Reflections + Projections

We are taking some time out here to reflect upon where we are at and where we are going.

It is important to acknowledge all of those people at our affiliate links, the research and efforts that you have seen posted here at SUPERSEDED are really the results of a group effort and dialogue.  Whilst most of the work here can be attributed to SUPERSEDED its important to note that workshops and paths of inquiry follow a "bigger than me" scenario.  The dialogue within our little group has been essential to developing elements of our project.

Through this group work a number of elements have emerged that interest SUPERSEDED;

REFLECTIONS (bananas)

A large quantity of useful information came out of our studies, the existing and future condition of Sydney.  The virtual environment never really was a true or enacted reflection of the real world.  Today it plays out on its own, and in the future it will feed back into the real.

GAMING - the concept of gaming was introduced in about the foruth week of SUPERSEDED's life, and it has helped develop the scenarios and situations for the future.  Gaming dialogue and taxonomies provide useful insights into how future interactions can be played out.

IMAGE/SPACE - as virtual environments and information delivery becomes more sophisticated, as they multiply ~image and/or diagram~ will be the way of interacting. Information will be presented in more complex, but easy accessed ways.  It would be useful at this point to return and do research on how information can/ is /will be / would be delivered in these game / virtual / physical environments.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL HOLDBACK - we have discussed the tendancy of collections of people to hold on to what they know.  The technological gap between me and my parents is much larger than the gap between my grandmother and my mother.  As technologies advance in faster speeds there will always be those that chose to step aside, switch off, opt out and "dwell in a cave". 

PROJECTIONS (pajamas)

SYSTEM - the real project should be a system, the idea of designing a game with presupposed outcomes is pointless.  In the future games and interactions will happen on a multiplicity of levels, the physical city is only one of them.  The site of interaction is the place / thing / object / time / moment / technology / FORMAT / project / forum that needs to be developed / DESIGNED.  The outcome is open ended, an anthropological organism.

The random elements of human nature play a role into the future.  Its important to recognise that new lucrative technologies in the hands of Rupert Murdoch would have a different outcome if they were in the hands of Richard Branson.  We can't account for this, but we acknowledge that the ultra-rich will be key players in the future.

GLITCH - There should always elements of protest/criticism in any established western system.  The opportunity for people to exercise their own will, in various capacities will not only be granted, but will BE DEMANDED.  As technologies seem to intrude our lives further people will always want to "turn it off"; people unjustly treated and those with too much spare time will always seek to disrupt. 

GAP - The future gap between the wealthy, not so wealthy and poor will grow.  Those at the top will control and those in the middle and at the bottom will upset and protest. 

GAP - Those that chose not to interact with the technologies will either be programed in or left behind, the division between those who are techno-savy and those who are not MUST be mediated or truncated.

GAP - The potential for environmental and resource problems to exaggerate the gap must be illustrated.

"the future is in our hands" the eventual  project outcome should acknowledge this and provide people with the chance to input.  The democratic and economic systems of the future must allow all citizens to play a part, and the ever connected virtual world is one way in which people can play out, play in, test and imagine their interests.

Here at SUPERSEDED we are keen to develop the project with our affiliates.

Love in 2030 (the human element)

The future can never really be in our hands when projecting so far.  The famous historian James Burke points out that leaps in history and technology are governed as much by chance as they are driven by social need; its only because two random strangers sitting next to each other on a plane struck up a conversation that we have domestic and commercial computers; only because of the Dutch royal family's name are carrots orange; only because one man married another man's sister that they worked together and discovered something called plastic.  Check out his "Connections" series.  

Random acts involving the most basic of human emotions have great impacts upon events in the future.

When we design or "make the leap" into our post-human successors programming, or writing elements of love and therefore hatred will be important for us.  In the west we value these things above all else.  In the future random acts involving small people will have huge impacts on the trajectory of our own future history, just as they do now.

John had been seeing Alana for about 6 weeks now, and he already knew that she was something special.  It was “the morning after” and he was smiling.  As he stepped into the office Alison looked up from the reception desk and stopped halfway through her usual greetings.

“My, you look pretty happy with yourself” she said with a smug grin, “What’s her name?" 

John’s reply was just a bigger smile, he wasn’t one for office chatter, he decided to let Alison run with this one.

  The conversation Alana and he had last night got him thinking.  He logged in to see where she was and an unfamiliar avatar asked for his password, it acknowledged his authority and granted him entry for the first time.  From here he could see that Alana was already underway with her 8am class.  To be able to see where she was whenever he liked was the privilege she gave him last night.  He knew from his line of work that these tracking signals were easy to fabricate.  If Alana was much like his past girlfriends he had to know she wasn’t sleeping around.   Trust wasn’t one of John’s best attributes and he struggled with this situation.

            She was right though, it didn’t matter if he could see where she was.  If Alana was ever going to grant John the privilege that he asked of her, he had to learn to trust her.

Naked in the city

Naked in the City

Thanks to our friends at "Small Change - TACK" the funny side of CCTV in the city was sourced.

Sydney AS Game

Navigating the city through gaming activity means that the experience of the city must be new.  This projective map suggests rather than imposes activity in the city.  Through navigating the city as a game what do we learn? how does the experience of the city change? will this be one type of city experiences in Sydney 2030?

Sydney Game Mapping

Two current movements through the city were mapped, with similar trackings as those in the game.  The destination was on the north-wester side of Circular Quay from two different starting points.

City Branding

The way in which Sydney brands itself to the outside world is important.  There is no denying that Sydney as an international destination is successful.  What is a physical city's presence in the international arena? Here at Superseded we stumbled upon a webcam of Circular Quay, which got us thinking about Sydney's physical presence on the internet.

If we market a city to the international audience what exactly are we marketing?  We're not pretending to be able to answer this question, but we would like to pose another. What parts of the city are present to the internet audience?

Results above.

Sydney Webcam

RTA webcams

Game Mapping

One map of one game play.  You can follow one game play on a map level and see how objects and enemies play into the decisions the game player makes.  The investigation here tracks the movement of our hero over the course of 2 game weeks.

Heroes of Might and Magic V ; Ubisoft

Gaming Typologies

Our friends at SUPERFUTUREprojects have completed a little study of gaming spaces.  In light of the previous mapping exercises it will be interesting to investigate a number of city interactions with these new taxonomies and ideas.

Check it out HERE

and HERE

CCTV Sydney

Surveilance technology in Sydney City can now track your every move through the streets.

Check out this article.

Game Mapping

Navigating the virtual, technological is quite different from doing so in the real world.  Communication technologies have yet to have a dramatic impact on the way in which circulation through spaces/cities happens and can be enacted.  The next few posts will explore the circulation in the real and virtual worlds.  We shall seek to understand what we can learn from games, internet mapping and other various forms of navigation and (hopefully) how it can inform a new way to interact/navigate the real world.

The above image is an attempt at trying to understand the pathways available within the game "Heroes of Might and Magic 5".  The diagram explains itself with the key in the top left corner.  Particular to the platforms of these games is that their is only really one successful outcome, and how you get there is controlled to some degree, within the game we can only chose from a limited number of paths to take.