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The Virtual Space Theory rethinks the vague notion of ‘virtual space’ and links it particularly to the study of visual media; the result is a whole new way of seeing pictorial images. It may seem quite complex at first, but it is in fact extremely simple. It is a way of seeing which might take a while to fully get, yet eventually it becomes so natural and intuitive that it just seems obvious.

We are used to approaching images in one of a few ways. Sometimes we identify them with the visual content that we see in them or what they symbolize, sometimes we consider them to be physical or cultural objects, sometimes we think of them in terms of how they were made. Depending on the context in which we come across them, we usually pick the most convenient approach without even noticing.

The Virtual Space Theory takes the view that pictorial images are not defined by their content or meaning, that they are not necessarily important as objects, and that the technique by which they were produced is irrelevant. Instead, it proposes that a pictorial image is just a means of seeing space where in fact there is none. Then, it tries to understand what the nature of this space might actually be.

Indeed, if we think of any pictorial image we can see – a painting on a wall, a photo in a magazine, a program on TV, or a video game on our computer – and shift our focus only to the space that we see through them, we would realize that fundamentally, it is the same general space in all of them. We could then consider that what makes images different from each other is simply that they are presenting different segments of this larger space, and that what makes mediums different from each other is simply that they are allowing us different degrees of accessibility to this space. Yet as an overall phenomenon, it always remains the same space. It is this space that The Virtual Space Theory considers to be ‘virtual space’.

From there on, The Virtual Space Theory extends to address the whole range of questions that naturally arise once this interpretation is introduced: How does this space relate to the physical space we inhabit? How does it differ from the mental space of our imagination? What kind of technologies do we have for producing such a space and for providing access to it? What are the rules that govern this space, and what internal structure might it have? How would we design places for this space, and how would they affect our experience of it? What is the history of making places in virtual space, and what is being done nowadays? How does this way of seeing images contribute to our understanding of present and future mediums? How does this theory extend to other fields, and what else could it be good for?

https://thenextweb.com/opinion/2016/12/30/these-are-the-tech-stories-were-most-excited-to-follow-in-2017/#.tnw_uPvkRf4T

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_G._Weinbaum

https://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2016/12/22/internet-things-changing-face-business/#.tnw_qytVHGCH

https://thenextweb.com/augmented-reality/2017/02/06/portal-microsoft-hololens-ar/#.tnw_kcuNRjII

https://thenextweb.com/apps/2017/01/18/how-to-build-useful-and-engaging-mobile-apps/#.tnw_BXdKVW6D

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2014/09/5-ways-virtual-reality-will-change-education/

https://elearningindustry.com/need-virtual-reality-education

http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2016-nmc-horizon-report-he-EN.pdf

https://elearningindustry.com/virtual-reality-in-learning-and-development

http://www.advanc-ed.org/source/learning-3d-making-stem-real

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VR for Health & Education

Two industries that are sometimes paired together are Education and the health sector: 

https://www.mindmaze.com/mindmotion/

Let us imagine a virtual museum. If the virtual space aims to imitate physical rooms, the student would explore it, room by room. In a museum, the information space is structured by ‘painting schools’ (e.g. surrealism), or centuries, or countries... 

Instead, the information space could be represented by an «Europe 20th century painters map» (2D or 2D or more complex). On this map, distance between two painters names would be computed on the basis of a survey in which art experts have been asked to answer question such as «Is Folon closer to Delvaux or to Magritte?» Students would explore this virtual museum in a way that is different from real museums. 

Instead of taking a one levelled journey they would take a journey that has been created by the actual UX designers. Taking the student on a journey will mean that they can’t get distracted or do something else instead they have to follow the User Experience. 

It goes without saying that we do not communicate in the same manner as we did 10 years ago, not to mention that the rapid growth in this sphere is hard to tackle if we go in the past decade of the last century, when the mobile phones were hardly used. 

The benefits of our age bring the virtual reality and the gadgets that we can use to have an insight into the possibilities the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment can bring us. 

Since we can interact in a seemingly real or physical way using special electronic equipment, helmet with a screen inside, or gloves fitted with sensors, we can say that we have made a step towards the illusionary world in three dimensions. 

But what about using virtual reality in education?

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Virtual Space

Creating space does not have to be done in a physical way - instead space can mean creating a place where multiple people can access and essentially use this space. See for me the internet is more like a huge party, mix with the right crowd and you get the right information. Mix with the wrong guys, Dark Web, hacking etc and you will get some of the more bad information.  A small piece taken from a Masters paper written by a student from Nottingham University. Explaining the idea of Virtual Space. We will all have second lives almost. 

Based on a report of Balkin and Noveck (2006), approximately 

30 million people regularly engaged in various platforms of virtual worlds in 2006, “spending about 22 hours each week on average.”

Tech consultancy Gartner estimates:

“By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a ’second life,’ but not necessarily in Second Life (Reuters/Second Life, 2007).” 

Nielsen//NetRatings (2008) reports: 

There were about 367 million active Internet home users in May, 2008. 

Mitchell Kapor, President of Kapor Enterprises (World Economic Forum, 2007) claims; 

“virtual worlds will eventually become the common interface for all Internet communications. The virtual world will grow up to be a ‘low-res’ version of reality (p.26).” Needless to say, this phenomenon will become increasingly prominent.

I have looked for some of the older research just to show how far we have actually come since 2008

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BBC Active  VLE

In the last 10 years, education has benefited from a real e-revolution - most schools and universities now have a functioning Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), at the heart of their teaching and e-learning programmes – a virtual ‘shadow’, if you will. A VLE, or learning platform, is an online system that allows teachers to share educational materials with their pupils via the web. Examples include Moodle, WebCT and Blackboard. 

For a student to be able to access a ‘Virtual’ room as either a duplicate or extension of their physical classroom is a clear advantage for learners and teachers alike. 

Every educational establishment ought to integrate a VLE into their lessons and allow it to become second nature to learners and educators outside of the classroom. 

Here are some reasons why:

•    Communication – opens up an infinite number of channels in the format of forums, discussion threads, polls, surveys – instant feedback either as a group or individually •    Producing work – students do not physically have to find their teacher to hand in work due to secure virtual ‘hand-in’ folders that have time windows •    Resource hub – teachers have infinite online storage space for ppts, docs, worksheets etc. that can either be secure or shared with students •    Dynamic home pages – teachers have the opportunity to create an exciting virtual space to represent their room/subject •    Links to outside sources – pathways to all other online learning spaces are linked via the VLE •    Embedded content – YouTube, BBC, newspapers can all be embedded as the dynamic feed of the homepage •    Podcasts & videos – both teacher- and student-produced podcasts and videos have a shared platform; again, either secure or sharedHowever, most establishments do not get the choice of a Virtual Learning Environment as the local education authority (LEA) are often contracted to a certain company – Fronter, Moodle, Frog, LP+, Kaleidos etc are the most common VLEs of choice.

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Research for Essay

In this part of my blog I will be looking into VLE systems: 

Any Web site is a built information space. In many cases though, this information space is just spaghetti of HTML files. We refer to the ‘architecture’ of information instead of ‘structure’ or ‘organisation’ of information in order to emphasise the fact that the structure results from analysing the functional requirements of the environment. 

For learning environments, the functional requirements are numerous and have not been yet systematically studied. Here are a few examples: 

• Using information in educational interactions. For answering simple questions such as “Give me an example of...” or “Give me an argument against...”, information must be stored in tables (databases producing dynamically Web pages) or in HTML files enriched with meta-information1 . 

• Multi-authoring. The information stored in a virtual learning environment is produced by many authors: several teachers, students, domain experts, ... 

Who is authoring what must be explicitly stored in the system for developing mechanisms for sharing objects (e.g. «locking» an object when somebody is editing it) and workflow techniques (e.g. the document produced by X must be sent for approval to Y and Z before to be displayed). 

• Indicating information source. Web information without explicit information regarding to (the authority of) its author will soon have no more value 

• Maintaining information. When Web sites grow, if information has not been carefully structured, maintenance becomes very heavy: maintaining links, removing obsolete information, ... The cost of maintaining a Web site may become higher that the costs of creating the site! And despite this, it is rarely included in the budget. 

• Following technical evolution. The effort devoted to developing Web sites has to survive the current technology. Structuring information and adding meta information increases the potential of reusability of information. 

• Sharing information with the world. Education would benefit from richer possibilities to share information outside the environment. There are currently efforts to establish worldwide accepted ‘resource description formats’2 and to specialise them for educational purposes3

Key words: Innovation Education, Design and Technology, Information and computer technology, research, InnoEd, National Curriculum, Virtual learning environment, Creativity, practical use of knowledge, Internet, inventions, design.

Definition 1:

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) may not be the most innovative educational technology to be found in use today, but they are one of the most pervasive, with 86% of respondents from United Kingdom Higher Education (HE) institutions reporting the presence of a VLE in their institution (2003). 

This lack of innovation is perhaps why many researchers and educational technologists hold them in something resembling disdain. 

There are a number of charges often levelled at the more popular VLEs, and particularly commercial ones, which can be summarised as: 

• They are content focused; 

• They have no strong pedagogy; 

• They are based around a teacher-classroom model; 

• They combine a number of average tools, but not the best ones; 

• They do not feature a particular tool; 

• They operate on a lowest common denominator approach; 

• They do not meet the needs of different subject areas; 

• It is difficult to exchange content between them, despite claims to interoperability.

http://lams2006.lamsfoundation.org/pdfs/Weller_Lams06.pdf

Facts and data about VLE

A virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) is defined as one in which the participant (e.g. student) actively engages with what is going on rather than being a passive recipient.

It also encourages communication between students and their teacher in order to find solutions to a range of problems.

This can take the form of a desktop set up but equally, can involve the student wearing virtual reality glasses or some other form of head mounted display (HMD) and an input device. This enables them to interact with events in that environment.

Another option is the use of avatars: an avatar is a 3D representation of a human being. This virtual being is created by a student who then uses he/she/it to explore a virtual environment. Their avatar can be customised to their requirements and have its own personality and modus operandi.

Definition 2: 

Following the emergence of the Internet in the early 1990s, many new tools and products have been developed to fully exploit its benefits. Since the mid- 1990s the education community has witnessed the appearance of software products labelled Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) that aim to support learning and teaching activities across the Internet. 

Many educators want to take advantage of the benefits offered by the Internet to support their teaching activities. However, creating Internet resources that are stimulating, appealing, easy to use and educationally sound is time consuming and requires considerable expertise.

 VLEs allow educators to create resources quickly and without the need to develop technical skills. 

Typically web-based, VLEs provide an integrated set of Internet tools, which enable easy upload of materials and offer a consistent look and feel that can be customised by the user. Popular commercial VLEs currently being used in UK HE include Blackboard and WebCT. 

Managed Learning Environments (MLEs) incorporate the elements of VLEs but also include and interact with the whole range of information systems e.g. student record systems, finance etc that contribute directly or indirectly to learning and teaching management. 

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is “a set of teaching and learning tools designed to enhance a student’s learning experience by including computers and the Internet in the learning process (Whatis.teactarget.com, 2013). 

Hence, a VLE package usually includes sections of curriculum (a usual curriculum broken down into smaller sections that could be easily assigned and assessed), student tracking, on-line support for both teachers and learners,and Internet links among its many functions.

Virtual learning environment users are assigned either a teacher or student ID. 

The teacher gets to see what actions the student takes, and the teacher has additional rights to create or modify content and track student performance.

There are a number of commercial virtual learning environment software packages available including: Blackboard, WebCT, Lotus Learning Space and COSE. Unlike the above mentioned, the VLEs which are the focus of this research study (Edmodo and Moodle) are available at no cost.

VLE: 

Forecasts

More students in the traditional age bracket of college (18-22) will be taking online courses/programs than their non-traditional age counterparts (25 and above) by 2020 – as a whole

More undergrad students at community colleges and small colleges will be taking online courses than their traditional classroom counterparts by 2017 if not sooner

Online degree programs will see an enrollment increase in the range of 20-25% by 2013, I’m talking about yearly average, again as a whole

7.5-7.8 million students taking at least one online class by early 2013

Government funding for online learning in education to increase by 15-20% by 2014 – if not sooner, the global economy plays heavily into this

Increase in costs for some online programs – equal rather then lower to their traditional B&M classroom counterparts – at private universities

More states offering a universal “online school” or as some states refer to “virtual schools” 

Pros and Cons of VLEs

Pros:

✔ Can offer a range of solutions and options depending on product ✔ Can be used for blended learning and staff development or courses where anytime anywhere access is an advantage ✔ A safe secure place that is specially for educational activity ✔ Pupils may not like interacting in front of the whole class ✔ Can be a quick and easy source of reference, for example, for a class to use for a specific assignment ✔ Staff and pupils can keep academic and personal lives separate ✔ Technical support is available ✔ Moodle is free and open source in Kenya, Chile and the UK

Cons:

✖ Encouraging use can be tough.  Usability, interaction and design may not feel as attractive to users so they may not use it; students and staff may feel it’s forced upon them rather than part of their world ✖ There may be other opportunities to teach and learn using the web that might be lost ✖ Pupils may filter their interaction on the VLE because they feel it will be assessed ✖ Some VLE platforms develop slowly compared to the social web ✖ A proprietary solution may require long-term investment and commitment ✖ It will take time to train staff and develop a culture of use

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Essay Planning

Planning the digital context essay 

Digital Context Blog - 30% 15 Minute Problem - Chosen area is VLE look for a 20 slides (5 slides each) Final 5 slides bring together the whole solution. 50% 1500 words Images to be used to portray certain models

Subject Matter: VLE 

Referencing

500 - Introduction to VLE - why are you writing about it? What is wrong with it? Problems 500 - Create an argument - for and against VR & AR in VLE systems. (Academic Referencing) 500 - What is stopping the use of VLE - Expectations vs reality why people aren't using the VLEs Solution to the problem Week 1 and Week 2 - Practice Based Dissertation (Video Blog from Phone) Week 3 - Storytelling across screens (Multi channel media) Week 4 - AR - VR (Room VLE) Week 5 - Documentation (Serious Gaming) (Steam) (Life games) Week 6 - (Dangers of UX - Dark UX) Week 7 - Video and history multimedia Week 8 - Team Establishments VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Development Work - Dichotomy - AR & VR Used in different sectors) VR & AR interaction.   Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Design Prototype Presentation - 20 slides 1) Overview of what was spoken in the last pitch 2) How we reacted to a conclusion and how we got the materials we did Digital innovation & technology Design a website Slider quick time With your own showreel Thumbnail with an extended slider 4 projects shown Profile & contact Details & social Media

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http://www.worldofinitials.co.uk/showcase-entry/fiat-500-icon-remastered

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VR SHOWREEL! 

INTERACTIVE GAME USED TO TRY HIRING MORE PEOPLE! MADNESS

Mad video showing the use of infinity patterns: 

Mad interactive videos Sound Experiments (How visuals can help bring depth to a soundtrack):   I watched every video on the website, each one has its own character and uniqueness to it.

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/chloe

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/soufiane

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/adrien

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/jordan

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/diana

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/nathalie

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/arthur

http://sound-experiments.vdaguenet.fr/project/madjid

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Personally one of my favourite movies! Also weirdly enough one of my biggest inspirations in life. This Title sequence is around 10 different parts, themes or sections: 

Kuntzel and Deygas's memorable and idiosyncratic title sequence to Steven Spielberg's comedy drama thriller Catch Me if You Can (2002), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, depicting the career of the world's most successful con artist, Frank Abagnale Jr.. 

The slender Lowreyesque figures run through environments that symbolise key plot points from the film, and are accompanied by John Williams' floaty, 1960s jazz-era score. The title design credit is discreetly featured in the shelf, while the papers blow past the pursuer's face. No copyright infringement intended. To be removed at the behest of the distributor.

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It really exists, its a full hour of Saul Bass Title Sequences! Unbelievable! 

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A great title sequence I found whilst dad was watching a tv show

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Week 7: A Concise History of Video and Experimental Interaction…

1970’s

DECONSTRUCTION

Fluxus Movement

“Unlike previous artistic movements, Fluxus sought to change the history of the world, not just the history of art. The persistent goal of most Fluxus artists was to destroy any boundary between art and life.

George Maciunas especially wanted to, "purge the world of bourgeoisie sickness...." He stated that Fluxus was "anti-art,"in order to underscore the revolutionary mode of thinking about the practice and process of art.”

Another interesting quote explaining how Fluxus:  A central Fluxus tenet was to dismiss and mock the elitist world of "high art" and to find any way possible to bring art to the masses, much in keeping with the social climate of the 1960s. Fluxus artists used humor to express their intent and, along with Dada, Fluxus was one of the few art movements to use humor throughout history. Despite their playful attitude, Fluxus artists were serious about their desire to change the balance of power in the art world. Their irreverence for "high art" had an impact on the perceived authority of the museum to determine what, and who, constituted "art."

Ant Farm Video Art Overview http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/videoart/ LVA Compilation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVwR_VzfCDs DAVID HALL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA9IdHtHk_0&t=7s http://www.luxonline.org.uk/…/screenings_and_exhibitions.ht… Nam Juin Paik – New York Retrospective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7RqvHpghzo

1980s ‘RECONSTRUTION - SCRATCH DUVET BROTHERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPpazhkyZQ4 GORILLA TAPES (Invisible TV… piece on parodying formats) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPpazhkyZQ4 GORILLA TAPES (Death Valley Days… Thatcher and Reagan Rom Com Parody) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDQM_UJ0Tm0 GORILLA TAPES – DEATH VALLEY DAYS FULL SET http://www.stiftung-imai.de/b_katalog/archiv?a_id=529

1990’S ‘INSTALLATION’ VIDEO POSITIVE http://www.tate.org.uk/…/tate-…/exhibition/video-positive-95 LEI COX… do some further research into his work too… http://www.rewind.ac.uk/partridge/pages2/INTERRUN.htm … and he’s still doing stuff ☺ http://www.videopool.org/being-there-installation-by-lei-c…/ Eddie Berg – Pioneer in Defining and Curating Video & Interactive works FACT – Came out of the original Video Positive and Moviola based in LiVeRpOoL… http://www.fact.co.uk/ STUDIO Collectives… Tomato/Underworld https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEO-MTknPps TOMATO – Collective… some great showreels here http://www.tomato.co.uk/home/showreel ANTI ROM… Found in ’94, but now disbanded… but members still active. http://www.antirom.com/

2000> Shynola… SEMINAL ILLUSTRATION & MOTION…from MoWax to Nat West, Radiohead… amazing… http://www.shynola.com/ LEI COX – Festival visuals… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQGFE-TBfos LEI COX… and he’s still doing stuff ☺ http://www.videopool.org/being-there-installation-by-lei-c…/ Proper worth a mooch for innovation and tech… ONE DOT ZERO: http://onedotzero.com/

Other cool as references on the emerging landscape… IDEO… how design should be done… https://www.ideo.com/eu

Also look at… https://uva.co.uk/

I’ll continue to blast stuff your way, BUT there’s enough to get your teeth into for now ☺

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Great video

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More videos to look at

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 — April 25, 1996) was a graphic designer and filmmaker, perhaps best known for his design of film posters and title sequences.

Saul worked side-by-side with his wife Elaine Bass for much of his career.

During his 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese. He became well-known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass designed effective and memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography, for North by Northwest, Vertigo (working with John Whitney), and Psycho.

Bass also designed some of the most iconic corporate logos in North America, including the original AT&T “bell” logo in 1969, as well as their later “globe” logo in 1983. He also designed Continental Airlines’ 1968 “jetstream” logo and United Airlines’ 1974 “tulip” logo which have become some of the most recognized logos of the era.

A title sequence done by Saul Bass, shows the simplicity and minimalistic aspect of design. 

Looking at:  https://www.ideo.com/eu

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Important Videos to look at