Overall I am quite happy with the outcome of my augmented reality project. The project providesthe user with a range of information on the solar system and allows the user to investigate the solar system and its planets using the flexibility provided by augmented reality such as 360 degree rotation. However there are a few problems with the tool, and ways in which it could be improved. Firstly the main solar system section was planned to be animated so that the user could watch the solar system in action. Although the model I made is animated the amount of data the tollkit has to cope with for this seems to be an issue as the animation does not really run. This does not prevent the user from investigating the solar system, but does mean that it provides less information and so does not quite meet the original specification for the tool. Another problem with the tool is the size of the solar system section. In order for it to be usable the system has to be quite small but this makes it difficult to see the various elements of the solar system. This is a bit of a design flaw and would have to take some more consideration into how to design the tool to make this better.
Both of these problems could be improved for the future. There are also other elements that could be improved. The asteroid belt that is also part of the solar system is missing from my model and so if I were to improve the tool I would probably include this. I also intended to create better planet rings for Saturn and Uranus in my model using particles, but in the end decided not to as I could not get the right look for this. I could therefore work on this some more if I was to use improve the tool. As well as this I did not end up recreating the toolkit marker to make it more relevant to my tool so to make my tool a more well rounded product I could also change this.
Apart from these minor changes that could be made however I have managed to design and implement a successful working augmented reality tool for educational uses, and so am happy with what I have produced for this project.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
IDAT 204 - AR final product
I have finally managed to complete my Augmented Reality product for an AR Orrery. For the project I have created a solar system model, and also each individual planet so that learners using the tool could investigate further the separate planets away from the entire solar system. This also makes learning easier as just using the solar system it would have been quite difficult to investigate all the planets. For more on this see the evaluation. The individual planets are accessed through selection buttons on the Flash tool to reduce the amount of markers needed and to make the product a more system based tool. The textures I used for the planets were open source images downloaded from http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html.
To have a go at using the AR Orrery please go to http://www.veat.eclipse.co.uk/projects/FlashAR/ARPage.html print off the marker and try it out. Below is also an example of the AR Orrery working:
To have a go at using the AR Orrery please go to http://www.veat.eclipse.co.uk/projects/FlashAR/ARPage.html print off the marker and try it out. Below is also an example of the AR Orrery working:
Monday, 22 March 2010
IDAT210 - A Context?
Although my project has a basic structure - social networking develops text which becomes sound, this method needs to be set inside some context to make it a viable project. I am finding this context however quite difficult to define as though I know the process would work it is a bit clunky and almost acts a two separate processes strung together which makes it difficult to come up with one underlying context which fits. This post is to investigate the elements of my basic idea and see how I can work it around to make a more solid and whole project idea.
Firstly lets look at the two processes that have manifested in my project. The first of these is the chinese whispers process. This is the most experimental of the two processes and is also the main supporting element of the project. This process was influenced by the Dadaist poetry methods of taking pieces of text and remixing them to produce a whole new piece of text. Rather than doing this physically though my idea was to do this remixing in terms of response in that a person comments on a piece of text and this comment becomes the new piece of text which then gets passed on - alike to chinese whispers. The next question is why am I doing this? Firstly it is bringing the concepts of Dadaist poetry into the modern era through social networking. Also it can be looked at in terms of social networking as an investigation into communication and whether a conversation develops or stays the same. This however does not seem to sit quite right and so maybe I should rethink the process slightly so that the focus becomes more about translating Dadaist poetry techniques into a social networking environment which is reliant on communication.
The second process is the part in which the final piece of text, all the lines from the chinese whispers put together, gets reproduced as a sound. This process seems like a bit of an aside in the whole but was influenced by the idea that there has not been any sound related work for social networks, only visual, and that sound can be performed, linking my project back to digital performance. However it is questionable as to whether a singular piece of sound that would be produced at the end of this project could be considered a performance as it would be quite a static element, even if say a visualisation was put with it. It therefore may pay to consider how the sound element of my project could be redesigned or re-thought to be more performance based.
So the first step is to redefine my underlying process based on my original idea so that it deals more closely with communication and Dadaist poetry in social networking. Firstly I think I need to decide on the reasoning for my process and in this way the process can be developed from its aim. For this I need to consider my keywords again:
One thing that is obvious in this remodelling of my idea is that the sound produced should be running and updating live off of whatever information it is based on. This is because in order for it to be a digital performance it needs to be performed over a period of time, rather than just played at any point. The only problem with this is that I currently have no idea of how to set up a system which changes and plays the sound live off of the data. In my idea creation though I feel my knowledge in any subject should not cause restrictions and so for now this problem will be ignored.
Another element that I feel is important in this redeveloped idea is that the sound is in some way based on the networks between the people whose comments are used. This is because social networking visualisations are very focused on the networks and communities created and so to create a sound of social networking in response to the number of visualisations I need to include the main content of the image based versions. However I am not sure how this would be achievable at all as the networks between people are not obvious enough for a system to know about them as it creates the sound.
The next question to answer is how is the sound going to be created? The main plan for this was to use the text written by participants but there are other options also. There is the addition of a comment in itself, the participants name, and the time of submission that could be used. However the text written will be the most dynamic and so the most interesting to use. This decision relies on how complex a piece of work I wish to create as the text will make the sound development more complicated whereas something like date and time will be easier to manipulate. The main problem I am struggling with here is that I want to include an organic process as the major section of my piece as this is what makes digital art most different to previous art. If I just use something like the date and time of a post there is no process other than the conversion to sound which is not an artistic process but a technological one. Whereas if I choose to get each participant to carry out a process of sorts with a piece of text for example the process is there and so it will be part of my project. This is what I would prefer to do, but therefore I have to develop a process that has a context for the project and is viable in terms of what I am trying to do.
Dadaist poetry relies on taking a piece of text and randomly re-organising the words to create a new piece of text. One option therefore is to kind of replicate this, for example providing a piece of text and getting one person to change a single word and then pass it on. Another option is to provide a piece of text which the user has to randomly re-order and then passing this on to the next person to re-order again.
I feel that the process I use should somehow comment on the freedom of thought achieved by social networking sites and how this develops communication. Social networking currently is focused on portraying how you are feeling at the current time, and updating this as often as possible to keep the information current, in a way it aims to portray your digital personality and this key feature based on thoughts, emotions and opinions should be somehow considered in my project process. This leads me back to my previous process to some extent as the point of this was that each participant posted their own comment (opinion) on the previous persons comment. The final outcome of this would be an organic development through peoples opinions and thoughts.
There is also the option of not providing the participants with much information at all other than that they should post something as a comment. This is an interesting idea as a lack of communication about what to do will hopefully still provide some form of communication between the participants, demonstrating how social networking aids communication, whilst metaphorically incorporating the concept of the reduction in communication caused by social networks. These communications in terms of text can then be taken and used to manipulate and add to the sound file. This also incorporates some elements of freedom of thought and opinion as it is left open to the participants as to how the content transforms.
I quite like this idea and so after much deliberation through various problems this will now become my re-developed construct for my project. The purpose will be to demonstrate how social networking aids communication. The process will be the organic development of communication achieved purely through the participants own opinions and thoughts on content that has been added previously. The sound will hopefully be transformed as the communication is changed so that there will be a performance element.
Firstly lets look at the two processes that have manifested in my project. The first of these is the chinese whispers process. This is the most experimental of the two processes and is also the main supporting element of the project. This process was influenced by the Dadaist poetry methods of taking pieces of text and remixing them to produce a whole new piece of text. Rather than doing this physically though my idea was to do this remixing in terms of response in that a person comments on a piece of text and this comment becomes the new piece of text which then gets passed on - alike to chinese whispers. The next question is why am I doing this? Firstly it is bringing the concepts of Dadaist poetry into the modern era through social networking. Also it can be looked at in terms of social networking as an investigation into communication and whether a conversation develops or stays the same. This however does not seem to sit quite right and so maybe I should rethink the process slightly so that the focus becomes more about translating Dadaist poetry techniques into a social networking environment which is reliant on communication.
The second process is the part in which the final piece of text, all the lines from the chinese whispers put together, gets reproduced as a sound. This process seems like a bit of an aside in the whole but was influenced by the idea that there has not been any sound related work for social networks, only visual, and that sound can be performed, linking my project back to digital performance. However it is questionable as to whether a singular piece of sound that would be produced at the end of this project could be considered a performance as it would be quite a static element, even if say a visualisation was put with it. It therefore may pay to consider how the sound element of my project could be redesigned or re-thought to be more performance based.
So the first step is to redefine my underlying process based on my original idea so that it deals more closely with communication and Dadaist poetry in social networking. Firstly I think I need to decide on the reasoning for my process and in this way the process can be developed from its aim. For this I need to consider my keywords again:
- Generative Art
- Digital Performance
- Dadaist poetry
- Social Networking
- Sound/Music Production
One thing that is obvious in this remodelling of my idea is that the sound produced should be running and updating live off of whatever information it is based on. This is because in order for it to be a digital performance it needs to be performed over a period of time, rather than just played at any point. The only problem with this is that I currently have no idea of how to set up a system which changes and plays the sound live off of the data. In my idea creation though I feel my knowledge in any subject should not cause restrictions and so for now this problem will be ignored.
Another element that I feel is important in this redeveloped idea is that the sound is in some way based on the networks between the people whose comments are used. This is because social networking visualisations are very focused on the networks and communities created and so to create a sound of social networking in response to the number of visualisations I need to include the main content of the image based versions. However I am not sure how this would be achievable at all as the networks between people are not obvious enough for a system to know about them as it creates the sound.
The next question to answer is how is the sound going to be created? The main plan for this was to use the text written by participants but there are other options also. There is the addition of a comment in itself, the participants name, and the time of submission that could be used. However the text written will be the most dynamic and so the most interesting to use. This decision relies on how complex a piece of work I wish to create as the text will make the sound development more complicated whereas something like date and time will be easier to manipulate. The main problem I am struggling with here is that I want to include an organic process as the major section of my piece as this is what makes digital art most different to previous art. If I just use something like the date and time of a post there is no process other than the conversion to sound which is not an artistic process but a technological one. Whereas if I choose to get each participant to carry out a process of sorts with a piece of text for example the process is there and so it will be part of my project. This is what I would prefer to do, but therefore I have to develop a process that has a context for the project and is viable in terms of what I am trying to do.
Dadaist poetry relies on taking a piece of text and randomly re-organising the words to create a new piece of text. One option therefore is to kind of replicate this, for example providing a piece of text and getting one person to change a single word and then pass it on. Another option is to provide a piece of text which the user has to randomly re-order and then passing this on to the next person to re-order again.
I feel that the process I use should somehow comment on the freedom of thought achieved by social networking sites and how this develops communication. Social networking currently is focused on portraying how you are feeling at the current time, and updating this as often as possible to keep the information current, in a way it aims to portray your digital personality and this key feature based on thoughts, emotions and opinions should be somehow considered in my project process. This leads me back to my previous process to some extent as the point of this was that each participant posted their own comment (opinion) on the previous persons comment. The final outcome of this would be an organic development through peoples opinions and thoughts.
There is also the option of not providing the participants with much information at all other than that they should post something as a comment. This is an interesting idea as a lack of communication about what to do will hopefully still provide some form of communication between the participants, demonstrating how social networking aids communication, whilst metaphorically incorporating the concept of the reduction in communication caused by social networks. These communications in terms of text can then be taken and used to manipulate and add to the sound file. This also incorporates some elements of freedom of thought and opinion as it is left open to the participants as to how the content transforms.
I quite like this idea and so after much deliberation through various problems this will now become my re-developed construct for my project. The purpose will be to demonstrate how social networking aids communication. The process will be the organic development of communication achieved purely through the participants own opinions and thoughts on content that has been added previously. The sound will hopefully be transformed as the communication is changed so that there will be a performance element.
Sunday, 21 March 2010
IDAT211 - The Game Design
The game for application will narrative based. The game itself will be set in a environment that is similar to the real world so that the learners are able to relate to the system. As well as this the narrative will allow users to make choices as to the elements they learn and so the path they take through the learning process will be self directed even if the user chooses not to chapter select. This does begin to stray away from behaviourist learning as it is more self driven alike to cognitive learning, but by including certain elements like this it makes the game more interactive and so more engaging to the learner than having the process chosen for them. The following game design is for a section of the game that focuses on the major scales section of learning for grade 1 music theory. This sits in the middle of the learning process for music theory and so would also fit in the middle section of the overall game. Although users will be able to choose certain paths in the game, the game will not be too fluid as otherwise the user may start with something too hard, or come across a subject that is too easy for them at their current stage of learning. All interaction within the game will be controlled through use of the MIDI keyboard alike to that of the general interface. To ensure that the MIDI keyboard controls do not conflict between the game and the interface the interface has a pause/continue function which will lock the other interface areas so that only this button will be important to relocate on the keyboard away from the keyboard keys used in the game. Below is the game flow design, to see any of these images in a larger form simply click on them:
Starting screen
Initial Game Screen
Question 1
Learner answering
Learner answered
Next question
Learner answers wrong
(this would then go back to the screen above this)
Learner then reanswers correctly
After the other scales have been done correctly in the same style as those above the game is completed:
Next section of the environment and narrative
In these designs the character has not been designed as it requires complex imagery, but the basic format of the game is as it would be in the actual application.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
IDAT 211 - System Flow and Wireframes
Below is the beginning of the physical designing process for our elearning tool demonstrating the flow of the system and also the basic wireframes for the screens of the tool. To see a larger version of any of the images below simply select them:
System Flow
Wireframes
System Flow
Main Menu:
Menu with help etc box:
Game Screen:
Game Screen with help:
Free space screen:
This design for the free space screen is just an idea as we have not fully tied down what will be shown on this screen to make it functional whilst also in a free play situation.
IDAT 211 - Conceptual Development
The Application
The application will be a music theory application aimed at providing users with a more informed understanding of music and music theory. In order for this to be possible the application will provide learning games by which learners can practice music theory. The application will be MIDI based and will use the MIDI keyboard as the interface to the application, rather than a keyboard or mouse. This will make the application more unique and engaging to the user whilst also promoting and developing the users understanding of music. This will ensure we match with the expectations set out in the needs analysis of the users.
Design and Learning
The main feature for learning will be the games which are played in the application related to each element to learn. The games will follow some form of narrative which allows development through the learning, and this will help to make the games more fun for the learners. The learner will be given a question based on a topic of music theory, for example reading the staff and notes, which they will then have to answer using the MIDI keyboard as their interface. If they get the question right the narrative of the game will progress acting as a positive reinforcement for behaviourist learning, whereas if they get it wrong the narrative will not change (a negative reinforcer) and they will be asked the question again. The use of the MIDI keyboard as the interface for these games means that there will be a greater development in pratical learning as well as theoretical, as the learner will be carrying out both whilst using the program.
By having this interface it also means that the learning tool better caters for the all the main types of learner, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Visual learners will be able to learn through the on-screen imagery, hints and help given throughout the tool. Auditory learners will be able to hear the note or sound they are trying to learn and compare it through the sound of the MIDI keyboard. Finally the inclusion of the MIDI keyboard will cater for the kinesthetic learners as they will be working practically with the keyboard to use the tool and find the answers. This demonstrates our design to be a well rounded tool in terms of the way people learn, and also shows that it should be easy to use for any type of learner, another expectation outlined in the needs analysis.
Features
Below is a diagram of the features we plan to include in the product covering persitent features, technological features and variable features (features that are not persistent):
Context in which the tool would be used
The most common use for this application is likely to be alongside some form of music tuition be it individual or curriculum based. It will therefore be software or an online tool which will be used by schools in the majority to support musical learning and aid development of understanding. It would be good for the tool to be online based as this is more accessible to any learner whether they are at school or not, but by incorporating the MIDI keyboard element to the software it makes more sense for the application to be software based which can be purchased and installed onto a computer, particularly as part of a school's computing system.
The tool should be used alongside external music tutoring as it can act as supporting material to the external teaching and visa versa. In this situation it would be expected that the tutor would select elements which the learner would have to go through in the application to support the current learning, and the results of this learning would then be given back to the tutor as feedback so that the progress of the learner could be gauged. However it would still be possible for the application to be used in a self-tutoring situation if necessary but progress of learning may be slower.
Feedback
As well as allowing for feedback to be provided to the tutor on a students learning, the learner will also get feedback from the system throughout the tool. In particular a scores section incorporated into the features of the tool will allow the learner to view how successful they have been on each section and so they will be able to gauge where improvements need to be made in their learning.
Look, Feel and Related Work
When first looking at the design of the tool we instantly felt that colour should be incorporated to make the learning of muscic theory more interesting. The first kind of aesthetic we therefore considered was a weather based aesthetic including a rainbow based key colour format. The aesthetic would then develop to look similar to that chosen by Vimeo shown below:
Other cartoonistic approaches similar to this are used for games aimed at the target audience we have chosen such as BBC Bitesize:
and Zoombinis:
Both bitesize and Zoombinis are very successful e-learning tools and so it could be suggested that the similar look and feel of these games played a part in their success. It would therefore be good to design our tool to have a similar look and feel to these. In particular it seems that these tool rely on a character type that can act as the learners guide to the tool. In bitesize the character is the fish, whilst in Zoombinis the character is the Zoombini. It may be particularly important therefore to consider incorporating a guiding character into our tool to make it more consistent and to allow the learners to relate to the tool more easily.
In terms of related music theory learning tools there is elearning music theory as described in this post: http://beckyvidat.blogspot.com/2010/02/idat-211-elearning-music-theory.html. There is also a whole range of small applications available online varying in quality. Most however are much more powerpoint based pieces writing out the theory and requiring little or no interaction from the learner let alone making this engaging. For example musictheory.net is quite similar to Elearning Music Theory. It has very basic interactive training tools (shown right) and a lot of reading based learning elements that require no interaction at all. Although this site does provide a large range of different theory based tools and information it has a very poor quality of engagement and has no end target or encouragement. In testing this tool I became instantly bored with it and so this would definitely not be successful for teaching younger audiences. This overview is very much similar for all the other music theory pages I have come across. Athough there are a few music theory games out there to teach music theory in a more fun way these seem quite outdated or are not particularly engaging. For example there are a whole range of music theory games on http://www.musictechteacher.com/ but these are inconsistent in theme and varying in engagement. I therefore feel that there is a definite space for a tool such as ours which takes a new and more dynamic approach to learning music theory.
Related Literature
To come soon...
The application will be a music theory application aimed at providing users with a more informed understanding of music and music theory. In order for this to be possible the application will provide learning games by which learners can practice music theory. The application will be MIDI based and will use the MIDI keyboard as the interface to the application, rather than a keyboard or mouse. This will make the application more unique and engaging to the user whilst also promoting and developing the users understanding of music. This will ensure we match with the expectations set out in the needs analysis of the users.
Design and Learning
The main feature for learning will be the games which are played in the application related to each element to learn. The games will follow some form of narrative which allows development through the learning, and this will help to make the games more fun for the learners. The learner will be given a question based on a topic of music theory, for example reading the staff and notes, which they will then have to answer using the MIDI keyboard as their interface. If they get the question right the narrative of the game will progress acting as a positive reinforcement for behaviourist learning, whereas if they get it wrong the narrative will not change (a negative reinforcer) and they will be asked the question again. The use of the MIDI keyboard as the interface for these games means that there will be a greater development in pratical learning as well as theoretical, as the learner will be carrying out both whilst using the program.
By having this interface it also means that the learning tool better caters for the all the main types of learner, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Visual learners will be able to learn through the on-screen imagery, hints and help given throughout the tool. Auditory learners will be able to hear the note or sound they are trying to learn and compare it through the sound of the MIDI keyboard. Finally the inclusion of the MIDI keyboard will cater for the kinesthetic learners as they will be working practically with the keyboard to use the tool and find the answers. This demonstrates our design to be a well rounded tool in terms of the way people learn, and also shows that it should be easy to use for any type of learner, another expectation outlined in the needs analysis.
Features
Below is a diagram of the features we plan to include in the product covering persitent features, technological features and variable features (features that are not persistent):
Context in which the tool would be used
The most common use for this application is likely to be alongside some form of music tuition be it individual or curriculum based. It will therefore be software or an online tool which will be used by schools in the majority to support musical learning and aid development of understanding. It would be good for the tool to be online based as this is more accessible to any learner whether they are at school or not, but by incorporating the MIDI keyboard element to the software it makes more sense for the application to be software based which can be purchased and installed onto a computer, particularly as part of a school's computing system.
The tool should be used alongside external music tutoring as it can act as supporting material to the external teaching and visa versa. In this situation it would be expected that the tutor would select elements which the learner would have to go through in the application to support the current learning, and the results of this learning would then be given back to the tutor as feedback so that the progress of the learner could be gauged. However it would still be possible for the application to be used in a self-tutoring situation if necessary but progress of learning may be slower.
Feedback
As well as allowing for feedback to be provided to the tutor on a students learning, the learner will also get feedback from the system throughout the tool. In particular a scores section incorporated into the features of the tool will allow the learner to view how successful they have been on each section and so they will be able to gauge where improvements need to be made in their learning.
Look, Feel and Related Work
When first looking at the design of the tool we instantly felt that colour should be incorporated to make the learning of muscic theory more interesting. The first kind of aesthetic we therefore considered was a weather based aesthetic including a rainbow based key colour format. The aesthetic would then develop to look similar to that chosen by Vimeo shown below:
Both bitesize and Zoombinis are very successful e-learning tools and so it could be suggested that the similar look and feel of these games played a part in their success. It would therefore be good to design our tool to have a similar look and feel to these. In particular it seems that these tool rely on a character type that can act as the learners guide to the tool. In bitesize the character is the fish, whilst in Zoombinis the character is the Zoombini. It may be particularly important therefore to consider incorporating a guiding character into our tool to make it more consistent and to allow the learners to relate to the tool more easily.
In terms of related music theory learning tools there is elearning music theory as described in this post: http://beckyvidat.blogspot.com/2010/02/idat-211-elearning-music-theory.html. There is also a whole range of small applications available online varying in quality. Most however are much more powerpoint based pieces writing out the theory and requiring little or no interaction from the learner let alone making this engaging. For example musictheory.net is quite similar to Elearning Music Theory. It has very basic interactive training tools (shown right) and a lot of reading based learning elements that require no interaction at all. Although this site does provide a large range of different theory based tools and information it has a very poor quality of engagement and has no end target or encouragement. In testing this tool I became instantly bored with it and so this would definitely not be successful for teaching younger audiences. This overview is very much similar for all the other music theory pages I have come across. Athough there are a few music theory games out there to teach music theory in a more fun way these seem quite outdated or are not particularly engaging. For example there are a whole range of music theory games on http://www.musictechteacher.com/ but these are inconsistent in theme and varying in engagement. I therefore feel that there is a definite space for a tool such as ours which takes a new and more dynamic approach to learning music theory.Related Literature
To come soon...
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Stonehouse - Controlling our projection
Once we had decided that our arduino board was going to control a projection in our Stonehouse location, we then needed to look at what information in particular could be captured from the arduino that could control what the projection looked like. There were a number of options for this as listed below:
This does not mean that the other options for manipulation of the projection could not also be used alongside the time based one but that the time based one would be the main control for the projection and the others would be used to provide extra data to the system to make the projection more versatile.
The next step in implementing our final project is to come up with a working arduino to flash system and then work out what our projection is going to do and how this is linked to our overall idea.
- microphone info - projection of sounds
- time between uses of crossing - track times between light sensor triggers
- amount of uses of crossing - track number of times light sensor triggers
- motion sensing - number of people passing through
This does not mean that the other options for manipulation of the projection could not also be used alongside the time based one but that the time based one would be the main control for the projection and the others would be used to provide extra data to the system to make the projection more versatile.
The next step in implementing our final project is to come up with a working arduino to flash system and then work out what our projection is going to do and how this is linked to our overall idea.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
IDAT 204 - AR model development
Once I had obtained the information that I needed to start building my solar system model I began constructing it in Blender. By building it in Blender it meant I could export it to the correct Collada format for the FLARToolKit. I therefore began working out how I could build the model for it to be proportional in size and distance. I used the Blender grid to work out proportional sizes based on the information facts I had found so that every 10 squares in terms of distance counts as 1000 million km, and every square in terms of size counts as approximately 35000 km. Therefore the ratio of the model is 35000:100000000 km or 35:100000 km. It is a shame that my model cant be completely in proportion so that it represents the solar system precisely, but the enormity of the distances between the planets in comparison to the sizes makes this impractical for the project. This is the second best option and should hopefully still be quite representative.
As well as sorting out the sizes to be proportional I will also have to decide on how I want to represent the speed of the orbits as this will have to be represented in seconds or minutes rather than years. The model therefore currently looks like this:
As well as having to change the size and distance to be at a ratio to each other, I have also had to shrink the Sun so that it is NOT proportional to the size of the other planets, as it is too big up against the rest of the model to be practical if at proportional size. There is still a lot of work to be done on this model including particles, textures and animations and so these are the elements I now have to tackle.
As well as sorting out the sizes to be proportional I will also have to decide on how I want to represent the speed of the orbits as this will have to be represented in seconds or minutes rather than years. The model therefore currently looks like this:
Thursday, 11 March 2010
IDAT 204 - FLARToolKit Testing
#bdat To be able to implement my AR orrery I will need to get my model working as part of a 2D matrix marker based AR tool. In order to do this I can use the FLARToolKit a free Flash based application that uses collada based models and matrix marker recognition to create augmented reality. I therefore have to make sure I am able to use this tool kit and implement my own models to ensure that my project will be successful.
The first step in trying to achieve this was to download the FLARToolKit and look at how the code worked in terms of choosing the model and pattern for the AR to work. This was a basically simple task as the model is selected through a reference to a file path at the beginning of the code. I therefore then went and produced a simple model in Blender which I could export as a Collada file and then apply to the FLARToolkit code. The following was the result I achieved:
The test carried out in the video above also included a small amount of animation although this is not obvious from the video. This animation also worked fine and so the results I have obtained from my FLARtoolkit test are promising for the rest of my project.
The first step in trying to achieve this was to download the FLARToolKit and look at how the code worked in terms of choosing the model and pattern for the AR to work. This was a basically simple task as the model is selected through a reference to a file path at the beginning of the code. I therefore then went and produced a simple model in Blender which I could export as a Collada file and then apply to the FLARToolkit code. The following was the result I achieved:
The test carried out in the video above also included a small amount of animation although this is not obvious from the video. This animation also worked fine and so the results I have obtained from my FLARtoolkit test are promising for the rest of my project.
IDAT 204 - AR Research into planets
In order to make an informational and accurate AR orrery I will need to know a whole range of information about the planets that will be included and manipulated. The following is a range of research relating ot this topic:
There are 8 official planets but orreries also often include Pluto as it was classified as the 9th planet until its downgrading in 2006.
For my model I particularly need to know the information on the planets relating to distance from the sun, size, orbital path, time of single rotation, and time for a single orbit. With this information I should be able to construct a relatively accurate model of the solar system. I am therefore planning to use the majority of the data in this table below found at http://www.klbschool.org.uk/interactive/science/p_table.htm
There are 8 official planets but orreries also often include Pluto as it was classified as the 9th planet until its downgrading in 2006.
However if I intend to make the solar system model in proportion to these values I will have to consider carefully how I intend to do this. For example the distance to the Sun is valued in millions of km. I will not be able to simulate this at the same proportion as the diameter which would be in km as I would have to model the planets too far away from each other. I will therefore have to make the distance and diameter separate so that all the sizes are proportional to each other, and all the distances are proportional but the size and distance are not measured in the same proportions.
Now that I have these values I can begin to create the model that I wish to use for my augmented reality solar system.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Stonehouse - Basis of our Arduino Project
For the final part of the Transforming Stonehouse work that we have been doing we are required to develop and implement an Arduino based project as our final realisation of the ideas we have been investigating throughout the year. Being that our group has based our work on light and communication we therefore need to come up with an idea for our arduino project that implements this idea in some way. We had already looked a lot into what we could project as part of our project and so felt it would be a more consistent idea if we used the arduino in some way to relate to a projection that could be projected in the Stonehouse area. After looking at the various possibilities for arduino boards and relating this to the elements we have in the area of our site we decided that we would use the nearby pedestrian crossing as the main environmental change that would act as the input for our arduino. Basically when a pedestrian presses the button on the pedestrian crossing a light is turned on on the pedestrian console. We therefore felt that we could use a light sensor as part of the arduino to detect this change and trigger a change in the projection.
The basis behind this idea is that this could be used to improve the efficient use of pedestrian crossings and traffic lights as most often people press a pedestrian crossing button but they cross when they decide it is safe. This is quite often not when the traffic lights have stopped the traffic and so traffic gets stopped unnecessarily. By triggering a projection when the pedestrian presses the button they may well be distracted and so will wait for longer at the crossing making it more likely that they will cross at the right time.
The process that our arduino project will go through is as follows:
pedestrian presses button - light turns on - light sensor sees change and change is sent to the arduino - arduino data is sent to flash app - flash interprets data and changes image accordingly.
The next step in this project development is to consider what and how the projection will change.
The basis behind this idea is that this could be used to improve the efficient use of pedestrian crossings and traffic lights as most often people press a pedestrian crossing button but they cross when they decide it is safe. This is quite often not when the traffic lights have stopped the traffic and so traffic gets stopped unnecessarily. By triggering a projection when the pedestrian presses the button they may well be distracted and so will wait for longer at the crossing making it more likely that they will cross at the right time.
The process that our arduino project will go through is as follows:
pedestrian presses button - light turns on - light sensor sees change and change is sent to the arduino - arduino data is sent to flash app - flash interprets data and changes image accordingly.
The next step in this project development is to consider what and how the projection will change.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
IDAT 211 - Needs Analysis
The first stage in designing a learning tool is to define the needs analysis of the learners to identify the knowledge already held and the knowledge to be gained by the tool, as well as defining the specific audience for the tool and how the tool will be approach this audience.
Audience and Skills
The subject for our learning tool is music theory, and in particular the basics of music theory that are learnt at the beginning of any musical learning. By producing a tool for this stage of learning we will be providing a supporting factor to standard music learning that will aim to develop understanding more efficiently. Firstly we must define the target audience of the learning tool based on the type of knowledge we wish to provide. The majority of people who would be learning the basics of music theory are children at school who are either learning an instrument or have music lessons as part of their curriculum. In particular this covers students aged 11-14 especially those in the transition between primary and secondary school in years 6 and 7. In this age range learners should have a basic knowledge of instruments and will also have taken part in musical pieces, often as singers, but will not have looked particularly closely at musical theory. It is also common at this age for students to decide to individually learn a musical instrument and so the tool will act as a support for these students in their first years of learning theory. Therefore most of this audience have very little knowledge of music theory and so this tool will aim to improve this.
Expectations and Goals
In using the tool students will aim to increase their knowledge of music theory beyond that which they already have. In completing the learning provided by the tool the students should have achieved a complete understanding of grade 1-2 music theory and should be able to apply this to various problems. In participating in the use of this tool users will have a number of expectations for the product which are listed below:
Need and Demand
In order to do a needs analysis you also have to look at the need and demand of a product. Our tool does not have a particularly high need value, but in providing a tool such as this it allows for a better balance in knowledge throughout students of a certain age. This makes the level of understanding more measurable and so the development of this knowledge later on is likely to be more fair and successful for all students. In terms of demand this is likely to be quite high if accepted as a viable learning tool as most schools teach music and musical tuition is also very common.
Delivery Format
Being that this is a e-learning design project the method for which the tool must be delivered needs to initially be digital in some form. However there are still a number of options as to how the material is presented digitally. These include virtual reality, augmented reality, screen based, projected and dome projected. We feel that out of these delivery formats the most appropriate for the tool is screen based i.e via a computer monitor. This is because the tasks and learning will be based on the individual and so this method is the most accessible and usable for this. Although VR or AR could be used individually we felt that these would be too complicated for learners to get involved with and would also be less accessible. In particular learning could begin much more quickly with a recognised and familiar environment i.e a screen based interface, and so the tool would be more efficient.
To summarise our tool will be a screen-based music theory learning tool which targets students between the ages of 8 and 14 who are studying music. The aim of the tool is to increase the learners understanding of music theory up to grade 1-2 standard and should meet all the expectations both of the learners and the music tutors involved. Ultimately the tool should be able to allow for a more standardised understand of music theory throughout students making further development of this easier and more efficient for all concerned.
Audience and Skills
The subject for our learning tool is music theory, and in particular the basics of music theory that are learnt at the beginning of any musical learning. By producing a tool for this stage of learning we will be providing a supporting factor to standard music learning that will aim to develop understanding more efficiently. Firstly we must define the target audience of the learning tool based on the type of knowledge we wish to provide. The majority of people who would be learning the basics of music theory are children at school who are either learning an instrument or have music lessons as part of their curriculum. In particular this covers students aged 11-14 especially those in the transition between primary and secondary school in years 6 and 7. In this age range learners should have a basic knowledge of instruments and will also have taken part in musical pieces, often as singers, but will not have looked particularly closely at musical theory. It is also common at this age for students to decide to individually learn a musical instrument and so the tool will act as a support for these students in their first years of learning theory. Therefore most of this audience have very little knowledge of music theory and so this tool will aim to improve this.
Expectations and Goals
In using the tool students will aim to increase their knowledge of music theory beyond that which they already have. In completing the learning provided by the tool the students should have achieved a complete understanding of grade 1-2 music theory and should be able to apply this to various problems. In participating in the use of this tool users will have a number of expectations for the product which are listed below:
- Easy to use
- Engaging
- Explain a range of theory
- Be useful
- Be fun
- To improve their knowledge
- Improve students knowledge
- Give some method of rating understanding
- Support current practical work
- Provide challenges
- Provide help
- Engage the student in the learning
Need and Demand
In order to do a needs analysis you also have to look at the need and demand of a product. Our tool does not have a particularly high need value, but in providing a tool such as this it allows for a better balance in knowledge throughout students of a certain age. This makes the level of understanding more measurable and so the development of this knowledge later on is likely to be more fair and successful for all students. In terms of demand this is likely to be quite high if accepted as a viable learning tool as most schools teach music and musical tuition is also very common.
Being that this is a e-learning design project the method for which the tool must be delivered needs to initially be digital in some form. However there are still a number of options as to how the material is presented digitally. These include virtual reality, augmented reality, screen based, projected and dome projected. We feel that out of these delivery formats the most appropriate for the tool is screen based i.e via a computer monitor. This is because the tasks and learning will be based on the individual and so this method is the most accessible and usable for this. Although VR or AR could be used individually we felt that these would be too complicated for learners to get involved with and would also be less accessible. In particular learning could begin much more quickly with a recognised and familiar environment i.e a screen based interface, and so the tool would be more efficient.
To summarise our tool will be a screen-based music theory learning tool which targets students between the ages of 8 and 14 who are studying music. The aim of the tool is to increase the learners understanding of music theory up to grade 1-2 standard and should meet all the expectations both of the learners and the music tutors involved. Ultimately the tool should be able to allow for a more standardised understand of music theory throughout students making further development of this easier and more efficient for all concerned.
Monday, 8 March 2010
IDAT 211 - Types of learning
In order to design a successful learning tool we must understand what kind of learning technique we wish to use. In the last lecture we had for this module the three main concepts of pscyhology for learning were covered. These were:
Firstly there is behaviourism which is based on a structured reinforced learning method involving both positive and sometimes negative reinforcement of behaviour. Experiments into behaviourism were initially conducted by psychologists such as Pavlov and Skinner who experimented with conditioning animals to behave in particular ways using reinforcement. In terms of designing a learning tool which adhere to behaviourist methods the tool must also be well structured and monitored involving drill procedures that teaches the student a topic by rewarding for correct answers and continually working at the topic until the students behaviour i.e their answers are continuously correct.
The behaviourist method very much fits the topic of music theory as along with practical music learning it is a very drill based topic that requires repeated practice before the knowledge is permanantly stored. Similarly it is unlikely that someone would choose to be learning music theory without having some other monitoring by a tutor, although this could be possible if attempting self tuition. Music theory is also a very structured practice as it has been taught for many years and can become complicated. By structuring the theory carefully from start to finish this ensures the learner has the necessary understanding for the next section and so the structured approach of behaviourism is also suited to music theory.
The second type of learning is cognitive. Cognitivist theory is based on the idea that we hold a model of the world inside our heads and use this to understand the world around us, classified as symbolic processing. The theory focuses around cognitive processes such as memory and the way in which we structure the information in our heads through classification and modelling to gain an understanding. Therefore a design for learning based on the cognitive model would need to be based on classifications, and also focus on getting the user to know what they have learnt and how to use it (metaknowledge).
This method of design for learning may partially fit the topic of music theory as uses should be able to apply the knowledge they have gained to various situations. However the content of music theory is not very heirarchical and so would not fit the classification structure. Music theory is also not bery comparable to anything else and so the use of comparison in cognitive learning would not be of any use.
The final type of learning is constructivist. Constructivism suggests that learning is a building process based on interpretation and in which the teaching is indirect. People learn through interaction with the world picking up knowledge as they go, and is a learner led method of learning. To design for constructivist principles a tool would have to be very interactive based on the interpretations made by a user. Examples of constructivist tools include interactive videos and role play which are user-centric allowing the learner to guide their own learning through the tool.
Constructivism may be suited to the topic of music theory as long as the learning was interactive and developed according to the learners choices. However this is not how music theory is best structured as it is a complex subject and needs to be carefully laid out so that the user has the knowledge required to move to the next step. Also music theory is most likely supported by an external tutor and so the constructivist focus on indirect teaching does not fit all that well.
Ultimately our tool for music theory ought to use the behavioural model of learning as it is the learning method that is most expected by the users, mainly because it is the most effective method according to the type of information that needs to be transferred to the learner.
- Behaviourist Theory
- Cognitivist Theory
- Constructivist Theory
The behaviourist method very much fits the topic of music theory as along with practical music learning it is a very drill based topic that requires repeated practice before the knowledge is permanantly stored. Similarly it is unlikely that someone would choose to be learning music theory without having some other monitoring by a tutor, although this could be possible if attempting self tuition. Music theory is also a very structured practice as it has been taught for many years and can become complicated. By structuring the theory carefully from start to finish this ensures the learner has the necessary understanding for the next section and so the structured approach of behaviourism is also suited to music theory.
This method of design for learning may partially fit the topic of music theory as uses should be able to apply the knowledge they have gained to various situations. However the content of music theory is not very heirarchical and so would not fit the classification structure. Music theory is also not bery comparable to anything else and so the use of comparison in cognitive learning would not be of any use.
Constructivism may be suited to the topic of music theory as long as the learning was interactive and developed according to the learners choices. However this is not how music theory is best structured as it is a complex subject and needs to be carefully laid out so that the user has the knowledge required to move to the next step. Also music theory is most likely supported by an external tutor and so the constructivist focus on indirect teaching does not fit all that well.
Ultimately our tool for music theory ought to use the behavioural model of learning as it is the learning method that is most expected by the users, mainly because it is the most effective method according to the type of information that needs to be transferred to the learner.
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