Category: Industry Events

Kerri Astorino

Professor Ault

IMM 498

November 2019

Industry Event

Before officially meeting with the two founders of an Augmented Reality site, Gimme360 in NYC, I interviewed Dan Bokun. We had been contacting via email and discussing where he started from the beginning and how he overcame some obstacles in the making. For a little bit of insite, he is in his early thirties and is already running his own business. When I actually got to meet up with him in person, I went with one of my friends from school and he brought along his co founder. We discussed the future and how things may change over time with technology. I couldn’t agree more. Children’s books, for example, are coming to life; no more paper back or hard cover books anymore. 

I asked him what the most common traits of a successful AR is and he answered with a list of five things: Persistence, User Experience, Value of the experience, Share-ability, and Scalability. He had prior knowledge coming in to this field of study by starting where I am today. By just studying new things and doing plenty of research. He mainly tested out other individual’s apps before creating something along the lines of AR sites. His research involved looking up apps and sites that involved AR like Pokemon Go. He believes it will be the next way people live, learn and communicate with the world. Being placed in the market industry at first, in the philanthropy world  – ultimately that has changed as businesses require a more visual manner of displaying information. Bokun had no physical targets specifically towards the young crowd and older generations, he wasn’t picky. His key objectives were to expand on this new wave of retaining information more effectively. Instead of looking at a budget point of view, he collected a ‘seed round of angel group of investors’. Lot of time and people were involved in the process.

Content is key. The tools he hired people to use in the making were Maya, Unity, C+ and C++ languages, and a whole lot of coffee. The 3d models were very important to this big project.

The launch schedule was soft as this is a new uncharted territory. There were certain deliverables that were set, but these were more fluid as to not to disrupt the natural flow of an entrepreneurial company’s growth. In the space he created particularly to present in front of an audience, with lighting, the required software, and the right context, it will be visually appealing. Over time what was will become mundane and what will be the new standard of detail. Bokun and his team at Gimme360, will be targeting their inventions through phones, ipads, and anything mobile; however, it is way easier for iphone users over android, as it was easier to deploy through apple products. The real-world will have a role in this experience of AR. Augmented reality heavily relies on the real-world, as it is the tie between the digital and physical.

Measuring success was a question I came up to while learning much more about the AR experience. They both mentioned that retention is key; the longer a person has it on their phone, the most likely they will use it again and or share their experience. Statistically 75% of individuals are visual learners. Being able to see something allows for a more effective and efficient manner of portraying information.

After interviewing Bokun and learning a bit from his friend, Josiah, he claimed to answer one simple question on how everything started. Bokun questioned, “how can we eliminate the distance between a person and getting to see the actual answer”. The team at first, started with research, questions, experience with other applications and users, meeting new people, and eventually it naturally came about. At the time they were studying VR, but it was not a social sharing experience for them, so they naturally gravitated towards something that was. AR was a lot more palatable for Fortune 500 companies. And now their company takes place in Canada called Gimme360, thanks to the help of Dungeon and Dragons, the Canadian version of Shark Tank.

GIMME360 started up in 2017 in Canada

started with 4 main founders and then went down to 2

For my industry event I attended the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market (https://www.trentonprfm.com/). The Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market is a large collection of vintage clothing, art prints, comics, vinyls, vintage toys, live music, pins, food trucks, animal bones and strange things in jars, and other random objects based on which vendors sign up for the event. It’s hosted annually in the Roebling Wire Works building, a historic building from the industrial age of Trenton that had been left to rot until recently, when the city decided to convert into a space for community members to use (https://jerseydigs.com/trenton-real-estate-development-roebling-center-71-clark-street/). As such, the worn down interior of the building can only add to the “punk rock” experience. The entire flea market is run by Joseph Kuzemka, a Trenton native who began it in 2013 with the intention of making a safe space that could bring together the community. Joseph can also be seen walking around the flea market and hosts a “Blitzed History” show with members from the crowd that can be watched on TPRFM’s website. Overall, the sense of community is very strong, and as soon as you walk through the gates, you become part of that community too.

During my visit to the TPRFM I interacted with a lot of the artists and designers – people trying to sell their original art, whether that be on shirts, enamel pins, zines, or paper prints. One of the creators I interacted with was Heather Johnson of “Watch Me Craft”, a one-woman company that focuses on enamel pins and handmade necklaces which often feature watch parts. You can find more of her work on her Instagram page @heatherwildchild.

While Heather did have a wide array of her handmade necklaces – probably 20 to 30 of them, selling from $25 to $50 each – it seemed most of her sales were in enamel pins, which covered the front of her display table. When I asked her about it, she said the pins were a combination of her own original art and other media she had found online. So while you could get a pin of her art of an octopus, you could also get a pin of Garfield or the cast of Beetlejuice (which I did). She said the process for pin creation was very easy; all you had to do was find a reputable company who would make your pins, often in bulk purchases of 100 or more and for relatively cheap (she said she paid around $125 for a 100-set). The vendor she used was called the Sunday Co., a group who she said was the “only place to go” for pins (https://thesundayco.com/).

However, she said the pins were more of a side hobby and her main focus was on her handmade necklaces, which she either made at home or in a Maker Space in New York of which she was a member. When I explained my senior thesis idea to her – the VR cryptid museum – she said that while she did not know much about 3D modeling, it was a solid and interesting idea. Who knows, maybe she’ll make her way to the Senior Showcase. She also emphasized the importance of community. In her own work, her time in the Maker Space was often a way of developing her own sense of community and getting feedback on her work. She said even though I was working alone, I could rely on my fellow students for help and that I should extend the same courtesy and help others where I could. In some ways it seemed that to Heather community feedback and support was just as important as individual workflow and creativity. Overall, I left the conversation with the intent of being less self-reliant and more open to my fellow student’s feedback or constructive criticism.

My time at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market was insightful, if not for my own project then as a look into how other artists are able to get out into the real world and design, create, and sell their work. The flea market is a niche community that was able to expand into a facet of Trenton community and become a popular event outside its own bubble in everyday communities. In much the same way I hope to exhibit my museum for a niche few that will hopefully generate enough interest to get others into the cryptid scene.

I decided to attend two events this semester specific to my thesis project. The first event I attended was a woodworking guild, The Woodworkers Guild of South Jersey in Cherry Hill, NJ. The woodworking event was hosted in a church basement and the guild was open to anyone interested in woodworking (beginner, int., professional, etc). As soon as I walked in the door, I had a few people approach me asking me what brought me to the meeting, if I had images of my design plan, what kind of resources I needed. The meeting began and all new members/guests introduced themselves before diving into the meetings guest speaker, Lauren Dombrowiak. Lauren handed out a few packets with examples of her work at the Philadelphia International Airport, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Urban Outfitters, and more. I was particularly interested in seeing Lauren’s work transform from a 3D Maya Animation into a physical woodworked structure. After Lauren walked us through her career experience, she passed around some cutting boards and jewelry she had made out of excess wood and answered any questions anyone had. Her paint designs inspired me to think a little more outside the box with the exterior of my screen as that is what attracts me that aren’t interested in a water screen like I am. After Lauren’s presentation, we took a break where we just spoke with each other over some snacks and beverages. After the break, I was asked to stand up and explain my project to everyone and see if anyone had any advice. I made a lot of connections that I have been emailing with since. Many of the members offered me some of their leftover wood, glass they didn’t need, wood shop tools, and more. At the end of the meeting, we even got to see one of the members show off an old piece of his from twenty+ years ago. I found this event to be a great asset to my project thus far as some of the members have sent me sketches, many have offered feedback, and all of them seem very passionate about woodwork. I look forward to showing the guild my project when it’s complete.

My other industry event was an exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image. The exhibition I attended was an event with artist Carlos Alfonzo Sanchez titled The Situation Room. The project consisted of an elevator that was full of flat screens on every wall, including the ceiling. The screens portrayed gifs that featured work from a few artists, including Carlos. The gifs were images of pretty environments with objects such as white picket fences, blue skies, beautiful picture frames with grotesque or private/intimate movements inside of them such as a person dressed in drag in their bedroom or a tongue moving around. The Situation Room was based on JFK’s creation of the Situation Room in the White House in 1961. The room is meant to create a small space without “access” to cell-phones and notifications. We had a conversation between those of us at the exhibitions opening, Carlos, the curator of the installation, and a host. The artist and curator spoke a lot about utilizing the space of the elevator, the tightness between those coming into the elevator and the white space on the walls. I didn’t have a chance to ask direct questions about my project at this event but I did gain some knowledge as to how to tell a story without using words.

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I went to the Deck The Halls light show at City Hall in Philadelphia. Although this wasn’t a super interactive event, I emailed the designer of the show in hopes that they will be willing to answer a few questions for me about projection mapping and his journey through learning it and creating his own company.

https://www.klip.tv/cityhallholiday017 – This is a link that shows previous shows for the Deck The Halls display created by the company Klip

https://www.ricardorivera.tv/about – This is the artist who founded the company Klip that I contacted

https://www.klip.tv/contact – Klips company

Watching this show was inspiring because I’ve never seen projection mapping like this before. It was really cool to see how the designers took into account every part of the building they wanted to highlight and the detail that was put into it so it made it effective and engaging to watch. This projection shows that it was made to only show on this building and would not have the same effect if it was displayed on another surface. I want my thesis project to have that the same effect because I decided to project my main show on a sphere instead of the wall or a flat object.

On November 5th, I went to a fighting game event held in Atlantic city in the showroom of the Hard Rock Hotel. The event was called “Battle for the East”, and was held over 2 days because of all the competitors. At this event I was able to gather a lot of information about competitive yet fun games, and because I was at the Hard Rock Hotel I was able to pick up ideas from the casino. I talked to a lot of the people at the tournament and between matches a lot about video games and then was able to show them parts of my game on my tablet that I took with me there. The questions and responses i had gathered over the time of this event will be incorporated into my Senior thesis.

My most common question that I asked the competitors about was what the believed made a game fun and competitive. The responses varied from person to person but it mostly centered around the feeling of having a heavy risk and reward system. I equate it to fighting games where going for a heavy move could lead to a lot of damage to your opponent but if you miss or it gets blocked you could recieve a lot of damage in return. This is also why people can get hooked on gambking because if you bet a lot of money on a single hand and win the feeling is amazing but the opposite ofcourse will happen if you lose.

I then went on to explain the concept of my game to them and how it plays on the risk and reward system with betting. I explained some of my mechanics for the game revolving around the betting of them games with the roulette wheel, and that seemed to peek some of their interest. Then I explained how my risk and reward system would work with the mini games and betting. Depending how how much you bet if you bet high then you could get bonuses to the mini games but if you lose you are risking a lot of your money to try and win over the others. They asked for an example and I then showed them some of my game on my tablet. It was a very simplified version of the real game but it worked for now. It showed them how if every had risked the most money they could that it put everyone at risk to get knocked out way faster than the winner.

I then would show them my character designs and they all agreed that I need a lot more color options for each character so that everyone could be the same character but with their favorite colors. The suggestion to the characters was to try and make them all around the same size so nobody got an advantage over the other in that aspect.

The information I gathered has helped me form more of my senior thesis and only excited me more to put a lot of work into it. The responses from the people at the competition were mostly positive so that was a really good confidence booster. The only thing left now is to keep on working and try to make the best game that I can.

Chance Gayles

IMM 498

November 20th, 2019

Report on Industry Event

In late September, I and few friends attended 「京都国祭マンガ・アニメフェア２０１９」The Kyoto International Manga Anime fair 2019. The goal of attending this event was to engage with multiple booths of people that work within the Japanese comic-making industry and get advice from the editors of Japan’s top weekly manga anthologies. The event was held in Miyako Messe in Kyoto, Japan from 9:00 am – 17:00 pm and featured multiple floors of booths with representatives from leading publications. Unfortunately, due to the timeline of projects and assignments, I was not able to bring in physical work to be evaluated. However, along with me was a friend who had works from over the years which allowed us to sit down and interact with a few editors and hear some insight directly from professionals (in Japanese of course).  

What impacted my learning most was some of the thinking that goes into writing these stories and how to convey ideas through paneling. One piece of advice that stuck with me was related to how the main characters of stories and the dynamics of the main supporting characters really affect the success of a story in the genre (Shonen) I would like to illustrate for. The example that was given to me was something that is so prevalent in japan media such as games and comics but I hadn’t really noticed as having an aimed purpose before then. It was pointed out to me that readers have to relate deeply with the main character (of course), and that usually there is a dynamic of three. Two competing male main characters (one usual energetic and the other usually being the cooler character), and one female character. Which is shocked me as I realized just how many prevalent the dynamic was in nearly everything I’ve seen from Shonen media. 

Quick, Examples of stories with this shared dynamic

‘Naruto’ Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura

‘Kingdom Hearts’ ex. Sora, Riku, Kairi

“Pokemon – black and white 2’ ex. Nate, Hugh, Rosa    

This past week I went to CTNX (Creative Talent Network Expo) in Burbank, California. It was filled with artists and animators and other professionals in the animation industry. I learned so much and visited as many panels as I could throughout the week and ended up with roughly 20-25 pages of notes on everything, along with a new possible career focus. There was a panel on VR Storytelling by Goro Fujita, the best way to tell stories in VR, and a program that is best for animators to use to tell stories. I learned so much there and it even made me rethink using Unity since it involves so much programming, as opposed to Quill, which will let me focus more on the art and story especially since I am not used to coding. Afterward, I got to talk to Goro to learn more about storytelling in VR and how Quill could be useful for me. He told everyone his own “recipe” for the best way to tell stories in VR and how to guide the user through the experience. He also reminded me that it will never be perfect since sometimes when you think a visual or audio cue will guide a person, they will do the opposite of what you want. That is why voice-overs are so important to help them navigate in the story.

I spoke with another professional in the industry and got some advice about my thesis where if coding isn’t my thing, I can always have the camera be controlled by the player and have the environment change as the story moves on rather than force the player to walk around and interact with things. This could also avoid any issues with it taking too long if the user gets lost from everything going on at the showcase. It would also help with saving time to focus on the story rather than spend most of my time struggling with the coding. She noticed the project was pretty ambitious for the time we have and told me to do as much as I could to get the idea across and create it to its full potential later on. She also provided me the name of someone else she knows who specializes in VR who I can reach out to for some advice and resources. Overall, many seem interested in my general idea to tell a story in VR, someone said it is a future in animation and storytelling since it is a new media and new way to do so and all there is left to do at this point is to perfect it and keep practicing with it. I plan to research Quill more to see if I can either use it instead of Unity or even just use it to create the scenes to later add in Unity. I tried the program at CTNX, and it came so naturally to me that I really would like to incorporate it somehow. It was perfect for me to create environments. I’ll have to get other opinions. I’ve met so many wonderful people and professionals who helped me a lot with advice about my personal career goals and with my thesis.

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This past Wednesday, I trecked up to New York City to have a cup of joe and participate in a talk with a UX Researcher, Ira Blossom.

When I arrived at weworks, I happily greeted by Ira himself and to enjoy some coffee and sat down. I looked around and started to talk to people. To my surprise, there were people from all over: Fashion and Project Management just to name a few.

The talk started with the organizer, Courtney Brand, and Ira sat down in front of everyone and began speaking. She began to introduce her self and Ira and started to ask Ira questions about UX and UX Research. The overall mission of this talk was to inform people what is UX and why is it important to have it within design. I was shocked to find out that I was agreeing with what Ira was talking about: UX is much more than just wireframes and the user interface and UX is about answering the questions that no one is really asking.

After listening to this talk and talking to Ira personally after, I forgot about one thing when coming up with a research plan for my thesis: Qualitative and Quantitive data. Yep, that is right. I need qualitative data to count for the human element that involves navigating to better understand how people think when designing new navigation concepts. I need quantitive data to have the numbered data to back up the need for a push in navigation.

From this small chit chat, I have learned a lot for both my thesis and my future career!

On November 17th, I attended a seminar at Princeton University called “Diving into TensorFlow 2.0”. TensorFlow is a library available for Python (and other programming languages) that makes machine learning coding much easier. In addition, I was introduced to some important resources that will assist me in bringing music into machine learning. Ultimately, I learned a lot about the basics of machine learning and certain key concepts that will be useful in my thesis.

After the presentation, I talked to the presenter, Josh Gordon, who works for Google and teaches deep learning at Columbia University. He said he personally has not done much music and machine learning work, but he did send me a library and a bunch of projects that use it: https://magenta.tensorflow.org/

There were many cool projects I found on this website, but there was a project similar to mine that stood out right here: https://midi-me.glitch.me/

After playing with it for a bit, I noticed that its attempt at making songs similar to the inputted songs was far from perfect. I think the reasoning for this is that it does not take direct user feedback on how accurate the result was. I think that aspect will help make such program more accurate, since it would be impossible to make it accurate with a limited data set and a lack of user input. Another way I thought of that would make a program more accurate is giving it some basic music theory; for example, knowledge of song structure and maybe commonly used scales.

I won’t lie: seeing “MidiMe” did make my project seem a lot more daunting. But if I go about developing it differently, I think I can still come up with a good result.

DATE OF EVENT: Wednesday, November 13 (Doors open @ 5:30pm.)

LOCATION: Museum of the Moving Image – William Fox Amphitheater (Queens, NY)

“To celebrate the opening of The Situation Room, MoMI and Giphy Arts will present a discussion with artist Carlos Alfonzo Sanchez and curator Lindsay Howard, and moderated by MoMI Director of Curatorial Affairs Barbara Miller. Dani Newman, Director of Artist Partnerships at Giphy, will introduce the discussion. Sanchez’s lookit (2019), the first work in the installation series, will be on view in the visitor elevator. Followed by reception with light refreshments.”

More info/where to RSVP: http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calendar/2019/11/13/detail/opening-the-situation-room-carlos-alfonzo-sanchez