Networked Design - Flash Site

Over the Easter holidays, I have finalised my concept for the navigation and display of my information. I have developed a flash site which demonstrates my concept, although at this point only displaying half of the information I found.

The idea:

A wave will wash in. It displays a short piece of information and also washes up some 'pebbles'. These 'pebbles' are links to other information, from the information currently displayed.
Once you have selected a pebble, it will appear on the Board at the top, displaying your route.
The leftover pebbles will be cast aside on the Beach, but you can select them at any time. Along with all the links placed on the Board.

I have uploaded the flash file to the link below for testing.

HERE

Networked Design - Information Structure

I have mapped out all the information I have found in to a timeline. Each colour represents a different catergory.

Interactive Narrative - Interactive Film Design

My idea for this project is to create an interactive music video. The main body of the film will be a performance video where the user can select different angles to watch throughout. They can also select what they want to listen to. I have built a very simple demonstrator of this idea.
I built it in flash so if you have flash player installed you should be able to use it. So far it is only a demonstrator, so I have only used still images and not included any sounds.
please get in contact if there are any problems.

The four faces at the top are the buttons to select which member you watch. The widescreen symbol, top right, changes the view to widescreen. In this screen there are 4 extra buttons enabling you to mute sound coming from a certain member.

So far I quite like the idea, but I would like to include more narrative. So I am working on a short story based around the events prior to the bands video shoot. This will also be interactive. I am looking in to how much work will be involved in the technical implementation of the video before I decide whether to take on the other part of the film.

Networked Design - Information Structure

Your task for the next week is to develop three concepts for a structure for the information you have collected. In doing this you should consider not just the pieces of information but more importantly the relationships between these.

I began by looking at the examples Musicovery and Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus.

My first idea is a chronological structure, based on a timeline.My second idea is influenced by the narrative structure of Robert Coover's Babysitter.My third idea is an attempt to relate the structure to the object I have chosen.During this exercise I found it hard to envisage a structure for the information due to the fact that at this stage I can't visualise all the information I have collected. It's now clear I need to finish my research and then map out what I have found. Indicating all the links and if needs be further research to find more links between the information I have found.
So far my favorite idea is the 3rd structure. I need to develop this further after mapping the information, and hopefully come up with a way of linking the information between catergories.

Networked Design -Deconstruct an object

Your task is to choose an object and research it. The research should be wide ranging, consider all the angles, however oblique. Aim to break the object down into parts and consider each of these in it's own right.

Some of my ideas for objects:

A Surfboard
A Key
A pen or writing implement
A shoe
A Camera

I decided to stick with my initial idea of the surfboard. I think the surfboard could be quite an interesting object to research. Its usage has been traced back to as early as the 1700s and is used by millions of people all over the world today. Its invention lead to an entirely new culture, lifestyle and fashion. It has spawned many of the other ‘extreme’ sports that we know today and is key element in a now multi-billion dollar industry. There are many angles to consider. So far I have found the following links, which I have organised in to categories.

The History of the surfboard and its design

Tracing the evolution of the surfboard and the effect of technology on its design.

http://www.woodsurfboards.com/
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/surfboard
http://www.surfingforlife.com/history.html
http://blackmagic.com/ses/surf/papers/boardessy.html
http://www.clubofthewaves.com/culture_surfboard.php
http://www.surfboardshack.com/board_design.html
http://www.surfingmuseum.org

Surfboard manufacturing and Environmental issues.

Modern Surfboards are made from very harmful materials. In 2005, Clark Foam, the company responsible for 90% of the worlds surf board blanks, had to close due to pressure from the government over their waste output. This called for new ‘environmentally friendly’ materials to be considered.

http://www.surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/clarkfoam/
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/whatsnew/16a3e60b60a5c010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Foam
http://www.surfing-waves.com/surfboard.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfboard
http://www.sas.org.uk/

Materials
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiberglass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy_resin

Surf culture, lifestyle and fashion.

In America in the 50’s and 60’s surfing really took off. The sports popularity created a new genre of music, film and fashion. The media latched on to the cultural boom and spread the surf lifestyle all over the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_culture
http://surfline.com/surfaz/surfaz.cfm?id=916
http://surfart.com/surf_history/fab50s.html
http://www.surfermag.com/photos/potpourri/1960/
http://blackmagic.com/ses/surf/papers/essay1/home.html
http://www.surfhistory.com/html/culture/index.shtml
http://www.surfclassics.com/feature.htm

Other Extreme sports that have evolved from surfing.

Skateboarding, originally dubbed ‘Side-walk surfing’ began due to surfers not being able to surf when there weren’t any waves. So using planks of wood and shopping cart wheels they made the first skateboards.

http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history.htm
http://skateboard.about.com/od/boardscience/a/DogtownHistory.htm
http://www.towsurfer.com/about.asp

I intend to find out more about :- proffesional surfing competitions, famous surf spots, differences in surfing around the world and the big surf brands.

Group Project

Myself , Roger and Kev have set ourselves the task of creating an interactive map of Bath. The map will illustrate the major attractions of the city in an engaging and informative way.

Deliverables.

1. Flash website containing interactive map.
2. A prototype touch screen map for information booths around the city.
3. A short film, showing how information could be sent to a portable device from the website or a city information booth.
   

Week 1. Aims and objectives. My personal tasks are in bold Italics.

• Obtain a map that can be adapted for the project.
• Gather information about the places we will use - pubs/restaurants/hotels/tourist attractions/services.
• Begin work on interface.
• Gain an idea of the coding needed to implement the project.
  

Networked Design - Trust me?

You are to consider how we learn to trust information. Reflect on real life experiences and map these onto your experiences in the virtual world. How do you know what to trust and what may be faked?

Summarise your experiences of three websites, pick ones that you trust and consider why you trust them.

DV247.com

Music equipment online retailer

A website I trust because.

The home page assures you that experts are behind the site.
It encourages phone enquiries, so users can question anything on the site, safe in the knowledge that they don’t have to rely on the digital domain.

The site includes some 'sleek' adverts, for big companies or national music events. I think that this portrays the retailers to be 'connected' to well known, big, trusted companies eg Apple.

The site states clearly that they will compete on price. Most of the time, people probably wont check, and with all prices being in bold red type, I think most users will probably believe them.

IMDB.com

Internet movie database

A website I trust because.

Straight away, the home page hits you with lines like - ‘Visited by over 42 million movie lovers each month’, ‘earths biggest…’, ‘Award winning’. Statements like these give the site it's value. Whether or not the site is trustworthy, I think users will trust the judgement of other users. 42 million of them.

The homepage has small, rather pointless sections like, 'Born Today', detailing actors birthdays. Extras like this show that they know their stuff, or that they are ‘in touch’ with the movie world.
Each film/actor/director has a message board, for reviews/comments. This adds value because users can give their opinions. The site is clear and concise, with many, many links.
It is almost overwhelming, too much to click. But this adds to the overall feeling that there is much content on the site.

Croydesurfcam.com

This is an example of a website I don't trust.

The site is supposed to, and used to be a valued daily surf report site.

The reason i don't trust it (anymore) is because the site started small and was the first in the area. As hits went up, the author realised that he could advertise products on the page. More and more products and adverts appeared, the actual report became less and less of a feature. The page is scattered with products, which makes it hard to find what you visited the site for, which de-values the information.

The actual report is the authors personal opinion and the photos are taken from a different place everyday, not live, taken at different times, and only once a day.