BMG Online Space

This is my final version of my video map idea, it will gradually be updated as extra video’s need to be placed into it.

View map here

Title: Specialist Project

I originally wanted to develop a website of some sort but after talking to the tutors it became apparent that I had not thought about an idea, what sort of problem I could resolve and that had not been done all ready. I had also not thought about what else could there be, what I could add to the world wide web/internet. As my tutors said I needed to think of something that would benefit, or make things easy that are hard to do on the world wide web.

This was in the early stages of the project and I quickly changed tack, I thought it would be good if I could integrate this specialist project with the investigative study as it would benefit me and mean I did not have to generate twice as much work.

I looked at other areas which had the world wide web/internet at its heart, I mean other products that are using the internet. One of the things I came up with was maybe internet enabled televisions, maybe I could develop a widget on the up and coming televisions of the future. I had recently been watching the BBC Click technology programme on the BBC iPlayer and they had a report on internet enabled televisions and that they worked on a widget based system, similar to the widget’s on the Mac OSX Dashboard. One thing that the BBC report said is that there are hardly any widgets available at the moment as the televisions are relatively new, this got me thinking and what if I could make one. I aired my thoughts at a talk with the class, we were split up into small groups and discussed everyone’s thoughts and ideas. When it came to me I told the others what I was thinking and they thought that I did not really have an idea and that I had been looking into thinking about the technology more. I needed to think about what I was trying to solve, if any problem.

One of my other thoughts was augmented reality as I had also seen a report on the BBC Click technology programme about this new and upcoming technology. I had also seen some augmented reality at the end of my FdA in Interactive Media course last year. This got me thinking and how I could integrate this specialist project with the investigative study and the newest type of augmented reality has moved onto mobile devices. So for my investigative study I would look into how mobiles have changed and how they influence our lives, as some people say they don’t know what they would do without a mobile phone, why can’t we live without them?

The one mobile device that has pushed this new technology is the Apple iPhone and it’s ability to be so intuitive. The simplistic way of using the iPhone has made it a very desirable mobile phone along with it’s look and style. The main reason is the touch interface, and now that it has a video camera you can now use augmented reality on the device. The other components inside the device help with location and how you are holding the device, these are an accelerometer, GPS and compass. The reason I am interested in this is that it can connect to the world wide web/internet via the 3G mobile network and also Wi-Fi where it is available.

The iPhone has applications that third party developers have developed and distributed through the hugely popular Apple iTunes Store either for FREE or for a small fee. I was hoping that I could develop an augmented reality application, app for short for the iPhone but I ran into an obstacle quickly and it was a bit or a major one, I did not have an iPhone, I only had a iPod touch which is similar but missing a video camera which is needed.

I then changed the device I would make it work on, I switched to make a demo work on my laptop web cam instead, this still had the same principles. I was just happy for it to work. With this demo I wanted to produce, the idea behind it was to show information points around the Arts Institute in the 3D augmented reality world. The Flash Augmented Reality Toolkit, FLAR Toolkit for short is the technology I used to make my idea come to life.

I thought about how I would visually present my information points around the Arts Institute and I came up with what I had been driving past everyday to get to university. It was the most simplest and easy to read, getting the right information across when you need it. It was staring me in the face it was the road signs. I then applied the design and layout of the road signs to my ideas and I loved the design. This became the style I wanted, all the research on my sign ideas are on my weblog.

My idea was now to have information points around the Arts Institute showing you where different courses are located from Film to Digital Media. I also showed the directions to the main Bournemouth University (BU for short) SU Show and refectory was located. This all pretty much was done and so I presented what I had done at the critique.

Everyone liked what I had done however the class could see other uses for my information points, so I took all the comments and have now made some adjustments to my information points. One of the things I liked was, what if the information points changed to tell you who was in whatever room and so forth, what the rooms where used for etc. I have now developed these comments further and the ideas work.

I have mocked up examples of the different situations you would use my information points system and uploaded them onto my website. The locations around the Arts Institute where I have produced mock ups are the Enterprise Pavilion for the digital media course rooms, the main entrance University House, the library entrance, the arts bar & refectory entrance and some directional information points around the campus.

This specialist project has been an eye opener into just how much more work is expected of myself, this project has been challenging and with the next project after Christmas I will get my head down to work straight away. On this project I started of on the wrong foot, slow and it took time for me to come up with a strong idea to follow through. I also fell down on my time management, not doing things in the right order and worrying about the wrong things, i.e. thinking about what the tutors would say about my project. I have seemed to struggle on the paperwork side of my project again like not getting things in on time and my writing skills. However besides this I feel I am getting better in time with my writing skills, I just hate the paperwork side.

With the overall project I am pleased with the outcome, I am chuffed to bits that I was able to make a demo of my idea. The demo was a lot of time spent with my head in code trying to make something work.

Since I have started this project, the on site campus has changed a lot with more building work and so what I was trying to get across is how is the best way to find your way around the campus. There is not any diversion signs in place for this job so this is one of the problems I have solved with my work. I now think that the way I have solved my problem with augmented reality was not the best way of getting the information needed across for the average Joe Blogs. However I have tried to make this idea work but I think it is just a gimmick I eventually ended up with.

Where to find my work?
All my work is on my weblog found here…

http://www.benmgiles.co.uk/wordpress/?cat=133

Below are signs for pedestrians and the style are that of road signs. The style of road signs are very familiar now and so we see this style of sign writing across signs for pedestrians. I will admit that some of these signs are both for cyclists as well, so they are in a similar sense of reason, cycling past quick.

However these signs are for just pedestrians, note they are the same style.

This one is a more personal sign yet still of the same style.

What makes these signs work well is the consistency with the type face, keeping to a set of rules general size and being larger for more of an emphasis. Also weather part or all of the sign is in upper or lower case. Primary colours is also a reason why these signs work so well in the design context.

Since I have started this project, the on site campus has changed a lot with more building work and so what I was trying to get across is how is the best way to find your way around the campus. There is not any decent diversion signs in place for this job so this is one of the problems I have solved with my work. There are some signs around the campus but are mainly inside signs on the walls of corridors and stair wells. The problem arises when you are at the obstacle and there is usually no ovious way round, in this I mean the grey retaining walls around the building work.

This is link through to an external website about A History of the London Tube Maps.

Taken from BBC iPlayer

The Beauty of Maps – 4. Cartoon Maps – Politics and Satire

❝Documentary series charting the visual appeal and historical meaning of maps.

The series concludes by delving into the world of satirical maps. How did maps take on a new form, not as geographical tools, but as devices for humour, satire or storytelling? Graphic Artist Fred Rose perfectly captured the public mood in 1880 with his General Election maps featuring Gladstone and Disraeli, using the maps to comment upon crucial election issues still familiar to us today. Technology was on the satirist’s side with the advent of high-speed printing allowing for larger runs at lower cost. In 1877, when Rose produced his ‘Serio Comic Map of Europe at War’, maps began to take on a new direction and form, reflecting a changing world.

Rose’s map exploited these possibilities to the full using a combination of creatures and human figures to represent each European nation. The personification of Russia as a grotesque-looking octopus, extending its tentacles around the surrounding nations, perfectly symbolised the threat the country posed to its neighbours.❞

The Beauty of Maps BBC website

For my Investigative Study unit I decided to write about mobile phones as at the time it was to integrate with my specialist project. I had decided to use augmented reality with mobile phones notably the Apple iPhone as new applications had just started to become available to the public. So to help with my specialist project I decided to write about how mobile  phones have changed and the influence they now have in everyday life.

How have Mobile Phones changed and the Influence they now have in Everyday Life?

Intro

In my essay for the investigative study unit I have asked myself how have mobile phones changed and the influence they now have in everyday life? As I myself was born in nineteen eighty seven I thought it would be a good idea to look at how the mobile phone has changed in my lifetime. I will look at what made these devices so popular and how the technology has evolved to make them such a ‘must have’. I have explored the evolution of the three main networks that mobile phones are able to function on. First generation, second generation and have had an in depth look into the transition from second to the third more commonly known as 3G…

Download the Investigative Study to read more.

Taken from BBC iPlayer

The Beauty of Maps – 3. Atlas Maps – Thinking Big

❝Documentary series charting the visual appeal and historical meaning of maps.

The Dutch Golden Age saw map-making reach a fever pitch of creative and commercial ambition. This was the era of the first ever Atlases – elaborate, lavish and beautiful. This was the great age of discovery and marked an unprecedented opportunity for mapmakers who sought to record and categorise the newly acquired knowledge of the world. Rising above the many mapmakers in this period was Gerard Mercator, inventor of the Mercator projection, who changed mapmaking forever when he published his collection of world maps in 1598 and coined the term ‘Atlas’.

The programme looks at some of the largest and most elaborate maps ever produced, from the vast maps on the floor of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, to the 24 volume atlas covering just the Netherlands, to the largest Atlas in the world, The Klencke Atlas. It was made for Charles II to mark his restoration in 1660. But whilst being one of the British Libraries most important items, it is also one of its most fragile so hardly ever opened. This is a unique opportunity to see inside this enormous and lavish work, and see the world through the eyes of a King.❞

The Beauty of Maps BBC website