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The Final Essay

Konbanwa mina-san! The end of the session is here and this will be the final post for this set of entries in the blog. This post is going to cover my experiences from MDD410 and how they have affected my education. So let’s get going.

MDD410 was a bit different than what I had expected. I had expected to delve through learning about the different software and hardware that is out there that is changing the way multimedia is displayed, created and shared. Drooling over the latest Wacom innovations and how to use AutoDesk’s 3D Max. The class touched a bit on the latter but definitely did not get a chance to drool over the slightly unobtainable things.

Despite not drooling over PC hardware and tech, a lot was learned in this class. Augmented reality is still one of my favorites that we delved into. The possibilities are astounding. Most readily available, are the advantages to getting directions in an easier to understand interface and showing a user what is available in close proximity. These possibilities make it easier to discover restaurants, shops and sites one may have otherwise passed over.

We did a project where we created our own augmented reality mock-up. This project required us to look at a given street level view and imagine what information an augmented reality overlay could display that would enhance the experience of being in that spot. Instead of just seeing what could be an overwhelming image of people, building and signs; an augmented reality interface could highlight the points of interest that are around the corner or the next street over. It could also highlight a destination that the user had previously chosen, letting them know just how close they were getting.

In the end, the key thing I’ve taken away from this class is that no matter how awesome an idea may be, if the interface isn’t clear and obvious to use it won’t be useful. No matter how many bells and whistles it has or how great I may think it looks, you have to build towards the audience that will be using it. The audience must always be kept in perspective to create something of value.

This class has been a great eye opener to some magnificent technologies from our dives through interesting technology sites and crowdfunded projects. It has been one of those classes I probably would’ve enjoyed even more on campus so there would’ve been more chances to expound on things like customizing objects in the 3D modelers or getting into real time discussions over what is out there available to the multimedia workforce. Overall, I’m glad I got to experience this class at this point in my education. Wasn’t too early in my education to be an overload, but not too late to be inconsequential.

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Week 7 MDD 410 Done!

All posts have been done as Links, which means all titles are links back to the original content being talked about in each post. 

The goal of the project this week was to look through the four provided sites and find new trends in digital media, evaluate what the trend was, if it was growing and if we, ourselves, would get more involved in the field.

The posts written here are pure opinion. So take it how you will, my thoughts are mine as yours are yours.

Thanks!

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   This idea of a hologram being triggered to ward people from parking in handicap spots is pretty ingenious. Using a screen of water saturated air to project an image could be used in so many ways. Advertisements or kiosks that can be walked though. Displays in shops that can easily be updated and changed via a program rather than printed media or having to hang a monitor in the store. They could be activated in attractions displaying a recorded enactment for visitors to see that would start at the recognition of a pass or a press of a button. The use of projections in digital media is a valuable one since they take up minimal space and are easy to adjust the look of or information in with just a few minor tweaks of digital files.

   Digital projection is something I would love to explore and play with more since it allows for a combination of artistic expression, hardware setups and digital coding. The medium itself is so versatile that you could display almost anything almost anywhere which is what intrigues me the most.

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Here’s an app I kind of want to play with myself. Having a background in electronics, schematics and circuits are kind of fun. This app takes that to a new level by allowing a user to drag and drop, test and create programs without having to know all the crazy coding that goes a long with it.

  The creator of the app got the idea from his son playing with his phone, which is pretty awesome. Since children are gaining more access to smartphones and tablets, having an app that is fun and teaching them something on an engineering level is just fantastic. The article mentions that the concepts that the app are teaching are usually not taught until high school. This trend of finding simple ways to teach younger children complex theories is definitely something I can get behind. It’s not only fostering learning but it’s also allowing kids to be creative in a whole new way.

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   At first hearing about big companies dropping their comments sections, I had to ask “Why would they do that?” It came to me shortly after of “why wouldn’t they?”

   Think about it for just a moment, how many company blogs have you been on where there was an unused comments section? How many company pages have you been to where there’s been a lot of replies on posts? Of those replies, how many were negative with a company representative posted a response addressing the customer/client’s issues?

   Comment sections require a person to manually filter through every post (past and future) and personally address each issue as it happens. Which takes up a lot of time and resources to search for those comments and sometimes have to repeat the same answer to multiple different people.

   The disabling of comments sections in favor of social media or “letters to the editor” features looks like it could be a popular trend. It allows customers to still give their feedback but it allows companies to have more control on the content and how it is viewed and handled.

   Comment sections have their uses and if I were to only have a single place like a blog or website for my customers to leave feedback for me, I would definitely entertain the idea. Honestly though with all of the other outlets and options for spreading the word about a business, I’m all about making the daunting task as easy to handle as possible.

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    While an autopilot vehicle may not be a direct part of digital media, per se, it is a huge index of trends to come. In the video, the man in the driver’s seat mentions being able to see all of the sensor interactions as they are happening displayed on the dashboard. This is where digital media is an influence. Dashboards and vehicle interfaces are becoming more informative with a possibility of becoming more customizable. These customizations and indications could bring a whole new sector to the media/design industry once you take out the need for a physical button or nob, controlling the cabin temperature or radio station can be a simple gesture or touch of an icon.

    The auto-piloted vehicles and vehicle dashboards/interfaces are all things I, personally, like to know and follow but to actually be more involved? No thanks. While I enjoy the information, possibilities and such of how it is all changing, it doesn’t suit the direction my tastes for anything more than dabbling with scribbles of ideas that could be rather than trying to make a living in such a focused design field.