Second Life Video Presentation

Design Project 2

Yeah … I admit, I didn’t quite like my first project, and I copped one heck of a criticism on it, “bad version of Moe’s Bar”. I WON’T FORGET IT, MAN ~!!!

Anyway, off the business, following on from my first design, I realised that it had limited any room for improvement. Therefore, I took inspiration of my favourite drink’s little café and made it bigger and more intensive. First of all, I wiped the old design completely out.

I noted down a pattern from Tam that says something like, “I feel like I can’t go that way”. I utilized heavy columns of wood to lay out people’s movement. I was told that it evokes a strong sense of EDGES, which literally tells our subconscious not to move out of this path. Personally, I don’t care what my sub-conscious says. This then becomes a pattern of its own. The edges are so strongly defined, that people really don’t move to the outdoor spaces along the edges. And I used this idea to direct people around my space. This effect is combined with two other techniques, one in which itself is a pattern. The one that isn’t a pattern is the use of materiality (is that a word?). The I made three ‘hard’ transitions of materials to CLEARLY show the edges, where they appear. Though the minor dancefloors are similar to the walk ways, the second pattern will explain why they are still different.

Secondly, which is the aforementioned, is the levelling of each floor. I’ve made different areas raised and lowered to different levels to establish a sense of heirarchy. The dancefloor, of course, is the centre of activity, reinforced by the colors of the roof darkening as it approaches the centre. The lowest levels are our pathways in which we walk (duh). The middle level are our private/social space where we can be away and part of the moment at the same time. I also neglect the scripting of color changing for these spaces as they are the place to get away from all the action (but hopefully not COMPLETELY GONE).

Thirdly was this sense of interactivity. What makes people stay at a certain place is their involvement with the environment. Imagine 5 guys at a tennis court and only 4 guys playing; that last dude would go for a walk or drink or piss or whatever he has in mind. So, what I did was script 6 boxes with at least 5 different types of dances in each one. so people can walk onto the dance floor and show off their moves. Do you have what it takes to SERVE? If not, then YOU’ll GET SERVED.

Design Grammar

Let’s see … design grammar … My understanding of design grammar is the completely analysis of a building design prior to its actual ‘creation’. Therefore, in order to outline the success of a building, one must understand the basic “grammer” of it. That is under three categories: Noun, Verb and Adjective. I’m sure anyone out there would know, by now, what they are. But just in case they don’t know what it is in this context … Noun is the subject of the design, Verb is the action described, and Adjective is the descriptive attribute of that particular subject.

We use these three things to consider our design patterns, and in an earlier post, I have noted down three types of patterns used in the now known as DD-Bar (a play on the well-known game, DDR). The three patterns are:

1. Edges – I was told that edges plays a very strange game in our minds. Basically, our pathways (or the direction we walk) are generally governed by edges; and these can be defined in many forms. I had used three ways to define these edges and they alone can be put as a pattern, but not as strongly as this would be. One way is the transition of materials. I have used a fairly dark (and bright misted) material for the dancefloor, which is then turned to a light colors, checkered floor of changing colors. After this is the dull Spanish tiled floors for those who want to rest a little or eyes getting blind. A second way is the huge posts implanted into the ground and raised above the space. These are my frst known governing edges. It has the power to literally stop people from moving around the outside and thusly concentrate them to the centre, which is the “centre of activity”
   
2. Levels – Is the third way and is distinctive on its own to distinguish edges. A brief note on edges, our ability to walk comfortably is minimal and we are suscepted to the height variations. Now, the levelling of each floors tell a different story. First, we have the dance floor being raised the highest compared to the others, which says, “This is what this place is all about”. The lower floors are pathways in which we walk. The mid-level are “private” spaces for people who would want to move away from the dance but at the same time be apart of it. This keeps the mood goin’
   
3. Interactivity – This helps improve people’s involve on the dance floor. I’ve laid out 6 boxes, each containing a pack of scripts for different dance move. Each time the box is click, there is a new dance move. This is openly available, so anyone can copy it.
   

JUST THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW
There was a young lady who dropped by my space and danced for a while. She asked me when would it be completed and added me as friend. She said she would return when I tell her it is completed … AND I GOT A VIDEO TO PROVE IT ~!!!

Pattern Language

A pattern within the context of the building describes, in a sense, what is really there. A pattern helps designs identify the theme of their building and understand the key elements The identified key elements would then assist design to summarize the list of issues and solutions to resolve it.

AIM
The aim of the Snowman Café is to give avatars a sense of enticement, but at the same time (or other times-of-the-day, rather) a feeling of comfort and relaxation so that they may refresh themselves before moving out of the district and into the intense world.

PATTERN
Street Café – A street café is a unique setting for people to linger and pass time without greatly noticing it happening.

Sleeping in Public – Much like the street café, a successful public lobby would be where a person can come in and feel comfortable enough to find an area to sleep.

Gravitational Instinct – People are quite often drawn towards something that appeals to them. The little part of the brain tells them to be more curious when they noticed something that cannot be missed.

OBSERVATION
People are drawn-in to a space with the presence of others. Therefore, the café must have the ability to draw the initial people in and keep them occupied, unless otherwise, have people return to this space whenever they feel the need.

PROBLEM
What is required to accumulate for each pattern?
How can this space be modified to give a sense of enticement?
How can this space be modified to give a sense of relaxation?

SOLUTION
A typical street café would consider spacing as the most vital aspect. While many people like to gather in small group to share opinions and ideas, some people prefer to be alone and have their own ‘dome-of-silence’.

To make a space a relaxing environment, many people tend to turn to soothing music. For example, meditators never use pop music, nor would tai-chi practitioners listen to rock music.

It is common human nature to be drawn towards something that completely stands out and light is a typical method to do this.

Script – Go Go Go

The following script I used in my space is not really a “wow” factor, but rather a new feature to make the floors less boring a slightly more interactive.

What I have done is make use of the LSL language of ‘listening’ which takes command from public chats and change colors accordingly.

The commands were simply:

Go Red
Go Blue
Go Green
Go Black
Go White

And each time these commands were made, the floors would change colors accordingly. Just for fun, I switched the commands around everywhere, so it would appear to be an 80s disco floor. However, these commands would only be made by myself or anyone would knows this and wants to impress their company.
It sort of becomes this “hey mate, check this out” factor.

default
{

state_entry() {
llListen(0,”", NULL_KEY, “”);
}

listen(integer channel, string name, key id, string message) {
if (message == “Go Blue”) {

// change color!
llSetColor(<0,0,1.0>,ALL_SIDES);

}
if (message == “Go Red”) {

// change color!
llSetColor(<1.0,0,0>,ALL_SIDES);

}
if (message == “Go Green”) {

// change color!
llSetColor(<0,0.1,0>,ALL_SIDES);

}
if (message == “Go Black”) {

// change color!
llSetColor(<0,0,0>,ALL_SIDES);

}
if (message == “Go White”) {

// change color!
llSetColor(<1.0,1.0,1.0>,ALL_SIDES);

}
}

}

Various Bars

Below are images of Bars that I found while wandering around Flickr

Interesting Stuff

This is a video that I recorded while watching Futurama. I believe it explores a different ide aof virtuality and social space

Virtual Place

A virtual place is somewhere in the “second” world that defines a space. It is logically not tangible, but a virtual person would be able to access and use it as a real person would in a real world. The notion of virtuality plays on the extent of inconceivability in any context, whether actions which occur within the virtual world is possible. A place is simply a defined space for a particular purpose. There are three elements in which “place”:

Environment: This defines the atmosphere around the subject, on in this case, the virtual person (which is hereon referred to as just ‘person’). I believe that if the person is in a warm environment, they would automatically stay there. Hence, otherwise, if the person is in a poor environment, they would leave. These people would go on and spread the news. However successful a place is will depend on these people.

Purpose: What is this place built for? What makes this place worth visiting? And more importantly, what makes this place worth ‘re’-visiting? The primary function is a key point in establishing the place’s value and attract the right group of people to this place. Another issue to consider is where the place is to be built. It is not expected to see a night pub is a quiet neighborhood, hence, it is essential to understand, again, the environment.

Volume: In conjunction to its purpose and environment, one must not forget that ’size does matter’. If one was to build an indoor recreational center, they will definitely not build it with a 512sqm limit, but maximize the volume for comfortable (as aforementioned) usage.

Example of Virtual Place

Altman 35, 177, 108  -  Altman Xploder Challenge & Camp

Social Space

My understanding of a social space is exactly what the individual words, that compose them, mean. It is a given area for a socializing purpose. In the real world, this can exist in the form of a pub, community club, schools, parks and even at home. Social spaces in the real world would meet the virtual world via the internet. A common chat-room can be listed as a social space as it allows users to interact, meet, and socialize with other people. In terms of Second Life, the virtual world itself is a massive social space, allowing avatars to socialize in retrospective ways. The factors still applies to Second Life.

The following are three factors of social spaces:

Comfort: This may not be the first thing in mind when considering a social space, but in order for people to socialize, they should feel comfortable and relaxed wherever they are. Unless of course, if they are not comfortable, they can drink till they are comfortable. In Second Life, the avatar may not feel comfortable, but the space should still be made in a sense that the user believes the avatar is comfortable.

Interaction: Very common topic. In order for a social space to work, people (or avatars) must be able to interact with one another. This would allow communication to work. In situations such as pubs, if it was built with many walls and doors, blokes would find it very difficult to pick up chicks.

Features: Much like comfort itself, the features of the space may affect the type of people would be present. For example, you would not find the same group of people in a pub as you would find in a primary school (although…). In other words, the social space should include certain furnitures and entertainment and retrospective necessities.

Virtuality

My basic understanding of ‘virtual-world’ is exactly what I see in the media world. To me, it is the state of imagination and unrealism. In this state, even the most abstract work can be accomplished. In terms of Second Life, one’s virtual self is able to travel to difference distances at high speed. Another example, and the most obvious example, is the ability to fly. In the physical world, the ability to fly is only far-fetched and only superman can fly. Having the ability to fly in an architectural world can allow oneself to see their ‘world’ around them from a far-fetched angle. Another notable ability is to erase an edit. In reality, to accomplish such task would require days of work and huge amount of cost. In the virtual world, it is as easy as a simple click and minimal thinking. In Second Life, there is a function called “teleport”. Also far-fetched, the ability to teleport allows a person to travel to different places. Of course, in reality, that ability would be over-rated and considered an ability to potentially commit crimes. In the virtual world, one can move to anywhere in the world and communicate with anyone they desire. This also brings up the ability to search and add friend. Yesterday, I was able to communicate with my teammate who was completely away from my area. Another aspect is the ability to walk through walls. This allows people to be able to enter the building in an extraordinary fashion. In the real world, this can cause crimes (mostly perverted). When built as a door or portal, this ability can appear to give an outstanding effect.