Re- think, Re- make

Tags

3D, 3d print, museum

3D print technology based on the virtual reality technology, uses the variety of software to create models and modify scans. As Neely says, the models of museum objects can take on a creative life of their own through further derivation, by becoming parts of new collections of things or by being connected through programming and sensors. The 3D printer, actually from my perspective, provides a new equal access to mass public. The modern museums were built based on the concept to serve the modern society. Opposed to the traditional way of visiting museum——museum-oriented——that visitors followed the exhibition without self dominance, the 3D printer create a more equal way or even the visitor-oriented way of visiting museum. The visitors no longer need to follow the interpretation of museum. Rather, they “interpreted the work in their personal narrative.(Neely)

The Jonathan Monaghan’s creation, combing two art works(Leda and the Swan, Marsyas) is good example of personalizing visitor’s experience by using 3D printer. Since 3D printer technology could create models made by plastic materials, visitors have a chance to concrete their personal feeling and experience. The great thing is that, those personal productions, if exhibited in museum with original one, (some of museum have already did), would become a new experience. Just like what we experienced in cave with the project Pipe. By watching other’s recreation, we might get consensus or inspiration from other’s production. 

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3D visualization for humanities

As I reading Bonnett and Favro articles this week, I am considering that whether the 3D technology tools really have significant meaning in cognition and history research. I agree that Digital representation expand our methods of investigation, the aspects we consider and our overall understanding of historical environments，as Favro says. But to what extent and on what expense can 3D environment influence scholars and students understanding of history, of past.

Actually, I think the scope of 3D technology can benefit is limited. Of course, for students who need to have basic structure of knowledge and archeology who need to restoration the incomplete relics, 3D technology might show a more accurate scene. However, on one hand, I am always wondering whether those accurate images may limit the imagination of viewers? A ancient environment compound with digital lines, from my perspective impede the people’s imagination about ancient society. One the other hand, the details of social environment are invisible, which is important for scholars to study the architecture in the past. The study for historical environment, undoubted, should be separated with the social culture at that time.

And even 3D immersive technology could achieve the goal that completely restoration the scene of that time. It still time consuming and cannot reach to everyone because of technology limitation.

In addition, how much useful information could be shown through the 3D technology? And how much information could people get from a 3D technology? For example, can we really get an overall comprehension about the feature society of a dynasty or an empire by experience 3D immersive technology in museum? I might have a better understanding but never get fully understanding. The form of 3D technology, for my point of view, plays a more important role than the content it really have.

Interpreting Database

The reading this mainly talks about the relationship between massive database and the way we visualizing them by using digital tools. Should we arrange the database in a narrative way or “keep them as individual items, with every item possessing the same significance as any other” (Manovich, 74)

This reminds me of the article Timeline in Exhibits. The timeline seems to be an objective tool to exhibit things happened history. However, it ignores the other possibilities, any other chances that may change the history today. Same as the way we categorize the date into different genres. Do we limit the other possibilities of connection between different dates? Are they necessarily needed to be exhibit in a certain way? Folsom boldly practice idea and by rearranging those different databases, emancipated from the genres, the database grow across the boundaries and form a new kind of genre.(Folsome,78) However, I think, even though Whitman’s book could not be easily categorize into a specific genre, most of elements might show the inclination that make other people initially classified into specific genres. I might be wrong, but fractals obliterate the relationship exist before also diminish the structure in artworks. Knowing the development and the trend are also important for understanding.

Carrie Roy ‘s study is a good example of showing the relationships between elements change overtimes without losing details. Time, in this program, is not presented in narrative way or descriptions in the narrative interactions with chronology. Visualization is the way of presentation rather than the way of decisions. How to introduce characters? How to develop the dialogs between them and other characters? By coloring the threads, using textures, pattern surface and thickness of threads to show the importance, it would be easy to know the importance of different characters. Visualization might show the differences, even slightly difference. It is easy to see specific characters in the graph, and then to analyze it. 

Networks and Humanities

Tags

information, structure knowledge

Reading in this week really brings some interesting topics about the using new digital tool to resolve dilemmas in traditional academic research. Rather than breaking knowledge into short information (e.g. Wikipedia, Facebook……), the network connects the structured scholarship and knowledge as a whole and then form the “dynamic contextualization” because of its dynamic and bidirectional, connecting the knowledge and constructed it as a more complete and concrete net. The role of computers have changed from the analyzing date to drawing the relationship between scholars’ studies, which to some extent, bring the academic study into a new state, such as distinguish and evaluate text passage, building a rather complete structure of knowledge, which give chances to scholars to find both primary and secondary resource and do a deeper research.

But as a tool, digital technology for analyzing and shape the structure of knowledge might still have some potential problems. As young computer scientist asked in the Scholarsouce: A Digital Infrastructure for the Humanists, Whether this action is conservation or a revolution? On one hand, for rigorous scholars, they might still need to obey certain rules when doing research, saying as cops (quoting, consensus, preservation), and some scholars may not reach the consensuses about what could be shared with public and what could be modified by others. On the other hand, open resources modified by anybody may lack accuracy.

Yuanyuan’s post week4

Readings this week are quiet interesting and inspiring for meabout presenting knowledge and information in chronological sequence. The information or events themselves are just scattered point on the historical “map”.  To integral scatted the information and express them accurately and clearly without deducing the diversity of the interpretation is important.  As a tool to arrange materials in specific order, the timeline itself is a narrative approach. The views could detective the intention and the understanding of the author behind the screen. Just as Zuern says, “every narrative is a theory in that, by selecting only certain events for inclusion, it imposes a structure on them.”(zuern,7) I have found a interesting timeline in MoMA international program. (http://www.moma.org/learn/intnlprograms/timeline)

The timeline combined with map is used to introduce the exhibition from 1953 to 1979 in global scale. By clicking the picture on the timeline, the map will show the location of the exhibition and details of the exhibition will be listed under the timeline. The viewers could easily figure out the how many counties held these exhibitions in the same year? What kind of art genres appear in the same year? In a specific period of time, which counties are the majority of artists comes from. The timeline act as a connection collect different kind of information for viewers to explore further information.

And in humanity discipline, people not only focus on the short period of time in history but also changes in a relatively long time period. The visualization patterns developed from discrete data to 2D and 3D graphs containing more data, give views chances to have more imagination space and focus on the change during the time while the details might be ignored. The 3D might be vivid but is that really revel lot information for viewers or in a more narrow way? This question should be considered.

week 3 readings

The readings in this week try to investigate the definition of digital visualization in several perspectives. For humanists, any form of data, which might be resulted from the acts of interpretation between the readers and images, have specific meanings. For different groups, different audience, digital visualization serves as different roles and contains different meanings. Defining as artifacts, texts, processsable information as well as evidence, digital visualization provides a opportunity for humanists to bring sophisticated methods in close reading of text and artifacts into service for the new species of text and artifacts.( Owens,84) Owen’s article actually give me some inspiration such as how humanists deal with the relation between the data and images.

This topic have some relations with the study I am interested in. 

 

The imagines I posted below named Dianshizhai pictorial, which were given as a gift to the citizens. The pictures on Dianshizhao pictorial alongside with little pomes always talks about the news and issues happened at that time. And recently, lots of scholars are studying this special pictorial. Not only interested in the content of the pictorial, but also the author，the lower middle class’s attitudes towards the society at that specific time.

   

Meanwhile, Martyn’s article concerns more about the development of digital visualization as a scholarly activity. He uses the London Charter as a case to illustrate that what kind of standard and methods should be proper for scholarly activity for digital visualization. (Martyn) As a scholarly methodology, digital visualization still lack of precise and rigorous standards. 

Week 1 reading

Reading those articles give me some hints about how to present the information effective and efficient. Which way is considered to be the best way to convey the information? The development of infovis actually has more relevant to scientific technology or humanity development? What is the difference between information design and information visualization. The former deal with the data that already has a clear structure, the later discover the structure of a data set.(Lev Manovich). And what kind of visualization is more convenient to the public?

Lev Manovich discuss talks about two important principles of visualization. First is reduction which means that infovis uses graphical primitives to show the relationships between objects. The second is spatial variable to represent key difference in the data and reveal patterns and relationship, which means that colors, textures and other visual parameters are less important than size, shape and position. Manovich also discuss the media visualization methods, opposed to the information visualization, preserve the original form of data. Such methods of presenting data create a better way for both authors and the audiences to understand the meaning of the data pattern.(Lev Manovich)

Finally, Manovich also mentions the relationship between visualization and humanity. Known from the sciences, humanity more focus on one issue rather than the general laws, which means that displaying the actual visual media are more helpful for people to understand a single artifacts. However, will the media visualization, which contains the original media artifacts, show too many information in front of audiences and finally vague the theme of artifacts? Whether media visualization is more efficient or less? That may need to be considered.

Hi, I am Yuanyuan

Hello, I am Yuanyuan. I am also a student in MA of  American Studies for International Students program. I study  the history of architecture and the relationship between environment and human . And I am also interested in the race, gender the culture studies!