Month: September 2018

Micro Project 5: Split Screen (Clarita and Ling Ern)

Here’s a saved video of our split screen live broadcast!

Ling Ern and I thought of the concept of “teleportation” through the third space, which is a common idea in science fiction. We decided to teleport food from one place to another through the third space.

This was filmed in separate places in ADM. We had a list of food that we wanted to share, and how we wanted to interact with them. From just passing food from one side to the other, to sharing the food together, to passing an object back and forth and it “transforming” when passed around.

The outcome I would say is really fun to watch, almost as if it was edited, but in actuality done live. Many videos like this are available on the internet, and these composite videos mimic visual effects.

If we had more of the props, we could have done more takes to perfect the synchronisation.

Even though the end result is not as seamless as we would like it to be, we thought that it was a really fun video to do in the end. After multiple tries, and problems with doing split screen on Facebook live on android phones, we were finally able to resolve connection, broadcast issues and do a full take.

Here’s the full video on Facebook:

Posted by Clarita Saslim on Tuesday, 25 September 2018

The only unfortunate thing other than the imperfectly synced parts is that some of the comments from my friends during the live broadcast were gone. In the video you can hear me reacting to their comments, however they did not appear in the final post when I shared the live video.

A friend asked me to do a virtual high five with Ling Ern at the end of the video, but sadly Ling Ern had logged out at that point of time haha.

Even though Ling Ern and I were in different places, we could interact as if we were right next to each other, defying any physical boundaries or geographical situations.

The third space really gives humans unlimited connectivity, and in the future, I think haptic connectivity would be developed even further. Maybe we would even be able to interact with physical, tactile avatars of people from across the world. Who knows?

Micro Project 4 – Pirate Broadcasting

For this micro project, I spontaneously decided to live stream a poll in which the audience would help me choose a pair of jeans to buy, since I need to buy some pants for a trip.

Making use of Facebook’s stories, I pre-broadcasted the information that I will be going live at a certain time, and the choices that I had.

At 6 p.m. I went live to gather responses on which pair I should get, telling them to comment/react different emojis for different choices. I thought that it would be a fun way to get the audience to interact.

Unfortunately, although I tried telling my friends on Whatsapp to come and interact with me live, most were unavailable and the first try ended up with failing as the audio was not broadcasted to the viewers. More people came and left comments, but there was something faulty and the video ended up not saving at all.

So I went ahead and tried a couple more times, the last of which worked. In the broadcast I explained what I was doing and showed them the choices, and told viewers to comment or react to indicate their choices. However, there was almost no audience and hence I could not get an enough response. I decided that maybe I could let the viewers decide even after the live broadcast.

When I ended the video, Facebook couldn’t save my video and couldn’t even post it to my story, which was a little upsetting, but at that time, I already had to leave the store to get back to NTU for another event, and couldn’t stay any longer, plus my phone was dying so I decided to just leave it be and try again the next day.

This was the only one saved somehow out of the three tries:

HELP ME CHOOSE WHICH JEANS TO BUY!!!Comment ❤ for green striped jeansComment 👍 for black jeansComment 😄 for blue jeansLove yall!!

Posted by Clarita Saslim on Wednesday, 19 September 2018

As a replacement, I decided to wear the jeans the next day and ask a friend’s opinion on it instead. I would also be revealing which pair of jeans I got in the end.

Videos

I think that as an audience, I’m pretty used to watching content creators on the various social media platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Facebook. However, I’m solely an audience and have rarely participated in responding or leaving any comments.

Based on my experience watching them, my idea of an interactive live video is very fun, but apparently it becomes a little awkward when you have no audience. What is the point of going live then? It made me wonder how a lot of my friends and I, and many others in the world, are more of passive consumers rather than active participants when it comes to interacting in social media.

Viral videos, news, or anything posted in the internet, while many share, comment and react, many others simply view and leave. With the millions of content available in the world for everyone to see, how do content stand out and how is it relatable? How do we elicit response from viewers, especially when you’re starting out?

Just some thoughts I had after this exercise. 🙂

Week 3: Explorers: Age of Encounter

There are many great explorers in history, but only the westerners seem to receive the most fame. When I say “explorer”, most people would think “Christopher Columbus!” in the first few seconds.

Another explorer, Vasco da Gama, is credited as the first person to successfully travel from Europe, around Africa, and to Southeast Asia. Some say that he is the one who opened up the maritime trade route between Europe and Asia, and this feat may even compare to present day’s man landing on the moon.

Yes, they are great explorers, but the thing is, these Eurocentric narratives do not shine enough light on the people who helped make it a success; those who passed on the knowledge on how to navigate the seas, those with nautical and astronomical understanding, which are crucial to da Gama’s journey. They are the Arabs or Muslim/Gujju navigators.

 

Week 2: Benin Bronzes

This week we learned about African art during the Portuguese encounter, and the ivories produced in Sierra Leone. We learned about how the cultures started to influence each others’ art, the artefacts from which we can recreate an account of the past, of what trade was like, when it started. This, I thought, was interesting because in the past I thought of art history as simply trying to find out about each culture’s history, not how they intertwined with each other.

Due to travel and trade, many artefacts that were once made, gifted or exchanged end up in different places in the future (which is present day). When archaeologists and historians find artefacts from the past, they would almost claim it as their own (“finders, keepers”) and store such valuables in museums that are not necessarily the home country’s. Such was the case of the Benin Bronzes. I feel that it is unfair and immature if they were to claim the bronzes as their own, and while it is important to share cultures around the world, it is not very nice for anyone to do that.

I don’t think that they should necessarily be housed in the home country’s museum, but at least there should be a compromise in terms of ownership(?), since both parties are involved with the artefact somehow. One is the origin, one is the re-discoverer, and both play a big part in the artefact’s history.

Micro Project 2 – Pirate Broadcasting

CLASS TIME WITH WEN LEI: Final Projects?? Say hi to Lei

CLASS TIME WITH WEN LEI: Final Projects?? Say hi to Lei

Posted by Clarita Saslim on Thursday, 6 September 2018

My first ever Facebook live video, and I do it for class. I have never been too much of a social media user. The times that I use it though, I like to get to know what my friends or family are up to. However, I rarely use it to share my own life. There’s something about letting others know things about me, or the fact that if I post anything/everything online, information about me will be permanently available on the web space for strangers/FBI agents/criminals to find, that just don’t sit well with me… somehow. Most of the time I don’t think or care about it, but there IS that little part of me that thinks that… you knOW?? DOn’t you toO?!

Okay anyways, doing the live video was brainless to me, something that doesn’t happen too often as I always put much (sometimes too much) thought before doing things. As a result, I defaulted into my defense mechanism: being a little awkward and silly. I decided to live stream the idea generation Lei was conducting in class, and anyone speaking on screen.

Not a lot of people saw the video live, but I think what was most interesting is the conversation generated through posting that live video. Family that I don’t interact in real life much, and even my old Balinese dance teacher contacted me through comments on the video.

   

So I realise that even when the medium itself is live and real time, it doesn’t mean that the conversation won’t live on past the broadcast duration… It will be there as long as the internet (or Facebook) exists, and through sharing may be able to expand and develop.

Ok enough of the word vomit bye

DOW – Health: Lechal by Ducere Technologies

Lechal is an interactive haptic footwear developed by India-based Ducere Technologies. Shaped like an insole, users are able to use Lechal with many different kinds of footwear. It provides GPS navigation through vibratory feedback that would guide users invisibly, but intuitively.

Through Lechal, Ducere Technologies strives to help the blind or visually impaired navigate the world better. Lechal uses Bluetooth technology to sync to a user’s phone, where you can set your destination. It will then show you the way through gentle vibrations, which means that the user does not have to be cosntantly relying on visual or audio feedback from their phones/devices. This also makes it easier for the visually impaired to lessen dependency on their walking sticks.

PROS

Unlike map applications, which would require users to look at their devices, or through audible instructions, Lechal directs users in a hands-free way. Instead of having to walk with their sticks, Lechal could direct the visually impaired in a whole different way.

Other than the visually impaired, Lechal also works great for those with perfect vision. Instead of having to spend days with their heads down, or ears cocked to listen to their phone’s instructions, users are able to look up and enjoy their world without being too dependent on their phones.

Lechal also works offline. Without data connectivity, it is still able to give users directions anywhere in the world.

Other than navigation, it also has other functions that track workouts and fitness goals.

CONS

I’m not sure how it would be if users missed the vibration, or if its affordance is as effective.

Besides, other than a navigation device and health-tracking device, I don’t know if it completely eliminates the need to use walking sticks for the blind or visually impaired.

MODIFICATION

Maybe other than its main functions, Lechal could also be developed to have distance, motion and audio sensors that would allow it to detect its surroundings and direct its users better. This way, the blind or visually impaired can navigate the world better, without having to rely on sticks. Plus, it already has GPS so it would also be able to replace map applications for the visually impaired.