|
Alice
Tina Cobb
Computer Science Department
Carnegie-Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 USA
tinac@cs.cmu.edu
alice.cs.cmu.edu
Alice is a development environment for
creation of interactive 3D worlds. Our
primary goal is to make the program easy
to learn and use for non-engineering
junior high, high school, and undergraduate
students. We want students with little or
no programming experience to be able to
run through a 30-minute tutorial and start
building fun and interesting 3D worlds right away.
Binary Biker Project: An Exploration of Motorcycles, Art, and Technology
In support of the New York City ACM
SIGGRAPH Dan Preda Scholarship Fund
Rick Barry
Pratt Institute
Department of Computer Graphics
200 Willoughby Avenue
ARC, LL, F-10
Brooklyn, New York 11205 USA
rbarry@interport.net
In July of 1998, a motorcycle convoy led by two
specially rigged motorcycles and a support vehicle
departed from the campuses of Pratt Institute and
the School of Visual Arts in New York City, to
begin an event-filled journey to SIGGRAPH 98 in
Orlando. These Binary Bikers were accompanied by
an invited entourage from the worlds of art,
technology, education, and motorcycling.
During the journey, still and moving images
were captured by both the Binary Bikers and
the virtual bikers via the Web site and
digitally stored on the Web server in an
online "image pool" for common access by
all participants. At SIGGRAPH 98, the
Binary Biker exhibition area contained
several workstations offering access
to the Binary Biker Web site, as well
as computer graphics software and hardware
tools to enable artists to create original
works and upload them to the SIGGRAPH 98
Guerilla Gallery.
CAROL
(Culture and Arts of Rochester Online)
Stephen Jacobs
Rochester Institute of Technology
Department of Information Technology
102 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, New York 14623 USA
Four years ago, students in "Topics in
Interactive Multimedia" built a Web site
for a Rochester, New York "living history
museum." From that initial site, CAROL has
grown to include over 20 local arts and
cultural institutions' Web sites, an
online events calendar, and a database
of local artists. CAROL is also a
consortium of organizations actively
involved in shaping the future and
growth of the sites.
The Cyberarium
Dave Warner
Institute for Interventional Informatics
500 University Place
Syracuse, New York 13210 USA
davew@npac.syr.edu
The Cyberarium is an innovative,
integrative environment that
stimulates discovery and
exploration of creative and
socially enriching interactive
techniques through intelligence-engaging,
imagination-inducing, hands-on experiences
with novel human-computer interaction devices.
The Cyberarium's intent is to develop an
experimental environment in which "cultural
rapid prototyping" can be observed, researched, and refined ‚
a place where social dimensions can be
intelligently combined with the rapid
development of the information infrastructure.
Dream Map Tapestries
Mitchel Groter
Video Central
825 Sweetwater Island Circles
Longwood, Florida 32779 USA
Pathways@parkave.net
Nancy Krebsbach
Evans High School
858 Park Lake Court
Orlando, Florida 32803 USA
Faea@magicnet.net
This event celebrated the work
that sigKIDS groups everywhere
have done throughout the year.
The kids' work was presented on
videotape. After the screening,
a panel discussion took place
among people from industry and
education who truly care about
helping kids and their parents.
The Dream Map Tapestries connected
motivated sigKIDS with mentors who
are continuing the relationship
beyond SIGGRAPH 98. The kids have
a unique opportunity to talk
one-on-one with people who can
be role models for them. They
hear, directly from the professionals,
what it took to become successful
in the computer graphics industry,
what particular talents and skills
they needed, what personal traits
are the most helpful, and exactly
how young people should prepare
themselves for a successful
career in computer graphics.
Express Link-Up
Pat Ryan
Express Link-Up
32 Matham Road
East Molesey
Surrey KT8 0SU
United Kingdom
101521.1516@compuserve.com
Founded in January 1997, Express
Link-Up empowers hospitalized
children by providing appropriate
computer and communications technology,
including a dedicated secure intranet
that enables them to play, learn,
communicate, and develop critical
life skills. 250,000 children pass
through UK hospitals each year, of
which 150,000 are considered long-stay.
Some children (for example, those who
require six-hour kidney dialysis three
days a week) suffer terrible disruption
to their education. With PCs next to
their beds, they can bring work to
the hospital, do school projects,
study for exams, or use relaxation
software to overcome stress.
Generation LEGO
Lisbeth Fr¯lunde
Concept Developer
LEGO A/S, SPU-Darwin
Klovermarken 120
DK-7190 Billund, Denmark
lisbeth@digi.lego.com
Two new products (LEGO Mindstorms
Robotics Invention System and LEGO
Technic CyberMaster) bring construction
toys into the information age and give
children an opportunity to build their
own intelligent and interactive inventions.
LEGO Mindstorms, developed in cooperation
with the MIT Media Lab, is the first in a
new generation of challenging, creative
learning tools that enable children to
use a PC to program intelligence into
their own inventions. LEGO Technic
CyberMaster is a futuristic play set
that combines the virtual fun of
on-screen adventure with physical
models. Children can build their
own models and bring them to life
with a home computer.
These new products are designed to
empower children in an age of increasing
computerization and challenge their
creativity, craftsmanship, programming,
and critical thinking.
HistoryCity
Terry Lim
Kent Ridge Development Labs
21 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Singapore 119613
terry@krdl.org.sg
This 3D virtual world for kids is set
in 1870s Singapore. The world features
functional buildings; personal
"decorate-able" rooms; animated
objects that can be picked up and
dropped; personal theater stages
upon which dioramas can be built
from objects found in the world;
over 200 avatars representing people
and occupations of the period; agents
that provide news, stories, poems,
jokes, pawn brokering services, and
messaging services; clubhouse memberships;
maps; and 22 communities, each with its own
distinct architecture, and music.
Hyperscratch ver.7
Haruo Ishii
30-1 Ishihata Naruomi-cho Midori-ku
Nagoya-shi 458-0801 Japan
MXC00275@niftyserve.or.jp
This interactive piece allows users
to generate a variety of sounds and
images as if they were using simple
hand motions to paint a picture on a
canvas of space or playing a piano
with invisible keys. It is designed
to provide users with uninhibited
creative space and time. The only
input devices are hands and bodies.
Both hands can be used to create
sounds and images, which allows
users to move as if they are
conducting a symphony or dancing.
Such natural and free body movement
is not possible through a mouse, a
touch panel, or a space-input
device. Thus Hyperscratch is not
simply an input or pointing device
but a unique environmental interface
that mirrors the physical motion of the user.
|
|
InterSpace Station
Robert Rothfarb
Virtual World Designer
NTT America Inc.
100 Shoreline Highway
Suite 100A
Mill Valley, California 94941 USA
rob@nttlabs.com
InterSpace Station is a networked
3D virtual environment that provides
a shared laboratory. Students are
able to conduct science experiments,
interact with each other, and
participate in unique presentations
about astronomy, physics, and life
aboard an orbiting space station.
The InterSpace 3D multi-user virtual
world client/server software platform
from NTT allows users, as avatars,
to navigate digital spaces and
communicate with each other using
real-time audio, facial image video,
and text. Students and teachers
participated from SIGGRAPH 98 and
two remote sites, one in the San
Francisco Bay area and one in
Japan. Visitors also participated
via the Internet. NTT plans to
collaborate with educators and
SIGGRAPH Professional Chapters
to allow students to participate
in this unique interactive
distance-learning environment.
KidCast For Peace: Solutions For A Better World
Peter H. Rosen
Visionary Artists Resources Including
Other Unique Services
2263 Sacramento Street, #2
San Francisco, California 94115 USA
peter@creativity.net
Children of all ages shared their art and
directed us to their KidCast For Peace Web
sites, VRML worlds, chat rooms, and
interactive music spaces. Children at
each participating site responded to
comments and questions from local and
cyber audiences. Free CU-SeeMe
videoconference software enabled
real-time visual and audio interaction.
The video camera focused on the child
and art together, then zoomed into the
art. A KidCast Central
moderator encouraged the other sites to respond to
what they saw, evoking questions, feelings, and
impressions.
The world needs an infusion of new ideas
and loving connections to defuse the
downward spiral of destructive human
interactions. KidCast For Peace is part
of a developing network of physical
Creativity Cafes, other "New Schools,"
and evolutionary organizations that
are drawn toward cooperative activities.
Living and Learning
Candis Hoffman-Bomse
Erin Hethington Ebert
Savannah College of Art and Design
210 E. 60th Street
Savannah, Georgia 31405 USA
cbomse@worldnet.att.net
E2ebert@aol.com
In Living and Learning, we research cultural
issues, media conventions, and technological
resources in the hope that this postmodern
approach will help convey much needed information
about AIDS to an age group that sees itself as
unaffected and invincible. Our goal is to engage
this group long enough for them to become involved
in the interplay of moving imagery and sound,
virtual games, and navigation of the work¼s
topography via mouse-driven interactivity.
The result, we hope, will be the work¼s
ultimate goal: education, the best
defense against AIDS.
The Virtual Archaeologist
Nobuo Masuda
Cyber Entertainment, Inc.
5111 Denny Avenue #10
North Hollywood, California 91601 USA
masuda@cyber-net.co.jp
Developed for an archaeological museum in
Nara prefecture, Japan, this kiosk program
introduces young visitors to the world of
archaeology. Nara prefecture is well-known
for its historical artifacts. In ancient
times, it was the capital of Japan. One of
the most important objectives of this software
is to inspire newer generations and help them
understand the value and significance of
archaeological studies. The kiosk uses "push"
technologies in an "interactive document."
Sometimes the software automatically opens
up new pages and spontaneously conveys
information to the users, who then feel
as though they are discovering clues and mysteries.
The Virtual Art Gallery/Streaming Video on the Web
Ann Ioannides
Coral Reef Senior High School
10101 SW 152 Street
Miami, Florida 33157 USA
ioannia@mail.firn.edu
crhs.dade.k12.fl.us
Imaginative students from Coral Reef Senior High School (Miami) created two projects:
- A VRML art gallery, featuring works
of art produced entirely by first and
second-year students.
- A streaming video newscast. This "Cudavision,"
five-minute daily newscast has
been digitized for worldwide viewing.
Tune in frequently to what is
happening at the school!
The school features six magnet
programs as well as a full athletic
and extra-curricular program,
attracting the best and brightest
students from Dade County. The 1997-98
year was the school¼s first
year of operation.
When Children Draw In 3D
Katiuska Varela
4 rue Calmels
75018 Paris, France
gonzalez@ensba.fr
In this project, children's drawings
were used to create a 3D animation. It
began with a workshop that asked
children a series of questions about
a story: Who is this story about? What
is it about? Where does it develop?
The workshop results were used to
prepare a script, then the script
was adapted for a storyboard, and
the children drew the characters
and places where the story happens.
Portions of the children¼s drawings
(for example, the legs of one drawing,
the head of another, and the ears of a
third) were combined and scanned, then
colored by the children. The colors were
used as textures for elements of the
story, and the scans were used to make
the 3D forms. Finally, the storyboard
scenes were prepared for animation, and
characters, locations, cameras, lights,
and other elements were organized to
form the final edition of the story.
Where Stories Meet by TeleCommunity
Robert Dunn
TeleCommunity Project
College of Liberal Arts
Duquesne University
111 The Oaks
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15215 USA
Where Stories Meet by TeleCommunity
represents a confluence of ideas,
images, and experiences expressed
through digital media and shared
over the Internet by students from
Jerusalem, Istanbul, Orlando,
Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Los
Angeles. Underlying the social
fabric of this project are
relationships enhanced by personal
meetings, dialogue, and negotiated
understandings between participants.
This is sustained remotely by periodic
and ongoing network contact, email,
Internet videoconferencing, Web site
updates, and file exchanges. Over-arching
themes bring diverse responses and help
to spark the imagination. The individual
grows and experiments within the
collaborative group setting, and
energies are shared with remote partners.
Save the Planet: Eco-Art on the Web
June Julian
New York University
P.O. Box 81
Gladstone, New Jersey 07934 USA
julianj@acf2.nyu.edu
www.nyu.edu/projects/julian/
Since this project was first launched
two years ago, students from around the
world have been sending in their art
work, poems, stories, and eco-facts
about the special trees in their
environment. So far, 21 U.S. states
and 18 foreign countries are represented
on at least 100 separate Web pages. The
youngest contributors are Illinois
kindergartners, and the oldest students
are in the 12th grade in Nevada. One New
Jersey boy designed his own interactive
space on the project, where he asks the
world to manipulate his pictures and send
them back to the site. The project is
especially designed to welcome unique
ideas about the old trees of the world.
Send them in! We still have lots of
states and countries that are not
represented. What is the oldest tree
in your neighborhood?
|
