Category Archives: Final Project

Project Update 2: YouMAP Night Experiment

The previous experiment was in daylight, everyone awake and the streets busy with something or someone. The noise was a distraction and so were the visuals.

Hence to fully experience dependency on the Google Maps, I decided to take the experiment to the night time and to go through a path that I am aware but am not sure or have travelled before.

Thus, I chose the pathway connector that is relatively near to me and to go to my sister’s ex junior college. The pathway was previously a rundown mash and that i was familiar with. But 3 or 4 years back, they renovated and eversince then, I have actually travelled beyong the 200 ms after the basketball court, least to say at night.

So today was the day, I travelled and see how it went.

The whole experience was peaceful yet creepy to a certain extent. The peaceful was that there were not much noise or sound which also became the creepy part of this experiment. The navigation overall was good and was focused. The only disappointment was that the path was straight throughout and that there were few turns. It would be have been interesting if I tried it with a bit more twist and turns; spice up the whole experience.

At the end of the experiment, I decided that I will go back through the same path ( it was not difficult to recognize since it was a long straight line) to see how the environment was. The experiment had my phone right infront of me to avoid the view of the surrounding. So this would give a bit of view of what I initially travelled. It was dark, so let’s not expect too much of a visible view.

Next week is the final.  So I will use periscope to record the whole experience while navigating through the other phone with Google Maps. I was intending of taking a bus to a untravelled path ( nearby neighbourhood flats) and navigate my way back to class – on time!

Let’s hope I don’t get lost and that I manage to capture a variety of audiences. Perhaps, I will find ways to come up with options and hopefully be directed by people’s response through periscope!

Project Update: YouMap Experimentation 1

So for this week, it was all about experimenting and trying to see how it flows.

The objective was to be able to consciousness focus on the google map to navigate myself to a destination without paying attention to my surroundings visually.

Previously, I had already experimented in school with regard to the way it was to be captured.

Initially, I planned to do it on Wednesday after getting all my equipment and testing them out. I planned to go from my house to Yew Tee Point, which I also proposed the last time. However, due to the rain, I had to postpone the whole experiment today.

I started from Pioneer Mrt Station and decided to navigate myself to Jurong Point. It was to take me approxmiately 20 to 30 minutes to reach there. Hence, I commenced with the journey, being very conscious mostly to focusing on the Google Map and not what’s infront of me visually.

Google Start

I used a samsung phone to record my voice while using my iphone to navigate through to Jurong Point Mall. I took screenshots of the Google Map as I navigated to the Mall. Thus, I have used the voice recording together with the screenshots to create a short clip of my process. I could update the whole 21 mins recording due to space constrains.

The overall experience with having to navigate using Google Maps alone and trying to consciously focus on it visually can be both tiring and scary. I tend to lean on my sense of hearing for me to be cautious about my surroundings. When I am nearing a traffic light ( which I use Google Maps to detect when I have to cross a lane), I tend to automatically survey my surroundings immediately and to make sure that I am able to cross the street.

Google Middle

As a person who loves to talk, I found myself many times repeating my descriptions of the surrounding or my emotions. It got to a point where I just had to leave it silent. The recording became too mundane, in my opinion. I left it didn’t truly express me as I was a visual person.

Google Cross Road

Along the process, listening to my surroundings became extremely keen to accommodate my sense of security. The beginning stage, where the surrounding sounds just included children, buses etc, the sense of security was at bay. However, as mentioned in my recordings, it became worse as I approached the Mall. The sound was heavy, and had constant overlaps. This created discomfort in me. I was getting very frustrated and this overwhelming sense of discomfort that most probably I associated with danger. It was then, that I was more interested in ending the whole process. It was a sense of urgency and despair that filled me.

The idea of using the virtual realism to dominate my physical boundaries seemed possible when the environment was as peaceful as what it was in the google maps. However, when the scenario changes, there are certain natural instincts that I tended to express. I wouldn’t pin it down as a fight or a flight theory but it runs along those lines.

Google Next

So what’s next?  I analysed today’s project and realized that, as mentioned during last week’s critique, I needed to record myself in the process- which is essential.  However, by planning the location and the route, I think I put myself on familiar grounds and hence was confident to do it. Such familiarity was strong that I didn’t have much to talk about or express my feelings.

Hence, the next recording I am intending to do is to walk from Pioneer Mrt to Boon Lay Secondary School. Boon Lay Secondary School was secondary school. The paths to the school are filled with memories and I hoping that I can recapture those through my Google Navigation. Perhaps, this time, I will take a video from my perspective, navigating yet going down ‘memory lane’.

 

Final Project Update 2: Methodology and Try out

So after discussing with Randal, I am now trying to create a virtual vision that uses perhaps apps like Google map to navigate myself soley. So the use of eyes is only for precaution but not for the navigation other than looking at the Google Maps device or app.

So I tried this one in School and it didn’t really go too well cause I  realized that the light and the cinematics were not up to my liking ( was constantly out of focus etc) and so the experimentation ended pre-maturely.

I have to think of something else.

Also, during the recess week, I made my way to Singapore Botanical gardens and tried to navigate but it failed cause there are no markers in Google maps within Botanical Gardens. Apparently you need to somewhere near a road like what I did today using NTU Cannteen 1. Then I tried using Orchard Road but after a while, I realized it would be a safety issue. Hence I still have to decide of a location. Didn’t take shots of these though cause I was scouting only ( and its my recess week – chill out time!)

I will come up with more by next week!

Cheers

Jaysee

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Final Project Ideas

For my final project, I was thinking of doing something that plays an oxymoron situation.  I was thinking of titling it “Singapore on Foot” for now…

I have this plan of taking a video shoot of the different cultures in Singapore through the perspective of a feet. So the plan was for me to converse with people in the streets of different languages but instead of a front face viewing, it will be downward face view and will display me travelling through Singapore.

The concept is to broadcast the view of a typical Singaporean. How we travel through the whole Singapore with the view that faces downwards – Something that I term as ‘D(r)owning syndrome’. I want to capture the essence and proof of functionality of ambience sound and also see how Singaporeans are able to cope everyday with this ‘D(r)owning Syndrome’

 

Final Project Draft

 

Cheers

Jaysee