The role of the product prototype as an instrument of design knowledge enquiry
"Research through design focuses on the role of the product prototype as an instrument of design knowledge enquiry. The prototype can evolve in degrees of granularity, from interactive mockups to fully functional prototypes, as a means to formulate, develop and validate design knowledge. The designer-researcher can begin to explore complex product interaction issues in a realistic user context and reflect back on the design process and decisions made based on actual user-interaction with the test prototype. Observations of how the prototype was experienced may be used to guide research through design as an iterative process, helping to evolve the product prototype."
(David V. Keyson Miguel Bruns Alonso)
David V. Keyson Miguel Bruns Alonso (2009. "Empirical Research Through Design". International Association of Societies of Design Research
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
L.A. Noire brings actors' full performance to gaming
"With a technology called MotionScan, an actor's complete performance--their facial expressions, how they talk, when they blink--are captured for use in a video game. We spoke to Brendan McNamara, the head of the team behind the detective game using this tech, 'L.A. Noire.' ...
Made by Team Bondi and Rockstar--the AAA developer behind the violent and cinematic Grand Theft Auto series--L.A. Noire is set in post-WWII Los Angeles, giving the player the role of Cole Phelps (Mad Men's Aaron Staton), a war-hero turned police detective."
(Kevin Ohannessian, Fast Company, 4 February 2011)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Image Metrics: hyperrealistic CG facial animation
"When [Image Metrics] first started working on Emily, our goal was to create an exact replica of the real actress Emily O'Brien. Why? Because there was no other way to determine how close we had come to reality if we did not replicate a 'real' person. Judging from the reaction of people at SIGGRAPH 2008, and the hundreds of media hits, we've come pretty close to the mark.
...
Image Metrics began planning the Emily project in March 2008. After Image Metrics developed a script for the animation, the ICT Graphics Lab scanned O’Brien to develop the template for her CG double. A team of eight artists working part-time on the internal project then built a custom rig for the Emily character, captured O’Brien’s performance with video and applied it to the CG character with its proprietary facial animation solution. Once the capture and rigging processes were finalized, the 90-second animation took just one week to complete."
(Image Metrics)
CONTRIBUTOR
Deb TuckSHARE
Portrait Dolls: Ping Art Original Dolls
Another example of life-like dolls being made to measure. In this case the dolls are designed to be 'portrait' representations of existing people. The dolls are created by Singaporean doll maker Ping Lau.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Reborns: Making Mothers of Fake Babies
"My Fake Baby explores the lives of women who spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds on lifelike baby dolls known as 'reborns'. Some have beating hearts and tiny veins. They are loved like real babies, cuddled and taken for walks. Doll designer Jaime [Eaton] – a mother of four – fulfils the dreams of other women by engineering babies to their specifications in her front room. Adoptive 'mothers' include women whose children have grown up and left home and women unable to have children of their own. It would be easy to dismiss all this as sad, strange and just plain wrong, but it gives great comfort to those involved."
(David Chater, The Times, UK)
[UK Channel 4 TV series 'My Fake Baby', approx. 45 min., Director: Victoria Silver, broadcast: Wed 2 Jan 2008 22:00]
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
