A New...Thesis.

Okay so, abandoning the whole trying to figure out a link to digital media and what I see to be a decline in consciousness. I'm not buying it as much anymore, and it's becoming ridiculously difficult to find enough scholarship to tie it all together. And if there's anything I do well, it's run from my problems!

NEXT!

I will now be taking a look at digital media, specifically remix, as a political input mechanism. Anyone who has taken a basic level political science class understands that an input mechanism is a way that the public communicates to the government, the two best examples being voting and protest. But there are also ways such as contacting representatives directly when possible, donation, and lobbying. However digital technology and digital media cultures have allowed for a new kind of input mechanism. People, not journalists (though not to suggest that journalists are not people...) are now playing a significant role in shaping news coverage through blogging. Increasingly though we see political remix -- people can remix a SOTU speech, or remix a series of speeches, remix photographs, or remix advertisements. Another way of remixing as an attempt at political statement is by remixing regular advertisements and juxtaposing them with text, or with a movie trailer, or with music to create some sort of a political statement. Many of these examples can be viewedhere.

Of course inherent in that is the reverse involvement by the political machine, and how politicos attempt to use digital culture (even remix) as a way to communicate with the ever-important youth culture. Many questions arise here: Is digital remix an effective way to make a political statement? Can digital political remix follow in the footsteps of blogging and begin to make a difference in the political climate? What makes digital remix effective? Does the political machine effectively use digital culture to communicate with youth (and other age-groups that utilize the internet heavily.)

The project portion of this would quite simply be creating a number of my own political remixes. Either mixing single speeches, multiple speeches, or commercials and other advertisements to create my own political statements.

So where I'm at right now is searching for scholarship and resources to help me investigate these questions. Quite clearly, I'm short on time. My literature and Media Review is to be this Thursday and my topic was changed over the weekend. Clearly, I'm on top of things. So any thoughts you might have, articles/books you may suggest (I have a few on their way from Amazon) or even comments you can make about how you see things would be helpful. Oh, and before Thursday afternoon please :-)

Thank you all in advance, I appreciate any help you can give an idiot like me.

~J

Some sample surveys...I'm sure something here could be of use to someone...

http://www.createsurvey.com/demo/templates.htm

The rest of the readings...

The Heros Journey
Functions of Myth

Please feel free to poke around at other excerpts from "The Power of Myth" on this site if you wish. The two excerpts above are all I am asking you to read but I am influenced by this interview as well as books written by Joseph Campbell.

Thanks,
Terri

Some of my readings

Hey guys,
I have a couple of readings for you to look over and the same Emergence radio lab program that I posted before. I have a few more readings that I will scan from some books that I will post soon but I thought I would give you a couple basic items.
Yes, one is a wikipedia discription but I feel wikipedia itself is an example of memes being passed on through culture and find it amusing to use it as a basic source for the subject.

YAAA WIKIPEDIA
The Selfish Gene
Radio Labs Emergence

Short Blogger/Google Rant

Since I've missed out on the last few posts and only noticed them now, I really need to express my frustration with Blogger's privacy features.

I read about 30 or so blogs on a daily basis. The only way that's possible for me is because I subscribe to the RSS feeds of each of them in Google Reader. Google owns Blogger now and one of the benefits is that your Google account is tied to your Blogger account, enabling some really neat features (Shared Items for example that you also stick on your blog). Frustratingly, even if you are an authorized contributor or reader for a private Blogger blog (such as our's), you can't utilize the RSS feed within Google Reader. Part of me knows that software development takes awhile, and not every feature is readily available - but this is a complete omission on Google's part. If Google can surveil me, why I can't I surveil myself and subscribe to my own RSS feeds?

I really like Alexander Hayes' short presentation on the potential of RSS to restructure access to information for students. If I'm paying (lots of) money for a course, shouldn't I have a right to be able to access any documented discussion in a method best suited to me?

Anyway, all of my frustration could have been solved by Google allowing email notification for invited readers of private Blogger blogs, but that feature isn't even available. I would suggest using other software for private blogs as a result of all this nonsense. Some options available would be Livejournal or Wordpress which have much more robust privacy settings or open development.

Reading/Listening for Thursday 10/24

Hello everyone. Here's my assignments for Thursday. (Sorry about not getting it up sooner. I had some scanner problems that have since been resolved.) The assignments might seem like a lot, but once you get past the Jacques Attali stuff, everything else is fairly short. Please be sure to listen to the RadioLab program. If you run short on time, just skim the last three readings. I included them because i have been trying to read some things concerning how musicians themselves make sense of sound and their role in creating it. The "further viewing/listening" section is purely optional. I've been collecting links to interesting a/v materials and i thought i share a few of them in case anyone is interested.

LISTENING

RadioLab: Musical Language. This is an interesting radio program that examines questions concerning human perception and musicality. (1 hr)

READINGS

On the role of acoustic space in modern society: “Visual and Acoustic Space” by Marshall McLuhan (from Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music). 1989 (since McLuhan died in 1980, I assume this is a posthumus publication?).

Early ideas concerning noise as a compositional tool:
“The Art of Noises: Futurist Manifesto” by Luigi Russolo (from Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music). 1913.

On the role of the artist in a fragmented society:
“Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of Creativity” by Marshall McLuhan (from Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man). 1964.

On music as a reflection of culture and a prophetic voice of change:
Noise: The Political Economy of Music by Jacques Attali. 1977. Chapter 1. Chapter 5.

Some ideas concerning noise:
“Noise” by Simon Reynolds (from Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music). 1990.

The Musician’s Earview:
“Against Radical Contigency” by Steven Drury (from Astronome: Musicians on Music). 2000.
“How We Eat Our Young” by Mike Patton (from Astronome: Musicians on Music). 2000.
“Tapped Teeth - Try Different Speeds” by Fred Frith (from Astronome: Musicians on Music). 2000.

FURTHER VIEWING/LISTENING

Merzbow. More Merzbow. Ruins. Christopher DeLaurenti. Hemophiliac. John Zorn. Mike Patton’s solo voice work. Wolf Eyes. Smegma. More Smegma. Even More Smegma (these guys have been playing for over 30 years!). Bjork. John Cage. More John Cage. Quiet American.

Your Brain on Telepresence

More reading material has been e-mailed to you guys.

One reading is a study done on how viewing moving objects effects our EEG patterns with a focus on how viewing our own body parts has a different effect than just watching a moving object. (No, not the parts that would make this reading really interesting! Mainly just hands.)

The other reading is about the design of telepresence input devices. This one examines how the device or handle we navigate virtual space with and the use of one or both hands effects our spatial problem solving.

Desney Tan's research on human-computer interface and brain-computer interface is not required for this class as it is vast and worthy of several class discussions, however it is definitely worth exploring. http://research.microsoft.com/~desney/

I am very interested in discussing the essence of games both from a theoretical perspective, but also from an interface perspective. What engages the mind emotionally as well as intellectually, and what sensory navigation tools could be tapped into to augment the human-computer dialogue/exchange during play? Why are we still locked into mice and joysticks when we use so many senses to navigate our world? Even the Wii, while a step in the right direction is viewed by many hard core gamers as an inadequate tool for compelling game play in terms of its marginal rotational sensitivity. I would argue some of it is cost, but much of it is our minds trapped in the existing rut of what is familiar.

Chris Crawfords reading assigned in my last blog really opens up some good food for thought in terms of the true power interactive games hold once a proper design foundation is constructed. The web of possibility generated through a tightly integrated game context hold a great deal of power in unlocking our mind's ability to analyze a idea through multiple experimental paths as opposed to a singular story based path.

GAMES AND INTERFACES

Hi Everyone,

Here is the first reading to get things rolling. I would like to stir up a good conversation about game design and game theory combined with non traditional interfaces. I will throw in some studies related to cognitive neuroscience and how different sensory input effects spatial processing/problem solving.

I am very interested in what generates meaningful play for different people and why gaming is so consuming for so many people. What constitutes an engaging game and why?

The first discussion is by Chris Crawford, The Art of Computer Game Design. Please read chapters 1, 2, 3, and 6 from this site.

http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html

More coming soon.

Thanks,
Miguel

Read up folks...lets see if we see the same connections

This is really a very small sample of the things I read and run across on a daily basis. I hope I have gathered enough of a cross section here to give you all an idea of my psychosis!

I changed it up a bit from the original handouts...If you got "Mobile multimedia: shaping the Infoverse" Please read it along with the following. I am sorry I couldn't upload "new theories of everything" but I got lazy and didn't want to cross any copyright boundaries.

Be prepared to let me know your thoughts and if you have any ideas or see some of my connections in the following media and readings.

See you all on Thursday and thanks for your participation!

http://www.immersence.com/publications/1998-JCobb.html

http://www.infoverse.org/

http://techgnosis.com/techgnosis/tgspirit.html

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.11/persinger.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

http://www.bwgen.com/

http://www.emotiv.com/

http://www.nrao.edu/whatisra/radiotel.shtml

http://power-nap.mind-sync.com/?gclid=CNTnq9PzxY4CFRkEIwodEngECQ

http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=434D7C62-E7F2-99DF-37CC9814533B90D7

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/22050

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn10816.html

Art, Games, and Unity3D

Hi everyone,

I just went to the Unity3D conference in San Francisco and want to show you some sites including a German design firm doing really interesting exhibition/performance type game design that really pushes the envelope. They take the game concept but take it well outside of the run and gun stereotype.

Gaming engines are becoming so sophisticated and these guys at Unity are opening up this media realm to all kinds of people with a compelling GUI interface. Programmers are still very much needed for more refined games but this software really is worth looking at.

Here is the German site: http://shiftcontrol.dk/tag/exhibition

Here is Unity's site: http://unity3d.com/

Miguel

digital learning

Sarah, you might find Mac Arthur digital learning site helpful for your research.

Lit and Media Review Schedule

Oct 16 Sarah B.
Oct 18 Dani
Oct 23 Miguel
Oct 25 Abe
Oct 30 Terri
Nov 1 Jason
Nov 6 Juliane
Nov 8 Sara H.

Reading Assignment for Tuesday 10/16

Hey all,

Here is a list of readings and websites that you should look over to prepare yourselves for my literature and media review presentation Tuesday. I hope that you will find them interesting.

READINGS
How To Understand Mundane Technology, by Mike Michael

The Knowledge Medium: Designing Effective Computer-Based Educational Learning, by Gary Berg
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 5
Chapter 7

Articles from the National Center for Adult Learning and Literacy
Learning With Computers: The Theory Behind the Practice
Choosing and Using Websites for Literacy Instruction

MEDIA

Slashdot Comment Thread concerning Computer Literacy

"How PCs Work" from howstuffworks.com

Wikipedia article on Computer Literacy

As we may become....

Juliane Rockwell

Initial Thesis Proposal Presentation

10/11/2007

DMST 4850: Professor Russell

Digital Revolution: As We May Become

Conceptual Foundation:

In a world where knowledge is power, and power is the ability to bring change, one becomes completely dependent on information in order to effect any change in oneself or one's environment. Unfortunately, access to information has been centralized and guarded throughout history effectively stratifying the human population in a hierarchy of selectively shared knowledge. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy are subject to the whims of those at the top with more information (who can effect the most change). This has been the case throughout socio-cultural history as well as biological history (organisms with more info or specialized info stored in their DNA possess adaptations for fitness that other organisms might lack i.e. a human vs. a chimpanzee). In the modern world this results in monopolistic institutions, war, famine, environmental complacence, extinction of species, loss of entire ecosystems, atomic holocausts, etc. As humans become more advanced in the way they communicate and share knowledge, we begin to see an end to this trend that has dominated 10,000 years of civilization.

In the millenniums before civilization the caliber of knowledge at the time was widespread. With the exception of specialized knowledge related to the division of labor (men hunting, women gathering, shaman's magics), all knowledge was generally shared throughout a community. With the Internet and communications technologies becoming more widely available, one begins to see a leveling of the playing field. Though specialized study and theorizing might be illusive to the lay person, a specialists work is still at the mercy of adoption or rejection and choice of the general public (as was explored by "Personal, Portable, Pedestrian" by Ito, Okabe, and Matsuda in which the specialists designing keitai mobile technologies discovered that research into the social structures of Japan were more helpful for development than technical frameworks). The average individual is also able to ascertain the general concepts of any technology though a simple web search. Yet this is a far cry from being able to share knowledge without limit. This vision is not unique to the 21st century. Vannevar Bush established one of the first sustained meditations on the subject in his article "As We May Think" published in 1945. He states "Science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual." He was not far off in his projections. In fact, he may have underestimated humans in their ability to make all knowledge universal. There are already advancements being made in this direction with semantic web development. XML (extensible markup language) allows data to be labeled and categorized through a universal nomenclature that will significantly speed up interactions and the viewing of related information (Vladimir Geroimenko). Such development of technologies that will be usable for decades to come without the planned obsolescence of competing corporations and market manipulation is imperative. This movement also includes the development of sustainable energy. Sustainability is the only logical course for a civilization with any foresight. Industrial technologies are both archaic and destructive, relics being preserved by those who horde knowledge for profit. Many have taken on the task of informing the general public and spreading awareness, but in an age of disinformation, this proves exceedingly difficult.

Another endeavor currently underway, which may lead to an age of universal knowledge, is the reverse engineering of the brain for the development of non-biological intelligence. With processing speeds doubling every year, this may be realized in the next 50 years with immeasurable techno-social ramifications (Kurzweil). Incorporating human pattern recognition with nearly infinite processing power (limited only by the speed of light) and a semantic information mankind will find itself on the brink of total unified knowledge. Though the vision blurs beyond this point, one can not help but ask what can be done now and in the very near future to be prepared for this upheaval of history, knowledge, and power. Throughout the course of this project, many tools will be incorporated for the collection and delivery of the information necessary to be prepared for this revolution.

Project Goals:
The goal of this thesis is to ascertain the conditions necessary for sustainable design in all fields related to the exchange of information. This takes precedence over any other advancement as our rate of communication is a limiting factor in all other fields of study. Concepts and frameworks of semantic web will be used as a starting point for current technological implementations in the sustainable direction. An attempt at ascertaining the bio-cultural consequences of non-biological intelligence will be made as well, along with an attempt to understand the biological and technical mechanisms of such developments. This will all be supported by analyzing the self-organizing nature of matter in relation to the evolution of data, information, and knowledge in order to gain a holistic material insight of this impending revolution.

Outline/Timeline:
Fall 2007

• Begin process of collecting relevant material for research.

• Gather ideas for initial thesis proposal.

• Determine framework with which to layout structure of thesis.

• Consider digital element of project.

• Complete thesis proposal.

Winter 2008

• Choose thesis committee.

• Continue to research and collect relevant works.

• Solidify thesis proposal.

• Present thesis proposal to committee.

Spring 2008

• Read a ton–o-books.

• Continue consulting committee members on thesis projections/progress.

• Submit thesis for final review.

Abstract:
History is written in the cosmos. Since the dawn of time, raw bits of datum (sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules) have been shaped, accumulated, and organized by historical processes. These processes have formed new patterns with ever-increasing complexity. Each new and novel process uses the order and developments of the previous historical epoch to achieve new heights of integration (constituent compounds make up amino acids which combine and fold into proteins which provide the form and function for organisms). Humans have also conglomerated, giving rise to the orders of society, culture, and technology. Though these processes progress down a seemingly linear time-line, they culminate in emergent dynamic ways that are far from linear. Transient states of stability are achieved, the lifetime of each state being determined by how much energy flows into the system. Spurts of growth are followed by extended lag periods although the rising complexity of these systems is both telescopic and exponential in that there is less lag time between each acceleration. Each acceleration is marked by an increase in energy flow (i.e. a reducing atmosphere was created by algae using solar energy, the agricultural revolution was fueled by food energy and the industrial revolution was supported by fossil fuel energy). Throughout the history of matter/energy, one can recognize systems and novel processes which are self-catalytic and self-sustaining. These accelerated systems are always marked by dynamic decentralized networks creating the phenomenon of mutual enhancement (positive feedback) in which the constituents produce synergistic effects above and beyond the sum of their parts (DeLanda 14). This is the goal of sustainability.

At the height of the information age, humans find themselves in a unique position to significantly increase our synergy with our environment and technology. At every stage of matter's development (on earth), solar energy has been transformed, by one novel process after the next, (whether it be photosynthetic algae, sun-fed agriculture, or age old ferns retrieved after millions of years of geologic compression) into the energy necessary for another bifurcation (adaptation or transition to another higher form of stability). With the accelerated increase in technology and overall human knowledge provided by the dynamic mesh-works of the Internet and other communications, humans may be able to achieve a mutual stimulation amongst our economy, ecology, and equity resulting in new heights of prosperity, eco-literacy, and justice. Humans across the world are already uniting under these key ideas with a vision for the future that fosters a lot more hope than our current course. With an exponentially increasing world population, short-sightedness can not be afforded. In order to progress to the next order or epoch of evolution, humans must teach themselves how to meet their needs now without hindering or obliterating the ability of future generations to do the same. The increase in fossil fuel consumption in China alone will demand "80 million barrels of oil a day above current world production" (Edwards 2) by 2015. The industrial complex will inevitably fall by the wayside simply because it is not sustainable.

Sustainable technologies (such as solar/wind energy), combined with the fervor of the ever-multiplying number of decentralized visionary groups and networks, produces all the dynamics necessary for an auto-catalytic development or revolution (DeLanda 34). The implications of such a revolution stretch far beyond the sum of its parts. With the vision of sustainability in mind, one can not help but look to the next order of things. The Internet itself will undergo massive transformation as linear static data is replaced with dynamic semantic organization where the data itself is labeled and categorized according to a universal and sustainable nomenclature (Geroimenko). This will make it the perfect nest for other technologies already in development such as ubiquitous (objective/locational) computation and the reverse engineering of the brain (non-biological intelligence) with hardware and software capable of emulating the human brain becoming available by 2030 (Kurzweil 25) and communications being extended to include objects, buildings, or even nanotechnology, one is forced to contemplate the ramifications of being constantly linked to all available human knowledge (all forms of media included).

Being seated at the bend of an exponential growth trend blurs things as the line becomes almost vertical. Computation speeds double every year and technological advancements have been made in the past 20 years equivalent to those made the entire 20^th century. With things moving this fast one can not afford to blink. The lines drawn between separate fields of study will also blur as previous orders and developments are encompassed and accelerated by superhuman non-biological intelligence and universal semantic communications. With humans and technology as its constituents, matter/energy is on the brink of another inclusive epiphany. The cultural and social ramifications of this development, or singularity, (Kurzweil) are more than difficult to gage. This thesis will be an attempt at exactly that with hopes of not only informing but empowering the reader by examining multiple related facets of this phenomenon. If power is the ability to bring change either to oneself or one's environment, one must be prepared to act in a world that is changing faster than biological evolution permits.

Bibliography:
The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Edwards, Andres R.
Visualizing the Semantic Web: XML-based Internet and Information Visualization. Geroimenko, Vladimir & Chen, Chaomei (Eds).
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History. De Landa, Manuel.
Society of the Spectacle. Debord, Guy.
The Singularity is Near. Kurzweil, Ray.
As We May Think. Bush, Vannevar.

Ambient Intelligence, Wireless Networking, and Ubiquitous Computing. Vasilaqkos, Athanasios & Pedryca, Witold (Eds).

Valued Input

Hey Blogger Buddies,

I very much appreciate your input at my proposal presentation. Please do e-mail me the related contacts and information you generously provided me at that meeting. (mtrujill@du.edu)

I will be putting up links to some of the large display research as well as interesting studies on how the brain processes body schema as well as spatial orientation. I am also attending the Unity3D conference in San Francisco where many interesting concepts related to game design and production are being discussed.

Miguel

The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet

This is for you Dani! Bare with the terrible clueless narrator until you get the interviews with the Merry Pranksters.

Divine Links (just a few)

please let me know of others you know...

Spiritual Quest

http://www.tarot.com/tarot/index.php?

http://www.beliefnet.com/


Games

http://www.ampgames.com/game/316/Leap-of-Faith.html

http://www.dragonclawstudio.com/index2.php?pg=faith


Fun and/or freaky

http://www.bwgen.com/index.htm

My Thesis Proposal

Using Digital Media to Teach Computer Literacy

A Preliminary Thesis Proposal

by Sarah Wheeler

Abstract

In the year 2007, computers are everywhere. They are on our desks, sure, but they are also in our cars, in our phones, in our music players, at the gas station and the supermarket and the bank, collecting, storing, and outputting information to us, for us, and about us. With such a high level of technology surrounding us every day, an outsider might assume that we all, as users and beneficiaries of this technology, have an intimate understanding of how and why it all works. They would be surprised to learn, however, that that is not the case. Unfortunately, a vast majority of the people who use, work with, and enjoy the benefits of computers every day have very little understanding of how they work. And this is a fact that needs to change.

Without a basic understanding of how a computer works, many individuals can be tempted to see it as a “magic box,” fearing the intelligence that it appears to have, or expecting it to have capabilities that it can not have. I believe that the spread of computer literacy is vital to the future of technological advancement, therefore, my thesis project will focus on harnessing the power and prevalence of digital media to create a comprehensive media experience for teaching computer literacy. Through the use of the web, 3D modeling and animation, and an interactive Flash platform, my goal is to create an educational site that will guide users through the basic elements and functions of a computer so that, in the end, they will have a better understanding of these machines that are so prevalent in their everyday lives.

Conceptual Foundations

As computers are becoming more accessible to people all around the world, and as computers are being used in more everyday and invisible contexts, people are becoming more complacent to the presence of computers in their lives without becoming any more knowledgeable about how computers work. In fact, as the elements of the computer that we interact with on the screen become further and further removed from the hardware and binary outputs that are a computer's basic function, people are becoming less likely to view the computer as a tool that helps them accomplish tasks, and more likely to see a computer as a “magic box” with a mind of its own. In his article, “Why the Digital Computer is Dead,” author Chris Chesher argues that computers should be renamed “invocational media” because he believes that the digital and computative qualities of a computer are no longer important to its users. He believes that since most people use their personal computers for viewing, listening to, and interacting with different forms of media, that the machine needs to have a name more in line with people's expectations for it. This is just one of the problems that arises when people lack and understanding of what computers really are and how they really work.

Chris Chesher wants us to discard the term “digital computer” simply because the personal computers we use every day no longer exhibit the same qualities of early digital computers, which gained the name as a result of the fact that they stored all data in binary numeric form (the term “digital” as it relates to computers means something expressed in numeric form), and that their primary function was as a computation device for mathematical data. It took many layers of computer languages to even give the computer a visual interface, and even more to bring us the sleek, visually appealing programs we have today, but we cannot discard the term “computer” just yet, because at its most basic level, the digital computer is still the same machine, still making mathematical computations and still sending and receiving data as a series of ones and zeros. If, as a society, we choose to forget this fact, or discard it because we no longer understand its meaning, our lack of knowledge could have serious consequences.

The problem with a lack of basic knowledge about how computers function arises when people develop either a strong fear of computers or a complacency towards their use and prevalence in society. When a person is overly fearful of technology, he is more likely to erect strong and unnecessary barriers to its use and advancement without considering the benefits that such advancement can bring to society. Fear of technology also leads to fear of users of technology, as we can see in overarching assumptions by people of older generations that the Internet, video games, cell phones, and other modern technologies will cause young people to develop self-centered, anti-social, or criminal behaviors. On the flip side, there are many people out there for whom a lack of understanding about how computers work has lead to a sense of complacency concerning their widespread use and infiltration into everyday life. The complacent individual is one like Chesher, who wants to redefine computers by the way they are used by a certain group of people, forgetting that the digital computer is still alive and well in our government databases, our scientific laboratories, our household appliances, our cars, and any other piece of modern technology that has a digital component to it. The complacent individual uses a computer without realizing the effect that it has on their everyday life; they make no stand on computer issues, they do not concern themselves with computer privacy, they have no say on the wisdom of using RFID chips in passports, or government snooping into their emails because they do not see how it affects them. They stand on the opposite side of the fence from the overly fearful, questioning nothing about technology rather than questioning everything. Obviously, a healthy medium lies somewhere in the middle, but the only way to bridge the gap is through an increase in computer literacy.

Project Goals

The purpose of my thesis project is to create a dynamic digital media experience that will help advance computer literacy in adults. For the purpose of this project, computer literacy is defined not as knowing how to use a computer, but rather as an understanding of how a computer works – what its basic components are, how they communicate with one another, and how they all work together with the software programs and the user to accomplish the tasks that people use computers for every day. There is a wide range of topics that can be covered on the subject of computer literacy, everything from learning about basic computer components, to an understanding of email and Internet etiquette, to learning how to create music and videos on the computer and how to interface other media devices with a computer. My primary focus will be on the physical elements of the computer: the hardware, the software, and how they work together to accomplish tasks, provide an understandable user interface, and allow people to use them in so many different ways.

Most people, regardless of computer literacy level, use computers for certain basic tasks – creating documents, sending email, and browsing the Internet to view digital media. Therefore, in order to reach a wide range of people with this project, I will be designing it as a website that contains an interactive digital video about the computer and how it works. In this way, I hope to reach people by using common and comfortable forms of computer interaction to enhance their understanding of computers. Computers are a unique medium through which to teach, so I will be doing research on effective and ineffective methods of conveying information online in order to design a website that is conducive to drawing people in to learn.

Through the use of surveys taken before and after viewing the interactive video, I hope to gain information about the general computer literacy levels of people before and after they view the site. The introductory survey will focus on what people think they know about computers, what they don't know, what they would like to know, and what worries and excites them about computers, while the end survey will focus on what they remember from the video, what they learned that they didn't know before, and how the experience has changed their view of computers. The video will be interactive in the sense that users can choose what they want to learn more about, how in-depth they want to go into each component's description, and how long they choose to stay. It will not be a linear video, but rather a series of small videos and animations that the user can interact with through clicks of the mouse. There will also be a section of the website devoted to purely static textual and visual representations of the same information, so that users who choose to learn from that medium will be able to gain the same amount of information as users who choose to learn from the interactive video.

In creating this project, I plan to use my experience with web programming, Flash programming and animation, 3DS Max image creation, and digital video creation and deployment to create the backbone of this project. I will utilize my undergraduate degree in computer science as the basis for my understanding of computers, which will help inform the information that will be conveyed so that it can be understood by those who have not studied computers in the same way that I have. I will also be using knowledge gleaned from courses in anthropology and human affairs to assist me in the creation of the surveys and the gleaning of useful data from them, which I will use to judge the educational effectiveness of my content and my design.

In the end, my completed project will consist of a unique, well-designed website containing informational surveys, an interactive video, and textual information specifically designed to help people learn about how computers work. By collecting user data off this website, I hope to gain insight into the levels of computer literacy among the population, as well as information about the site's effectiveness as a teaching tool.

Outline and Timeline

Fall 2007

• Project Research and Proposal

• Create, hand out, and collect preliminary surveys

• Obtain site host and domain name

• Create backbone site design

• Organize information to be put into interactive video, write script

• Get project advisor

Winter 2008

• Design interactive video

• Complete website outline, open to initial survey respondents for feedback

• Receive creative and critical feedback on content and design

• Introduce preliminary video, completion survey

• Revise components based on user feedback

Spring 2008

• Present final website design

• Get final feedback from testers

• Modify and debug all elements

• Complete project and final report

• Present project to advisory committee

Digital Divine: Exploring spirituality in an expanding infoverse

Dani Ellen Day
Thesis Proposal
DMST 4850


Digital Divine: Exploring spirituality in an expanding infoverse


Conceptual Foundation

What is God, where can I find it, and why am I here? These are all questions that plague the minds and souls of humans throughout recorded history. I’m not talking about the dogmatic search for a church or the religious containment of belief and behavior. This is more about the collective tendency for humans to seek out and establish a relationship with a higher power or entity. Whether for salvation or enlightenment, the quest crosses geographical, racial, and economic boundaries and in the age of computers, Internet and mobile forms of digital media, the expansion of passageways to the divine has increased creating new ways to worship and made accessible a personal and individual digital connection with God no matter what religion encompasses the believer.

The term infoverse is both an idea of a universe of information as established by Argy Krikelis from Brunel University and new technology for liquid browsing developed by Carsten Waldeck from Darmstadt University for Media System Design. Conceptually, these two systems of thought, one spawned from the other, support the framework for my concept of Digital Divine.

Digital Divine is the term I use to define the search for god in the digital age. It is derived from the term digital divide meaning the gap between those with digital technologies and those without. In the context of my thesis, this gap is the same between humans and the divine and the closing of the divide is opening access to the divine. My understanding of what it is comes from an eclectic and somewhat eccentric collection of media and studies ranging from theological and philosophical scholarship to metaphysics, quantum theory and astrophysics. I find the electromagnetic spectrum and all it encompasses fascinating and find myself drawn toward the idea of manipulating visible and audible vibrations to enhance the spiritual experience. The possibilities of this as a reciprocal enterprise with a potential for commercial use and possible misuse is a small piece of the larger picture I would like to paint including a brief history of spirituality and practice, current trends for the digital connection to spirituality and future projections for where we may be heading both from the stand point of technology and the quest for connectedness to the greater whole.

Within the frame of historical reference I will examine various world practices and beliefs including the major monotheistic religions, Aristotle’s Metaphysics and how they relate to each other and translate into the idea of Digital Divine.

As I explore current trends and digital connectivity, I will look at the idea of divine experiences through mobile technologies including fun and games like City of Heroes and City of Villains, creation including mobile music, literature and other forms of digital art like video pod casts. I will also address the influx of commercial enterprises capitalizing on the desire for spiritual connection and anonymous worship via the Internet. I will also contemplate the closing of the digital divide due to mobile technologies making Internet contact more affordable to a broader audience and how this in turn creates spiritual connectedness. Example: Beliefnet.com’s daily horoscope via cell phone.

Under future projections I will look at brain function and states of consciousness in relation to spirituality, the possibilities of brainwave manipulation and the divine connection using current advancements in technologies like electroencephalography, radio telescopes, binaural beats, and other studies by institutions like Harvard University and The Monroe Institute.

In Jennifer Cobb’s CyberGrace: The Search for God in the Digital World, the link between god’s creation of us and our creation of machines like computers are one in the same and thus the connection between cyberspace and God are inherent.

"Living a life informed by the sacred amid a technological world poses our
greatest spiritual challenge. As we begin to actively engage this challenge, we
often come to believe that we must make a choice — spirit or machines. But as
computers such as Deep Blue have shown us, distinctions such as this are
becoming increasingly difficult to make. Nature has spawned us. We have spawned
machines. Any line drawn between these realms quickly becomes arbitrary, a
realization that seems to generate a great deal of confusion and fear. But this
does not have to be the case. As we reach into the future in search of the
age-old spiritual values of truth, beauty, goodness, and love, cyberspace can be
a powerful ally. Through the medium of computation, our spiritual experience can
be extended in profound ways. We can choose to embrace our cohabitation with
computers as a moment of vast evolutionary potential, guided by sacred
experience and ethical reflection."

Project Goals
Establish a framework within contemporary study to define and justify the idea of Digital Divine.
Articulate the potentials of digital media as a spiritual outlet and/or conduit for greater understanding.
Refine my personal perception of spirituality in the context of digital media.
Determine the essence of a spiritual experience.
Create a digital audio/visual project to represent the theory behind my thesis.

Outline/Timeline
Contact the department of Neuroscience at DU about options for audio/visual output via biological interface by end of October 2007.
Contact advisor for guidance by mid October 2007
Organize source materials into past, present and future by end of October 2007
Ready rough draft of proposal by November 2007 for feedback.
Implement feedback and refine sources by December 2007
Select committee by January 2008
Thesis Proposal submitted by January 2008
Work on Thesis and project January thru April 2008
Refine and submit Thesis and project May 2008

Abstract
The search for God in the digital age is as liquid as the Infoverse. The proliferation of mobile media and digital connectivity is expanding our understanding and access to spiritual experience through mobile music, literature and anonymous worship. This expanded spirituality delivered in waves of digital media circumvents dogmatic constructs and induces a meditative transcendence into various states of consciousness. Through exploration of theory and established technology, I hope to focus my own understanding of spirituality and gain insights into the human desire for divine connection. Using established conceptual framework and audio/visual representation of this connection, I will corral the current ideas of spirituality and establish a foundation for the Digital Divine.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

This is the video I was talking to Jason about.

Online version of my initial proposal

An online version of my thesis proposal is online here.

Oval (Markus Popp) Textural--example of noise for Abe

Example of glitch music and microsound

Markus Popp