“Mechanoreception”
“Magnetoreception”
“Olfacoception”
Textbook Relevance
First off, I must say that Susan Weinschenk’s “100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People” is one of the best books I have ever read. I must admit that I still haven’t completely finished it, but I learned so much just after reading the first few sections. It touches on some very interesting points about the psychology when it comes to individuals and the user experience. To summarize the book in one sentence, I’d say don’t make things hard to do or read because most people only do or read things a certain way and most of the time they are very unwilling to put in more work than necessary when consuming information or enjoying an experience. This very much relates to our Hero’s Journey project because we are working with a virtual environment that is meant to be encouraging and engaging for the user. We want them to stay in the world and follow the path to the end to learn more about what they could pursue an education or career in. We have to pay attention to so many different details to ensure this happens. They are more than likely not going to stay or continue through the path if it isn’t easy and convenient to do so. If they have to go out of their way to try to figure out what to do or which way to go, they may give up. Society is very lazy today! That is just the truth of the matter.
The Watchmen graphic novel was also great. I still haven’t finished this either but not only is it an amazing original story but the way that the story is delivered is also brilliant. The graphic side of the novel certainly makes it a much more immersive experience which is exactly what we are trying to do with those who visit our virtual world for the Hero’s Journey.
Shining Light in the Darkness
Today, I watched “Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times”. There are a couple things I want to point out here.
First, depending on where someone lives and what they do for a living, the pandemic may very well be the darkest days they have ever lived in their life. Some people may have even lost their minds due to it. Individuals were told they had to stay home and socially distance from others. This led to a new pandemic that we are currently dealing with today: loneliness. For many, Second Life and other virtual worlds such as Animal Crossing were a great opportunity to connect with others and socialize again.
Second, I feel that this video relates to what we have done in this class because everybody who used these virtual worlds to find hope during the pandemic were essentially following their own hero’s journey by interacting with objects and environments that the developers of said world had created.
I can’t say that I personally know anyone this happened to, but I am very confident that the virtual worlds of Second Life, Animal Crossing, etc. probably saved many peoples’ lives. It gave them a chance to reconnect with society, establish and maintain relationships, and have a safe place to be themselves.
I would say the best way to market our project would be through the virtual world itself, social media, signage on the Peninsula College campus, and through the college website.
Digital Storytelling Project – Management Report
I was not able to attend the presentation so I have created this blog post. The post basically contains an updated version of my earlier midterm report and proposal.
The Hero’s Journey
Let me just start off by saying, I’ve been all over the place with this project. That is what is neat about development though!
Preliminary Plan
I had decided I would like to leave my mark on the virtual Hero’s Journey by developing a large monitor that would display a slide show. I wanted to place it somewhere near the beginning of the pathway. For my other object, I was going to create light bulbs that could be placed above the archways on the step I had chosen: “Step 2 – Call to Action”. This was the step I had chosen because this was a huge revelation for myself in my own personal hero’s journey. For area of study, I decided to go with video production because that is my passion and has been since I was in middle school!
A Better Understanding
I later gained a better understanding of what this virtual world represents and how I can better contribute to it after speaking with classmates and Professor Brock more about this ongoing project. I learned of the bubbles that we would be placing content inside of. The bubble I am nested in is the Information Technology bubble. These bubbles are different exhibits in our classes’ “Dive Into College Project”.
Professor Brock was kind enough to add a few things to the bubble for me including a photography studio and a desk.
There happened to be a few blank photographs on the floor here which I will use some of my own personal photos from a vacation trip for textures.
An Even Better Understanding
After feeling like I had a better idea of what would be good ways to contribute to this project after speaking more with Professor Brock, I decided I would use a screen recorder to get video footage of the video editing process on my computer and use that as textures to go on the computer monitors on the desk in my bubble. I also decided to go with a handheld holo-projector instead of a light bulb. This projector would display an image of a college diploma. I will more than likely either place this item on the desk in my bubble as well or place it somewhere on Step 2 of the Hero’s Journey. I included this in my Immersive Engagement proposal which can be found here:
I also made mood boards for these items.
Object Development
For the monitors on the video editing workstation, I ended up just pulling a series of stills instead of video footage to work with. I submitted the following stills to Professor Brock so that she could use them for the texture on the left monitor:
Next, I sent her the following stills to be used on the right-hand monitor:
With the development of the video editing workstation, I had hoped to give potential students a peek into the world of video editing and hopefully inspire them to want to pursue an education in the same field. Professor Brock substituted my video about S.T.E.A.M. in the trucking industry on the right-hand monitor instead of the images I had supplied for it. I think this was a great choice!
As far as the holo-projector item goes, Professor Brock worked with me and gave me a few pointers on how to physically build prims in the Second Life world. I then was able to create this:
This is what the workstation ended up looking like when it was done:
Goal
My goal by creating these items is to hopefully inspire others to pursue a career in the video production field with my video editing workstation and to give them an item that they can receive on their journey that symbolizes having an awakening and realizing that they should be thinking about the future.
Keys to Success
My keys to success I have chosen are “develop empathy” and “respect”. I would like to place them in Keegan Hall on the Peninsula College campus. Here is my design for my cape:
I also developed the following QR codes that we can put on campus in Keegan Hall.
Conclusion
Second Life is a vast, open, virtual world that has limitless boundaries. Things are possible here that you cannot even begin to imagine. When I first started this class, not a single thing about it made a shred of sense to me. However, as I’ve experienced before with Professor Brock’s classes, it always all seems to come together towards the end, like putting the last piece in a jigsaw puzzle. The picture is complete and it all makes sense now. I really do hope that future classes build off of what we have added to the experience in a way that’s truly beneficial to newcomers or potential Peninsula College applicants. I will be revisiting in the future to see what has changed!
Side Note:
Having a serious fashion emergency here. UPDATE: I finally am no longer barefoot. Thanks Professor Brock!
My Side Quest
I have come up with a couple different possible ideas for my extra add-on to the virtual world. I was thinking it would be neat to have a whale watching boat to watch the orcas in the waters off of the island from. These are common in the real world where we live.
My other idea was a tour booth somewhere on the island. Instead of a store, I would be putting up a virtual tour agency! It could also be an information booth of sorts for the island or the hero’s journey.
“Chronoception”
“Nociception”
“Equilibrioception”
