Riot: Alternative web browser / Research Critique (Week 5)

Overview
Riot (1999), by Mark Napier, is an alternative Web browser that constructs its pages by merging text, images and working links from recent pages that the Riot user has surfed. The composite then appears on a single page, with overlapping text and imagery in a haphazard arrangement. The browser can accommodate up to a total of three different sites compositions, with a unique composition per browser refresh.

A screenshot of Riot, compositing the web pages Zalora, Laneige and Newnation
A screenshot of Riot, compositing the web pages Zalora, Laneige and Newnation

Definitely, Riot fits the definition of glitch, as interpreted by Rosa Menkman as,

…a (actual and/or simulated) break from an expected or conventional flow of information or meaning within (digital) communication systems that results in a perceived accident or error.
– Rosa Menkman in The Glitch Moment(um), (2011)

On two different spectrums, Riot deconstructs:
1. visual imagery and text arrangement on the webpage; and
2. the idea of a singular web surfing experience

Shattering Boundaries: Physical and Digital
In allowing multiple sites to flow together, Riot forcefully expands the virtual environment – sites are no longer constrained within their physical boundaries of the digital medium. Traditional ideas of ownership, territory and authority, already transgressed by the new form of the web (where a percentage of online content has a shared viewership and authority), is further probed: through Riot, it becomes a public space.

The dismantling of browser arrangement in Riot can be perceived as an error to the everyday user; conversely, this ‘error’ also exposes the lack of control users have on the net. Despite the conviction that users are gradually having greater autonomy on the net, they are ultimately still subject to the set web environment. Only after experiencing the have-not, then do they realise what they are privileged with – ultimately a human condition of not being able to appreciate what they already have. As such, glitches can be used to,

…bring any medium into a critical state of hypertrophy, to (subsequently) criticize its inherent politics
– Rosa Menkman in The Glitch Moment(um), (2011)

References
[i] Menkman, R. (2011) “Glitch Moment(um),” Institute of Network Cultures

Project Proposal 2: Reveal

Chat Roulette

Inspiration was drawn from chat roulette, an online site where users can chat with others anonymously, and at random. The most rudimentary method of communication, was through speech – hence, I thought of going back to the basics for this narration project.

 

The medium of choice remains an online website, where two users, at any one time, is able to log into the site. Their identity will remain anonymous, until they decide to reveal it. In summary, the website will adopt a common online ‘messaging’ interface.

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There will be 2 boxes, where each user (who do not know each other) write into the box.

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Each user will occupy each ‘station’.

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Above the text boxes, there will be a camera input (from live webcam from each user).

Template

Edit: later, after writing this post, I decided to change my layout to that of the above, cutting down on ‘items’ which I have no need for.

The gist of this project is for each user to try and reveal the others. Initially, each webcam will be fully obscured. Over time, little ‘pixels’ to be revealed from each webcam at random. Such that majority of the webcam input remains hidden, increasing the tantalising factor. Users will be able to communicate with each other via the chat boxes, and they are free to take on another persona, or hide their true identity from the other.

Ultimately, what I want users to take away from the project is to play around with the cloak of anonymity, and make some mischief, or have had some fun playing around with it.

 

I am still exploring the idea, that perhaps, each user can force the other user to reveal more of what is shown in their webcam (via a toggle button), to increase the interactive factor.

Edit: Upon further discussion with my fellow classmates, perhaps moving the project in the direction of a game would give the game an enticing edge.

Further improvements to ponder on:

  • a timer to goad each users to quickly find out the identity of the other
  • a ‘puzzle’ like format, eg 3 x 3, where each block will be revealed periodically

 

Update: Ultimately, while I did not work on my own idea for my final project, it remains something I might want to work on in the future, and will shelf it for now.

In-class Assignment: Narratives Structure

Analyse an interactive narrative using a narrative layout/structure (eg. Monomyth a Hero’s Journey)

Plot Diagram: Graphic Novel for Hybrid Peugeot

plot-diagram

In brief, this interactive narrative comprises of a graphic novel, where users are able to scroll through the different scenes at their own pace. The narrative consists of a female spy, who undertakes great risk in fulfilling her mission. The website was part as part of an advertorial campaign for a Peugeot car, whose technical merits are humanized in the form of the female spy.

Beginning:

begin

The scene opens with a female, dressed seductively, the typical image of a female spy. She is in a dark room, when a troop of office workers burst into the room – she’s busted! Tension and excitement is build up by the viewers – who was she?

Graphic Novel

The female then runs away with her might – a conflict. More tension is built up. This is heightened by the conditions by which she runs away – crashing through the window, through a thorny patch of weeds, away from a pack of dogs, and even finally leaping onto a moving car.

Middle:

conflict

She is trapped! A gunmen is hot on her heels – taking aim and shooting at her, but luckily (or not), he misses. There is rising action in this particular scene – assisted by graphics which featured a moving shot comprised of various still images, breaking the monotony of stills.

End:

Finally, with a few more (exciting) leaps, she makes her escape into a building, and walks in confidently. Here, it signals the end to the audience, which was acknowledged in a text she sends – “Mission Accomplished”.

Graphic Novel 2

The narration ends with a shot of her backview, and her in a bedroom scene with her handsome beau lying in wait for her, for more ‘action’.

 


Another interesting website chanced on in my research:

http://www.ro.me/