RECOMMENDED:
T.Nelson, "A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing and the Indeterminate",
1965 [will be on Web]
T. Nelson, "Computopia and Cybercrud", 1967 [will be on Web]
NOT REQUIRED BUT AMUSING-- about multidimensionality
"A SQUARE" (Edwin A. Abbott), Flatland:
a Romance of Many Dimensions, a humorous 19th-century novel that
helps clarify the notion of multidimensionality .
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THE ONLY TECHNICAL SKILLS REQUIRED WILL BE:
For simplicity of administration, assignments 2-4 MAY BE HANDED IN ON PAPER. This is not what was said in class.
Assignment 1. Due 20 Oct.
Exploration of ZigZag(tm) as an example of an interactive space and
construct logic. Familiarize yourself with the ZigZag universe and
prepare a ZigZag dataset.
Assignment 2. Due 27 Oct.
In groups, WORK OUT THE PLOT OF A MOVIE, considering the principles
of construct logic. Each group will briefly report its movie plot
to the class-- and describe the thinking processes experienced.
Assignment 3. Due 10 Nov.
DESIGN A GAME! Show your understanding of construct logic
and precession.
or, alternatively,
DESIGN A STRANGE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT and its forms of interaction,
expressed in state-diagram form. It can be a machine for some strange
purpose, or combine existing machines in an unusual way. IF YOU CAN
DO THIS WITH CLIENT-SIDE MAPS OR "ALICE" VISUALIZATION, GREAT, but you
can also do it on paper.
Assignment 4. Due 1 Dec.
DESIGN AN ALTERNATIVE BROWSER.
If you do this on paper, show graphics and state diagrams.
THE FINAL PROJECT
Create an interactive world with interesting space design and construct logic. You will be graded in particular on the imagination and richness of thought that go into the space and construct logic and their ramifications. Some kind of simple 3D world, or series of 2D rooms, is not interesting.
You are encouraged to use HTML, Alice, or optionally JavaScript.
In principle any other tools may be used, but please discuss your choice
with me first. In particular, do NOT use Java or VRML without permission
of the instructor. (Projects built with these tools tend to miss
the basic issues of the course.)
If you would like to demonstrate your grasp of construct logic and
spatial design by means of something like a board game, you may do so;
but your game should be real and playable, with interesting constructs
and/or spaces.