Conceptually, I was having some difficulty with this projct. I thought for a while about how an avatar could be used as a memory tool that would NEED to be an avatar, rather than some other 'reminder' tool (ie. PDA, cellphone, notebook, etc).
It seems to me that the outfitting of an avatar is it's most unique quality - the fact that you can save numerous different looks as 'outfits' would be practical for reminding oneself about people.
Enter concept for iKnow - the avatar that has an outfit to represent each of the people you know. Each outfit is developed to look as much like an aquaintance, friend, family member or work associate as possible. Each outfit is named after their real-life doppleganger, and has associated notes in the inventory which compile basic information about that individual, including recent conversations, any planned future meetings and any particularly memorable events.
So, there's idea one.
Then I discovered the topic of the Machinima. This is cinema that is filmed in virtual environments - an environment like Second Life is ideal. Using screen capture techniques and minor video editing skills, short films can take only minutes to develop, and can even be entirely free. This struck me as an incredibly useful tool for those with memory disabilities - ether for those who have lost early memories or cannot develop new ones.
Idea 2, Machinima Memories. A service for those with severe memory problems, Machinima Memories is a project which 'films' 're-enactments' of important parts of a person's life (that had been left unfilmed, ie: first meeting someone, a first date, etc). Using basic video editing, music and voice overs, coloration effects and subtitles can be added to impart the emotional impact of the event. These films could be wached repeatedly to try and 'hammer in' a memory for someone with this disability, or just kept on hand for watching for someone who will never be able to truly remember the event.
This is something that would never be possible to afford to recreate in real life with traditional film, but with the use of Second Life, it becomes fast, virtually free, and 'easy' (as far as filming goes).
There we go, some seedling ideas that might just blossom :)
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1 comment:
Very interesting concept. I was talking about your idea with Ian Murray, our visiting artist who will attend class tomorrow, and he alerted me to a virtual movie-making site. He'll tell you the name, but it is a kind of sim cinematography - where game participants work together to script, perform and shoot movies. SL could be even more effective because there are so many different purposes and roles in the SL community.
Movie making and staging re-enactments are strategies that recur in SL and are loaded with possibilities. Perhaps your next step is to refine this concept even more, to make it as precise as possible, so that it is "do-able" in scale.
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