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Final Project

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Final Project: Script

1. Present the setting

2. Present the ball

3. Present Oscar

4. Oscar plays with ball - day

5. Oscar plays with ball - fall

6. Oscar plays with ball - winter

7. Oscar plays with ball - spring

8. Oscar falls asleep with ball - night

9. Ball falls down

10. Oscar wakes up

11. There’s no ball

12. Oscar freaks out

13. Oscar looks for his ball 1

14. Oscar looks for his ball 2

15. Oscar looks for his ball 3

16. Oscar gives up

17. Oscar hears ball bouncing

18. Oscar finds poor kid with his ball

19. Poor kid is happy with his ball

20. Oscar has a change of heart

21. Oscar leaves happy

22. Ball now belongs to poor kid

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Tutorial: Real world snapshots with ARKit and Xcode

## Introduction

Using an AR platform for the first time can be really intimidating (I've been there!), that's why I want to demystify using ARKit with Xcode.

The goal is making an app that takes pictures and hangs them in the place where they were taken (Similar to some art projects we've seen in class)

## First steps

Let's first open Xcode and create a new project based on the **Augmented Reality App** template. This template does the heavy lifting of setting up everything you need to get you started right away.


Make sure to select **SceneKit** as *content technology* (the engine ARKit uses for rendering stuff. SceneKit is for 3D, SpriteKit for 2D and Metal is Apple's OpenGL equivalent)


Now press the Play button and run the project on your device. You've just made an awesome AR ship app without even coding anything!

## Let's add some code

For making the app we want, we basically need 2 things:

1. Take a picture 2. Place it in the real world

Add this piece of code anywhere on **ViewController.swift** for doing just that:

``` @IBAction func takeAndPlacePicture(sender: Any) {        //Validating the framework and camera is working        guard let currentFrame = sceneView.session.currentFrame else {            return        }

       //1. Taking a picture        let imagePlane = SCNPlane(width: sceneView.bounds.width / 6000, height: sceneView.bounds.height / 6000)        imagePlane.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = sceneView.snapshot()        imagePlane.firstMaterial?.lightingModel = .constant

       //2. Placing it on the screen (by default it's 0,0,0 )        let planeNode = SCNNode(geometry: imagePlane)        sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(planeNode)

       //2.5 Moving it to the camera's position        planeNode.simdTransform = currentFrame.camera.transform    } ```

## Plugging things together

We need to run that code every time we tap the screen. So now we need:

1. Identify a tap on the screen 2. Trigger the code

On **Main.storyboard** find a *UITapGestureRecognizer* on the bottom right of the screen, and drag it to the screen's top bar.


Select it and drag *Sent actions* to the top bar's first icon (which represents **ViewController.swift**). Select **takeAndPlacePicture** from the popup list. This means our function will run every time our *UITapGestureRecognizer* recognizes a tap.

 

Last step is telling the *UITapGestureRecognizer* where it needs to recognize taps on (since you could have many different views on your screen). Select the big blue view on top of your screen and *gestureRecognizers* from the right sidebar to our *UITapGestureRecognizer*'s icon on the screen top bar.


## And that's it!

Run the code again (with your device in landscape) and try it out. It works!

## Next steps

We can tweak just a bit more our code for having a better experience.

#### Remove the 3D ship

The plane is awesome, but maybe you don't want it on your app. So let's take it out.

Go to **ship.scn**, select the ship and hit *Delete*. That's it.

#### Better placing the snapshots

The snapshots look great, but they might be too close to the camera. Go to our function and replace 2.5 step with this:

``` //2.5 Moving it 10cm away from the camera's position        var translation = matrix_identity_float4x4        translation.columns.3.z = -0.1        planeNode.simdTransform = matrix_multiply(currentFrame.camera.transform, translation) ```

Run again and the snapshots should appear at a more convenient distance from your device.

## More resources

You can check out the complete project on my Github page: https://github.com/cruzdiego/arkit-demo

This tutorial has been heavily based from Apple's own video session on ARKit: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2017/602/

For more videos like that and even more examples and documentation, make sure to visit Apple's website: https://developer.apple.com/arkit/

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Apathetic

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Case Study

Aira - assistive 'sight' for blind people

https://aira.io

Featured by NYT and CNET. Aira uses smart devices (goggles, mobile phones) to provide live audio assistance to blind people.

Unlike other cutting-edge and Machine learning oriented products, Aira's functionality is amazingly simple: the smart device sends live video to a human assistance, who in turn describes what's seeing back to the user in audio form. Pretty much like a FaceTime call with the back camera enabled.

I love many things about the project: - It's not the usual mainstream, futuristic AR experience one might expect - It doesn't involve technology breakthroughs nor high octane technology - It requires a human being on both ends

I think it's a great use of today's technology. It's amazing how many technologies we now take for granted but they're far for being used in their full potential. I also like the poetic irony in sighted people being so hard focused on 'seeing more' with AR. Maybe we could rebrand Aira's technology and mission as Restored Reality. But maybe RR is not a catchy acronym.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEejIaDTCwQ

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Visualizing stories

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7 Text + Art combinations

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Daily assignment: Week 1

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

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Draw yourself: From detail to idea

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Consumer Tribes: Harry Potter and the Fandom Menace

Really enjoyed all the hp puns used on the chapter. Interesting to think about how real life reception and daily interaction with the public can affect an author’s work (it is true the 5th book was a really really angry one). I wonder if the cease and desist actions to fans actually came from Warner Bros rather than JK Rowling (who supposedly used the fanbase sites to test the waters)

I’m not surprised to read about how the movie adaptations also influenced Rowling writing of her characters. That’s no different in comic books (e.g Even today DC Comics artists draw Superman very similar to Christopher Reeves). I don't see it as a bad consequence nor a harmful side effect. What’s debatable is the extent of the influence though.

There are a few instances where I feel the writer was jumping to conclusions. The scope of the fans effect in the series, the allegedly diminished quality of the books, and the exact turning point and other events in the relationship between JK Rowling and the the fanbase. It was personally hard to make the connections between the facts and the probable causes/explanations.

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Cowled Nun

By the look on his faces, there was no need for further discussion. The mid-lit room's floor was still crowded with blood stained bandages. I can see that, even now, Alfred is silently wondering how long would it take to mop the whole damn thing. He then proceeds to turn the machines down.

-  "May I suggest one thing, master Dick?" -  "And what would that be?" -  "I always found the ears too impractical" -  "Not now, Alfred."

I pick up my cellphone to check again the message that got me here. To see whether it was actually a mistake. If this was all a dream. The phrase doesn't change. I remember the moment I came with it. I was 14 years old. Solomon Grundy was again at loose, last seen at the entrance of an old chapel. We got there fast enough, so the rain started when we were already inside. The procedure went through smooth enough. Grundy was just scared of the thunders, he told us to make them stop. We stayed with him until the Arkham Asylum ban arrived. I noticed the storm out there so I borrowed a nun's cowl sitting on top of a chair.

- What do you think, Bruce? Am I a master of disguise or what? - Why are you wearing that? - Well, someone forgot to put a hood in my suit, clearly. - You'll get a cowl when you get older. - Wait, you mean yours? I don't think so. I kind of dig this one. Look, when you feel like retiring, just call for the Cowled Nun and I'll protect the city! - We'll see about that.

I imagine what went wrong. Kite-Man robbing banks, again. Sounds something that could be done before breakfast. With so many years of fighting the never-ending battle, eventually you get bored. You get sloppy. There was something different in his voice last time he called me. I'll never found out the reason. The bat is gone. For real this time.

- "Didn't know he had a protocol for this situation. The message and all" - "He had a plan for everything, you must know, Master Dick. When I asked about what 'Cowled Nun' meant, he told me you would understand it"

I want to stay a little longer, just keeping talking with Alfred, so he can at least mourn for the lost son. But there's no time. There's never time. The bat-signal is glowing already in the night sky. Alfred handles me a clean suit, one without the gunshot holes.

- "Should I asume you'll get back late for dinner, Sir?" - "You know I don't live... Yes, you can leave my plate in the fridge, Alfred." - "I'll bring it up to your room when you get home." - "Thank you Alfred" - "An honor to serve you as always, master."

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Stories/Media grabbing my attention

1. This tweet:

2. An NYC gov ad I stumbled upon on the Internet

3. The classic “If you see something, say something” on the MTA’s trains

4. “New Yorkers keep New York safe”, also from the MTA

5. This comic strip from The Oatmeal:

6. “Good boy”, a Batman short story nominated to this year’s Eisner’s Awards. A battered dog previously owned by The Joker is saved by Batman and put it on a Pet Shelter. While he thinks everything The Joker touches is broken for good, Alfred is about to teach him a different lesson. You can read the entire story here: http://www.comicsbeat.com/eisner-watch-2017-read-the-entirety-of-kings-and-finchs-batman-short-good-boy/

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Conversations transcripts

Conversation 2 Transcript

Friend 1: Oh, what's this? [Looks to a plastic rat on the classroom] Me: Mm...Looks like a rat Friend 2: Yeah, it's a rat Me: Although ahhhh.. in my country the rats are ahh.. way smaller, like, third of the size Friend 1: Really? Me: Yeah, that one looks like [pause] a dog to me Friend 1: I do like New York's rats though Friend 1: They have ... attitude Friend 2: Haha Me: Right, they have GRIT Friend 2: Grit! Yeah, they are survivors [Everyone laughs]

Impressions:

To no one surprise, I hear more fluent on Spanish than on English. But I did get a few insights from listening to both recordings:

- My sentences in Spanish are longer and they have fewer filler words, if any. - I tend to lower my speech pace in non casual conversations, in both languages. I did know I pick my words carefully when I'm trying to explain something or getting an opinion across. - Most of my sentences in English are cut off or interrupted by filler words and brief pauses. I still need practice in structuring my ideas in English while talking. - I have a loose vowel pronunciation in Spanish on a casual talk, but because we only have 5 vowels, my speech is still easily understandable. - While in English, I have to pay attention in nailing the right vowels, and it's exhausting on the long run. - Something that's not on the recordings, but I did notice: I move my hands while talking, almost all the time. Sometimes it helps to nail words or verbs, in both languages.

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The Art of Asking

I was expecting it to be a fine example of reciprocity and how we need to take care of each other, been part of the same community. But the narrative turned out too one sided, about how she was intrinsically entitled to just ask for money and other things from fans, without mention how the rest of her life was consistent with this philosophy (does she give away food or shelter too?).

To her credit, she doesn’t seem bad intended. But after watching the video I discovered there was a promotion for her book at the bottom of the page. After all that talk it was obvious that book was been giving away for free, right?. RIGHT? Wrong. It’s available at Barnes & Noble for $20.

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The Clothes Make the Fan: Fashion and Online Fandom When "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Goes to eBay

Very satisfying piece of work. I haven't actually watched the show, but reading this briefly transported me into the era where "things were simpler", an unexpected parallel to a fan's last quote: "if it's sad to have one's favorite show go off the air, the secret truth is, it's also a relief. At last, we can start living in the past."

Fashion is deeply connected to identity, and clothes are no left to chance in any tv show. I don't consider Buffy being remarkably fashion conscience, but certainly clothes do tell as much as the script in teenage tv shows.

It's also sad, to be honest, that in the end is money who rule auctions, and that money wasn't really going to something more meaningful than the show's network. And speaking of Fox, it's quite interesting the hatred fans had with the company, I'm wondering if it was easier for them to find a scapegoat for the show's shortcomings and mistakes if any.

Anyway, very well researched article (so many specific quotes and episode mentions, the author must be also a fan)

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Cultural Appropriation Assignment

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Enforcing cultural norms in a Fandom: Study

Kar was witness of a (still ongoing) incident at a Star Wars Republic Commando fan group. (Definitely very well documented on her own blog: http://www.karrosen.com/2017/09/30/fandom-case-study/)

A fan member called Gena started a movement to form a fictional Republic Commando cast using known actors/actresses, with the requirement of everyone being non-white.

What should have been a creative and innocuous mental exercise, it evolved in a complex discussion about discrimination and representation (because everything gets awkward when involving race).

Different fan members (mainly Vik and Dakka) expressed white people where being unfairly discriminated and it was amazing how racism against the white community wasn't being called out and it was even accepted by progressive society.

The subject escalated and people from one band started to ban people from the other band from blogs and conversations. The talks went from discussing the matter itself to personal attacks to people who didn't share beliefs.

This is evidently a typical case of being blind to the invisible privileges one posses for just being born within a particular group (in this case, straight white people). It's a very similar discussion to "Black Lives Matter" versus "All Lives Matter".

Because of the very polarized nature of the discussion, there is still no end in sight. Many members think the group needs to be more open to diversity of ideas and ethnics, while others think this discussion "takes the fun out of all", dismissing how important is to find representation within a group for any member.