DAT201: Artefact: could friendship be magic, at last?

So, this wraps up the artefact, just like Winter Wrap Up, except that is not Winter Wrap Up anymore, this is Spring. After working hard for hours and hours to perfect this artefact, I am pleased that the result turned out very well, and I hope that it does become successful one day.

Link here: http://minus.com/lbytZ3xmogx5dm

DAT201: Artefact: How to stop hate, the Love and Tolerate way

The message of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a very clear one: we all need to learn about what friendship could be, and also, about how to love and tolerate, and how to increase the peace.

However, in this world, there doesn't seem to be that many peace around: there's countries fighting over other countries, there's still atrocity between governments and the people in certain countries around the world, and there's bad politics going on around the world.

The world of Equestria is portrayed as a peaceful, harmonious one, which contrasts with our world at the moment, although at the same time, there are other people that do not like the fandom at all, and that's when love and tolerance comes in.

Care was taken to ensure that Project Canterlot was not going to turn into a so-called 'in-your-face-evangelism guide', whilst at the same time, it still provides advice on how to use digital arts practices with the principles of the fandom and the series to make the message effective, and to promote peace, harmony and of course, the magic of friendship.

DAT201: Artefact: Memes

The origin of the fandom behind My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic dates back to the days before the series first aired on the 10th of October, 2010: several users on the /co/ board of 4chan discussed, and built up anticipation of the series before it aired, although it wasn't until an alarmist essay being critical of the current trends of animation in general, and the fact that many were merely promotional tools to drive sales of toys in a given franchise, was then published, (and subsequently, was harshly criticised) which then lead to more anticipation being given for the series, and memes being created for the series.

When the series first aired, it went against everything the critical essay said about animation, and as a result, the brony phenomenon was born. Itself a meme, the series then generated more memes as the series progressed on: common phrases such as '20% cooler', said by athletic Pegasus character Rainbow Dash, 'everypony', '10 seconds flat', 'oatmeal' and 'eyyup' became commonplace on 4chan, and later spread further afield on the internet as the fandom expanded beyond the confines of 4chan.

Due to the fact that the series does have popular culture references that only the older audience would understand, I've noted that memes could be based on the references that are made in the series, such as the baby on the ceiling in Season 2, Episode 13 (Baby Cakes), which references the 1996 Danny Boyle classic film, Trainspotting, and Metal Gear Solid in Season 2, Episode 20 (It's About Time).

DAT201: Artefact: Pinklestia is not Princess Celestia

Inspired by ®™ark's Barbie Liberation Organization campaign of the early 1990s, I decided to add a section to Project Canterlot by looking into the tactics employed in their campaign, its goals, and how it would impact on the consumer, and its intended audience. Everyone knows that bronies strive for show-accuracy, and when it comes to Equestria's great ruler, there are weaknesses that need to be ironed out. Although we are promised a show-accurate Princess Celestia for Autumn, sometimes, we are a bit too impatient. The profusion of so-called Pinklestias, pink Princess Celestias, would make for an ideal scenario to perform a similar intervention.

Many things are wrong with Pinklestia's voice: she doesn't quote actual lines from the series, she talks about how beautiful her wings are (despite the fact that real Alicorns' wings are supposed to be in the same colour as the general coat), and asking if you're a princess as well, which does reinforce ancient stereotypes associated with the pre-Friendship is Magic My Little Pony, particularly the 3rd generation, and stereotypes associated with over-glorified princess-themed girls' toys in general. 

The perfect hypothetical en-masse subversion would be to repaint Pinklestia in the right colour, change the voice box so then she quotes actual lines from the series, and then re-shelf them, in a similar fashion. Even the show's intended audience would agree that the current Princess Celestia toy, aka Pinklestia, is not accurate, so this intervention would actually win favours from both the traditional audience, and of course, bronies.

DAT201: Artefact: using interventions as a way to spread the magic of friendship

As unconventional as it may seem, interventions are a great way to get the message out there. From urinating on sculptures resembling urinals to wrapping up statues in red tape, the best intervention involves an easily-tangible interactive installation; whilst travelling to Berlin on a field trip to Transmediale 2012, back in February, an interactive installation caught my attention. The 'procrastinating machine', which is just simply a Linux computer that is modified with a script, in which after a period of inactivity, the computer takes over and opens up new tabs in the web browser.

Seeing that it is a perfect opportunity to seize, I got it out of procrastination mode, opened up a new tab in the browser and got on to Equestria Daily, of which is a website of importance to the brony community. Once the computer went back into procrastination mode, more My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic-related websites opened up, tab-by-tab. The intervention was a success. As part of my artefact, I noted that example in the manual, and then suggested others as a way of spreading the message of love and tolerance within a public space.

On another note, whilst I was in the lecture about Anonymous, there were a few fellow bronies on the IRC, which was displayed on the right of the main projected screen. I wonder if they have noticed my little intervention I did?

DAT203: Interface for interactive kiosk part II: the pages

Designed with ease of use in mind, the interface is inspired by mobile tablet devices, namely the iPad, and also, some of the principles of the Metro interface used in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, which is optimised for use on touchscreens. In addition, some pages use a concertina design, where the contents are displayed once the menu item is pressed, and information is expanded below. When the item is pressed again, the information retracts, and other menu items are displayed once again. Here are the pages from the interactive kiosk:

The map's overlays are provided by the Urban API, which provides information about where the points of interest are, your location, and zones, such as pedestrianised areas.

The Travel Information page is split into 3 different colour schemes: green for buses, red for rail, and blue for ferries. Data would provided via a central source, or a dynamic source, e.g. rail information would be provided by the station and National Rail, whilst bus information would be provided by real-time GPS tracking.

 Here, the Early History section is expanded. Although the user can go back to the History menu by pressing the header, the user can also advance to the next section by pressing the button on the bottom right-hand corner, and vice versa.

The Tourist Information Page, like the Travel Information, is split into different colour schemes.

The colour of the day highs and night lows vary according to the temperature: hottest is brighter, coldest is darker.

DAT203: Interface for interactive kiosk

Whilst we were planning on how we're going to implement the interface, the idea we had was to design the interface like a tablet computer. Tablet computers like the iPad, for example, is known for its usage of icons laid out like a grid, which makes it perfect for the environment and context the kiosks are going to be used in.

Because of this, I had to design the interface with large and easy-to-read text, in case of people with visual impairments, as large icons are regarded as being easy to understand, even if only part of the icon can be seen, and also, with metaphors, which helps people, even those that may not speak English very well, still understand the basic meaning of each section of the kiosk interface:

The weather, news, information, events and the time are updated in real time, meaning that whenever each is updated, it will be reflected in the kiosk. Also, the weather icon will be dynamic, which will update according to the weather, like for example: when it's clear and sunny, the weather icon will display just that. Transport information will be picked up from each respective source; bus information will displayed real-time, train information will be relayed from National Rail, and ferry times will be relayed from the main ferry port.