Current
Research ACTLab
TV- ACTLab TV is an research/open source innitiative
between the Foundation for Decentralization and the ACTLab.
ACTLab TV uses Alluvium Media Player, an open source
peer to peer media player, to broadcast various video
content developed by students and other creative commons
material. A big part of the effort is documenting who
to use the software, as well how to create broadcasting
stations. For more information on ACTLab TV Click
Here.
Annonmous
Computing- Brandon Wilely is currently researching
Annonomus Computing is his masters thesis. Mr. Wiley
has previous expierence in Annoymous computing, not only
through research, but by his involvement in the developement
of FreeNet.
Peer
To Peer Gaming Engine- In 2003 Brandon Wiley
began development of a peer to peer gaming engine that
allows MMORPG with no reliance on a server, rather each
peer shares their bandwidth to relay game information.
More information on this project will soon be provided.
Multimedia
Discourse Research- This project began with
Joseph Lopez's Masters Project/Report, where he explores
the human intereaction with multimedia production. For
more information you can see his project and report here.
Future
Research Projects The
New Media group is always looking for new avenues in which
to pursue research, here are just a couple of proposed
future research projects:
3D
Vitural World Research- New Media's expierence
with virtual worlds dates back to the mid 90's when the
ACTLab started
a virtual community based out of it's own servers. Back
then 3D Virtual World technologies were very resource
hungry and required high-end hardware and software in
order to use. Since that time, the growth of 3D hardware
architecture has been huge. Put together with increased
CPU speed and bandwidth, 3D virtural worlds are now a
reality. In the near future we hope to begin investigation/design
of new 3D Virtual Wolrd engines, as well as enviroments.
Music
Reproduction Theory- In an age where we
have been taught that digital sound is "perfect forever",
the New Media groups plans to take a look at music reproduction
theory in terms of how the discourse for current music
reproduction has come to be and what this means for future
high-end development of music reproduction systems.
Past
Research
|
| Drew
Davidson- Narrative and Multimedia
Research |
| |
Drew's
work during his time with the ACTLab included
his dissertation on narrative strategies in
multimedia, close examination of the construction
of subjectivity, desire, and humor in hypertext
storytelling, and exploring other emerging
technologies in relation to narrative construction
such as interactive CD-ROM and other optical
media. To view his dissertation, click
here. |
| |
| Vernon
Reed- Art, Communication, and Subjectivity
Research |
| |
As
a graduate student Vernon centered his research
on the complex interrelations between social
and technological aspects of virtual worlds.
Under his direction the ACTLab hosted several
cutting-edge research virtual worlds. Notable
among these was ACTLab Traveler, in which avatars
spoke to each other in real time using actual
voices, not text. In this world Vernon studied
ways in which the human voice (and other sounds)
affected communication and subjectivity. Vernon
was also the author of the Pirate Utopias web
site, one of the very first online experiments
to address the vexing political, legal, and
social problems created when traditional analog
media become digital. Vernon also created a
series of wearable sculptures incorporating
integrated circuits and LED displays which
he designed and fabricated himself in a chip
foundry he built for this purpose; some of
these pieces were purchased by museums for
permanent exhibition. In his spare time, Vernon
designed and built custom lighting fixtures
for the ACTLab. These are particularly notable
because he fabricated them from Titanium, a
problematic metal which is normally found only
in such exotic applications as NASA's Space
Shuttle. Vernon was also an ACTLab instructor,
and taught courses that reflected his bouyant
approach to tough technological problems. For
more information about his ACTLab research, click
here |
| |
| Honoria
Starbuck-
Online Collaboration, Performativity and
Mail Art Research |
| |
Honoria's
research while an ACTLab graduate student included
creating the Electronic Museum of Mail Art
(EMMA), an internationally renowned collection
which can be viewed here.
She also created the world's first cyberspace
opera, Honoria in Ciberspazio, a collaborative
online project which received international
acclaim for its groundbreaking use of digital
media. Honoria and her work have received awards
from SXSW Interactive and the Global Stockholm
Challenge, and the opera was presented at the
International Shakespeare Festival by the performance
group La Fura Dels Baus. for more information click
here. |
| |
| Heather
Kelly-
Gender and Cyberspace Research |
| |
Heather's
research at the ACTLab focused on the intersections
of discourses of Feminism and Cyberspace. Her
work led her into the video game industry,
and she has been actively involved in issues
of women and gaming at companies such as Girl
Games, Ion Storm, and Electronic Arts. To view
an excerpt from her Master's thesis, click
here. |
| |
| Alan
Alford-
Virtual Community Research |
| |
Alan's
research was technologically grounded in the
foundational MOO virtual community platform
written by Pavel Curtis at Xerox PARC, and
theoretically grounded in Amy Bruckman's research
on educational MOOs at MIT and Carnegie Mellon.
In a MOO (Multiple-user Object-Oriented virtual
world), objects and resources the player creates
persist after the player has logged out, and
are available at next login. Alan and his team
created a detailed virtual model of the city
of Austin, Texas, named PointMOOt. The original
virtual world was lost in a malicious online
attack during that wild frontier time before
the ACTLab server had backup capability, but
its unique legacy has inspired generations
of virtual world builders and forged lasting
alliances among virtual world researchers.
To view a description of PointMOOt from the
UT Creative Writing Research Laboratory archives, click
here. |
| |
| Scott
Webel-
Visual Narrative and Interior Space Research |
| |
Scott's
research focused on the interface between narrative
and power, the consequent slippage of history,
and the interface between political power and
historical storytelling. In his work he examined
how institutions such as museums mobilize common
narrative tropes, including narratives expressed
as interior space (architecture) and institutionalized
shapes, such as specimen cases and vitrines
(design) in order to construct the viewer as
subject within a field of political power.
His work, which was theoretically grounded
in Donna Haraway's pioneering study of the
famous primate diorama at the American Museum
of Natural History, and practically grounded
in the foundational work of MacArthur Fellow
David Wilson, extended to large practical installations
in which Scott used irony and humor to underscore
his points. As part of this work Scott founded
the Austin Museum of Ephemerata, which deconstructs
the traditional museum narrative in whimsical
and edgy ways. To view more about Scott's work, click
here. |
|
|
