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By: Belal Bilto, Gary Jorge, Estefania Leon
Author: b.bilto
NYC Apps!
Check out our page to see how apps are helping New Yorkers everyday!
By: Belal Bilto, Gary Jorge, & Estefania Leon
Hello Cortana
The Halo video game franchise has been one of if not the most successful video games to ever hit the market. With over ten different games being released from 2001 to current date 2017 the Halo series continues to flourish. For a short synopsis, the game has a main character by the name of Master Chief a super solider set out to defend the world from the Alien Covenant. Master Chief also has an Artificial Intelligence companion by the name of Cortana that joins him on all of his missions. Even with all the strength that Master Chief obtains he can not seem to function properly without Cortana.
Gender roles play a huge part in this aspect of the game between Master Chief’s and Cortana’s relationship. Now even though Cortana is a product of Artificial Intelligence her developers made her in a way where she is slim, big busted, and sports a complimenting figure. The character of Cortana can somewhat be imprisoned at times. She is a essentially a computer that can be programmed to do anything while she sends Master Chief Commands while he goes out into battle. Cortana is represented through all three major platforms of visual, verbal, and technological media the developers have created her in a sexualized way while also being under strict control. I believe that this character definitely reflects off the broader social norm for many reasons. For instance it is known that a majority of video game players are male. So the video game creators had to develop a character that makes them wanting to come back and play. They used the image of what a good looking women is in the real world and turned her into a sexualized icon in a video game.
Nakamura states that “identity prosthesis to redress the burdens of physical “handicaps” such as age, gender and race” (Nakamura, 2006: 319). I feel as though this relates very well with my topic because instead of the video game developers making Cortana appear as human they made her artificial intelligence. This possibly could give them an excuse when it comes to how they develop the female character over time. What Schaap means when he says “Cyberspace, the concept of an inhabitable, electronically generated alternate reality, has become the dominant metaphor for thinking about the nonspace of electronically represented and mediated symbolic interaction.” (Schaap pg. 233) It means that the things we see out in the real world we are bringing in to a different reality and turning it into something that is not. When something like this happens characters like Cortana start to form and topics of controversy start to emerge.
- Do you think there will be a new generation sweep of female led video game characters?
- Do you believe it is intentional when female characters come out to be something that they are not? Or is that just how society portrays them?
The bright future of video chat
The digital world today in all aspects is changing so fast that it is almost impossible to predict it’s future. Every month is seems like there is a new app, product, or feature that helps us stay connected and communicate with each other. Overall my vision for the future of digital communication is very bright. As different forms of communication start to develop and evolve I believe it will only benefit daily life.
A present aspect of digital communication that I would like too see really develop would be the ability to communicate face to face over a digital interface. Companies like Facebook, Skype, and Apple all provide video chat services and having this form of communication excel I believe it will revolutionize the way we communicate with each other. Video chat has come a long way and this article written back in 2009 shows you how it all came about and just how far it has advanced.
Some major aspects that I would like to see change when it comes to digital communication are the regulations that are often put against it. Regulations are constantly changing and I believe that is holding companies back from really being able to advance in certain technologies. For example, making privacy polices shorter and easier to read for better understanding and being able to expand data collection regulations in order to gather stronger information. These are all aspects if strengthened can really start to advance the digital communication atmosphere.
Andrejevic mentions in the reading that “commercial surveillance has a central role to play in the forms of alienation, manipulation, and control associated with the interactive economy.” (Pg. 279, Surveillance & Society) In my opinion this statement has a lot of negativity in it because it is only focusing on the bad. Something like a video chat can come off as something that has a lot of surveillance on it and users may not feel as protected. The good outweigh the bad in this case and if Andrejevic focused more on the good more people would come to the realization of what this feature can bring. I appreciated the Jenkins reading more because he said that majority of the people are “watchers.” People want to see things happen and evolve that will make there daily lives more efficient. Jenkins also takes a lot of pride in ownership, people make there own decisions at the end of the day.
Are there any new forms of digital communication on the rise?
Do you believe that one day digital communication will be more dominate than physical face to face encounters?
Digital Evolution
For this assignment I interviewed my roommate Drew Weiss. Drew is 23 years old, an aspiring filmmaker, and attends the School of Visual Arts in NYC.
Q: What social media platforms and apps they have used now and in the past?
DW: “In the past I mainly used MySpace and occasionally commenting on a website forum post. Now my three main social media apps are Facebook, Instagram, and twitter.”
Q: Do they use their real name(s)? Have they ever used aliases or created fake accounts? Why?
DW: “In high school I used to randomly change my Facebook name to something outrageous just for fun. No intention of forming any aliases or making it seem like I had a fake account.”
Q: What different personas do they construct in each of these platforms and how do they relate to aspects of their experiences in life?
DW: “Being the aspiring filmmaker that I am I mainly use social media as a way to showcase my work. It allows me to talk directly and network throughout the industry. I try to show a more professional persona when doing this.”
Q: “Do the digital personas they construct help them cope with the problems they face or do they create new problems? In what ways?
DW: “I would definitely say my online persona helps me out in my life problems. If I ever need to find an actor for one of my films I can easily go onto Instagram and try to contact someone.”
Turkle’s readings relate very well to Drew and his relationship with social media. “We have used our relationships with technology to reflect on the human.” (Turkle, Pg. 24) Sherry is referring to the major changes humans have had to adjust too because of technological advancement. Drew’s use of digital media allows others to see his talent of filmmaking that would not have been possible if it wasn’t for social media.
Athique talks about in chapter 7 how ordinary people were the reasons in evolution of the internet. “The conventions of digital interaction emerged organically through millions of informal social interactions.” (Athique, Ch. 7, Pg. 98) Reading the interview above you are able to tell that Drew is part of those informal social interactions. With the networking he does online just from talking to other people about what he loves you can see the platform grow from it.
What ways do you use social media to benefit you? How impactful will digital advancement be in our lives?
Virtual Reality Entertainment
Virtual reality for many years has always been looked at as a far fetched product of the future. At the rate technology is advancing, the future has now become the present. Virtual reality is on the rise to becoming an everyday norm in our life. Helping us get a better grasp on just how fast it is evolving, NYT writer Brook Barnes gives us a closer look.
Virtual reality start-up company Void’s latest invention is best described as a 30 foot squared off cubicle. As you step inside the walled off area, you are then strapped in from the chest up with the latest virtual reality gear. Void then brings you an entertainment experience like no other. Simulating a ghostbuster like adventure, you are challenged to eliminate all poltergeists in sight as you are equipped with your virtual weapon. Void puts the customer in complete control of the invention. “If the meaning of the words “machine” and “think” are to be found by examining how they are commonly used it is difficult to escape the conclusion.” (Turing, Pg. 1) Alan Turing’s point here comes in to have us finding an answer to his question “Can Machines Think?’ (Turing Pg. 1) With VR inventions like these evolving, the answer is leaning more towards a yes.
The problem the writer is facing is weather if this next invention in virtual reality will bring any value to the entertainment world. “An offering that could mint money for its developers, throw a lifeline to struggling shopping malls and, at long last, jump-start sales of virtual reality gear.” (Barnes, 2017) The evidence is very clear in the numbers. Void has seen great success in sales when they opened the experience to the public in NYC bringing in $900,000 dollars in revenue. The evidence is carefully analyzed through the consumers of the product. Depending on how they respond to the product and most importantly reporting how they feel both mentally and physically on the product. This is when Void is able to make adjustments to the experience they are providing.
The finding in the article is that the possibility of a consistent entertaining virtual reality experience to be fully available to the public is in arms reach. It is clear that virtual reality has the potential to bring in serious profit to the market. With new inventions like the Void’s setting new standards of the experience will only make the market grow. What’s missing in the article is more information to back up the idea of failing theaters, shopping malls, entertainment centers, etc… that would be replaced or saved by virtual reality. Even though the article includes strong numbers of revenue that VR brings in. We would have a better understanding of its real potential if we were able to have something to compare the numbers too.
According to Lee Manovich’s new media readings VR plays a role in his principle of modularity. “A new media object consists of independent parts, each of which consists of smaller independent parts.” (Manovich, New Media, P. 31) Virtual Reality being one of the latest new media products on the market, you are able to relate Void’s invention to Lee’s readings very well. The invention consists of various independent parts that all rely on each other to have success in in the finally product. Different parts of VR advance at different times, when one part of VR technology advances it helps support the advancement of another part. Virtual reality company Void’s invention is a stepping stone to big advancement in the industry.
Before we know it inventions like these are going to have you and your friends planning nights around experiencing Virtual Reality. Void is one example of a company that will set the tone for the future. We will have a better understanding as we search for answers to these questions.
Does Virtual Reality have a chance of being the next fad?
What is the opportunity cost of VR advancement?
Take Action – Belal Bilto – COMM 3057
With the amount of freedom that we have from the second we open our laptops the adventures become limitless when the internet takes control. My one hour of online surfing turned into a hour and half of online surfing. Next thing you know that hour and half turned into two hours of online surfing before realizing I had an assignment to work on and that I had more tabs open then my Mac can handle. From browsing on various social media networks, jumping from different websites as I was “online window shopping,” to getting reeled in by the latest Trump headline… I noticed one thing in particular. I was getting nothing done.
With every click that I was making I constantly would be introduced to new information to the point where I would subconsciously forget about something that I read earlier in my online browsing. Now do not get me wrong, I am all in for a digital revolution and finding new ways to better the digital landscape. But everything that I was doing I could have done in the pre-digital era and be more productive for that matter. For example, I was scrolling through a travel Instagram page and as I was looking at some of the remarkable photos it gave me a temporary feel good feeling of that one day I can visit all of these places. But soon after I was done looking at the page I was on to the next site and that feel good feeling was distracted by whatever I was looking at next. I believe in the pre-digital era you would have a better chance of physically taking steps in your life to one day reach that dream travel destination and have less of a distraction following you. As opposed to falling into the temptations of Instagram and briefly living “that moment” through someone else’s pictures.
Grabbing hold and taking action in life is the only way to get from your point A to your point B. I believe there are activities that have changed in our digital age and that is simply to physically be active! You have to learn and adapt to your digital resources and expect what the tradeoffs are from being online and actually taking advantage of what the world has to offer.
Computerization can improve human activity tremendously. Computerization allows the automation of things like factories for example to operate self sufficiently through the help of robots. Cutting costs of labor, speeding up efficiency, and being able to manage your warehouse appropriately to the current environment that your company is in. As for digitization you can look above at my Instagram experience. Digitization was the start of this social media giant condensing millions of photos into one social app. Giving people the ultimate freedom of browsing and eventually finding themselves in situations like myself. (Because I am not the only one).
Athique explains that computerization leads to what he calls ‘collaborative competition.’ “The information society describes the push towards computerized automation and the network society grapples with its consequences.” (Source: Athique; Digital Media and Society: pg. 17) What Anthique is saying from this is that as each society advances in technology there is always going to be the trait of feeling to need more and the need to be the best. This of course brings the good and the bad to the table. The good being the technological revolutionary advances we discover along the way and the bad being the consequences shown from sometimes rushing or over looking the process of computerization and digitization. A good example of this is the Space Race between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
According to Couldry “Many commentators in the academy and industry believe that whole sectors of public and professional life are being radically transformed by the information revolution.” (Couldry; Digital Media and Social Theory; Pg. 10) Based off his readings Couldry suggests that digital media revolution brings both positives and negatives to society. You can see the positive from the evolution of the print industry allowing multiple works to be printed and available to many individual readers. Along with the start of the negative with the rapid expansion of tv media in the middle east and the government applying censorship to the growing market.
Questions to ask: What can you do to be active? How can we better predict the consequences that are to follow with digital revolution?