Filming

Last week Gordon and I went to the Dundee Recycling Centre to shoot our film for the Telegraphon (MoLI Project). We enlisted the aid of Wilma, who was looking for photos of old Dundee. She became our interviewer and she was very good.

Gordan has now to edit the footage and add archive film footage and the opening and closing titles and credits.

Very cold during the filming.

Dissertation Proposal

I have done some more work on my Proposal after our meeting with Andy last Wednesday. Made changes as he suggested and it is now almost ready to resubmit on Wed 1 Dec 2010.

One Good Image

Gordon and I have to produce One Good Image of the model we have been working on for the MoLI Project. These are a few of the ones I created using Photoshop.

It did take time to photograph the main object then put all the objects together and through them out of focus. The main object (Telegraphon) was built from scratch, as you can see. It was fun but hard work. Our Exhibition begins on 8 December and runs until the 10 Dec in the Queen Elizabeth Computing Building, ground floor. Hope to see you there.

Dissertation Article Summary

Your Children Will Live To See Man Merge With Machines. But Will It Save Or Destroy Us?

Mail On Sunday Review Magazine.

Extracts from: Why The West Rules – For Now, by Ian Morris, Professor Classics And History At Stamford University,

1	The main purpose of this article is: To give the reader a glimpse of the future as the author sees it.
2	The key questions that the author is addressing is: Does the East and the West meet on middle ground and continue to grow and develop in partnership. Or, do they, compete for world domination thus going to war which may ultimately destroy the planet.
3	The most important information in this article is: The combining of the human brain and machines. It would mean new ways of living our lives. Working practices would change dramatically and the ways we grow old are just a couple of method we would have to adapt to. It would be the dawn of a New Age of Man and Machine, which, at present, the normal human brain has a difficult time to imagine.
4	The key secondary sources are: Professor Morris talks about one of the projects that the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is currently working on. It is a "molecular-scale computer built from enzymes and DNA molecules rather than silicon". Once developed they propose implanting these 'computers' into the heads of soldiers thus giving them an advantage over the enemy as they would be able to think quicker, have access to the Internet (is was DARPA that gave us the Internet) and process information quicker. IBM also has their Blue Gene/Q supercomputers research running and, according to, Professor Morris, "would take us a quarter of the way towards a functioning simulation of a human brain". Inventor Ray Kurzweil is adamant that in the 2030s neuron-by-neuron brain scanning will permit the uploading of the human brain onto machines.
5	The key primary sources used are: The author cites facts and figures to make his predictions. He states that, "Europeans and Americans live 30 years longer than their great-grandparents and enjoy an extra decade or two before their eyes and ears weaken and arthritis freezes their joints".  Morris also informs the reader that human the human lifespan has increased and points out, "Even in Africa, plagued by AIDS and malaria, people live 20 years longer in 2010 than they did in 1910". Climate change is affecting the planet now with drought and flooding, this in turn creates crop failures. The populace of these areas are struggling to survive and many thousands of them are on the move creating 'climate migrants'. They are fleeing to countries which are in desperate need of aid from the richer nations of the world. Technology must be used to feed these poor people.
6	The main inferences/conclusions in this article are: In the not too distant future the human brain shall be altered mechanically and that machines shall have brains operating them. This technology must be used for the good of mankind and not the domination of one nation over another. The East and West must embrace these developments of face annihilation.
7	The key concept(s) we need to understand in this article is/are: The advancement of technology is developing at such a speed then in a few decades the East shall have caught up with the West  and when they do hopefully they shall integrate otherwise there shall be massive conflict.
8	The main assumption(s) underlying the authors thinking is (are): Climate change is affecting where people shall live due to drought and famine and the huge migration of those affected by this. He also describes what technologies the West is developing which shall make their armed forces stronger, think quicker and respond faster on the battleground by the integration of technology with the human body.
9	If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: Armageddon between East and West or, as Kurzweil calls his 'neuron-by-neuron brain scanning technique', 'Singularity' and biology shall be transformed.
10	If we fail to take the author’s line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: War on a massive scale and the possibility of destroying the life of our planet as we know it.
11	The main point(s) of view presented in this article is  (are): Mankind has two choices; it either embraces the technologies being developed or annihilation of the human race as countries or even continents doing battle with the new, ever growing, fighting technologies.

Dissertation Book Summary

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice is a successful and well respected Psychology professor at Harvard University when, at the age of fifty, she is diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer's disease. She is married to John also a Harvard professor and they have three grown-up children.

Although the book is a work of fiction, Lisa Genova, makes all her characters believable and the reader is soon absorbed within Alice's story. Each chapter is headed with the month and the year thus creating a sort of timeline which plots how Alice, her family and her friends deal with this disease. The narrative describes how she reacts to being told she has Alzheimer's and how she deals with the problem in a series of 'snapshots' not only how those around her deal with it but the story also delves into the mind of Alice and her thought process. It illustrates her logic and how it becomes disorientated as her condition worsens. One poignant moment in the book tells how, after a period of just over a year dealing with her condition, she delivers a speech to an audience of very distinguished people including Nobel Prize winners in the field of psychology. Also in the audience is her husband John and her three children. She describes just how it feels to be an Alzheimer's victim and how she has become disorientated and that she is "losing her yesterdays".  Miss Genova captures, in this speech, the emotions, suffering and anguish of an Alzheimer's sufferer.

The author also use phrases throughout her narrative which creates pictures for the reader e.g. 'Tim Burton shadows'. For anyone who has seen any of 'Burton's' work shall immediately recognise what she is describing.

At the rear of the book there is a section of Discussion Questions which helps the reader identify certain points mentioned in the narrative. It questions Alice's feelings towards her family and friends, how does she really accept the fact that she has Alzheimer's. Questions are also asked about her husband's motives about want to move to New York.

The person who reads the book may have already had some queries referring to certain passages or incidents in the book. This section may support their findings or spot some others. A possible reason this section of the book has been included is that many Alzheimer's caregivers and family members may well get together and discuss the book and relate it to their charge or relative. To add such a chapter is a clever inclusion for this book as it can create dialogue between others and perhaps identify parts that they may have missed when reading the book.

Another section of the book has an interview with the author in which she answers questions about the book, what inspired her to write the book and the other projects she is working on at the moment.

Lisa Genova, is a first time novelist and has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University and is an online writer for the National Alzheimer's Association.

Dissertation Proposal

DHTP Dissertation Proposal Part 1

We have produced a template for your dissertation proposal, a copy of which is reproduced below. The sections relate closely to the work you did in Level 2 where you investigated a topic by doing a literature search, and using primary research methods such as observations and experiments.

Submission deadline for the final proposal: 5 pm Wed 1 December 2010 - submit via email to your supervisor and to Safe Assignment on the VLE

Please download this form from the VLE.

Please save as a word.doc and change the title to your full name, e.g.: John Smith.doc - do not email the proposal without changing the file name.

Sample template

Student Name	Alan Rae
Course	HT30007_CAE_D65_201011 HT30007 - Design Futures And Professional Practice (10/11)
Supervisor name	Andrew Milligan
Email address	a.z.rae@dundee.ac.uk
Date	13 Nov 2010

Using the template

Enter your personal details in the box above. The email address will be used by your tutor and others to contact you. You must check this regularly for news on tutorial dates.

Read each heading carefully and type into the text box below.

Email your proposal to your supervisor and load it up on Safe Assignment of the VLE

Total word count: between 250-500 words (excluding bibliography).

Working title (max 25 words)

This should give an outline of your research topic. If appropriate use a title and a subtitle. You don’t have to be too specific at first and you don’t have to word it like a question - but you can if you want.

Memory Loss and Aids to Create Interaction (How Caregivers Can Assist Their Charges)

Summary (max 250 words)

Here you should indicate what you already know about the topic. You should already have done some reading around it. Summarise this reading with regards to the research topic and describe the research area.

Memory loss can be a very embarrassing situation that one finds oneself in, it happens all the time. Alzheimer's Disease is a degenerative one from which, at present, there is no cure. There are a number of drug treatments available which can slow the process down some, but none will cure it. Dementia is another condition which affects a person's memory, yet not quite as severe as Alzheimer's, it is still a great problem. The aged population are at most risk of developing some sort of memory loss. Alzheimer's Disease can be detected in individuals aged 65+ although it has materialised in people in their early 50s. As the population of the developed world are increases so too does the elderly. With new breakthroughs in medical techniques and the creation of enhanced drugs coupled with healthier lifestyles, people are living longer. This being the case, more people shall be diagnosed with some kind of memory loss. There are a number of electronic aids which are being pioneered in a number of European countries and also in America. They help the sufferer to recall objects, events, faces etc and thus aiding communication between them and the Caregiver, family and friends. It is my intention to investigate this topic further and hopefully contribute, in some small way, to developing an application for memory loss sufferers.

(Continued over)
Aims: Why are you doing this? (max 100 words)

These are a general statement on the intent or direction for the research – why are you doing this? Refer to theoretical aims and practical ones where relevant. For example: How might this improve your design practice? How does it contribute to the discourses within your discipline? Who else might benefit from your research? Is it aimed at an academic or a wider audience? What do you hope your research will achieve? State your aims concisely.

Members of my family have suffered from memory loss and I am now at an age where it may begin to affect me. I would like to know more about the illnesses which cause memory loss and how to alleviate some of the frustration they feel. As a Digital Interactive Design student I would like to produce an Interactive Device which will assist the sufferers. I am particularly interested in how the young people of today shall deal with memory deficiency and will they be able to use all the mobile interactive devices that they are accustomed to now.

Objectives: What will you produce? (max 100 words)

Objectives are the things you will produce in doing the dissertation, e.g. a review of the relevant literature, a collection and discussion of people’s experiences/opinions, an assessment of a debate or collection of work etc.

Like your aims, these will help your tutor (and you) assess your success. They may change over time but aims and objectives are useful to keep you focussed. Again be concise here – you may want to use bullet points.

·         Talk to family, friends and carers and produce a comparison document. ·         Observe suffers and record their reactions to questions and motivation. ·         Discover which products are available that interact between carers and suffer. ·         What and where further Research and Design is taking place ·         Create an interactive device that they may use?

Keywords (min 5 and max 10)

This should be a list of key terms that help us see if you are aware of where your research ‘sits’. For example, if you are writing on depictions of women in advertising your list might include ‘gender, feminism, representation, advertising, semiotics’. Keywords will help you when doing electronic searched for research materials.

Elderly, memory-loss, stimulus, visual-interaction, audio-interaction, recognition, communication, family, carers, future-development.

Annotated Bibliography (min of 12 books, articles, websites)

Place here alphabetically a list of materials which you intent to use for you dissertation. Format these according to the Harvard Method!

Please make sure you have critically assessed these as being appropriate for your topic and write a short paragraph for each one summarising the content and its relevance to your research area.

Bennett, G. Professor. And Jones, M. Dr. Alzheimer's Handbook (The). Revised ed. London: Ebony Press. Cognitive Coach: MemeXerciser [online] Available at: <http://www.cmu.edu/qolt/Research/projects/cognitive-coach.html>[Accessed 1 November 2010] Drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease [online] Available at: < http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ site/scripts/documents_info. php?documentID=147 > [Accessed 1 November 2010] Genova, L., 2009. Still Alice. London: Simon & Schuster. Pullin,G. Design Meets Disability [no details as yet]. Sacks,O., 1985. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. London: Picador. Smith,D. Dr., 2004. Living with Alzheimer's Disease. 3rd ed. London: Sheldon Press.

Angus College

On Wednesday 17 November 2010 myself along with Dave Smith, Michelle Fraser and Gordon Marshall were invited along to talk the Interactive Multimedia Design HND students at Angus College. We have all been through the IMD course and now at Dundee University and Shelaine Douglas, Course Leader, invited us to talk to the students. Michelle gave a short PowerPoint presentation and I displayed the Telegraphon model that Gordon and I are working on while Dave informed them of the Digital Interactive Design course and many of the services offered by the University.

A most enjoyable afternoon.

Further Reading

At present I am reading The man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat which details some of Sack's case studies. There is a some technical jargon in it but the subjects of his cases are quite intriguing and amazing.

I also intend reading the following books at some point:

 Kept busy.



Dissertation Proposal

Our Group met on Tuesday afternoon with Andy Milligan, our Supervisor, and told him of our proposed dissertation subjects. Everyone was different and covered a broad spectrum of subjects. Andy gave us all some very positive feedback and suggested books to read, areas to pursue and websites to look at. I was impressed by his varied knowledge on all the topics discussed. The was also some very good suggestions from others within the group which will come in useful.

My Proposal is Memory Loss and Aids to Create Interaction. The proposal, book summary and article summary have all been written but I have to re-read them before submitting.

The book I chose was Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It is about Alice Howland a Harvard Psychology professor who is diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer's Disease. I really enjoyed it not only because of the subject matter but because of the emotions, sadness and joy that the author relates.

If you have the time it is worth reading.

The article was taken from the Mail on Sunday Review supplement and was an extract from a book by Ian Morris titled Why The West Rules. Within the article it describes how, at present, trials are being carried out whereby tiny computers are being implanted within some volunteers of the US military. It also mentions neuron-by-neuron brain scanning on humans so as to re-create a computerised copy of that brain. It also describes Global Warming and how millions of people suffering from drought and floods caused by this are now migrating in vast numbers.

The reason I chose this article is because what they are doing to the human brain and other parts of the body. Can this, in any way, help people with Alzheimer's, dementia or amnesia? Something to research perhaps.

Busy Busy

Sorry for no new posts for ages now but the past couple of weeks has been really busy, honestly. I spent a lot of time in my shed working on the Schellenberg Telegraphon (the first ever telephone answering machines to use a wax cylinder) that Gordon and I are doing for our MoLI (Museum of Lost Interaction) project. You can visit the site at: http://imd.dundee.ac.uk/moli/ . We had to present it on Tuesday, as did the rest of the class with their projects.

Schellenberg Telegraphon (prototype)

We still have some refinements to do before the 'One Great Shot'. This is a single photo of the object in which to show it off. The shot will also be assessed and critiqued.

Then there is the filming. At the moment I am drafting the screenplay. When I say filming it is only around 45 - 60 seconds long, not a major blockbuster.

And of course there is the background story to create for the Telegraphon. Who built it, when was it built, who used it etc.etc.

But wait !!! there are my other modules. More on them in another post.

Dissertation Proposal

I have been working on my Dissertation Proposal over the weekend and have sourced a couple of websites and books to research. I have also done some of my Mind map (which isn't complete yet) and requires further research and thought.

Also worked in the shed the other day on the first prototype of the Edison Phonograph answering machine which Gordon and I are doing for the MoLI Project. This still needs a lot more work done on it, but at least it's a start.