t common with but, that is how they became so popular. He discussed there are more to just a font, for example, its more than what the words are saying with the font. The use of various fonts can be aesthetically pleasing as well. We use certain fonts because they are skinner and easier to read and they flow in a manner that allows readers to flow with the information. While we use bolder and bigger fonts to say something important or give meaning to something. When Dr. Licastro also included in the visit that uses Helvetica for her emails for people with learning disabilities to help them better read the information was really interesting to hear. Which made we wonder why don’t we use Helvetica in academic papers if there were studies on this font that aided in the understanding and helped with learning disabilities

Karl Stolley Visit

Karl Stolley’s visit to our class really opened my eyes to the world of fonts and the different kind of emotions that each font might bring to the writer that is using it. There were many realization moments where Karl brought up a certain font and then typed what movie/TV show title that it was used for and then everyone in the class was like “OH”. For example when he brought up the font that was used in Star Wars, we all nodded our heads in agreement that we knew where it was from. Also, to see that so many big-name brands use Helvetica for their titles, such as North Face or Crate and Barrel, is kind of incredible. I guess Helvetica is just clean-looking to all these companies and is legible enough for all of their customers.
I feel like whoever is in charge of picking a font for a company’s brand name has a super difficult task has ahead of them because there are so many fonts out there and I am sure that company’s who want to evoke a certain emotion have to find the perfect font for their brand. But some companies and individuals choose their fonts based on convenience, like I remember during our discussion that Amanda uses a certain font for all of her emails because it is the most accessible for people with reading disabilities, which is a very concious and inclusive choice, so that just about everyone can receive and read all the emails from her.

I enjoyed Karl’s visit because he found a fun and entertaining way to talk about fonts, which on any other day, would not be interesting to me, but he kept me into the discussion through all of his knowledge of the fonts and which movies/stores/TV shows that use that specific type of font.

Karl Stolley Reflection

Today in class, Karl Stolley skyped us and took the time to speak to us about the different typefaces (fonts) used. Some fonts that we discussed included Sans/Sans Serif, Helvetica, Caslon, Times New Roman, Bodoni, Acumin, Linotype, and Fututra. One thing I learned is that for the most part, these fonts are definitely considered easy and readable. I also see fonts in a different way because I now know that specific fonts are used for different reasons and not just because of the aesthetics. Italics for example are used for emphasis. I would consider these to be some of the more popular ones especially since you see these kinds of fonts on the titles of different stores. You could even see it on the Stevenson University logo. All in all, these fonts are still used to this day and probably will be around for a long time.

Zines

Zines can be defined as “A noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specializing and often unconventional subject matter” (Merriam Webster). Zines first started off in the 1930s and were focused on the genre of science fiction. During this time they called them the term fanzine which was was recognized as fan magazine then was then shorted to be called zines. They were self-published and small and they wanted to voice their opinions in a form that wasn’t mainstream media. Zines were often printed in small numbers and they were often underground and were made to pertain to a specific audience. By the 1950s and 60s, there was a rise in the use of zines. By the 1980s saw an even larger increase in usage during the punk music scene. The punk zines were more than just magazines they were a source of aesthetics and were a source that represented the culture that they were pertaining to. An example of these zines during this time would be “Riot Girl” which focused on the ideas of feminism and sex and chaos. Zines gave a voice to people of different backgrounds from minorities, LGBT and woman. They wanted to have a method and a way that people could have their voices heard. Zines have a large variety of genres and themes that focus in on different topics. Now with the growing use of technology and the use of internet the idea of a zine is making them more diverse than ever before. The use of the internet has helped bring young artist together to collaborate and communicate with one another. Today’s zines can be seen in publications like Home Zine. This concept was created by an artist to explore the concept of feeling at home. Zines and the culture behind aren’t dead it’s becoming a revamped form of media.

 

The usage of zines never left today’s media they are still underground and still not as popular as a regular magazine. Zines aren’t made to focus on one particular topic they can be made to talk about anything. They were made and still made as a way of self-expression to persuade and get ones views out there in a way that was graphically pleasing. With the use of zines in modern times they now seem to be more digital than physical. In today’s modern time with the internet not only are zines being found in ways in different media platforms they are much more simpler and can be viewed in a way most people don’t normally do. Creating zines have found new light in technology standards. They reached a global audience allowing a larger audience to see them.

 

Zines have seen an ever-expanding form of media that created a way for an artist to express themselves in a way the mainstream media didn’t allow themselves to be expressed. Zines weren’t meant for one group, in particular, they were a diverse art form that given the right tools to express them on a much larger spectrum. With the initial zines were mainly focused on the genre. By the 1980s around the same time as the punk rock scene, one major zine that was easily distinguishable was the zine of “Riot Girl”. This was so important during the time because it focused on the ideas of life during the time and gave a voice to women and the feminist cause behind it. That focused on the idea woman do have a voice too and the chaos behind a woman being misrepresented was very prominent during that time. Zines also gave a voice to other groups like the LGBT community and minorities to have their voices heard. Not much information on zines can be found since they were such an unground source of media that they weren’t really common known. But with the use of the internet made the zines a thing that we haven’t forgotten about. The use of the internet made it easier to for an artist to collaborate and create zines. These zines can be used to be found across multiple platforms and social media. More zines can be found digitally rather than physically and often seen to be more of a way to show their artistic side of the fan magazine.

Work Cited

“The Resurgence of Zine Culture and Why It’s So Important.” Study Breaks, 17 May 2017, studybreaks.com/culture/the-resurgence-of-zine-culture-and-why-its-so-important/.

 

Elizabeth, Marcia. “To Zine or Not to Zine? – The Cultural Significance of Self-Publishing.” Bubblegum Club, Bubblegum Club, 7 Nov. 2017, bubblegumclub.co.za/art-and-culture/zine-not-zine-cultural-significance-self-publishing/.

Wright, Fred. “ The History and Characteristics of Zines.” Zines, E-Zines: The History and Characteristics of Zines, Part I, www.zinebook.com/resource/wright1.html.

Mosaic: Not the art style

When you think about the internet you easily know the URL bar search bars and various websites that are used in our day to day lives. The use of the internet didn’t start there. The first workable prototype for the internet was in the 1960s and was called ARPANET. This invention allowed the use of multiple computers to communicate on a single network. By the 1970s two scientist Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf worked together to create TCP/IP also known as Transmission Control Protocol and internet protocol. With this invention, it set how the use of data could be managed and used across multiple networks that not only helped create the idea of the internet. By 1990s the internet had a real form and could be recognized. It was created by computer scientist Tim Bernes-Lee. With it allowed us to communicate in ways that way that we couldn’t before. Communication was much faster, and we didn’t have to rely on in-person contact or sending letters. Tim felt as though prior to the creation of the internet he said “In those days there were was different information on different computers but you had to log on to different computers to get at it. Also sometimes you had to learn different programs on each program on each computer” (Web foundation). So Tim went to work and on a way to solve that problem and make it easier to connect in a way that didn’t require multiple computers and different programs to learn. By 1990 Tim created the first Webpage “WorldWideWeb.app” and the first web server “Httpd”.

 

When thinking of web browsers you commonly know about Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. These weren’t the original browsers that we know and love in an advanced technological world. We can define web browsers as “A software program that allows a user to locate and access and display web pages” (Techopedia). Mosaics wasn’t the first web browser that came out in the 20th century. Web browsers can date back as early as the 1980s which led to the creation of WWW the World Wide Web. These pages consisted of HTML required to program in order to access a page. With the release of Mosaic, it did away with this idea of entering HTML to access to the web and made it more graphically appealing idea of the World Wide Web. Mosaic became a tool that was reliable and easy to use. Mosaic was fast and allowed people to see images within pages. Compared to other browsers prior to Mosaic where could only show images in separate windows and it popularized the use of bookmarks and icons so it was more user-friendly. During the time there were other web browsers but they were for Unix machines and those machines were rather expensive. When it came to having access to the web it was mainly for the use of academics and engineers who had access to this form of technology. The creator of Mosaic Marc Andersen created Mosaic in a way that it was easier to use and was graphically and aesthetically pleasing. With the invention of Mosaic, it introduced the invention of a hyperlink. Previously hypertext links had reference numbers that the user typed in so they could retrieve linked documents. With the invention of the hyperlinks allowed users to simply click on a link to retrieve a document. In 1993 when Mosaic has released it immediately became popular more than 5,000 copies were being downloaded each month. With the ever-expanding Mosaic, it’s growth was so great that it made it to the front page of the New York Times.

 

Tim Bernes Lee creation of the internet not only set a stepping stone for how we use the internet in today’s standards so did the use of Mosaic. Mosaic was a revolutionary tool that is often missed when it comes to the modern form of the internet. Tim Beres Lee invention of the internet is always recognized as a major factor in a source of communication. With Mosaic, we were now able to look at text and images on the same page. Browsers prior to it couldn’t do that. The design of the web browser was more user-friendly and was much easier to use. This tool also introduced hyperlinks allowing a user to click a link and being able to retrieve a document from it.

WorkCited

Andrews, Evan. “Who Invented the Internet?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 18 Dec. 2013, www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet.

“History of the Web.” World Wide Web Foundation, webfoundation.org/about/vision/history-of-the-web/.

Dalakov, Gerogi. “NCSA Mosaic of Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina.” History of Computers and Computing, Internet, Internet Conquers the World, NCSA Mosaic, history-computer.com/Internet/Conquering/Mosaic.html.