Daily Archives: November 25, 2007

Blurring Boundaries: Interactive Multimedia and Interdisciplinary Convergence

Author: by R Brian Stone
Title: Blurring Boundaries: Interactive Multimedia and Interdisciplinary Convergence
Source: AIGA Journal of Interactive Design Education
Date: November 14, 2004

Abstract of Major Ideas
The premise of Professor Stone’s article, Blurring Boundaries: Interactive Multimedia and Interdisciplinary Convergence, is that in order for interactive multimedia applications to progress, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary. By combining the expertise of students and/or professionals in visual communications, industrial design, interior design, computer human interaction (HCI) and cognitive engineering it is possible to improve interactive media applications from website interfaces to digital cameras and mobile phones beyond what is possible when only one discipline is involved.

In his paper Professor Stone uses two examples to illustrate his points. One example shows how an interdisciplinary group of students redesigned the interface of a consumer model digital camera. In this example the interface obscured the photographic image displayed on the LCD screen. Redesigning the menu system provided a better experience for the user by making more of the image visible.

Critical Evaluation of Major Ideas
Professor Stone has not only written about his ideas of “cross pollination” within interactive multimedia design, but also put them to use in the classroom. In his paper he describes the success of this experiment by presenting the work his students produced while working in a class comprised of forty percent visual communication students, forty percent industrial design students and twenty percent cognitive engineering students. After the course students were able to identify how different disciplines contribute to design problems and see the value offered by interdisciplinary collaboration.

I feel that Professor Stone’s arguments are valid. Getting the perspective of a wide audience is important because we are all integrated into an environment where we use interactive applications daily. ATMs, mobile phones, media players and laptop computers are all commonplace items. Redesigning these tools to work better and making them easier to use has broad, positive implications.

I do believe that the interdisciplinary approach is a good idea and can work well in a graduate school environment, but it might be more difficult to implement for undergraduate students. In order for the approach to be effective I feel that it is necessary for the parties involved to have a high level of expertise. This might not be as prevalent among undergraduates and could therefore lead to frustration among students involved in interdisciplinary group projects.

Implications for Design Education
The implications of Professor Stone’s ideas for design education are profound. Too often individual colleges at universities tend to focus on their field without reaching out regularly to other disciplines. Even departments within a college may lack active collaboration. Getting a visual communications instructor to collaborate or team teach with a computer science, or engineering instructor might be a difficult task in such environments, but the results are likely to benefit the students, instructors and the interactive media field at large.

Cultures, the Traditional Shadow Play, and Interactive Media Design

Author: Oguzhan Özcan
Title: Cultures, the Traditional Shadow Play, and Interactive Media Design
Source: Design Issues, MIT Press, 2002 Vol: 18, no:3, pp.18
Date: Summer, 2002

Abstract of Major Ideas
Dr. Özcan has made a compelling connection between Chinese, Indonesian, Turkish, and European shadow play and today’s interactive media as an art form. He opens his paper by arguing that interactive media is not a modern phenomenon and suggests that traditional forms of shadow play amount to early examples of interactive media performances.

Some early examples of shadow play provided an outlet for audience members to participate by adding their own figures, therefore interacting with the media presented. Another technique might involve the artist improvising based on reactions from the audience thus facilitating an interactive response.

By illustrating the connection between these traditional art forms and modern interactive media technology, Dr. Özcan suggests that students might gain a new point of view as well as develop new ideas for interaction by combining current technology with traditional techniques.

Critical Evaluation of Major Ideas
Is not traditional shadow play an early form of technology? Sometimes we forget that all the modern and computerized tools and techniques we use in art and design have a basis in traditional methods. In some ways the interactive experiences of shadow play have more value than modern technology’s interactive media outlets. Dr. Özcan points out that the computerized interactive media experience is often individualized whereas shadow play involves artists and audience in a social activity. Perhaps this comparison will inspire artists to use technology to enhance social interaction, and steer us away from the detached and diluted discourse of social networking sites.

Contemporary examples of shadow play exist all around us. My music project, Keston and Westdal (unearthedmusic.com), often perform with imagery projected directly onto the stage or adjacent screens. The imagery is a mix of animated computer graphics and experimental video that we produced and edited specifically for this purpose. This is not an original concept, but one that adds a visual element to enhance the audience member’s experience. When the media is projected directly on to the performers we inadvertently interact with the images, creating shadows as we play our instruments.

Implications for Design Education
Dr. Özcan’s paper is an excellent example of how important an historical perspective is in the field of interactive media design. This perspective should not just include a history of electronic technology, but of the technologies used to produce traditional art forms as well. Dr. Özcan states that design students will benefit from creating projects without the aid of computers, and we should remember that interactive media is part of the world of audio-visual arts, and new technology can relate to tradition.