BENV2423 REAL-TIME INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS

SESSION TWO 2011

UNITS OF CREDIT, 6UOC

RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

www.russelllowe.com/benv2423_2011/index.htm
www.benv2423-2011.blogspot.com
www.groups.google.com.au/group/benv2423

ftp://emustore.fbe.unsw.edu.au and navigate to; Resources\samples\benv\benv2423 - Lowe

the above is a link to the benv2423 resources folder (your user name is the letter 'u' followed by your student ID and your password is your normal fbe password. If you haven't set that go to the "current students" page on the fbe website and follow the "FBE password services" link).

info.library.unsw.edu.au/web/services/services.html
red centre guide

COURSE CONVENER

STUDIO TUTORS

Russell Lowe
Vinh Nguyen
Julian Cromarty
Rosamond Kember
Rui Wang

TIME


3 hours per week (1 hour lecture plus 2 hours lab tutorial).
Lecture: Tuesday 10-11am, Red Centre Theater (G001)
Lab: Tuesday 1-3pm. Red Center Computer Labs.

In addition to the 3 hours spent in class students are expected to spend an additional 10 hours per week on self directed study for this course.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

BENV2423 Real-Time Interactive Environments developes the notion of repurposing computer gaming technology to engage with uses and concepts outside of the entertainment industry. It draws on concepts such as "Porosity" and "Urban Analytics". Porosity is a term coined by by Sydney based artist, and Professor of Fine Art at COFA, Richard Goodwin. Richard defines Porosity as the revision of public space in the city using public art to test the functional boundaries of built form. Urban Analytics was coined by Associate professor Sidney Newton and suggests an opportunity for analysing and designing urban spaces. In this course students will be exposed to the cutting edge research exploring both of these ideas in real time using contemporary computer gaming technology.

TEACHING STRATEGIES AND ATTITUDE TO REPRESENTATION:

Students will be asked to develop an individual architectural position that articulates a relationship between real world sensors, computational methods and an architectural challenge. Through a systematic build up of architectural challenges the students will be introduced to ways to productively structure research and acquire technique so that they can confidently approach projects of their own in the future.

LEARNING OUTCOMES TO BE DEVELOPED WITHIN THE STUDIO

At the end of this course students will have:

Developed skills in critical thinking and problem solving using digital representation, visual scripting and simulation. Students will engage with a range of important software, including SketchUp, Sandbox2, Crysis Wars, Premier (or a Vegas trial) and Blogger.

Developed research skills especially as they relate to formulating research questions.

Developed breathtaking and significant objects, spaces, environments with a focus on the interactions between the three.

DESIGN STUDIO EXPERIMENTS

Included below are abstracts for the two EXPERIMENTS. They are included here to give you an overall impression of the course and to bring your attention to the concepts, techniques and software we will be working with. Each abstract will be expanded into a full brief at the introduction of each EXPERIMENT.

EXPERIMENT 1: Pure War!


TIMETABLE: Weeks 1 - 8, 35% of final grade.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPUTING CHALLENGE: Testing the conceptual opposition between terms such as War and Peace, Real and Virtual, Entertainment and Research.
REFERENCE TEXTS: Simulation vs Narrative: Introduction to Ludology, by Gonzalo Frasca in The Video Game Theory Reader, M. Wolf and B. Perron Ed's, pg's 221 - 235,
Documentaphobia and Mixed Modes: Michael Moore's Roger and Me, by Matthew Bernstein in Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video, Barry Grant and Jeanette Sloniowski Ed's. pg's 397-415.
SOFTWARE: Blogger, SketchUp, Crysis Wars, Fraps, Premier, Vegas (trial).
TECHNIQUES: Blogging, Modeling, Repurposing Computer Games, Visual Scripting, Machinima, Video Editing, Documentary.
OUTPUTS: 1 x 120 second (max!) video clip, 1 x SketchUp model, 1 x Blog, 1 x Crysis Wars Mod folder containing all of the required files to "play test" your work.
PREMISE: The combination of the flowgraph, AI, rendering and physics engines in contemporary computer games with video capture devices provides an opportunity to capture and critically reflect on complex interrelationships between information, objects and space.

EXPERIMENT 2: The Analytics Engine.


TIMETABLE: Weeks 8 - 13, 45% of final grade.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPUTING CHALLENGE: To develop, test and document a Real Time Analytics Engine.
REFERENCE TEXTS: Porosity: The revision of public space in the city using public art to test the functional boundaries of built form, by Richard Goodwin in Architectural Design Research: Project-Based Design Research and Discourse on Design, Volume 2, Number 1, 2008 pg's 37-96
SOFTWARE: Blogger, SketchUp, Crysis Wars, Premier, Vegas (trial).
TECHNIQUES: Blogging, Modeling, Repurposing Computer Games, Visual Scripting, Machinima, Video Editing, Documentary.
OUTPUTS: 1 x 180 second (max!) Porosity Lens video clip, 1 x SketchUp model, 1 x Blog, 1 x Crysis Wars Mod with the required files to "play test" your work.
PREMISE: That one of the contributions that contemporary computer games make to the field of Architecture is the ability to evaluate environmental data in addition to representing it.

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT: The Tutorial.


TIMETABLE: Weeks 1 - 13, 20% of final grade.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPUTING CHALLENGE: To be perceptive to opportunities, gain an understanding of prior knowledge, communicate effectively and stimulate further learning.
REFERENCE TEXT:
SOFTWARE: Photoshop, Blogger, SketchUp, Crysis, Fraps, Premier, Vegas (trial).
TECHNIQUES: Blogging, Modeling, Repurposing Computer Games, Visual Scripting, Machinima, Video Editing, Documentary.
OUTPUTS: 1 x 5-7 minute video clip.
PREMISE: That critically evaluating a technique and producing a tutorial elevates ones understanding of the media beyond that of a typical user and presents an opportunity for leadership.

SCHEDULE:

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Evidence of thought and rigor in concept development
Imagination and innovation in terms of the use of the representational instruments introduced in studio.
Precision and skill in each of the above areas of assessment

In addition to these criteria you will be assessed on the level and extent to which you engage with the learning outcomes for the course and the PREMISES listed in each EXPERIMENT abstract.

Students need to submit both experiments and the research assignment to pass the course.

All of the student work is assessed via each students blog. Images and text are uploaded by the students directly. Video is uploaded to YouTube (or similar) and a link provided from the students blog. Sketchup models are uploaded to Google 3dWarehouse and a link provided from the students blog. Crysis Wars real time environments are uploaded to FileFront (or similar) and a link provided from the students blog. If there are technical issues with regard to uploading your work to these venues then you should upload your work to an equivilant service (with links back to your blog).

Late submissions will be penalized at a rate of 10% per day unless the student has made an arrangement with the course coordinator prior to the submission date.

Plagiarism is the presentation of the thoughts or work of another as one’s own.* Examples include:
• direct duplication of the thoughts or work of another, including by copying work, or knowingly permitting it to be copied. This includes copying material, ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document (whether published or unpublished), composition, artwork, design, drawing, circuitry, computer program or software, web site, Internet, other electronic resource, or another person’s assignment without appropriate acknowledgement;
• paraphrasing another person’s work with very minor changes keeping the meaning, form and/or progression of ideas of the original;
• piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole;
• presenting an assessment item as independent work when it has been produced in whole or part in collusion with other people, for example, another student or a tutor; and,
• claiming credit for a proportion a work contributed to a group assessment item that is greater than that actually contributed.†
Submitting an assessment item that has already been submitted for academic credit elsewhere may also be considered plagiarism.
The inclusion of the thoughts or work of another with attribution appropriate to the academic discipline does not amount to plagiarism.
Students are reminded of their Rights and Responsibilities in respect of plagiarism, as set out in the University Undergraduate and Postgraduate Handbooks, and are encouraged to seek advice from academic staff whenever necessary to ensure they avoid plagiarism in all its forms.
The Learning Centre website is the central University online resource for staff and student information on plagiarism and academic honesty. It can be located at:
www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism
The Learning Centre also provides substantial educational written materials, workshops, and tutorials to aid students, for example, in:
• correct referencing practices;
• paraphrasing, summarising, essay writing, and time management;
• appropriate use of, and attribution for, a range of materials including text, images, formulae and concepts.
Individual assistance is available on request from The Learning Centre.
Students are also reminded that careful time management is an important part of study and one of the identified causes of plagiarism is poor time management. Students should allow sufficient time for research, drafting, and the proper referencing of sources in preparing all assessment items.
* Based on that proposed to the University of Newcastle by the St James Ethics Centre. Used with kind permission from the University of Newcastle
† Adapted with kind permission from the University of Melbourne.

Students who have a disability that requires some adjustment in their learning and teaching environment are encouraged to discuss their study needs with me prior to, or at the commencement of the course, or with the Equity Officer (Disability) in the Equity and Diversity Unit (9385 4734). Information for students with disabilities is available at:
www.equity.unsw.edu.au/disabil.html

COURSE EVALUATION AND DEVELOPEMENT


Student feedback on the course is gathered both formally (through the Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement, CATEI, process) and informally via a group of student representatives. The course as described above has benefited positively through this process and the course coordinator encourages your participation to further strengthen it. While many of the components of the course are fixed at the outset of each session, there is some flexibility in terms of day to day tasks and scheduling, so if there are issues students can see arising that may be easily avoided through a simple adjustment please let the course coordinator, your tutor or student representative know.