Internet Essay

Discuss the rise of the Internet with reference to cultural contexts and technological Developments

Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee is the father of the Internet, and was named in ‘Time Magazines’ Most Important People of the 20^th Century. In Stephen Frys’ opinion this man should be thanked on a daily basis and showered with gifts. The Internet is non-profitable, but of course money can be made through using it as an incredibly far reaching and powerful resource. Sir Tim receives no direct profit from his incredible invention, considering how hard it is to imagine life without it. The Internet belongs to the people, every single person controls the direction of its future as it shapes and changes our thoughts, social interaction and culture. Internet giants such as Facebook and Wikipedia completely revolutionise the way we share and obtain information, but are we, as humans, equipped to handle all this change presented to us, which continues to grow more and more vast in reach and complexity?

The Internet has moved the human race into a Digital age, an age of endless free information and resources. The main ‘resources’ used by the human race however are social websites such as Facebook, and you don’t have to be the luckiest person in the world to stumble upon a porn site or some form of explicit content these days. From this alone we can conclude that we use the Internet to fulfil our needs, such as basic needs of interaction, sexual satisfaction etc. and use content to form our opinions and morals. According to Abraham Maslow and his psychological theory ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’, our physiological need (the most fundamental, ‘needs’ category) is ‘sex’, and all that comes into the reproduction category. (Google Images ‘Maslows hierarchy of needs’)

According to the Hyper-reality theory we, on some level, cannot distinguish between physical interaction and digital interaction such as text messaging (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hyperreality.htm). We are after all just advanced animals, however we cannot ever escape our animal instincts and needs, so we gain satisfaction through virtual stimuli. It is because of Hyper-reality that films cause us to engage emotionally. On some level we believe what we are experiencing through sight is actually happening because our brains are not made to deal with such things such as 2D picture sceens. Let’s not forget that when we were a young species we lived in caves and hunted for our food in small groups. This does raise the question of what the future will hold if the world continues to be more and more virtual. We may completely forget how to deal with the physical world of life because it becomes no longer necessary. Will society simply fall apart for the easier, more entertaining virtual world?

This in some cases has already begun, when people prefer a artificial world to their own lives. ‘Second Life’ (http://secondlife.com/) is a virtual social world in which avatars can socialise and basically simulate life in a digital game-world without the usual linear goals of a game. Here someone can live out their fantasy life (at a cost) to satisfy his or her needs like a compulsion. ‘Net Compulsions’ is a term used to describe the gained satisfaction and escape achieved though the net by doing things that, if done in the real world, may be considered ‘wrong’ such as gambling. Carrying out whatever it is without leaving your home gains a quite personal satisfaction and can be an overwhelming addictive sensation. Because for example you could type in ‘naked woman’ and see a picture of a naked woman easily with little-to no effort on your part, whereas it would probably take a lot more effort to achieve the same satisfaction in a real world scenario without something as simple as an internet search. People who invest in ‘Second Life’ can experience an emotion they perceive to be love through meeting and forming virtual relationships with avatars. It is even possible to make avatars have sexual intercourse. This personal, non-physical manifestation of their personality can be customised to become who the player wants to be, and so may become immersed in ‘Second Life’ because they may feel cheated that their real life isn’t perfect or how they want it to be. I watched a documentary about this a while ago, but found it very uncomfortable to watch, and it is hard to describe why exactly. The woman being interviewed seemed as if her mind was in the game, and was uninterested in the real world, and she talked fondly of her relationship she had made through ‘Second Life’, although I find this wrong in the sense it is all a fake world and someone is gaining profit from almost brainwashing unhappy people, I suppose it brought her happiness, but it in no way improves her progress in real life.

A new technology threatens to make our lives infinitely more interactive and merge the virtual world with the physical world. 6^th sense technology makes it possible to scan real world objects such as books and match them with digital counterparts, it can then beam though a projection, which can include reviews of that object, information about it and more. Also you can beam a numeric dial pad onto your hand and make a phone call by pressing the projected light buttons. In essence the technology takes a physical PC monitor out of the equation, so the digital world is no longer limited to screens but laid over the real world, truly interactive. If this technology is released, the Internet will be inescapable. Some may see this as a good thing, some may consider it a bad thing, but will we be able to adapt our lives to an even more virtual world? Will we for example be able to soon create our own personal virtual perfect worlds, and when you have your own perfect world why would you choose to invest in the real one?

Bibliography

Most of the information in this essay can be found on my blog -http://picturesandstuffjoeproject.blogspot.com/

Paragraph Topics

Pg 1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee

Pg 2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Pg 3-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality

Pg 4-http://secondlife.com/ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

Pg 5-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM1AUUkXK_c&feature=player_embedded

Jack Kirby Ideas and Concepts

To be informal for a second...this guy is awesome, pretty much the father or comic book art. This includes cell shading in a kind of ink style, the muscles and ligaments are predominant and exaggerated in an almost impossible way but this gives the characters a dominance over the backdrop and empowers them with the solid lines that create them. Kirby would have to have researched the human form in order to blow it out into this cartoon form so well.

This character is known as 'The Falcon', notice the solid streaks used to show the soaring movement, this is an important style movement toward 'pop-art'. This is an amplification of motion and action that is necessary in the comic book genre.

The Thing from the Fantastic 4, his form is obviously in lineage with stone textures and rubble and so his physicality is fairly block-solid. The thick outline is a very intention to establish him as a character and make him unavoidably noticeable.

Animation Research

http://joedonoghue1.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

Here is some research into animation productions that I used to aid my own project animation in an earlier unit.

See earlier posts on this blog for 'The Dark Knight' and 'Man of Steel' concepts

Assassins Creed 2 Ideas and Concepts

Concept art for Ezio Auditore, this design is a continuation in to a new era of time from the traditional assassin costume of Altair. It incorporates italian leathers and a venetian cape, much research was needed to get the correct references to the materials and styles of the Renaissance era. Also reference has been taken from an Eagle due to the story, this is where the point on the upper seem of his hood originates. His  hood also masks his face in a way to make his identity shadowed and stealthy.

Renaissance Italia, this concept is a vision of late 15th century Venice, this time period consisted of stone buildings and a waterway which still exists to this day, this is an accurate vision of the historical, low-tech and pure Italy and done with colour tints f the renaissance (slightly golden, scripture-like)

This airbrushed style artwork tries to capture the movement of Ezio as it is a large element of his character, he is made to be sleek and deadly with skill. His movement is flaunted by his cape and robes.

Dead Space Ideas and Concepts

The organism infecting the creatures aboard the USG Ishimura space station is a micro-organism which infects and spreads through a host, resulting in a monstrosity. The creatures were designed by looking at subjects under the microscope and incorporating tendrils, growths and flesh based abnormalities manifested into 'life sized' humanoid creatures.

The Outer space backdrop was easily researched by looking at astrological phenomenon and solar flares, obviously the magnitude of the scope was artistically altered to provide a visual feat for a video game.

Dead Space shows cultural influence taken from films such as 'Alien', this can be seen through the ridged textures and the obvious wear and tear of the environments due to some sort of traumatic event. This (at an educated guess) was accomplished by someone very talented in the ways of photo-shop, by using many lines and shades it creates an intricate and metal-organic kind of feel, due to the narrative, the ship itself is given a eerie personified character to itself.

Hyper-Realism

Hyperreality is used in semiotics and postmodern philosophy to describe a hypothetical inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced post-modern societies. Hyperreality is a way of characterizing what our consciousness defines as "real" in a world where a multitude of media can radically shape and filter an original event or experience.

(wiki defininition)

Essay direction

I have decided to focus on 'Hyper-realism' in context to the internet and certain interactivity forms such as 'Second life' and 'Facebook' as well as the vast substitutes and voyeuristic needs we use the internet as a means to satisfy our human impulses. Also I will explore possible directions interactive technologies will lead us toward and how it has changed us socially and culturally.