Ok blog address is now changed to reflect new team name: you can now follow us at http://obsurveillance.blogspot.com/

All posts and comments have been moved to this address.

Major Progress

Ok so there are some changes tonight: Firstly the temp team name 'Kenainiste' has finally been abolished! We are now team 'Obsurveillance', as the Blog title suggests. We also decided on a product name (at least for now) of 'The Epifect'.

In other equally as important news, we have come a massive leap forward in our plans for a narrative. At the minute we are looking at creating an interactive surveillance hub from which the user views a twisting and turning narrative involving the surveillance people being spied on, a multimedia hacker mastermind and a supposed terrorist plot that turns out being anything but stereotypical. Theres way too much to explain in a post here but it is finally coming together anyway so we speak to the lecturers tomorrow; lets hope they are as excited as we are about where its going!

Research: Updated

Hey guys... Iv been researching the ways and modes of interaction. I got a playlist on youtube with all surveillance movies and different modes of surveillance. Im watching through some of them but I reckon it would be good to have a look at these. Also I have some notes taken down from the drama on channel 4 on thursday. I was more focusing on the narrative more so than the ethics of the story. There was a good bit of information on what government agencies do and how they would act if a kidnapping like this happened, a few interesting ideas for the narrative and what would happen in real life. A few good facts on the media also, relating to the story.

heres the link for that drama if you want to watch it on 4OD: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-taking-of-prince-harry/4od#3130750

Talk soon.

Narrative Progress

The team has been busy working together over this two weeks behind closed doors on an exciting and compelling story for our exhibit. We are creating an interactive (but fixed, i.e. NOT multi-threaded) narrative centered around the theme of surveillance and the sometimes-sinister media. We just wanted to update everyone watching that we are making good progress and that we have finalized a few key things:

The subject matter will be current affairs/mass media relevant.

We hope to change the User's opinion, or for them to realize something about the real world that they didn't think too much about before.

It will be presented and probably interacted with through a surveillance-themed constructed environment.

The hard-hitting, twisting, and possibly controversial narrative is the key element to holding the immersion of the User, along with a unique physical experience.

All still very general, I know, but specifics coming soon!

Surveillance Everywhere

Found a couple of articles out there about surveillance which might interest you guys. The first 2 are from last year but still relate to what we're doing. The first is about the police in the UK using unmanned drones to tackle gang crime and smuggling, and the ethical questions it raises. You can check it out here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/24/police-unmanned-surveillance-drones

The second is about a proposed introduction in 2013 of in-car surveillance equipment as a "safety" measure. Agains it's a UK article but relevant to us too given that its an EU thing. Check that article out here:
http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=856

The last one I found was about the drama Anya was talking about last Thursday. Channel 4 are going to show a drama about the hypothetical kidnapping of prince harry by the taliban this thursday so it could be worth a look. The article makes some good points about what makes entertainment, and the merits of a gritty drama. Check this article out here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/oct/10/taking-of-prince-harry-drama

Panopticon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

This is the Panopticon that Anya mentioned, its a prison design based around pre-CCTV surveillance. I think she said that it was a also project in the Fis a few years ago but I cant find anything on it... Anyway the real thing is an interesting idea and the psychology behind it is very relevant for us!

welcome in 8th wonderland!

Okay, just found the 8th wonderland adress... I think we could get some inspiration from it...

Anyway, would you like to become an 8th wonderland citizen?

http://www.8thwonderland.com/