Chris McLay.

Shneiderman, Ben., and Catherine Plaisant. Designing the User Interface, Fourth Edition: Strategies for Effective Human Computer Interaction, Boston: Pearson Addison Wesley, 2005

When I first picked up this book, I had the feeling I was onto a good thing. It’s a brand new 2005 fourth edition (over 19 years), it’s heavy with a well-packed 650 pages, all printed in full colour, and flicking through the book, it is obvious the authors have applied the subject matter of the book to it’s design and layout.

I have to admit at this stage that I have not tried to read the entire book, that said I have read several sections and it does appear to deliver everything my initial anticipation suggested. The book is well structured and aimed at practitioners, researchers and students in the field. It covers a broad range of subject matter, from basic theories and guidelines, through design processes, interface evaluations, detailed discussions and examples of various interaction styles, and specific design issues. Each section provides substantial further reading guides, and solid summaries of the content covered.

Overall this book is a combination text and working reference. It is comprehensive, well balanced and up to date. Every student, researcher or worker involved in the production and development of software or hardware that interacts with users should have a copy and be familiar with this book.

Read the rest of this entry »

Raskin, Jef. The Humane Interface: new directions for designing interactive systems. Stoughton: Addison Wesley, 2000

By many, Jef Raskin, is believed to be the creator or inventor of the Macintosh computer, and while he did father the project inside Apple, he left a long time prior to it’s eventual release and has been a heavy critic and opponent of Apple and their products ever since. It seems to be one of the longest love-hate relationships in the industry, and it comes across as very personal. Even in this text, which was written at least 15 years later, Jef shows a strong personal antagonism towards Apple and it’s products.

It is this constant personal critique, which is almost whinging in places, which in my mind really lets this book down. Especially when the few positive critiques are almost exclusively for Jef’s other products such as the Cannon Cat. I don’t really have an issue with the use of projects which Jef has been involved in, but there is little or no distance shown in this book and this makes many of the ideas and concepts presented difficult to take seriously.

If you can get past this then the book has some excellent coverage of the issues facing computer users, and the designers of such systems. I feel this is where the book is most valuable. The solutions and interfaces presented by Jef to get around these issues, feel clunky and too focused on avoiding one or two key issues raised. I’m not convinced they are always significantly better than some existing solutions, but they certainly make interesting reading and are cause for considerable thought.

Read the rest of this entry »

Shneiderman, Ben. Leonardo’s Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002

“The old computing is about what computers could do; the new computing is about what users can do.” (p. 2) So opens Ben Shneiderman’s book on the future possibilities for human computer interaction. Leonardo’s Laptop is a cast into the not to distant future to inspire both users and developers to improve the functionality of our computer systems and bring them more into line with what users are actually seeking to do in their lives.

When I started reading this book I was looking for a much stronger level of practice from the book, especially as it is loosely based around the works and practices of Leonardo da Vinci. However I found the book much more philosophical and inspirational in it’s overall tone. Where the book does venture into practice I didn’t find the leaps and bounds I expected, but did find solid well considered examples of how computers could (and probably already should) operate with us in our every day lives. As the first book I read in starting this unit I think this was actually a very good thing, as it refreshed my existing knowledge of the area, and opened up my mind to different ways of thinking and different perspectives without getting bogged down in practical theory and whether or not I thought the theory could be applied directly today.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the shortlist of tracks I put together when looking for a piece of music to use in the visual music project. After shortlisting I removed them by a process of elimination until I ended up with just one…

Replica, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cinemage, 4:50
Another orchestral, instrumental track, this time with very distinct layers. This reminds me of an animal march. It can be harsh a grating, but has moments of uplift, and is very rhythmic in places.
iTunes Store Link

Read the rest of this entry »

When I first came up with the idea for this visual music project, the method of working I had in mind was very similar to what is outlined below. Yet, while I never completely abandoned the ideas, I lost faith in their ability to create a solid piece of work that would achieve my goals, and so began my search for other creative inputs and methods that would assist me in creative this artwork which said nothing assist me to develop this creative artwork, which tries to signify nothing.

Part of the problem of trying to signify nothing is that it is not actually possible to achieve, all you can do is aim to signify as little as possible. However, if I develop images I think go with a piece of music they will signify something to me, based on the music, and my interpretation of the music will be passed on to the audience. To avoid this I have to play a series of mind games with my self trying to adjust my thoughts and interpretations into imagery that somehow relates to and enhances the imagery without adding new meanings to the music. Confused? I was…

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a strong relationship between the question of what makes art, fractal images (see this post) and Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music (see this post).

Both fractal images and Pendulum Music have simple basic straight forward formula’s which define them. Both have a variable element which effects how the “art” is produced: in the case of the music the four performers will start the pendulum in different places each time the piece is played and effect the outcome; in the case of the fractal formulas a seed value for the formula effects the output of the image. Both of these values are often random, but come under some degree of control by the “artists” involved.

I’m still not sure if the outputs of these formulae are actually art, but is certainly interesting and often beautiful and contemplative. To varying degree’s most artists work to a formula or methodology of some kind — it’s the number of variables and the amount of control through a larger range of variables, and the fine control they have over those variables which is different for each artist and/or artwork.

I like the idea of a strict formula or methodology in regard to my own project — it would make working on a long and complex project somewhat simpler, but if the formula or methodology I start out with is wrong then I have no chance of producing anything good… hmmm ???

Mandelbrot B., The Fractal Universe , from The Origins of Creativity , ed. Pfenninger K. & Shubik V., pp. 191-212, Oxford University Press, 2001

Mandelbrot starts his article with a quick outline of his education which, for a variety of small accidents, was highly visual in nature. He goes on to explain that during his “killer” entrance exams he was unable to answer many questions involving language and symbolic manipulation, but easily solved some of the hardest questions, “which no human can find algebraically in three hours under exam conditions,” by reasoning directly from the visual and sensory images that came to mind as he was posed the questions.

He goes on to discuss the shift of mathematical language from one of shapes and illustrations to one of written languages and formulas. One French high school mathematics text argued that “the artistic and sensual character of pictures would delude the reader,” so the text contains no illustrations at all.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been playing around with the whole visual music project idea and I’ve rewritten the objectives I started with to make them a bit clearer and more achievable…

Original Objectives:

My primary aim is to take my study and experience of projection for theatre and apply this to the presentation of live music, primarily instrumental music. Of most interest to me is the lack of a written text in instrumental music, and providing visual support for the music without overpowering or providing “new meanings” to the audience.

New Objectives:

To apply my knowledge and experience of projection in theatre to the presentation and performance of live instrumental music music. In particular:

• highlighting the lack of a specific written text assocciated with musical performance, and as a consequence the lack of a specific text for the music’s audience;
• experimenting with visual material that enhances the experience of the performance without disrupting the integrity of the music, or providing a dominant narrative for the audience;
• working with the data gathered from the first two points to develop visual practices that will constitute the praxis of performance component of the assessment.

Seeing this show was supposed to inspire and kick start this whole project, but due to some sort of hardware failure we only got a limited range of visuals projected at the very start and end of the show

Read the rest of this entry »

The Verandah was this years main music and festival club for the 2005 Festival of Perth. The projection system consisted of a basic rear projection screen behind the main stage. This was hooked up to a video feed (from a camera way back at the lighting desk) and a video generator similar to that found in iTunes in Windows Media Player.

Read the rest of this entry »