Blogs Media Lab

Initial info on Max/MSP 5 emerges

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David Zicarelli of Cycling ’74 has posted some initial notes on what’s new and different in Max 5. He For current users, I would describe Max 5 as analogous to Apple’s transition from Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. At some point, Apple decided that the technological foundation of their operating system was unsustainable, [...]

David Zicarelli of Cycling ’74 has posted some initial notes on what’s new and different in Max 5. He

For current users, I would describe Max 5 as analogous to Apple’s transition from Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. At some point, Apple decided that the technological foundation of their operating system was unsustainable, and required a completely new approach. We came to the same conclusion about many aspects of Max, and especially about the graphical interface — often the most complicated and difficult system within any large application software project.

Max was based on the way the Macintosh worked in 1987. Since then, a lot of things have changed about graphical interfaces, file systems, and pretty much everything else. As a result, the assumptions of 1987 were simply too deeply embedded to keep Max going for another 20 years with the same internal codebase. This became increasingly apparent in recent years, as we seemed be doing nothing but patching Max to keep it working with the latest hardware and software.

I’ve wanted to make Max better, but recently most of my work has been the drudgery of making it operate on OS X, or on Windows, or on Intel processors. While I’ve been doing this, I’ve also been accumulating ideas for what I would do once I got over all this kind of work.

Well, that day did come when we finally finished the Intel port of the OS X version, although it took about a year longer than I thought it would. Once I was able to clear that off my desk, I began organizing my thoughts about what Max requires to survive another 20 years.

He mentions the possibility of Max being available on Linux, changes to the way some objects work, and updates to the GUI. In respect to the GUI, my friend Paul puts it best:

I’m excited to see what their new interface changes will entail. I kind of liked it’s raw ugliness, same way I really liked Slashdot’s 1993 ugliness before they shined it up. Its like a really ugly comfortable couch that you know you should get rid of eventually.

(Obviously, Max is for visual thinkers)

Picasso iPods part 2

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Brent beat me to the punch with his Picasso iPod post. Much to learn from this project which gave us an opportunity to compare the same tour on iPods and cell phones. I was waiting for the phone stats and survey results but you’ll have to come back for that information. As Brent said, the [...]

Kill the iPod

Brent beat me to the punch with his Picasso iPod post. Much to learn from this project which gave us an opportunity to compare the same tour on iPods and cell phones. I was waiting for the phone stats and survey results but you’ll have to come back for that information.

As Brent said, the iPods were a huge success. In the course of the exhibition (June 16-September 9), over 3,500 visitors borrowed the iPods (25-23 devices available for free and loaded with the exhibition tour only). In busy periods, people queued for the tour. And in these same busy periods, visitor services found the loan process almost more than they could manage (witness the drawing on the envelop accompanying the last bunch of checkout sheets).* I sought a donation from Apple (they gave us 5 iPods, we bought 20) but fact is they should have paid us for this kind of promotion. In addition to providing a rewarding interpretative experience, we taught a new generation how to use the iPod–a common refrain heard at the front desk, “ now I can tell my grandchildren I used an iPod!”

Despite their popularity, the iPods will only be used for special projects (3 remain available for the permanent collection tour but ultimately we prefer visitors bring their own hardware). That said, Walker is working with Antenna Audio and SFMOMA to produce a multimedia guide for our upcoming Frida Kahlo exhibition, available on Antenna’s new XP-vision player for $6.

* This drawing is in no way a reflection of the demeanor of front-line staff who are often complemented for exceptional customer service. “Kill the iPod” courtesy the artist Joe Rizzo.

Picasso iPod Audio Tour Post Mortem

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So the Picasso exhibition is over and we learned a lot about mass iPod audio tours. The first lesson, they’re very popular! We’ve had iPods for our permanent collection for a while now, but we never really had the push behind it like we had for Picasso. The difference I noticed here is that if [...]

So the Picasso exhibition is over and we learned a lot about mass iPod audio tours. The first lesson, they’re very popular! We’ve had iPods for our permanent collection for a while now, but we never really had the push behind it like we had for Picasso. The difference I noticed here is that if you advertise it, people will use it.

We did a lot better job for the Picasso show in getting the word out that the iPods as well as Art on Call were available. People used them. There were very often waiting lists for people to check out an iPod. I had honestly thought at the beginning that 25 iPods was overkill, but after a short time it was obvious we could have probably had twice that and still had all of them in use at any given time. A lot of this was because of the show itself. A ton of people came to see Picasso. I’ve never seen that many people in our galleries before, outside of After Hours. And this was day in, day out. But like anything, word gets out, people in the galleries see others on their cell phones or with iPods and learn they can do the same (for free) and people really ate up the content. We will post more on our numbers when the final data comes in.

So that’s great, people dug the content, but what were the caveats? For us there were several things that came up that we had to work around. One is what I already mentioned, the iPods being checked out constantly. Because of this, none of the iPods during the day got a chance to recharge. Most made it through an 8 hour day fine, but what we didn’t expect was having to charge them over night. Because they needed to be locked up somewhere safe when the building was closed we had to find a secure place to take the charging station each night, and thankfully we were able to.

Also, at first we were going to use one of the computers at the front desk to dock the iPods on, but given the traffic, that didn’t go over well as that computer needed to be used off and on all day for ticketing, etc. But we still needed a dedicated computer there just for the iPods. We thankfully had a spare Sony laptop that sufficed for this and did a good job.

There was also something that came up that I never had even thought about. I originally put the iPods down in a floor cabinet which could be closed. This was partially to be neat and tidy and partially for security. Problem was, we were so busy and swapping out so many iPods that the Visitor Services staff started to really strain having to bend over again and again to swap out iPods all day. Thankfully our carpentry shop rectified this by making a pedestal that the iPods could go in to make it easier on everyone’s backs.

And what about dead and abused iPods? Several notes here. One, Notes mode works better now than it did when I first used it and dismissed it and then instead hacked the iPod firmware. But there are still major issues with Notes mode. While better, it’s still not ready for prime time and there are still ways for users to change settings even when locked into Notes mode (which I’m still trying to figure out, but given the number of iPods I got that I had to reset, it’s certainly an issue). That said, we will probably use Notes mode for exhibition-only tours in the future.

Secondly, when your audio tour is this popular bad things happen. We had a few iPods die on us. Three were hard drive failures, and one had a screen fail from abuse. The good news is Apple will replace iPods for free if there is a hard drive failure and the iPod is under warranty. The bad news is the same can’t be said for screen abuse (or any other kind of user created problem). Most of the iPods survived just fine, some had to be reset with a hard reset (getting into the hidden firmware setting to do so), but in the end most survived the ordeal.

The other big challenge was getting people to understand how to use the iPods. Believe it or not there are a lot of people who have never used one before. The Picasso show skewed a bit older as well which added to this. We had a stop on our tour (the first stop) that was all about how to use the iPod and the tour menu itself was as simple as possible (just one list, no submenus), but as with any technology there is still a learning curve involved, regardless of how simple it may seem. Someone will always struggle. It’s important everyone in your museum knows how they work, because anyone, even security guards, may be asked to help someone who’s stuck. This is the most important part to me, because if people can’t figure out how to use your device, there’s no point in having it!

Lastly, as Robin guessed before the show started, ditch the earbuds and get over-the-ear headphones for your iPods. This was a very good move. Nobody wants to stick earbuds in their ears after 20 people before you have!

In related iPod news, we’re getting a few of the new iPod Touch’s in at the end of the month, and I’m currently building an app for it. I think these could have a real impact on audio (and video) tours because of the built in WiFi and browser. I’m pretty excited at the possibilities. More on this soon.

WebWalker 2.0

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You’d think I’m on a posting spree. Here are three quickies for the day, finally welcoming WebWalker in the Web 2.0 era. Hack A Day links up Pong implemented on an oscilloscope. I’m not an electricty geek, but this is a pretty cool hack. Anything with an analog (vector CRT) display is worth looking at. [...]

O Scope Pong NYT Ad Free Boomerang Shot

You’d think I’m on a posting spree. Here are three quickies for the day, finally welcoming WebWalker in the Web 2.0 era.

Web Walker 1.9

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Teddy Banks, writing for Design Observer, shares some commentary on Olia Lialina’s newest article: Vernacular Web 2. The article is a great read on it’s own, and as Banks tells us, should be a must read for every web designer. Lialina’s work, My boyfriend came back from the war, was featured in the Walker’s online [...]

Starry Night Myspace Remixed Al Gore, Three Big Displays The Impact of Large Scale Integrated Displays on Architecture and Urbanism

  • Teddy Banks, writing for Design Observer, shares some commentary on Olia Lialina’s newest article: Vernacular Web 2. The article is a great read on it’s own, and as Banks tells us, should be a must read for every web designer. Lialina’s work, My boyfriend came back from the war, was featured in the Walker’s online exhibit, Beyond Interface: net art and Art on the Net.

    Lialina touches on the similarties of myspace of today and the web of 10 years ago. Instead of being designed by computer geeks, it’s “designed” by teens and ameteurs, and the music is mp3s and not midi.

  • And speaking of MySpace, Danah Boyd has some new thoughts posted on myspace and remix culture. Seb Chan offers some thoughts on what this means for institutions that offer graphics and resources that can be remixed (legitimately or otherwise).
  • Here’s an interesting article on the paradox of large displays, written by Jeff Attwood. He quotes Dan’s Data:

    Users of 30-inch monitors face the terrible, terrible problem of how to effectively use all of that space. You don’t often want to maximise a folder or document window on a screen this big; either you’ll end up with a lot of white space and important program buttons separated by a vast expanse of nothing, or you’ll get lines of text 300 or more characters long, which are difficult to read.

    I use three displays at work, two on my main computer and one on the laptop. While synergy makes this a very useful setup when doing video work, it can also be extrmely distracting at times. I find it necessary to sleep my laptop so I can focus on important tasks on my main displays.

  • Interactive Architecture had been quiet for a while, but they posted a brief blurb on a conference going on next week that will discuss the many implications of signage in public space. Hopefully some of the papers and presentations from the conference will make it to the web.

Most Pixels Ever alpha

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Daniel Shiffman has just released Most Pixels Ever as an alpha library for use with processing. What is MPE and how does it work? From mostpixelsever.com: The Most Pixels Ever library is a software solution for taking a single-screen real-time graphics application (developed in Java) and spanning it across multiple screens (each connected to a [...]

Daniel Shiffman has just released Most Pixels Ever as an alpha library for use with processing.

What is MPE and how does it work? From mostpixelsever.com:

The Most Pixels Ever library is a software solution for taking a single-screen real-time graphics application (developed in Java) and spanning it across multiple screens (each connected to a separate computer). Its features include “ time syncing” and “ spatial syncing.” Time syncing ensures that each frame is rendered simultaneously on each display and is achieved by network communication. Spatial syncing ensures that each client computer renders the appropriate portion of the larger display on its display.

I can’t wait to play with it and see what the possible applications are for signage. Performance looks to be quite good. Daniel posted a video of Run Lola Run on the IAC video wall:

Run Lola Run Lola Run Lola Run Lola Run from shiffman and Vimeo.

Daniel’s also teaching a class this fall, and the projects are being developed for the IAC wall. The syllabus looks interesting, including computer vision and phone interaction.