Digital Technology and Culture

A blog for students and friends of Washington State University Vancouver's Digital Technology and Culture Program

Open House

The new motion tracking lab that the university is building for my research is in the last throes of construction. Next week the computers go in and get tested on the system. My collaborator Steve Gibson (who spoke at the DTC Student Orientation) will be back with Justin Love, his graduate assistant, on November 10th, and together the three of us will calibrate the lab. Once this step is completed, I can begin to use the lab to develop Steve's and my next piece, which is an exhibit for OMSI: a live, interactive game environment that falls into multiple categories like "exergame," "non-zero sum game," "serious game," and "narrative, first-person game."

I am telling you this news for several reasons.

First, most undergraduate students do not know what faculty do beyond the purview of the classroom experience. You see us lecturing or facilitating a class discussion, you know we make up and grade assignments, and you are pretty sure (most of the time) that we prepare for class by reading the same assignments we give you. But what a lot of students don't know is that faculty at Tier One institutions like WSUV are committed to three, what I call, "pillars of academe"––and Teaching comprises only one of them. The other two are Research and Service.

When faculty are evaluated each year, we must prepare a portfolio that shows evidence that we engage in good, innovative teaching practices; solid research; and ongoing service to the university and the community. If we don't, we do not get tenure or get promoted and, depending on the institution, we don't get raises. So, this lab I am building represents the future of my research, something I love to do, am committed in doing, and what I must do ethically to uphold the "pillars."

Second. Beyond the research scope of the lab, I aim to utilize it for teaching. For example, to develop the piece for OMSI, I want to train students interested in game development to help me. So, in the spring when I am scripting the piece with Steve (who will be working with me at-a-distance online via webcam technology), I will encourage students to join us and learn how to script games, how to conceptualize 3D space, and how to work with performance-installation art. And next fall when I teach Time Based Media (FA 434), I plan to hold the class in the lab so that I can utilize its facilities to teach you how to work with video and other elements involved in Time Based Media.

Okay, third. Having such a lab associated with the DTC is a plus in terms of prestige. If you look online at other digital media/technology programs, you will see that they have multiple kinds of labs and studios at the disposal of faculty and students––and that they are used for collaborations with galleries, museums, and other spaces that garner for the program and its students much notice in and around the community. Students in programs like that have an edge on jobs and graduate programs because students get hands-on experience in project management, conceptualization, design, and programming. The OMSI project is intended to provide that kind of experience for students.


So, those are three reasons I am excited about the lab. And I hope you are, too. On Tuesday, November 14 Steven, Justin, and I will be performing in the lab in a kind of Open House that you all will be invited to. That is also the day that the OMSI team is coming to WSUV to see the lab and meet Steve and Justin. I will be posting more information about this event as the date nears. And in the next weeks I will continue to explain to you about the lab. In the meantime, you can go to the URL below and watch a short video clip that demonstrates how the motion tracking and web cam technologies work.

http://www.nouspace/dene/VDJ_Net_level3.mov

In the video Steve is in Canada at UVic and I am in mine in Denton, TX where I was before moving here. We are performing "Virtual DJ," a sound and light piece Steve created and has performed around the world. We are, however, performing the piece together over the internet at-a-distance. So, it is unique in that it is a "networked performance".

posted by: grigar at 13:49 | link | comments |

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