DAT203: Ideas for Bretonside: interactive, visual and architectural features

After we identified key areas of improvement at Bretonside, we've outlined some suggestions for our project:

• Installation of interactive kiosks inside the bus station, and at the information column outside of RBS
•  A full, proper facelift of the façade, including some architectural sails (similar to the Sainsbury's in Marsh Mills, but done in a style that is closer to the sails that feature in yachts, thereby reflecting Plymouth's sea-faring heritage), and the interior
• Visual effects and light features installed on the exterior, and projections onto the station floor through translucent tiles on the public footpaths that run above the station interior
• A collaboration with the local College of Art to produce a mural on one of the walls
• Installation of interactive departures and arrivals boards for bus and coach services, to be placed at convenient locations, and to be linked with the GPS systems utilised by local bus operators (Plymouth CityBus and First Devon & Cornwall)

The idea of an interactive departures and arrivals board came from a coach journey to Edinburgh; whilst waiting at London Victoria Coach station, an airport-style information board detailing the departures is used, and this is very useful for providing more information to passengers, something of which Bretonside lacks. The idea has been taken further to become an interactive feature, with a wealth of travel information provided for passengers.

As we didn't notice the translucent tiles on the footpaths that run above Bretonside, we were given the suggestion to provide environmental and interactive projections that can project images, moods and effects onto the station floor, which would brighten the atmosphere for the bus station and make the environment safer for visitors.

In addition, we also suggested that the information column outside of the RBS building could be converted into an interactive information kiosk, since it has become under-utilised, slightly vandalised and fly-posted over the past many years it has been standing. Because the information column is situated closer to the city centre, and to the footpath leading into the main shopping district, it made sense that we also included that in our plans, because a rather under-utilised feature could be put into good use in an era of interactivity.

DAT203 - A better gateway for Plymouth

To attract people into Plymouth, a gateway is needed, but to attract more requires a better gateway, because first impressions of the city is what makes people think about the city in general. To put this into context, whenever you're going into Plymouth by road or bus, you should be seeing something that will make you look forward to the city and its many attractions that form part of the city's heritage and cultural scene, as well as to make the whole experience more memorable.

At the moment, whenever you come in on the National Express or any other inter-city coach service to Plymouth, you would be faced with a façade of a city that has long been under decay by slow redevelopment, and its juxtaposition by the Drake Circus Shopping Centre and an underpass that gives the impression of danger and pessimism does not help with the first impressions, so the focus of my project is to improve the Bretonside Bus Station area. Initial ideas being mooted for the project is to provide an interactive and immersive experience for tourists, although at the same time, the façade needs to be improved to provide a vision of safety and a better experience for people coming into Plymouth.

DAT204: Assignment 1: Semantic 'Killer' Application (20% of the module)

For our first project of DAT204, we have to create a 'killer' web application based on the latest web standards (HTML5 etc.) and semantics, that will be very useful for a given task (e.g. a portfolio that is easy to use, graphically attractive and descriptive, hence the usage of semantics).

Semantics are used to make data more descriptive, because, in contrast to humans, computers need to interpret the meaning of data, and in its plain form, the computer doesn't understand straight away. In HTML5, semantics are used to describe the elements and layout, and in contrast to past versions of HTML, HTML5 does not require certain attributes, such as declaring JavaScript in the <script> tag (as JavaScript, by default, is the standard scripting language in the HTML5 platform), and mentioning the XML namespace in the <html> tag.

My initial idea is to create a 'killer' portfolio platform that is very intuitive, simple and easy to use, yet at the same time, is powerful and graphically attractive. My portfolio application is going to be 'the ultimate CV', which will be integrating a workbook, a gallery of practical work, a personal profile and SEO to make the website the first destination for any potential employer, especially those that are in the creative industries, in which this application is aimed at.

Mock-up 1: the workbook page

Mock-up 2: the cover page (i.e. the first page the user sees before proceeding to other pages, as per Mock-up 1)

Although the idea of portfolio websites aren't new, and have already been done, my semantic application is going to take it one step further, and become the CV of a potential employee, replacing the traditional paper format, and also being optimised, so in case the employee is 'Googled', the SEO used in this 'killer' semantic application will be optimised, so then the problem of being faced with an unwarranted social media presence (where it would be bombarded with personal opinions and photographs that, depending on the situation, can make or break one's opportunities) will be eliminated, so then the more professional side of the person takes precedence over one's personal side, especially since, even with, for example, your Facebook profile is set to private, friends may not be bothered to set their profiles to private, and anything unwarranted (e.g. unusual photos of nights-out) tagged with your name can cause problems.

DAT203: How not to design a website, and the future of the iPad

In today's practical, we've had to pick two of the world's worst-designed websites, and we managed to come up with these examples: alexchiu.com and the official Space Jam film website at www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm. alexchiu.com featured a rather inconsistent design theme, a profusion of formatting and spelling errors, and a heavy reliance on animated GIFs to add emphasis on links and certain titles. Also, we found out that when we click on a different language, the design of the website is completely different, rather than having the same design throughout, which is supposed to be the convention no matter what language is used.

Although the official Space Jam website was designed sometime in October or early November 1996 (which was approximately about a month or two before CSS existed, and before CSS became the norm), it featured many bad design features. The website used repeating backgrounds, inconsistent text, frames as title bars (which can cause confusion as the user cannot tell whether or not the logo at the top left actually is the button that returns to the home page of the website),  usage of the frame as a menu bar, and clashing colour schemes in certain pages, thereby rendering the text hard to read. We also found validation errors and spelling mistakes after we ran the Space Jam website through an online validator, so, even though it is almost an online 'museum' page, someone at Warner Brothers didn't really pay attention to ensuring that the website at least complies with W3C standards at the time and didn't think about the many little spelling errors that the website had. Even some of Disney's older websites had more of a consistent theme, at least.

Now, on to a different subject. We had a debate about how the hypothetical iPad 5 would evolve, and how it would eventually render conventional computers (desktops and laptops) obsolete. There is evidence that mobile devices are starting to overtake conventional computers in terms of sales, and with the proliferation of cloud computing, it could eventually replace the need to sync the device with a conventional computer. According to the IDC, an independent technology research firm (source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9199918/In_historic_shift_smartphones_tablets_to_overtake_PCs), they are, indeed, outnumbering conventional computers, and even though they are already ahead of performance, the evolution of mobile technology is starting to make mobile devices outperform desktops and laptops in terms of speed, and eventually, they would be just as fast that even the most graphically-intense task could one day be performed on mobile devices such as the hypothetical iPad 5, or even its successor.

Apple: remembering my first Mac, and the long legacy the Mac started

When I first saw the Macintosh, I've seen how simple and easy it was to use, despite being born to a family that adopted an IBM compatible PC for their home computer. After I first saw the iMac back in primary school in 1998, I then thought to myself: because I got so assimilated into Microsoft, I don't know if there'll ever be a chance that I'll have a Mac. Then, I proved myself wrong, but it took almost 9 years until I then finally got my first Mac (a white mid 2007-revision MacBook from brand new), having got an iPod Nano a few years before then. The tiresome Blue Screens of Death and meaningless errors, as well as a rather confusing infrastructure lured me to the Macintosh platform. Having learnt about the legacy the Mac created, I then realised that it was Apple's magnum opus, the platform that started the whole GUI craze back in the 1980s, well before my time. After my first Apple product, I then fell in love with Apple and as a result, joined the thousands that became part of a legacy that forever continued, like Steve Jobs when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during what was year 7 or 8 in secondary school. In terms of competition in the computing market, the Mac was to David what the PC was to Goliath, but then eventually, the differences became blurred when one then became the other, but nonetheless, had it not been for the IBM PC, where would industry standards be now, and had it not been for the Mac, where would the GUI operating system be now, and where would the industries that both created be? It was all thanks to both competing platforms that helped the Mac get to where it is now, but competition from smartphones and tablets are starting to eat into the market, but after all, it was Apple that kickstarted the revolution, and perfected both at the same time. The same rhetoric applies to the founding of Apple; where would Apple be had it not been for Steve Jobs founding the company and then returning to it after he left? Apple did, however, had its dark years when Jobs first departed in 1985, but even so, it still helped an industry long confined to physical media to become part of the whole computing boom, and Adobe's first products were launched on the Mac during his absence. However, the early to mid 90s were a dark era for Apple as consumers were confused about the profusion of Macintosh computers and the confusing specifications they had, and the many flops that came out of Apple's first diversification. Even in the dark ages came innovation: the Newton PDA would then give way to the iPhone about a decade later, and would later provide inspiration for the Palm Pilot. Steve Jobs' return to Apple in 1996 brought along with him new ideas from his old company he also founded that would help evolve the Mac OS operating system into something more advanced than the platform that was based on the original from 1984. When he once again became CEO, Jobs simplfied the range of Mac models, then later launched the Mac that started off a whole new revolution in design, the iMac, in 1998. My current Mac was based on the successor to the PowerBook series that revolutionised laptop computers forever, but my current Mac is one of the last to be seen under his power before he left for good in August 2011, and his subsequent death later. 

Had it not been for the Mac, where would my career choice be? How would I have continued under the same platform I lived under since 1994? And how simple would my life be? Thanks to the Mac, I am now where I am, and my dreams shall forever be pursued after falsely believing that I'll never have a Mac, but it's all down to personal preference. No matter if you're a Mac or a PC, both has had their finest hours, and still will do, but most of all, it was Apple that perfected the idea of the GUI from Xerox, and then later provided inspiration, despite the many legal battles that were fought against them. All I can say to you is thank you Apple, for getting me to where I am now, and thank you to Steve Jobs, who started it all. Rest in peace, the dear leader of a technological revolution that perfected many technologies, started off new competition and most of, inspired me greatly, with ideology and motivation.