AVATAR-Show & Tell @ The Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity

PART I
AVATARAVATARAVATARAVATAR

On Thursday November 22, 2007, Researchers from the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity at OCAD held a show and tell session for their weekly open house with the theme of, "Avatar," and I thought it would be beneficial to post my notes to the VC Blog. Shortly after the Avatar discussions, VC Prof. Martha Ladly presented her Masters thesis on mobile technology navigation, called "Park Walk".

So what is an Avatar?

Mark Poon, OCAD Alumnus and Researcher

• Synapse
• build us (humans)
• around us, therefore part of us
• reality
  

Terri, Researcher

• Non-permanent conditions of our existence
• medium of the emergent self
• Weild(ed/ing)
• "Avatard"
  
• Therefore, we must design for emergence
  

This is Fiona Chung, AKA Avah Greenwood

















Researcher
"Multiple Personality Order"

• Avatars are/give superpowers
• Context demands content
• choice/making; social matrix

Invisible Majority

• More visible vs. invisible

Who Are You Really?

• Outwardly, you are that person whom you project yourself to be
• Inwardly, you are more you
• ex. blogging- individual conversation with the/ your self
  

Researcher

• Avatars are "beautiful prototypes"
• Psychophysiological technique of facial electromyography to find the Avatar
• Phonesthesia
• Ancestor simulations
• Telecommunicate
• Ex. Marshall McLuhan- telecommunication theory
• Fractal Geometry as "supernatural avatar"
  

I think an Avatar is:

• Tools of extension; allow us to step into other realms without leaving our worlds
• Applications in:
• Play
• Education
• Production
• Social Psychology
• There is no straightforward answer to "What is an Avatar".

What is an Avatar?

Part II
Professor Martha Ladly presented her Masters thesis to the group at 3pm.







http://mobilenation.ca/mdcn

"Park Walk"






Some valuable information was shared, in regards to working towards a Masters Degree:

1. Generate a project concept: Create a user-friendly navigation-based application for mobile phones in High Park, Toronto.
   
2. Write out the methodology > see website for Park Walk
3. Apply and test > see website for Park Walk
4. During the creative process,
   
1. Think of the user----> Firmitas
2. Apply to the design (cell phone)---->Utilitas
3. Design (the interface)--------->Venustas
5. Important to note:
1. Documentation; storage of files in a library
2. Develop demos to present to committees and panels
6. Write the report
1. paper copy
2. digital copy on DVD

*There are probably many more steps, but this is helpful to know what it is like to go through the process of working towards a Masters Degree.

















In reflection, Martha states that her creative process during Park Walk was not free from barriers:

• GPS Drifiting
• cloudy
• rainy
• leafy
• Solution to this problem: Move the location to Grange Park; test and design.
  

Reflection on the experience of Grange Park:

• "I would make it less didactic and more mysterious"—M. Ladly

In conclusion, but not in-conclusion... Martha is moving on to explore other areas and interests (including, of course, our Virtual Communities class).

Check out these sites:
Android
http://code.google.com/android/index.html
TED Prize
http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/6
Buckminister ("Bucky") Fuller Challenge
http://challenge.bfi.org/
One Laptop Per Child Project
http://laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

—Bryn Ludlow, Nov. 23, 2007