CCTV

After talking to some guests on Monday, including Stefano Mirti, I have decided to focus the project on to using CCTV as public entertainment. This works much better with the style of the feeds (jumpy & grainy, like CCTV). I have been too busy trying to fit the rationale around the technology, rather than the content! Duh! So... The Observer is a product that critiques the invasive nature of CCTV, which tries to alter the use of it from function to entertainment. It takes advantage to the fact that CCTV is every aspect of our lives & it captures everybody's lives on a daily basis. It acts as a type of Big Brother, but for the public & the content, instead of being staged is real life.

Caution

To get round the adult content & include it (because it is such an obvious subject regarding the internet), I have created a Caution page for premium users. Nothing will happen if you add ten quid, but it's a talking point.

Content Again

I've decided to drop the "Adult" channels from my project as I just don't feel comfortable with using them & I don't think it will add anything to the experience of using the object.

After searching the web for feeds, I have used what I found to make the categories, which are above. Also, after showing one of the third years my prototype, he said he really liked the fact that the views were of really mundane, ordinary places, which makes me think that in my world of paying for content, would you pay for this? Why have these people set up these webcams if they are not making any money? Should we have this omniscience into everyday lives?

With Youtube & user created content common place, is being able to see someone sleep, get their hair cut, & watch TV classed as entertainment? Would you pay for this if it was the only content available to you online?

More Content

I have been trying to decide what sort of content the Observer should have & I've narrowed it to five sections: World View, Travel, People, Animals, & Adult. World View: This will include mountain tops, beaches, cityscapes & famous locations. Animals: Watching animals from around the world. People: Watching people & animals in different situations e.g. cafes, streets etc . Misc: A selection of webcams, such as airports, funny/random & any other uncategorised feeds. Adult: Pretty much self explanatory!

The Content

After speaking with my lecturer about making the content either commercial (made by businesses) or home made (made by anyone), I have decided to make it home made. As the Observer is set in an age where the internet is not free, there would be a rise of entrepreneurs on the web, trying to make money any way possible. I think if the net was free or not, this Youtube culture would inevitably appear, but its a commercially viable Youtube.

Directives

The whole point of the Mass Observation is to respond to "directives" - a series of questions or topics for the observers to record. I have created a small code that scrolls this information across the screen to constantly remind the observer of what their objective is:

PFont font;
float x;
float size = 430.0;
// The font must be located in the sketch's
// "data" directory to load successfully
void setup(){
size(600, 100, P3D);

font = loadFont("SubwayTicker-32.vlw");
textFont(font, 23);
}

void draw(){
background(0);
x = x +3;
if (x > width + size){
x = -size;
}

translate(x, 0, 12);
text("Directive 1: Mid-life transitions", 0, 44);

}

The only problem with the Mass Observation is that the topics are very broad & not a lot of deliberate observation is needed, mostly past experiences. I want the user to interact with the object as if it is necessary for the completion of the "mission". Maybe the content of the directives need to be customised...