Research Assignment

Tutorial - Visually Representing Dynamic Data

500 Words on Tutorial

This tutorial will provide the basic flowgraph knowledge linking AI behaviors to a set of live data which has been imported from an xml file. This flowgraph takes advantage of the engines ability to compute data quicker than the user, and dynamically responds to this data accordingly. With just one key press you can interpret a set of data in endless ways. This is an introduction to this concept, exploring just one visual means of representing raw data, acting as a gateway to more opportunities depending on the user's knowledge pool and creativity.

Continuing on from my Analytics Engine, I have developed this flowgraph where there are 2 boxes - two seperate locations. These will be destinations for the spawned AI depending on the data read from the XML document which measure the dB level in a given space. My intention of this idea was: If the area is noisy - due to environmental factors/ people chatting or whatever it may be - the box will be dimmed. If the area is quite, the box will be lit up to attract people to this area.

The body of knowledge discussed in the tutorial includes spawning AI from a designated position, using conditions to determine an appropriate response and extracting data from xml documents. The tutorial acts as an overview of the underlying concept and main elements of this flowgraph and is intended for anyone wishing to extend their knowledge in the Sandbox Editor and advanced users wanting to unleash the potential of flowgraphs. It requires a basic understanding of Sandbox Editor and flowgraphs. Any programming logic would be useful background knowledge also.

I resorted mainly to trial and error to figure this out, although it contains elements which have been illustrated before. The resources i found most helpful in designing this flowgraph were the Incrysis wiki and forum, Maxed Gaming tutorials, Crytek manuals along with Vinh Nguyen's tutorials. I have presented this tutorial in the way i find most effective: a demonstration of what is to be achieved, a description of what knowledge is required, dot points of what is to be covered, and a breakdown of each major element (eg section 1-3). It also includes a wrap-up of the ideas presented and a demonstration using the flowgraph created in the tutorial. I decided to use exclusively text to explain the steps in the tutorial. I find that most the tutorials i watch have poor sound quality which distracts from the learning experience, low volume so you cannot hear the steps described clearly, or boring monotone voices. The advantages of using text is that the user can scrub through the video to review the content and still see the text pop up whereas they cant hear what is being said. Text will be overlayed and title will remain at the top of the screen for these reasons.

References

http://incrysis.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://incrysis.com/forums/
http://maxedgaming.com/tutorials/kb_categorie.php?id=2
http://wn.com/Sandbox_2_Flowgraph_fun
http://incrysis.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=24&p=3
http://www.crytek.com/
http://maxedgaming.com/tutorials/kb_categorie.php?id=6&start=20
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?p=816389
http://www.crydev.net/forum.php?sid=55a578b547a6d3628180f53dfdf63013
http://www.veoh.com/list/u/crymodportal
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=325&t=71209
http://www.crydev.net/viewforum.php?f=319&sid=a454aea4702b383e047b83b50833f3bb
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=319&t=75873 (texture in game)
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=319&t=72827 (spawn iterator)

http://benv2423-2011vn.blogspot.com/

http://benv2423rui.blogspot.com/2011/11/make-loop-to-spawn-ai-automatically.html

http://www.crydev.net/wiki/index.php/Category:Flowgraph_Samples

manual **** http://doc.crydev.net/SandboxManual/frames.html?frmname=topicfrmfile=index.html

http://www.crydev.net/wiki/index.php/Flowgraph_Guide

The Tutorial

Week 6

Final Submission

3 x 30 second Video Clips

Brief for Analytics Engine

I would like to extract the sound data collected and presented in the Pachube feed (https://pachube.com/feeds/35475) and insert ranges for the data collected so that different things happen to the architecture in different ranges (0-10 bright light encouraging more activity,11-20 a softer light emitted encouraging people in closer proximity to enter, 21-30 the light would be dimmed to discourage entry into this area at this time etc). I can imagine this sort of thing being used in a library to help regulate noise and encourage a more private or collaborative environment depending on the purpose intended for the architecture.

SketchUp Models

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20976912/analytics_skp


Play Files (level + mod folder)

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20976921/Ramsay_Final_BENV2423.zip


180 Second Final Video

Week 5

BENV2423 2010 Tutorial Review

Second Draft of Analytics Engine Doc.

How will my tutorial elevate one's understanding of the media beyond that of a typical user?

This tutorial will provide the basic flowgraph knowledge linking AI behaviors to a set of live data which has been imported from an xml file. This flowgraph takes advantage of the engines ability to compute data quicker than the user, and dynamically responds to this data accordingly. With just one key press you can interpret a set of data in endless ways. This is an introduction to this concept, exploring just one visual means of representing raw data.

Week 4

Continuing on from my last model, i have developed this flowgraph where there are 2 boxes - two seperate locations. These will be destinations for the spawned AI depending on the data read from the XML document. If the area is noisy - due to environmental factors/ people chatting or whatever it may be - the box will be dimmed. If the area is quite, the box will be lit up to attract people to this area. Example: If this were representing a floor plan map in a library, the quitest areas would glow the strongest, guiding people here, dispersing the crowds and creating more effective zones.

NOTES: I need to try and make these changes in glow more obvious at times so the viewer is aware of the values instantly without referring to the HUD (top is for the left zone/ bottom for the right). I cant find any resources that have done this so trial and error it will have to be.

Demonstration

flowgraph controlling demonstration

Draft Documentary

Research Assignment Ideas
During the semester i have spent significant time making AI respond to certain conditions. These conditions are constantly changing and the AI need to use the updated info from the xml documents. In other words, how will AI respond to the changing data in a real time environment. Originally i would have like to have looked at trackview for the camera, because recording techniques play a major role in presenting an idea effectively. However due to the time i spent researching annd more importantly trial and error, I will focus on AI for my tutorial....

........

What does this tutorial cover?

- Spawning AI
- Determining a solution based on xml data
- extracting data from an xml file

Who is the tutorial intended for?

- anyone wishing to extend their knowledge in the Sandbox Editor
- advanced users wanting to unleash the potential of flowgraphs

What is the required knowledge?

- basic understanding of Sandbox Editor
- basic understanding of flowgraphs
- any programming logic would be useful

Week 3

Review of Idea - In consultation with others, the main problem identified is that the location/option has to be visible in order to decide where to go, for instance, to decide which car park or shopping centre to go to, you would have to have both in sight to see which is more illuminated. This option would also work better at night. Perhaps it could be incorporated into GPS navigation as an extra function. In order for someone to decide where to sit in a library, the whole library would have to be in view. Maybe this could be translated to the map/floor plan of the library, so that it illuminates the areas which are available/most suitable.

PURE WAR: when these spaces fill to over capacity, the people who inhabit this space become manic and start to turn on each other. Ever been on a train filled to the brim on a hot, sticky day, or in a library where filled with gossiping teens? They would probably also start smoking if i could figure out how to do that. In society, all is calm on the surface, war awaits. "How will your Analytics Engine allow a viewer to draw conclusions that would be difficult (or impossible) to reach by interrogating the data in its raw form?"

It will assist is the equal/suitable dispersion of people in a space. Examining data related to several spaces and evaluating this data to make a snappy decision would be time consuming and perhaps impossible.

Social Media Brandsphere
RANDY | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2011 AT 6:00AM PERMALINK
"
The Social Media Brandsphere is a new collaboration between Brian Solis and JESS3. The Brandsphere explores how brand storytelling can cross different communication mediums. Over on the JESS3 blog, they’ve posted 10 of the different early versions and concepts of the Brandsphere so you can see some of the behind-the-scenes design process at work.

Social networks and channels present brands with a broad array of media opportunities to engage customers and those who influence them. Each channel offers a unique formula for engagement where brands become stories and people become storytellers. Using a transmedia approach, the brand story can connect with customers differently across each medium, creating a deeper, more enriching experience. Transmedia storytelling doesn’t follow the traditional rules of publishing; it caters to customers where they connect and folds them into the narrative. In any given network, brands can invest in digital assets that span five media landscapes:
1. Paid: Digital advertising, banners, adwords, overlays
2. Owned: Created assets, custom content
3. Earned: Brand-related conversations and user-generated content
4: Promoted: in-stream or social paid promotions vehicles (e.g. Twitter’s Promoted products and Facebook’s Sponsored Stories)
5. Shared: Open platforms or communities where customers co-create and collaborate with brands. (e.g. Dell’s IdeaStorm and Starbuck’s MyStarbucksIdea.)
Any combination of the five media strategies defines a new Brandsphere where or oganizations can capture attention, steer online experiences, spark conversations and word of mouth can help customers address challenges or create new opportunities. Each media channel connects differently with people and thus requires a dedicated approach integrating tangible and intangible value. Doing so ensures a critical path for social media content: relevance, reach and resonance.
"
This poster immediately makes me think of the old choose your own adventure books. It is almost like a tasting wheel, where options are narrowed down by your choices. This could be translated to crysis environment so that each option is a boolean which then branches off into other options. eg. if you are choosing a material, you may have a choice of timber, steel, concrete which may then branch off into timber - walnut/oak/cherry

The Value of Data Visualization [video]
RANDY | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011 AT 7:27AM PERMALINK

The Value of Data Visualization from Column Five on Vimeo.

"
The Value of Data Visualization is a cool motion graphic used as an advertisement for infographic design services from our friends at Column Five Media. The short video does a really good job of showing the viewer a few good examples of why visual information can be easier to comprehend.

They say knowledge is power, but how do we make knowledge powerful? The challenge of communicating information becomes especially difficult when trying to convey a message full of complex data, which is often difficult to interpret quickly and clearly to the naked eye. This motion graphic looks at some of the many visual techniques used by Column Five to communicate information effectively to a large audience.
"
The ideas presented in this video could be translated into a real environment or my design....or anyones design, and are probable very fundamental ideas of graphoc design and presentation.
Colour - to show correlation
size - to show gravity
orientation - to show trends
flicker - to grab attention
these effects or combinations of, can help illustrate processes, hierachy, anatomy and chronology.

It is all in the quest of better communication


The Blog Tree: New Growth infographic and Q&A
RANDY | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011 AT 6:00AM PERMALINK

"
Eloqua and JESS3 have partnered again to design The Blog Tree: New Growth (building on the success of the original Blog Tree infographic project from last year). The new version focuses on new blogs from the last few years (INCLUDING Cool Infographics!) and uses the Edelman BlogLevel as the scoring system (a ranking system I hadn’t heard of before). They are also using SlideShare.net as an embedded PDF viewer so you can interact with the clickable version that takes you to any of the blogs by clicking on any particular leaf.
"
this infographic is a perfect example of the ideas presented in the video above, using colour to represent ideas, in this case, a rating or score for each blog, making the highest scoring blogs easily identifiable. It is also worth noting that metaphorically ideas can be presented above and below ground, obvious or containing a hidden meaning. I think it is important in design not to be too upfront, to leave some thing for the mind to ponder.

Demonstration

This demonstration is based on the ideas presented in the video on the most effective way to represent data. Things like colour, shape, orientation, hierarchy are all relevant, but in this 3D world, sound plays a major role and is able to represent data as well. Blind people would rely heavily on sound. What I have done is linked an XML data set to a song track and have the volume adjust according to the incoming data values. For example, the data was in the range 0 -300, so I scaled the data to a value between 0 and 1 and linked that to the volume input. Just walk in the building and the music plays (according to how loud the corresponding space is). This would give one more of a feel for the environment or space.

Demonstration of reading data

Flowgraph

Week 2

Flowgraph in action

Flowgraph Research

http://incrysis.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://incrysis.com/forums/
http://maxedgaming.com/tutorials/kb_categorie.php?id=2
http://wn.com/Sandbox_2_Flowgraph_fun
http://incrysis.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=24&p=3
http://www.crytek.com/
http://maxedgaming.com/tutorials/kb_categorie.php?id=6&start=20
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?p=816389
http://www.crydev.net/forum.php?sid=55a578b547a6d3628180f53dfdf63013
http://www.veoh.com/list/u/crymodportal
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=325&t=71209
http://www.crydev.net/viewforum.php?f=319&sid=a454aea4702b383e047b83b50833f3bb
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=319&t=75873 (texture in game)
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=319&t=72827 (spawn iterator)

http://benv2423rui.blogspot.com/2011/11/make-loop-to-spawn-ai-automatically.html

http://www.crydev.net/wiki/index.php/Category:Flowgraph_Samples

manual **** http://doc.crydev.net/SandboxManual/frames.html?frmname=topicfrmfile=index.html

http://www.crydev.net/wiki/index.php/Flowgraph_Guide

Tutorial Challenge
I could apply the above flowgraph to find the average sound level in a room over the total time (math:counter) in the game. This info would then update every 5 seconds and give me the average sound level in the HUD display.

Analytics Brief
I would use the techniques demonstrated in this flowgraph to extract the sound data collected and presented in the pachube feed and insert ranges for the data collected so that different things happen to the architecture in different ranges (0-10 bright light encouraging more activity,11-20 a softer light emitted encouraging people in closer proximity to enter, 21-30 the light would be dimmed to discourage entry into this area at this time etc). I can imagine this sort of thing being used in a library to help regulate noise and encourage a more private or collaborative environment depending on the purpose intended for the architecture.
I would replace the math counter with a person counter (or number of people entering a proximity) and after the xml:get value i would add a math:in range node for each range and have that linked to different effects on the material of the object.

Week 1

For this test i have created a flowgraph which related the distance from the box to the player to the time of day so that the further you are away from the object, the darker it gets.

https://pachube.com/feeds/35475 - Collects data from a sound sensor and updates every 5 seconds.

S.W.O.T.

S. This feed could help determine the business of a room. It could be linked to the architecture in ways that could help control this business. For example, if the sound reaches a certain volume, the room will be sealed off to stop others from entering/ the lights that make the room visible to others will be dimmed and another room will become illuminated/ the lights in the room may be set to a more calming colour or intensity to soften the moods and the noise.
This sort of reaction would be set to different relationships to suit different applications. For example, in a library, the tolerance would be set quite low. In a shopping centre they would be set higher, to attract people to other areas of the centre. Car parks?

W. Outliers and external noises must not be included in sensor readings as this would make the architecture respond unnecessarily.

O. This sort of relationship between sound and architecture could create more comfortable public spaces, and also more efficient individuals, increasing the amount of time for other more desirable activities by directing the flow of people through spaces and altering when they inhabit these spaces and for how long.

T. There is no data available at the moment.(frozen)



My new custom environment - this time i created my own level which was fun. You can see that it takes a great deal of time to create something as polished as the previous level "Quarry" that i used. Anyway, it is mine. Have just been looking at flowgraphs from previous years and found one that calculates the average distance so i used it to calculate average distance the player is from an object. I am now looking at relating that to the time of day somehow in a way that the further away from the object (eg home) you are, the more you are in the dark (literally and metaphorically). -The land of the unknown awaits.