BRACAU 27 BLOG'S

Last week the Digital Media students in both Karlskrona and Stockholm had exhibitions , showing off their projects in the "Experience Technology" module. All in all nineteen groups made interactive projects and presented them for the public. Check out some of them below.


KARLSKRONA

Group 3: Sound Memo, an audial version of the classic Memory game.




Group 4 showed their scary Star Trek abstract noise cube:

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Group 7: Marble’s Inferno, a javascripted interactive physical marble track.



You can read about all the projects from the Karlskrona Digital Media students following the links to their group blogs here.

Also check out a feature on the Karlskrona exhibition by Swedish national radio here.


STOCKHOLM

Group 2: The Beamograph, a tool for creating electronic music.



Group 4: Style Win, the digital dressing room.




Group 5: Myoa, which records motions and transforms them into colour on-screen.



You can find links to all the Stockholm Digital Media group blogs here

Journalist and writer Tim Guest has been documenting the rise of new virtual communities for magazines like The Guardian and Daily Telegraph as well as in his own latest book “Second Lives”. Last week he came to Stockholm to hold a lecture for the students at Hyper Island and we sat down for an interview with him.

What concept is hardest to get across to people with no experience with communities?
- Probably just how enchanting these virtual words can be. It is like cinema – it is easy to understand that you play still images really fast and you get a sense of movement – but it is much harder to understand how magic that can be.

As a kid the car racing video games that had real advertizing felt much better than the others, would you say that commercialization of the new virtual worlds only validates them in the same way?
- In the eyes of people who have no experience of them, yes. It condones the space. Some people are of course complaining about it. When [pioneering design agency] Rivers Run Red moved in to Second Life and bought an island there were a few people that went to that virtual island with signs to demonstrate against it. I am not so worried about this commercialization as there is no scarcity in Second Life – a company’s presence does not exclude others to be there as well. Also it is much cheaper to build something in Second Life than in the real world. Almost anybody can have their own building but not many could do that in the real world, so that is a leveling effect.

What is the difference between Second Life and Myspace?
- Well, there are two ways to answer that question. One: When you go to someone’s profile on Myspace or Facebook it is like going into someone’s living room when they are not there. On places like Second Life you have a direct connection which is very different.
- The other way of answering is of course that there is no difference at all. Even now we see virtual worlds that are implementing Facebook-like features. Vside is one example of that. As time goes by these two things will blur together.

What else do you see in the future?
- There will be a fundamental shift as to how we perceive virtual worlds. Right now they are supposed to be different from the real world – Second Life even says so in its name. But what we will see is how these two worlds will merge. One example: Maybe you will have your sunglasses react to your surroundings. You can look at a hotel and you’ll get ratings for that hotel shown in your glasses.

Like The Terminator!
- Yeah, why not? That technology is not that far away. Or you’ll just hold out your phone and get the information there.
- Whenever there is a new paradigm it is really hard to predict what will happen. It is like a new music genre, until you hear it it is hard to understand how it will sound.
- At the Hyper Island party I met someone who showed me this Pacemaker thing [Tim brings out a flyer for the Pacemaker DJ tool]. Obviously it is more than just a new kind of mp3 player - there is an idea about sharing and a community that makes the product just a part of the whole package. I’m just guessing but what we will see is probably where the network and the physical come together. This Pacemaker thing is already on its way towards that.

Sebastian Suarez-Golborne

In Karlskrona the Digital Media course is running on full speed. On October 11th they will showcase their projects at an open exhibition at Båtmanskasernen, Stumholmen. Carl Bergman is a student there and tells us this about the course:

What is happening in the digital media industry? After the first engaging Information Society module the students of Hyper Island Digital Media in Karlskrona are diving even deeper into the business by kicking off the Experience Technology module.

What is modern technology used for today? How will this change in the future? By creating new products out of today's hot products the students are challenging the everyday use of modern technology. What possibilities lies under the white cover of the Nintendo Wiimote? Is there anything you cannot do with an Arduino board?

Also feel free to read the Project Blogs:

Group 1

Imagine yourself running through the rain forest with chittering monkeys around you, or maybe swimming at the bottom of the sea. All of this - possible in our surround room!

Group 2

The WiiMote is communicating with the computer while inside the cube[...]

Group 3

It was a long time I had a saw in my hand but after awhile I was used again. It felt really good, almost like back in the days, when you was a kid.

Group 4

For this to be possible we have to have figured out a way to transform our keyboards buttons in too much bigger and more sensitive touchpads.

Group 5

...our sound generator/simple synth patch prototype is finish and have been working together with the photoresistor to create the fundamental light string trigger.

Group 6

Our idea is to project a wall on witch you will be able to do some graffiti with a simple LED. You will stan some meters away, facing the wall, and paint.

Group 7

We probably got the brightest, reddest red color you could find, and with such a colorful expression we are surely likely to catch everyone attention at the exhibition. Its certainly going to be hard to miss us.

Group 8

I'm working on the sketches for the construction and I intend to send them to some construction companies (such as Beijer) and ask for sponsorship.

Group 9

I've done some tests generating random motion based on the sensor measurements and it works pretty good.

Group 10

Take a break from your computer and the IT-world and just break it, hit the drums!

Check out this little documentary about Tim Guest who is giving a lecture as well as appearing at the Hyper Island party this thursday:



Our own Tim Guest interview will be up on the blog sometime next week.

The Hyper Island blog is updated roughly three times a week, spotlighting the going ons at Hyper Island as well as giving an insight to worldwide developments in interactive media. If you want to keep track of the blog you have several options, subscribe through RSS or through E-mail. You can find both links in the sidebar.

The Business Management program in Karlskrona is a two year program, graduating students for a future career as managers. The main focus of the program is to educate students to meet the upcoming needs for modern and visionary management in companies, organisations and projects. We caught up with Sofie Andersson, project manager in Karlskrona, for a quick chat.

What are the Business Management students doing right now?

- Finding a Mentor, coaching, process leading and work shop training are some of the things the Business Management students in Karlskrona are doing in the module called "Coaching and Mentorship".
- When designing this module I wanted to give the students an opportunity to put some of their knowledge in to practice. So one assignment is to coach one person within Hyper Island and one external. The coaching is based on solving problems, reaching goals and together make an action plan on how to reach them or just listen and be a sort of mentor. Jörgen Jonsson, a consultant from the communication agency Imagine, gives the students valuable and inspiring tips about coaching all through the module.

And what about the "mentor" part?
- I also would like every student to find a mentor that they can keep for at least one year after graduating. By doing that now I think they'll create a bridge from school out in to the work life. The mentor should preferably be a person that complement the student and its skills and knowledge. In that way, I think, it will be a win-win situation for both student and mentor.

What else have you been up to?
- On top of all assignments (seven!) the module of course also has some lectures. Last week the students (well, us co-workers just had to go as-well!) went to see Kay Pollak give his famous lecture "To choose happiness". It was inspiring, fun and worth considering! Actually, the best part of the whole lecture was afterwards, when I asked a student what she thought of the lecture. She said: "Well, it was good and fun but what Kay was talking about, that you are in charge of your own life, that's what we are practising at Hyper Island all the time.

Sebastian Suarez-Golborne

Former Hyper Island student Juho Parviainen made his internship at world renowned IDEO back in 2004. That internship led to a full-time job at the agency, which according to Business Week “redefined good design by creating experiences, not just products”. For the “Interactive User Experience” module he came back to Hyper Island and held a workshop for the Interactive Art Director program in Stockholm.

What is the atmosphere at IDEO like?
- We are 500 people working at IDEO. The company prides itself in having an open, non-hierarchical culture. IDEO is all about collaboration – we work in multidisciplinary teams throughout our projects.

What kind of qualities are you looking for in an IDEO employee?
- At IDEO we are what we call "t-shaped" people. You need a deep knowledge of your expertise area, like interactive design, but also a broad understanding of many different disciplines. And you need to be humble to be able to collaborate with people with different kinds of knowledge. IDEO is definitely not the place for the lone genius designer rock star.

What would you say your approach is when it comes to design?
- Design is not longer about just making something look pretty. What we at IDEO do is help organizations innovate and grow through design.

- There are several aspects you have to take into account for successful product and service innovation – the business needs, the technology and whether or not the product or service is desirable from a consumer perspective. Traditionally companies have focused innovation around technology – a new technological breakthrough. They have then looked at the business viability – how do we sell this? – and finally delivered a product to consumers to ask them whether they like it or not. At IDEO, we use a human-centred approach to reveal people's latent needs and bring to market new products, services and experiences that respond to those needs.

How has your Hyper Island education helped you at IDEO?
- The way that Hyper Island teaches is very good, as it is aimed at learning how to work in a group. I think that is absolutely crucial and specially for a company like IDEO , where collaboration in the teams is essential.

- Another nice thing with Hyper Island is that teaching focuses on teaching you how to learn. You're encouraged to find, learn and try new ways of doing things, not just stick to one technology, tool or way of doing things. This enables you to become flexible and versatile designer.


Sebastian Suarez-Golborne