Participants' production diary conclusions / Felicitas Tritschler /

Conclusion

At the beginning of the study project 'drama between real and virtual' my aims were to figure out how far industrial design skills support the story of a narrative.
And how far reality should influence virtual.
That what I saw before, concerning stage design, let me know that there has to be something - something I had never thought about before, just consumed, experienced, but never created. for me it was the first time I worked in the genre of story telling and moving images.

After I have done this project, I still have the feeling industrial design with its basic rules of 'form follows function' and the theory of semantics is very important to support a narrative in its intention, but it depends on the interpretation. For a while I lost the feeling for it. I was totally lost in the space of new media, its tools and the narrative.
I think it is like in design - the actual design, the finished one, you can't see anymore. Good design has an invisible aspect.
If everything works how someone expected it should work, it is perfect - just when the things doesn't work, there are suddenly a hundred people complaining - but there is as well the other side of people. They don't say anything anymore and wonder themselves how stupid they are. We got enough reactions, so there is still a lot to do - but I am sure we left behind a few people who are feeling really stupid!
At the end of the working period I had the feeling to reduce everything to the minimum of utility - but not out of the reason that it was really the things we needed, no unfortunately more out of the reason that it was the best solution for at least usability for our approaches considering the timeslot we still had.
But I am sure, not only the time was the influencing parameter.
In my conclusion I will try to retrieve the design!
What has influenced the design of mindspace, which were the reasons why it looks now how it looks? Did I find answers to all my questions in my work diary, and if not why?

Going through my work diary I found 3 basic themes I want to consider again on my search for design.

the story vs. the product

mindspace vs. candira
abstract space vs. character

sun lotion vs. terra sienna
old media vs. new media

the story vs. the product
The try to translate 'form follows function' in a narrative context.

How to write a story?
I have to have something to tell! A story can make a product. But not in the sense of usability and function. Invented rules - for an invented story - but logic! - Bits and Bytes.

How to make a product?
To change something - make something easier/better/whatever. about a product u can tell a story. A product can tell a story. a product is something real - real rules. Function - Material.

I think I found an answer to this question - it is based on the rules I learned in Maureen Thomas' workshop: logic - grammar - rhetoric. Without that I would have been lost.

How to make it believable?
Have logic and a convincing rhetoric and a good grammar.

How to make it usable?
Have function a convincing design and good ergonomics

How to use interactivity / participatory?
Create feelings.
What are people doing with it?
Support intentions.

How far does reality influence virtual?
At least as the fact that whatever u can imagine which is not real is unreal - but is it then as well virtual - what means reality in virtual - how does virtual come back to reality?
How far does virtual influence reality?
Whatever is unreal provokes to make it real!!! Or is it already real just with another degree of reality, perhaps means virtual = reality.
It has to be real!

What do the words semantic and function mean in such a narrative landscape, how do I provide the information / feeling the user should get?
Rhetoric.
What do the words semantic and function mean in product design, how to explain the use / does it feel right?
Ergonomics.

How do I create atmosphere?
Rhetoric supported by cultural wisdom.
How do I create the difference to another product?
Design supported by usability experience.

Instinct - it isn't anymore instinct in the old meaning, but a modern form of instinct.

What changes the use of sound and movements?
All senses - Participation with the whole body - Doesn't mean active participation.
Main sense we worked with is the visual sense. I think to strengthen the experience we should have used more sound. As well out of the reason that the web is not an explicit media for reading. Considering the huge amount of written information we have to filter while browsing the net, the normal user could have been better involved by using sound. Hook the user and try to find the grammar next time.
What changes considering our senses?
Participation with the whole body.
The most decisive concerning products is visual and sensual sense.
Considering the use of a product the more decisive should be the sensual. The Best case is when visual and sensual work together. When all senses work together!

Is it important that the objects have all a constant design?
What wants the story to tell? Form follows narrative.
What is the meaning of a product family?
What is the story of a product? Form follows history.

What is the thing that wants you to explore the hole mindspace?
Curiosity - what does the space want to tell?
Why are you buying the design?
I like what I see/feel/touch/smell and taste.
It is what it is but it is as well something different.

What is your guide?
Mind - awareness
What is your guide?
senses

What makes it important for the user to visit the next room?
Nothing
Why are you buying the same?
Good experience

After this comparison I will consider now the things we have actually used.

Architecture - the lotus

Shape:
The shape of the lotus flower and its meaning comes basically out of the five act structure connected to the five elements Sami and Egon brought into the project.
The meaning of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether are connected to the hinduism belief. Our idea was it now to surround the first four elements by the fifth - the endless white space - and to visualise the first four with the shape of the flower.
The shape of the flower leaves doesn't have a special meaning. They look all the same and all together form the flower.
The most important at this shape is that the user can step inside the leaves and gets a different point of view and at the same time the experience that he is still in white space.
As well the whole flower in white space offers the user to step back and go close and even inside the flower. The user can experience the four stages again with the look at it, from different viewpoints, distances and so find the place he loves to be in the ether.

Textures:
To signify the different elements we used the same colours as Sami and Egon on the sites and the same paper structure Ville used for its depth animation and the paper man in the trailer.
The structure was as well important to symbolise the consistency of our brains. The neuronal network and the different layers interpreted as thoughts and memories and their connections.

Sound:
The sounds are important to emphasize the whole experience for the user. To support the participation with the whole body.
As well we tried to use the sound as a kind of guide. Following and finding the sounds give the user the experience of different viewpoints in Candira's mindspace.

Time:
The time is an endless circle in mindspace. The user can stay in white space as long as he wants to stay.

Patina:
At the moment the room is new. How is it possible to feel what happened there before and what has happened inside? It is not like the mirror where everybody can reconstruct the conversation and thoughts - but I think this is the nice difference to the mirror - just people who really participated will fill mindspace with their being and everybody can interpret this space for itself. Otherwise it would be nice to change the room, not only by the participation of avatars. I am sure this will be an approach in a following concept.
On the other hand the mindspace still stands for itself - the feeling of endlessness after leaving behind something or everything?

How my mind works?
Mindspace vs. candira
Abstract space vs. character
Level of abstraction - mass of information
A room - a face

What makes a character a character?
Material - small stories - a believable history - whatever we can think for considering human beings.
Basically a personality.

What makes a space a space?
Everything what we declare as space.
But basically a thing in the third dimension.

How similar or how different is it to create the mindspace compared to a character?
Narrative landscape - functional room - what?
What happens in her mind?
Depends on the story.

Perhaps they had the same frequency for a millisecond?
What happens in mine?
Depends on me? Life, genes, social background, education, but at least the thing we don't now yet.

What happens in her mind?
She is human, and we can just invent what humans are able to think, so basically it should happen the same in her mind as in mine!

What happens with the mental Candira?
But how would a user understand the change in mind?
Where is the change in mind? How can I see that? Feel that?
The most important part to express the change in Candira's mind is the change from 2d to 3d.There is no changing anymore in mindspace itself, and in mind the whole five act structure on which Candira is build up, there is no need anymore to show Candira's development in mindspace again . It is the new state she reached - the state of equilibrium - the end of her search for herself. At least for this time.
What happens with the physical Candira?
Everybody is allowed to think what he/she wants to think about that!

I think the main problem for me considering these questions was to understand that the room is a part of Candira - and not a room by itself. Sure, the room itself tells as well a story, but it is inhabited by Candira's being.
I couldn't go ahead with my thoughts how to explain and to show a working mind in general. Basically these thoughts were important, but at least Candira herself would have stepped back and returned to the mythical roots. This is definitely how she did.
This is also why I came to the conclusion 'form follows story', and perhaps I can say now, in this context 'form follows character'. But we had just one character - what happens when there are different ones? I think mika is quite right by saying form follows action. But still action depends on characters and characters depend on environments, but character's mindspaces depend only on the personal interpretation and the personal unawareness of the outside and inside world by the character itself.

What did the user understand?
sun lotion vs. terra sienna
stupor vs. cultural awareness
old media vs. new media
the media of narratives

How to make the user interested in the storytelling?
Find a connection between user and story!
Touch cultural roots.
What have the users to do to reach it and to understand why they arrived there?
interactivity - learning process - history of games - history of every new idea - use the old as basic - but have something new - new rules - and develop them.

Is it just the time? Is it by chance?
Story - education - games - instinct - the user should have the feeling: 'no, this can not be the end!'
The best movies stop when the secret is still a secret.

But when I am quite destroyed can I still reach this endlessness? And do I care about life or death?
The white death or the dark?
However it happens what does the rhetoric of mindspace tell?

Am I real? Real - virtual
Who knows!

Do I need all the rest which was before?
No! But I had to go through to accept where I am.

How do I define?
Do I have to define?

Wouldn't it be nicer to share nirvana?
Makes it a difference?
Is that possible, can I still find myself if there are other people?
Everybody should choose itself, but have in mind we are all one! :)

Will he explore?
But will they understand all, will it be interesting for them?
A bit for everybody! - Or was it like this?

But is Candira's mindspace a well known landscape considering screen history, just in a new media or is it a new landscape in new media?

As conclusion of this part I will again remember the grammar of our production. We worked with all media which is used to tell stories as basic and tried to find a solution for a story telling in the internet.
What means text, sound, moving images and its several solutions and structures.
Our task was it now to find a way to tell our story in the web that other people could follow and participate the story.
After all we can see now that people which tried to follow and which were used or open minded to the use of the net in an artistic way were touched and engaged by the story. But still these people had problems to follow our grammar.
One of the biggest problems were to activate them to download all the plugins and to support them to use them. Especially the 3d-plugins were a big problem for everybody.
But not only the plugins as well to figure out that the vrml file is not the end, that there is a further connection to the onlive-mindspace was a big problem for the user.
That means for me that there was a big lack of grammar. Perhaps after a few years of storytelling with that media the user would have known that there is a link hidden somewhere, but at the beginning, in the first try outs to tell a story with the net, the grammar should have been more obvious, more educating.

All together I am quite sure when we look back on this production in 10 years, a warm smile will arise in our faces thinking for lovely Candira and knowing a lot has changed!