PROGRAM GPS Forum & Masterclass
To support the launch of dLux Mobile and Razorhurst, dLux MediaArts ran a Forum and Masterclass providing an overview of the creative and technical aspects of producing original digital media content for GPS enabled smart phones. We saw GPS enabled devices as a significant emerging media platform, capable of delivering rich screen content including video, audio and animation to a broad audience base.
GPS units and other mobile devices such as iPods / iphones / smart phones etc, have become sophisticated media players, and new markets are emerging that provide users with short audio/visual content which is location related. Like any other new media or communications technology, GPS enabled media players require engaging content. The subject of these sessions - where are the content creators and project producers?
Masterclass for film / documentary makers and digital media producers.
Through this masterclass we sought to create a potential pool of content producers at an early stage of the technology uptake and provide linkages to future clients and project partners.
The 2.5 day masterclass covered topics such as:
- The grammar of the small screen and episodic narratives;
- Cross platform production;
- The virtual audio world in the physical space;
- Pacing the narrative, moving with the story;
- Writing for cross-platforms;
- Tools and Technologies for GPS creative content;
- Technical & business environments;
- Emerging markets;
- The production cycle.
Location: Thinkspace, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Masterclass Presenters:
Therese Fingleton: Therese is a project manager, web producer and digital consultant with close to 15 years experience in ICT. Most recently as the Digital Strategy Project Manager at the Australia Council for the Arts, Therese developed a national strategy on support for arts content in the digital era; managed 'Story of the Future', an initiative to support writers and producers to develop new media projects for commercial take up and co-authored a guide to the craft and business of new media writing, The writer's guide to making a digital living (2008). Therese sits on the national Steering Committee of the Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance (MEGA) and is the producer of 'The TEN Project', a global project developing an arts-driven social networking game about the future of cities with after-school groups worldwide from Sydney to São Paulo to New York.
Nigel Helyer: (a.k.a. DrSonique) is an independent Anglo-Australian sculptor and sound-artist. He is the director of a small multi-disciplinary team “Sonic Objects; Sonic Architecture” with an international reputation for large scale sound-sculpture installations, environmental public art-works, museum inter-actives and new media projects. His activities include; the development of a powerful virtual audio reality mapping system, “Sonic Landscapes” in collaboration with Lake Technology (now Dolby Australia) and he is the Artistic Director of the AudioNomad Research Group developing location sensitive environmental audio at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales.
Mike Pelletier: Canadian artist Mike Pelletier works in the realms of new media, digital fabrication, art and technology. His work includes location-based cinema, game modifications, generative artworks and physical installations using rapid-prototyping technologies. His artworks have been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art and Design's Media Arts and Digital Technologies program. He spent 5 years working in the Banff Centre's Creative Electronic Environment working with artists helping them overcome numerous complex technological hurdles. Currently he lives and works in the Netherlands where works at Fablab Amsterdam exploring the emerging world of Digital Fabrication.
Kylie Robertson: Kylie Robertson is a multi award-winning practitioner, expert and sought-after speaker in the field of interactive and cross platform media. Kylie originally trained as a scientific photographer and progressed to international recognition as an interactive filmmaker with her film 'Silent Passages' which won a spot at MILIA 2000 Cannes and festival screenings around the world. Kylie worked as a senior interactive designer and studio manager at Digital Pictures where her work spanned both broadcast and interactive platforms. Alumni of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film & TV, Kylie lectured at VCA in visual effects and screen design from 2002-2005, and Imaging Theory to Creative Media students at RMIT.
Kylie has held key roles as Concept Creator, Co-Writer and Project Director for pioneering interactive projects Jupiter Green and Girl Friday. Kylie has won numerous Australian and international awards for innovation and artistic achievements and has had her work exhibited around the world. Kylie is now a principal of Ish Media and holds the position of Creative Director.
Shane Williamson has worked in both the information technology and mobile industries in various technical, marketing, strategy and management roles. Shane’s extensive experience has included roles within the South Pacific and South East Asian regions, working for companies such as Microsoft, 3 Australia and Optus. Active in industry development, Shane is a committee member of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) Mobile Industry Group (MIG) (http://www.aimia.com.au/mobile) as well as co-founder of the Sydney chapter of Mobile Monday (http://www.mobilemondaysydney.com). Convergence and innovation of mobile technologies are Shane’s passions and he has established a Blog called Shane’s Place to publish his findings and articles written on these subjects and discuss them with the global community. Shane is currently on the board of directors of a Brisbane based mobile company called Orange.Dot who are developing an innovative mobile phone for people who have disabilities that prevent them from using new technologies.
http://shanewilliamson.spaces.live.com/
The Forum
The half day forum at the conclusion of the masterclass was designed to draw together both creators and potential adopters of this content to learn more about GPS as an important new technology. The forum looks at ways to extend the delivery platform of traditional documentary or fictional projects by creating original content specifically for locative media devices.
Location: Target Theatre Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Forum Speakers :
Grainne Brunsdon (executive director, British Council), Therese Fingleton (cross-platform specialist), Richard Fox (designer and developer), Mike Pelletier (artist/designer/developer), Shane Williamson (co-founder: Mobile Monday), Daniel Woo (Research and development in user experience).
2pm: DAVID CRANSWICK - Director d/Lux Media Arts - Introduction
Focusing on the development of the organisation in areas of emerging technologies and new media arts practice. In 2004 dlux media arts embarked on a significant new initiative to investigate the creative opportunities mobile technologies provided for both artists and organisations marketing and audience development through FutureScreen Mobile and Mobile Journeys. David has also been responsible for the continuing development of new media programs in regional centres through the d/tour program, establishing new partnerships in regional centres in NSW.
2:10pm MIKE PELLETIER - Where am I? Tools and Technologies for GPS artworks.
This presentation will discuss the technical aspects of creating location aware artworks with a particular focus on the project Ghostgarden, and its current development phase for the iPhone, and what tools artists are currently using to create locative experiences as well as the possibilities of new and emerging platforms.
Canadian artist Mike Pelletier currently works as a freelance designer and programmer in Amsterdam. Previously he spent 5 years working in the Banff Centre's Creative Electronic Environment, initially as the Creative Computer Technician and more recently as the Manager of the Interactive Media Department. During his time at the Centre he worked with hundreds of artists to help them realize their projects and overcome numerous complex technological hurdles. Mike's personal artistic practice involves everything from drawing to videogame modifications and he has been featured in exhibitions internationally. Mike first visited Australia in 2008 as artist for Ghostgarden Sydney Festival 2008 - http://pelletron.org/index/
2:50pm Dr DANIEL WOO (UNSW) - On Boat and Foot - Locative Media Since 2004
AudioNomad has produced public artworks of location aware sonic media in a variety of forms including boat, pedestrian and table environments. Underlying the artistic user experience is a suite of technologies and a strong motivation in user centered design. In this talk I will present an overview of the projects and discuss the state of the art from the technology side highlight what is possible now versus what is possible in the short-medium term and in general the challenges ahead for the industry.
Dr. Daniel Woo is responsible for Human Computer Interaction teaching and research in the School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales. AudioNomad is a key research area which delivers a technology platform to deliver locative media experiences. Exhibits based on this technology have been presented on the Baltic Sea, Sydney Harbour, Singapore and in the coming months Belfast. Current projects are focussed around the development of user interfaces both in terms of engineering and usability (design and evaluation). Projects associated with assistive technology are also a key theme of the current project portfolio, these have overlap with developing best of breed web applications and mobile navigation. His research and commercial background is strongly associated with speech and audio technologies and mobile computing, having worked on projects in the areas of speech recognition, speech synthesis, telephone applications and handheld software. He runs a formal usability testing laboratory and conducts expert evaluations on user interfaces. Since 2000 he has been teaching the Cocoa which is the core technology underlying iPhone development. http://danielw.web.cse.unsw.edu.au
3:30pm - break
3:50pm: Razorhurst Preview: RICHARD FOX - Designer and Developer
An interactive storyteller specializing in locative media. His game "Sex, Drugs and Mind Control" won the Best Interactive award at the Tranz-Fix film festival. Other work includes Clem's Big Scary World (CDROM, AFC, 2001) and numerous music releases and performances as "Flux". Richard has also worked professionally as an Art Director for a range of advertising and travel agencies. http://dlux.org.au/cms/index.php?/dlux-mobile/razorhurst.html
4:00pm - Panel Discussion: For the final session of the Forum, Panel Speakers will be invited to present a short talk on their position and thinking about location based media and the opportunities it presents, in terms of urban spaces, cultural environments, commercial opportunities and the like, followed by questions from the Chair and opening up to the audience.
GRAINNE BRANDON - Executive Director of the British Council of Australia
Currently responsible for developing the program of events and initiatives in creative cities, intercultural dialogue and climate change for the British Council in Australia. This involves working within the UK and 12 countries across East Asia to develop large scale collaborative projects which will connect people from this region and the UK working together on these transformational themes. The British Council recently presented Rider Spoke, a unique cycling event which mixes theatre and location game play with state of the art technology, produced by the UK based group Blast Theory. http://www.creativecities.org.uk/
THERESE FINGLETON - Project manager, consultant and web producer
Therese is a project manager, web producer and digital consultant with close to 15 years experience in ICT. Most recently as the Digital Strategy Project Manager at the Australia Council for the Arts, Therese developed a national strategy on support for arts content in the digital era; managed 'Story of the Future', an initiative to support writers and producers to develop new media projects for commercial take up and co-authored a guide to the craft and business of new media writing, The writer's guide to making a digital living (2008). Previously Therese produced the visual arts portal for National Association for the Visual Arts and ran community ICT programs with artists and young people at the Information and Cultural Exchange. Therese sits on the national Steering Committee of the Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance (MEGA) and is the producer of 'The TEN Project', a global project developing an arts-driven social networking game about the future of cities with after-school groups worldwide from Sydney to São Paulo to New York.
SHANE WILLIAMSON - Co-founder of Mobile Monday/Sydney
Mobile Monday - A global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influentials that promotes business development and cooperation through networking. Shane has 24 years of experience in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) industries, which have included involvement in arenas such as, IT & Leisure Time Industries consulting, PC hardware manufacturing, software development, web development, content management systems & telecommunications product & programme management. Shane is a committee member of both the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) and Mobile Content Industry Development Group (MCIDG). Shane is an active Blogger on 3G related technologies from an Australian perspective. http://shanewilliamson.spaces.live.com/