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Numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding — these are the five principles of interactive media, each of them functioning as a language of sorts, communicating information in a way new media knows best. In this essay, I briefly describe how these principles have been applied to my group’s interactive project, Confessions.

 

1. 010011100111010101101101011001010111001001101001011000110110000101101100001000000101001001100101011100000111001001100101011100110110010101101110011101000110000101110100011010010110111101101110 

(copy binary before clicking hyperlink)

Binary, a string of numbers that seems indecipherable to someone who doesn’t understand it, and even if you did, it would take time to decode it. To new media, however, information input by humans are more easily read and communicated when converted into these strings of ones and zeros. Binary is one of the various forms of numerical representation. For instance, 0 can be used to represent a “false” input, while 1 can represent a “true” input. This digitalisation of information can be seen in our project, where we have included a programme that allows for participants to input messages onto a computer. This data is then encoded and communicated to the other computer in the second booth, where it will then be decoded and projected out onto a screen.

 

2. Modularity

New media is mostly made out of many small, independent components; they are able to run on their own, be it blinking a light to collecting data from the environment, but together, they form the body of a functioning system. Likewise, computer programming also includes this “fractal structure” whereby functions like “digitalWrite” and “digitalRead” are used together, but even when one of them is take out, the other will be able to function just fine. This modular structure is also used in our project; it is made up of independent components ranging from programmes and codes to computers and a projector. Even the video and music used can be changed individually.

 

3. Automation

By combining numerical representation and modularity, new media is able to function on its own, reducing the amount of manual work needed to be done to create the same effect. In relation to the project, the programme is able to detect whether there are any messages typed in by the participants, and if there are, it will project them onto the screen. Also, if the word has been deleted in the second booth, it will be automatically replaced by another message that hasn’t been projected yet, saving us the hassle of doing it ourselves repeatedly.

 

4. Variability

The outcomes of a new media object may not always be consistent. This means that every participant is able to interact with the new media object in their own way, resulting in different, unique outcomes. This is reflected in our project through the possibility of participants either deleting or just reading the messages seen on screen, their choices altering the experience for the next participant, so on and so forth.

 

5. Transcoding

The act of changing, for example, an image from one format to another; physical to digital. Viewing these two different formats of the same image can draw different feelings from an audience, which in turn, allows them to interpret the new media object in their own way. In our project, transcoding takes place when thoughts heard in the mind are converted to visual texts that are projected out onto a screen. We are used to having the thoughts floating around in our minds, but by projecting it, it allows us to read the same thought instead of visualising or hearing it. Also, other participants are able to see your thoughts, something that is impossible when the thought is in its former format.

 

The bounds for new media are set by five “principles of new media” present in most new media objects, which “should be considered not as absolute laws but rather as general tendencies of a culture undergoing computerization”

– Bradley Dilger, A Review of The Language of New Media

 

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1. ⁅ḾᏰ⁅ᖇ ᖇᾀḭṈ by Starlight Alchemy

The sparks generated represent catalysts of ideation and innovation, while the tower’s lotus-shaped petals symbolise the rebirth, purity and beauty of ideas flowing through space. (https://www.nightfestival.sg/nightlights/detail/ember-rain-by-starlight-alchemy)

Lighting up the city with their vibrant glow are the beautiful Night Light installations at the Singapore Night Festival. Electricity coursed through each and every installation, but there was one whose highlight wasn’t for its bright LEDs, but for its natural glow; the Ember Rain.

Created by Startlight Alchemy, this artwork allows for participants to pedal on a stationary bicycle, which acts as a method of transporting a small metal basket with a piece of coal inside. Once it reaches the top, the basket tips over, dropping the coal into the lotus-shaped fire pit(?). And the final result:

Pedaling away on the bicycle seemed tiring, and the height of the tower also meant that it took awhile for the coal to get up top, but the firey rain starts, it proves the participant’s harkwork indeed paid off.

 

2. T৸е lеАР ᠐բ բАiT৸  by Teng Kai Wei

Faith is taking that first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase, trusting that it will lead you to your desired destination. Oftentimes, we underestimate the importance of how every little step we take paves the way to a complete and fulfilling life journey. (https://www.nightfestival.sg/nightlights/detail/the-leap-of-faith-by-teng-kai-wei)

Another interactive installation I was attracted to was The Leap of Faith, which featured illuminated pressure plates that would mimic a rippling light effect whenever they were stepped on.

This installation was intended to allow the participants to experience finding their way towards their goals, taking literal leaps as they hop from pressure plate to pressure plate, maneuvering around the artwork. In addition to that, I’d like to think that having children like the one above being guided by their parents across the path gives adds to the meaning of the experience:

Although we take that blind leap of faith, we are never along; there will always be people willing to lend a helping hand along the way.

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1. Tilt Brush

Art can be created using various means, such as painting and sculpting. Likewise, in this interactive media project, participants are able to express their creativity through painting, only this time, it’s in a virtual space. They are not bound to working on a two dimensional surface; the room becomes their canvas. Every stroke of a brush is captured in real time, and since it takes place in the physical space as well, participants are also able to walk through their three dimensional creations.

 

2. Xbox BIG SHADOW Interactive Wall

In order to have a shadow, there needs to be light, and , of course, an object to cast the shadow. However, what happens if a huge shadow is just projected on the wall and tries to crush your shadow beneath its feet? Would the logical thinky-thinky parts of our brain help us understand that it is but a projection? Or would our instinct overrule all logic and proceed to make us go into full defense mode to survive the phantom foot? Evidently from the view above, the second option wins.

As suggested in the title, this project uses the projection of shadows onto walls to create an interactive space where virtual and physical spaces meet, allowing the audience to use their shadows to interact with a virtual shadow. Although the object/subject casting the big shadow is non-existent, the participants view the actions and instinctively react to them (e.g: when they’re about to be “stepped on”).