New Media Reader 339-439

Theatre of the Oppressed

Augusto Boal created interactive performances that confront problems of the ordinary people. These performances led to the Brazilian government killed his colleagues, tortured him and told him to get out of the country. His work involves techniques for therapeutic purposes. He later returned to Brazil after it was safe for him, and became a politician. His methods of interactive theater are still used around the world, blurring the line of actor/audience.


Soft Architecture Machines

Negroponte brought about the idea that the user be empowered by computers, rather than complying with machine experts. The ‘soft architecture’ he talks about is the concept of network or software systems as spatial. He founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in 1967. He began to manage data spatially, rather than in the form of numeric or textual lists. He argues that the computer should not be used only as an expert with special knowledge, but as a tool for individual experimentation that would lead to new ideas.


Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation

Joseph Weizenbaum wrote one of the most famous chatterbox in the history of computing, and then perceived the dangers of some of the uses that can come from it. He then demanded that scientists and technologists take responsibility for what they develop. One of the concerns was that machines would take over jobs as well as emotional functions. He is worried that people will not be able to differentiate the difference between a computer program and real human interactions. He brings up good ideas, but they are fairly outdated by now. I think that we have been able to distinguish that computer therapeutic programs are not a substitute for the real, human therapy.

Responsive Environments

Myron W. Krueger is often referred to as the father of virtual reality. His essay begins with observing that man-machine interaction is limited to poking at a machine with his fingers”. His essay goes from this initial observation to his development of VIDEOPLACE. This program provides a tool for devising interactions. I wonder what he thinks about the development of Secondlife, where the interactions and environment have been developed to such a degree that there is an entire world that people can live in.


Personal Dynamic Media

Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg published this article in 1977, which introduced the idea of a notebook computer. They developed the idea while working at Xerox PARC. They worked to develop the “Dynabook”. They believed that people other than businessmen should use the computer, and that it could be used creatively. With their vision, Xerox PARC developed the notebook as well as the personal desktop computer. Along with the vision of being able to carry a computer with them, they stated the importance of wireless communication, which didn’t come about until a few decades later. They led the way to the development of the computer I enjoy every day that I am able to take with me and use for many purposes.


A Thousand Plateaus

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari used creative writing styles to illustrate ideas. For example they used “rhizomatic” writing to describe hypertext. They introduce a new way of thinking about writing, and this form of rhizomatic writing changes our perception and challenges our Western thought.


Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas

The 1980s brought about the home computer era, with it the idea of using computers as a learning device for children to use. Computers were not wide spread at the time the essay was written. Seymour Papert develops an idea of “constructionist education” which is an education system designed to look closely at the idea of mental construction. He designed a program, LOGO, which allows children to take control of the computer and learn mathematics.


“Put-That-There”: Voice and Gesture at the Graphics Interface

Richard A. Bolt’s essay brought about multimodal interfaces, which is a combination of speech and gesture input. They allow a person to communicate with a computer using speech and gestures. This can be arranged by setting up a three-dimensional space with screens and speakers. He created the program Put-That-There that includes this type of multimodal communication. This is in contrast to the notion at the time that the computer revolutionized textual purposes.