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DESIGN:
SYNCHRONOUS/ASYNCHRONOUS
One
of the advantages of the Panopticon is that it focuses the organisation
of a ÔcourseÕ on issues of time rather than space. The space itself
is virtual and accessible from multiple distributed and remote
locations. The Panopticon incorporates and applies synchronous
and asynchronous multi-location interactivity within an architectural
framework. The allocation of studio space is less of a priority
and the organisation of contact time becomes of prime importance.
MUSE (Multi User Simulation Environment), Multi-user (shared,
collaborative) VR is a 3D computer generated environment on the
Internet where participants (represented as "avatars") can meet
each other, walk around together and communicate using text, gesture,
voice or preprogrammed "emotions" (e.g. "happy" or "sad") (Roehl,
1999).
As with the
composite sessions incorporated into the CAiiA-STAR research programme,
access to the Panopticon is supplemented by onsite sessions that
frame and contextualise the processes of learning within the vrml
structure. At the point of convergence of the ICT forms incorporated
into the Panopticon lies a new space/place that defines both the
vehicle for the message and the mode of consumption by the participants.
The ÔtimesÕ (synchronous and asynchronous) of social interaction
within the Panopticon structure create their own architectural
form that links participants within a network of interactivity.
One of the
key aspects of the Panopticon Project is the recognition of the
different kinds of 'space' and 'place' that evolve during telematic
exchange. Within any telematic exchange, other spaces and places
than the location of the participants emerge, these include the
psychological social and imagined spaces/places that separate
them. This Panopticon explores the spaces and places generated
within a multiuser telematic exchange and attempts to locate them
within an appropriate context in order that they may be better
articulated and understood. The construction of the Panopticons
spaces/places creates stress on the traditional framing and articulation
of broadcasting and publishing activities. Neither of these practices
adequately explains, incorporates or applies synchronous and asynchronous
multi-location interactivity within a single framework. The Panopticon
sugests that the broad framework and discourse of architecture
effectively incorporates and articulates these telematic practices.
By envisioning these interactive synchronous and asynchronous
telematic spaces/places within an architectural framework, the
potential for effectively harnessing these new media forms, for
human understanding and learning, can be significantly increased.
'The
hybrid or the meeting of two media is a moment of truth and revelation
from which new form is born. For the parallel between two media
holds us on the frontiers between forms that snap us out of the
Narcissus-narcosis. The moment of the meeting of media is a moment
of freedom and release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed
by them on our senses.'
(McLuhan M, 1964)
At the point
of convergence of the ICT forms incorporated into the Panopticon
lies a new space/place that defines both the vehicle for the message
and the mode of consumption by the audience/participants. At the
interstices of these forms lies a rich seam of unexplored potential,
the co-ordinates for a telematic landscape of interactivity.
Von
Wodtke defines Media Space as 'The information environment connecting
real and imaginary places, objects, and the people within them.
The context in which people can use representations to work with
artificial reality'
(von Wodtke M,1993).
The intent
of the Panopticon Project is to use these 'information environments',
and the variety of space and place generated (real, metaphorical,
simulated, psychological, and imaginary), to discuss and explore
the implications of new media forms, and emergent fields of digital
practice. It is at the interstices of these interactions between
the participants of Panopticon that the new space and place emerge.
This place, like the inhabitants that construct it, needs a new
nomenclature. They are both audience and performers, and the place
they occupy has form, time and simultaneous location. It lacks
volume, and is constructed in synchronous and asynchronous time
by the passage of its inhabitants. The sensation of space and
time is compressed and fused by this new place, which defines
a generative ÔarchitectureÕ of distributed simultaneous space
and time - a media 'place'.
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