Henry Jenkins of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program weighs in with a new Digital Renaissance column, Look, Listen, Walk, which is all about the concept of augmented reality. Basically, you know all those people who use their cell phones to turn on, tune in and drop out? Imagine using devices like the iPod to augment your experience with the world around you, instead of blocking it out?
It’s not a new idea. With the rise of technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, some cutting-edge digital artists have been making installation art out of public parks and boulevards by installing kiosks that transmit wireless information to portable devices. Another example of this is geocaching, which is kind of like a digital version of letterboxing, where hobbyists engage in a worldwide treasure hunt to find rubber stamps that other letterboxers have stashed away in secret locations, which they then collect in small journals. (I haven’t done it yet, but it’s one of those things I’d love to try.)
Dr. Jenkins gets into geocaching on the second page of his article, and then he starts discussing some insanely cool things that his CMS group is working on at the moment.
Every time I read about things going on up there, I want to go play. I need to start spending some more time in my mental lab, and then start doing some more playing around. Maybe this weekend.
Storyteller, scholar, consultant. Loving son, husband and father. Kindhearted mischief-maker.
I'm the Director of the Games and Simulation program at Miami University in Ohio, where I am also an Assistant Professor in the College of Creative Arts' Emerging Technology in Business and Design department. I'm also the director of Miami's Worldbuilding and Narrative Design Research Laboratory (WNDRLab). I have a Master's in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and a PhD in Media Arts and Practices from the University of Southern California.
In past lives I've been the lead Narrative Producer for Microsoft Studios and cofounder of its Narrative Design team, working on projects like Hololens, Quantum Break and new IP incubation; in a "future of media" think tank for Microsoft's CXO/CTO and its Chief Software Architect; the Creative Director for the University of Southern California's World Building Media Lab and the Technical Director, Creative Director and a Research Fellow for USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab; a Visiting Assistant Professor at Whittier College and director of its Whittier Other Worlds Laboratory (WOWLab); the Communications Director and a researcher for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab; a founding member of the Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT (now The Futures of Entertainment); a magazine editor; and a award-winning short film producer. more »
The opinions put forward in this blog are mine alone, and do not reflect the opinions of my employers.
