Cross Streaming Technical Test (With Bao)

Since the last time we cross streamed during the lesson:

part 2. Adventure in ADM

Posted by ZiFeng Ong on Thursday, 14 September 2017

Video from my phone which I am unable to embed in this post, not sure why but all the setting are the same, >>CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO<<

we noticed that there were two major flaws in the cross streaming system, During that lesson, we used Bao’s Windows Laptop and my phone, both connecting to the ADM internet, since the Laptop were supposed to stream a live video and produce a stream at the same time, we could say that it is downloading and uploading at the same time hence the total bandwidth the computer had was split into two. The biggest problem we found in the cross streaming was that by having the phone connecting to the school internet, every time when the phone goes to a different area in ADM, there will be a short breakage with the connection in the Live video as the Wifi connection changed router, moreover, if the phone Wifi isn’t strong, the quality of the live video drop drastically, The lagginess was amplified by the low bandwidth of the computer, its as good as watching an already choppy movie with lousy dial-up internet, the overall experience wasn’t good.

HENCE! Through reverse engineering, by judging from the quality of the video, we could see which area in ADM have the best internet connection!
The connection in the classroom was the worst. look at the pixelated graphics, I am not moving and yet the terrible quality.
The Internet connection at basement was as bad as in the class, everything was blurry, cant even recognize the people in the video, BAAADD~
The Stairs to the basement doesn’t seem to have good connections and blurry visual doesn’t look pleasing at all.
The Lounge was having generally acceptable connection and hence the better quality
The Lounge’s connection was really stable and the quality is great
IM room got one of the best connection out of all place and the graphical quality was superb even when I was swinging the camera around. (Please scroll up to see the quality of the basement classroom, you will notice a clear difference in the relationship of better internet = better video.)

 

This is why, we will solve it, by hook or by crook.

The easiest problem to solve was when the phone connects to the school Wifi and the connection breaks when the phone switch router among ADM. Since the problem is with school’s Wifi, we tried to use our own phone’s Mobile Data, there was almost no lag and furthermore, the quality of the stream improved drastically due to the faster uploading speed from the phone, resulting in higher definition of the live stream.

Songyu Bao experiment 1

Posted by ZiFeng Ong on Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Notice that when I changed zone within ADM, from IM room all the way to the handicap lift near the library, there was no breakage of the connection even in the handicap lift. This, I must say, is a great improvement.

Next, is the problem of watching stream and uploading a stream from the computer and split the bandwidth into two, there is no way around it, the only approach we can do is to find a place with good internet connection and make sure that the speed will be sufficient to produce excellent streaming experience. AND GUESS WHICH PLACE IN ADM HAVE GOOD INTERNET? So, without further ado, we went to the IM room as the internet connection was relatively stable there.

Again, I can’t figure out why the Video doesnt want to embed, so.. >>CLICK HERE FOR TEST VIDEO FROM BAO<< 

but here’s the Screen shot from the video Bao and I Crossstreamed 

Overall through our test, it worked really well with minimal lag and there were no disconnections, quality were much better than we thought and we hope that we could be replicated it during the class.

 

 

Interactive Devices – Final Project Research 1: Brainstorming

For Interactive Devices Project, I Intended to do it as a solo project so that I could possibly learn more through the exploration process.

After some research, I’ve got 3 general ideas in mind which I might consider:

Wearable Devices:

  • Could be for Fashion

    – Something that look nice

  • Could be for Entertainment

    – Something that is amusing to the user/viewer

  • Could be for Practical uses

    – Something like an Air-condition system

  • Could be for medical purposes

Musical Devices:

  • Could be a totally new instrument that is not available in the market.

  • Could be a system which plays existing instruments:

    – Strum Guitar
    – Blow Pipes/Flute
    – Ring Bells

  • Incorporate the pendulum

    – Pendulum is a interesting object which produces beats
    – is rather amusing

  • Reads Music sheet and play it automatically

    – Could be like a music box

Magnetic Devices:

  • Magnets have really interesting properties
  • Could be a combination of permanent magnets and Electrical magnets.
  • Magnetic could result in levitation of objects which are really amusing

Conclusion

Overall, out of the 3 main categories of Wearable, Music Instrument and Magnetic devices, I like the idea of making an musical instrument more and my initial idea is a device which could read music sheets like a music box. I shall explore more on music box in the next research post.

Device of the week 1 – Pokemon Go Plus

Pokemon go plus is a small bluetooth device that allows the user to play the mobile game “Pokemon Go” even when not looking at the phone or while the phone is in the locked screen, it will notify the user about the events in the game in realtime like the appearance of Pokemon which the player could catch or the Pokestop where the player could get items from just by clicking the button when the LED flashes and the pokemon caught or item received will be added to the player’s inventory instantly.

Since I own one of these devices, I thought that I could open it up and study the component and how does it work.

Pokemon Go Plus in Bracelet form, it could be changed to a clip form.

It runs on CR2032 coin battery which is a 3V, 210mAh and could run for weeks before the battery dies.

when fully opened, the components are really simple.

Thats the basic component that does all the function it needs to, Flash in RGB, Vibrate, press the button and connect to the phone.

While researching on this device, it showed that the Pokemon Go Plus could be built by using Arduino, however the hardest part was the encryption to the Pokemon Go game as it is really complicated and every user have their own encryption, more info on the project Pokemon Go Plus Reverse Engineering and an ongoing tutorial built on the reverse engineering link – Pokemon Go Plus DIY.

Also, I’ve done modification to my Pokemon Go Plus Device where I remove the circuit to the Vibration Motor and linked the connection to the push button, this way, every time when the motor is supposed to vibrate, it will send the signal to the push button, removing the needs for me to press the button physically and hence having the “Auto Catch and Auto collect Item” mode. As long as I am connected to my phone and having the Pokemon go App running in the background, I will have a chance to catch everything in my path even without touching the device or game at all.

Overall, Pokemon Go Plus is a very simple device which does what it was supposed to do and is a great add-on for the Pokemon Go Players which save a lot of the phone’s battery as the app only need to be ran in the background. I think this idea of producing a special device that links to an app in the phone could be possible for FYP and although it may seems easy, the connection and encryption between the app and the device might be really difficult.

 

 

I am Bonnie, The Next Pokemon Master. (Alter Ego/Video Double)

My First idea Diden’t work, but I’ll do documentation on it….

It took me a long time to think of someone to base my Alter ego on, I really wanted someone who is very different from me, relatively well known and have some comical effect, and after a long period of researching what Alter Ego is(from youtube), someone flashed across my mind….
KIM….
KIM….
KIM JONG UN.

Yes. This.Image result for kim jong unNot to be disrespectful to the Respectable Supreme Leader Of North Korea. I kind of love him and thought that I could draw some similarity between us…. Black hair with similar hairstyle, Asian, double eyelid, protruding ears, I may be able to pull off some similarity and could impersonate him with some a lot of makeup prosthetic fats and makeup on, some tape on the eye(classical stereotypical joke). First I will get my hair slightly shorter.Hair cut (sideburn fade) – Done

Next, Style my hair:
Roughly~ will put more gel to press it down after the makeup, Done for now.

Next is to cover my thick eyebrows… I’ve Tried Makeup(Foundation,Cover base, Consealer and BB cream, I don’t know what they does and all seemed to be the same thing but I was told which order to apply them) which I borrowed from Su Hwee and it doesn’t work as my brows are too protruding and the makeup does not hold them down. So I hair gel-ed my eyebrow down and use Plasticine (I blended many colors to produce my skin tone) mixed with Vaseline to give it a mud like consistency and applied over my eyebrow, which I thought it would work.
I’ll makeup over it and draw fake Kim Jong Un brows later.

Now some Fake Cheek Fats:
I thought it look OK now as I should be applying makeup to my whole face later to cover the noticeable color difference.

And then comes the Fake Double Chin:
Fake Double chin supported by using metal wires within the plasticine and with rubber bands holding it at the back of my head, but then…..

FAILURE DISCLOSE!

Up till here, everything look promising… until I tried to blend the Fake Double Chin onto my face using the Plasticine-Vaseline mud mix.. it does not stick to my face if I move even a tiny bit. So I removed the idea of double chin and proceed to the makeup.

Expectation:
Image result for kim jong un impersonation
This is a Kim Jung Un Impersonator Kim Jung Um

 

Reality:
My eyebrow cover fell off while I was finishing with the make up, the Fake Double Chin doesn’t work, I look more like a (failed)Geisha than Kim Jung Un……
I am shook and decided to give up on this idea.

 

And the comes Bonnie.

Bonnie is a Female Pokemon Trainer from the Kanto region of Japan. Trying her best to become a Pokemon Master in the future, She had received her first Pokemon – Bulbasaur 3 days ago from Professor Oak and is currently on a journey to Pewter City on her quest to defeat all 8 Pokemon Gym leaders to earn the right to challenge the best in the region- The Elite Four.

I am Bonnie, a Pokemon trainer from Japan. I want to be the very best like no one ever was, to catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause. This is a Alter Ego project for assignment 2, sorry but I hope you don't get cancer from watching/hearing this.

Posted by ZiFeng Ong on Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Why did I decided to do this weird thing?

First, Why a girl with weird voice?
I wanted to have an alter ego of myself as someone I’ll never be, biologically and psychologically speaking, I will never be a girl but I thought it would be really funny to be a girl temporary, at least in the digital space.
Aaaand about the annoying-feel-like-punching-cancerous voice, I am seriously sorry, that’s the best I can do, if I retake 5 time, 5 times you will want to punch me. But I told myself after the previous live video that I will try to speak more in the video so Bonnie spoke for me.

And then why a Pokemon Trainer?
As the extension of the previous reason, someone I’ll never be.
Pokemon doesn’t exist regardless how much the Pokemon community wanted it, they are only virtual. It was my childhood game, I’ve played almost all of Pokemon’s main series and still plays Pokemon GO now, it’s a childhood fantasy that still lives within me- Travelling, Exploring, catch Pokemon, breed Pokemon, meet new people, fight them, take their money after beating them and be the best like no one ever was.

Japanese?
Japan was my dream destination since young so it’s still the number one country I want to visit. Nipon Banzai!

What’s up with the setting?
The location was set to be somewhere grassy as there need to be tall grass for the wild Pokemon to appear plus Bonnie is on a journey to the Pewter City. I’ve been to this place 2 years ago, both side were tall grass and apparently they chopped off one side now and Bonnie’s sad(lesser wild Pokemon for her).

It is a good place to film this as there will only be passerby occasionally. There’s basically nothing there as it was a train track which stopped working in 2011 and got removed afterwards, so its good for me to do this man-in-wig-blasting-Pokemon-music-shouting-go-Bulbasaur-in-a-cancerous-voice thingy.
I got the oldwig from my mother and that’s the only one I could get, the cap is a Pokemon Go- Team Valor cap, the orange hoodie and the headphone was to give Bonnie the anime feel.
If you watch it without voice, its kind of good actually, and this was from a NG try.. I did a few tries and the one I uploaded was the best… just imagine how bad cringey was the rest.

Best part of this 1 min live video…

The video was SOOOOO bad Cringey to a extend that it might be good.

And this is the first time I saw this in my facebook feed cos I don’t have many friends…..

 

So if you happened to stay till the end of this long post, here’s a bonus photoshopped photo for you.

A picture speaks a thousand words, but with Photoshop, it tells a thousand lies.

 

Real Time Aggregation.

 

15 min of randomness in adm

Posted by ZiFeng Ong on Thursday, 17 August 2017

Before the Live Video:

This was the first time I did Facebook Live video and I felt like a cave-man that doesn’t know how does it even work, I don’t even know how set my profile to public since I’ve set it to private years ago, I had, however, took part as an audience for the Live video of my friends and kind of like it due to the fact that people reacted almost instantly on the comments I’ve wrote. But the idea of going live on Facebook was really scary for me as I did not have the confidence to produce quality video which people will like, what if like there is totally no viewers? And also there are people who I am not very well acquainted with in my friend list and I don’t feel good putting the live video where they will probably not get what is going on. But Oh well~ What needs to be done must be done.
*clicks the red button*

During the Live Video:

At the start of the live video, I was really lost and did not know what to do so I followed my classmate out of the class room and was feeling weird as my friends are all taking happily to the phone but I’ve got nothing to say so I only filmed them in silent. The anxiety of putting myself on the web Live slowly dwindle down as soon as I saw our IM juniors, since they are from IM, it feel like there is a connection with them just because I knew they will be doing this the next year, just like how I saw the Senior Nathanael did it last year.

 

And then, I’m surprise that my first viewer on this live video was also Senior Nathanael, I’m touched that at least someone was watching so I went to say hi to him in the video, at this point of time, I did not know about the function to switch the camera(because I’m a caveman) so I turn the phone physically to show my face, I had no intend to show my face at all as I planned to just film what is happening without showing myself but it just happened naturally.

After me exposing myself in the video(2:23), it feels OK since I’ve did it once and broken the barrier of videoing in a third person, suddenly my phone became something which I am interacting with, (so instead of me using as my phone to record and tell a story, it developed into me talking to the phone and the phone just extended itself from “part of me” into “a separate entity of me”. which is really bizarre as all I did was to show myself in the video and my perspective changed so much.)

After going around looking at what the second year was doing and semi-introducing what I was doing and filming others, it came to a point that I started to do random things and became numb on the fact that people will judge me while I am on live(my anxiety before the start of the Live video), I think this is partly because:
1) People around me were doing the same thing.
2) I’ve did it for a couple of minute and slowly getting used to it.
3) The pace of live video was fast and there wasn’t time to pre-think what to do.
4) The viewers were commenting on random events which gave me a feeling that I am not alone.
5) I felt like I have some responsibility in entertaining the viewers.

Therefore I did some random(disturbing) acts just because I could.(Just to clarify, I don’t go around squeezing people’s butt in real life)

I thought it was funny, and now looking back, its still kind of funny albeit the creepy movements. Just what the heck am I doing. LOLLL

And then I proceed to do normal activities like walking around, talking to people and trying to introduce ADM to the viewers whom are not from ADM like my Ex-classmates and such.


I also really like this part where I was filming what CherSee was Filming and he was on the front camera while I was at the back camera so I could see myself in his screen and I am recording myself recording myself like a video-inception (left), but from the video which he uploaded(right), its only a one way video which he only shoots my face trying to get into the center of the frame while filming him. This is really mind boggling and cool in its own way as both of us are having live videoing it feel like it is a real-time magic or something.

At the end of 15 minute while I was walking back, I went back to the IM Junior table and I only notice the difference when I rewatched the video. I was filming myself!! Comparing to when I just started this live video where I was just filming the juniors, Now I am in the video showing myself to the public. I was talking much more in comparison. (At the start, I was just waving to them without saying Hello and only briefly reply in short sentence about the live video, and towards the end, I am just talking aimlessly.)
*Thanks Bridgel, Tisya and Sylvester for entertaining me.*

At the end of the video, I got a slight panic when I stopped the video as I am afraid that I would do something wrong which accidentally delete the footage since it was live, there is no way which I could replicate it again if it was deleted so somehow, so a live video felt more precious to me than any other video I took.

After the Live Video:

Prof Randall showed us the 4×3 grid video wall of the with 12 of our videos playing at the same time, I love the way that everything overlapped but the non of the video’s time frame was in parallel (the same exact event happened at different timing on the video wall) and it is totally uncoordinated, in a sense, it is chaos, but the rhythm is there within the chaotic mass which made it much more interesting than just looking at one single video at once. The visual and audio of all the 12 video was overwhelming and just when I am focusing on a single video within the video wall, suddenly I heard something interesting happening and I will glance around to find which video produced the sound as there must be something interesting happening in it, this gave me a sense of treasure hunting.

In Conclusion

I love the way that our individual 15 minute effort was placed together to form “something greater than yourself ” piece of work. This 15 minutes of live video was really fun and enriching, it somehow changed me and gave me some confident in the future Live video that I will be doing. At least I won’t start with the Live video with anxiety and getting lost right after I clicked the red button.

 

Note to self: I should talk more in the live video.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – The Four Concept Reflection

The Four Concept is a really interesting piece as it is written in a way that it is a narrative piece on its own with “Initial State”, “Insight Brought about Changes” and “Repetition” which is mentioned under the definition of “Narrative” used as a structure of the essay (mentioning that the four concept deserve a spanking something similar in the essay which I think it is really “playful”)

The first thing that blows my mind is “All narrative is interactive”….. I didn’t think about this before as like our Prof Vladimir asked something like “how can a painting (Wanderer above Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich) be interactive?” and we denied that it is interactive because that it is only a painting and painting doesn’t interact back. But this is not actual case as the fact that when we look at the painting, we will have a thought about the piece like “wow!! What a magnificent view!!” which only happens after we see it. Yes, it does not speak to us, but we feel and think about something because of it and it is the way that the piece of painting is “Speaking” to us when we “View” it. In a sense, this is a two way communication and therefore considered an “Interactive” “Narrative”.

Throughout the Essay, there is a constant classification of ideas into layers which not only interlace, but also was built upon the previous layers, like “Game Play” is built upon “Ludic activity” which is built upon “being playful”, I think this is really interesting as it split the idea of “Play” into different yet similar concepts. While reading this, I copied out a few sentence which gave me ideas that could be used to build into a final project, which are “”narrative have events”, “Cognitive Interactivity” “play -> Rigid rules -> Freedom within the rules”, these ideas helped me to formulate the idea of making a game which fulfills all of the prospects for the project – interactivity and narrativity while giving me the tools I need for producing the game – common knowledge relevant to our class, rules for games, and also freedom within the rules I created.