IPC International Panorama Council www.panoramapainting.com
BV Panorama Mesdag www.panorama-mesdag.com
Innovate http://www.innovatecentre.co.uk/other/16thIPC.asp
Michael Punt (Faculty of Technology) web links
http://www.leonardo.info/
http://www.trans-techresearch.net/wiki/read/Home
Jeff Morgan’s Panorama links
http://www.jeffmorgangallery.com.au/
http://www.jeffmorgangallery.com.au/ipc/
http://www.jeffmorgangallery.com.au/hawker/panorama/picture/
Alpenpano
http://www.musee-suisse.ch/d/schwyz/exhibition/alpenpano/d/ausstellung.html
Sattlers Salzburg-Panorama 1829
http://www.smca.at/sattler/data.html
Jerusalem Panorama http://www.panorama-altoetting.de/
Camera Obscura www.camera-obscura-muelheim.de
http://www.camera-obscura-muelheim.de/cms/das_museum1.html
Sara Velas www.panoramaonview.org
Mike Phillips www.i-dat.org
www.nascent-research.net
www.arch-os.com
www.liquidpress.net
Wednesday 5 September 2007
Panorama Conference Hyperlinks
Podcasts
I've been playing with some Perl scripts to automate the downloading of Podcasts. I find software such as iPodder or iTunes really limiting in how they can handle files and wanted to find a flexible simple solution.
Eventually I found this script w98Podfetch which allows you to completley customise how podcasts get downloaded, where they get stored on my computer and also the filename used. The only problem is that I can't yet get this to work fully on a Windows system - "works out of the box" on linux.
If anyone else has any sucess in downloading mp3 files which aren't mangled up (sounds like the Darleks are invading on the ones I got) then let me know.
Eventually I found this script w98Podfetch which allows you to completley customise how podcasts get downloaded, where they get stored on my computer and also the filename used. The only problem is that I can't yet get this to work fully on a Windows system - "works out of the box" on linux.
If anyone else has any sucess in downloading mp3 files which aren't mangled up (sounds like the Darleks are invading on the ones I got) then let me know.
Tuesday 4 September 2007
Producing Panoramics
Notes from a workshop I attended at the IPC Conference yesterday...
Presenters:
Ian Wood - www.azurevision.co.uk
Aldo Hoeben - www.fieldofview.com
Perspective Types:
Panoheads - rotating tripods (which can be operated by remote control...)
Thanks Tom for emailing me thew link to (free) Anamorph Me software which also converts images - cool!
Finally panoramics were viewed using QuickTime VR Viewer
Other cool panoramics:-
V. detailed hand drawn panorama of the river at Rotterdam at www.panographia.com
Lapses in Light - Timelapse video of Plymouth by PCAD graduate, Ollie Larkin - v cool indeed!
That's my notes written up - now to start creating... :o)
Presenters:
Ian Wood - www.azurevision.co.uk
Aldo Hoeben - www.fieldofview.com
Perspective Types:
- rectilinear - ie. normal lens
- fisheye - practical horizontal limit 180 degrees/ vertical 360 degrees
- cylindrical - practical horizontal limit 360 degrees/ vertical 120 degrees
- equirectangular - practical horizontal limit 360 degrees/ vertical 180 degrees - covers whole sphere of vision (used in Immersive Vision Theatre)
- stitching multiple (high quality) photos
- do-able on ordinary digital cameras
- scanning/panoramic camera
- lens is a slit = v.shallow field of view producing curves
- expensive
- one shot systems (mirror attachment for lens)
- single photo = low quality
- no problem with moving objects
- never 360 x 180 degrees
- turn off all auto functions - switch to manual
- lock everything
Panoheads - rotating tripods (which can be operated by remote control...)
- Aldo uses a Nodal Ninja (approx. $150)
- Ian built his own and uses his mobile phone to operate it if tripod is raised high (see LEGO Mindstorms NXT)
- Ian used PTGui.com (panotools graphical user interface) - and 70mm lens
- This generates control points for all images
- Optimise - then tweak control points as necessary
- Create panorama :o)
Thanks Tom for emailing me thew link to (free) Anamorph Me software which also converts images - cool!
Finally panoramics were viewed using QuickTime VR Viewer
Other cool panoramics:-
V. detailed hand drawn panorama of the river at Rotterdam at www.panographia.com
Lapses in Light - Timelapse video of Plymouth by PCAD graduate, Ollie Larkin - v cool indeed!
That's my notes written up - now to start creating... :o)
16th IPC (International Panoramic Conference)
I attended the final day of this very inspiring conference yesterday. It was organised through INNOVATE - The Centre for Creative Industries at the University of Plymouth.
Presentations included a fascinating 'panomorfosis table' - an art installation based on anamorphic art where a distorted image (in this case, video) becomes clear through viewing it on a reflective tube. (Aldo Hoeben from fieldOfView) Anotherof his installations consisted of an illuminated tent with a projected panoramic image.
Martin Woolner from Innovate presented 'Project Imago' - a panoramic collections viewer/ cms system enabling curators to show little seen museum collections, complete with text and audio information. Ideas - a tablet PC fitted with a motion sensor (already in Wii and iphone) could be combined with a map for directions (fieldtrips?) and information about exhibits.
Michael Punt (Faculty of Technology) talked about 'Panoramas of Time: Cinema, Phantom Rides (shot as though seeing through actor's eyes) and Hale's Tours (similar to Phantom Rides but with more sensory - eg. cool breeze on ankles). He showed an extract of 'Letter from an Unknown Woman' which illustrated a fairground attraction - the view from a train window changes courtesy of an old man cycling...
Presentations included a fascinating 'panomorfosis table' - an art installation based on anamorphic art where a distorted image (in this case, video) becomes clear through viewing it on a reflective tube. (Aldo Hoeben from fieldOfView) Anotherof his installations consisted of an illuminated tent with a projected panoramic image.
Martin Woolner from Innovate presented 'Project Imago' - a panoramic collections viewer/ cms system enabling curators to show little seen museum collections, complete with text and audio information. Ideas - a tablet PC fitted with a motion sensor (already in Wii and iphone) could be combined with a map for directions (fieldtrips?) and information about exhibits.
Michael Punt (Faculty of Technology) talked about 'Panoramas of Time: Cinema, Phantom Rides (shot as though seeing through actor's eyes) and Hale's Tours (similar to Phantom Rides but with more sensory - eg. cool breeze on ankles). He showed an extract of 'Letter from an Unknown Woman' which illustrated a fairground attraction - the view from a train window changes courtesy of an old man cycling...
Saturday 30 June 2007
Designing for e-Learning at the University of Plymouth
Having 'lurked' several other peoples' blogs for quite a few months now I have now decided to be brave and try writing my own. This is partly because I'm spending quite alot of my time these days looking at how blogs can support learning, and also because I'm currently studying for a PGCE. The aim of the final module is 'to develop a relationship between ideas and actions that lead to a transformation of practice' (Module Handbook) - reflective praxis. I am hoping that this blog might generate some collaboration.
My role, as a Learning Technologist, involves supporting teaching staff as they begin to explore different media to enhance their students' learning. One of the ways our team try to do this is through providing a website packed with 'how to' guides and links to further resources - Designing for e-Learning at the UoP (UoP username and password required) For my final PGCE module, 'Researching Relations between Theory and Practice', I decided to critically evaluate the site's effectiveness.
'But shouldn't user-testing be done throughout the design process?' I hear you say. Well yes... ideally. Unfortunately in the real world, we simply don't have the time! We always ask for feedback but, unless something is badly wrong, such as a link not working, we very rarely get it.
I began my evaluation with sending out a survey - unfortunately this didn't get to all the teaching staff it was intended for and I think the responses reflected this. The site was also the subject of a teaching observation where I observed my tutor (a typical user) navigate D4e-L.
Results of Evaluation
Positive comments:
Analysis:
I am pleased that the staff questioned value D4eL as a useful resource. This backs up my own experiences when I have presented it and confirms that there is a 'need' for it. What interests me most, however, are the criticisms and how these can inform the site's improvement. Many of these could be fixed quickly and easily from a technical point of view but this evaluation has prompted me to think more deeply about the purposes of the site. These are:
Who decides what is good practice? An individual? A national body such as JISC? QAA? In my experience JISC and other such organisations disseminate good practice, informed by funding innovative projects and research, to a national and international e-learning community. Wenger (1998) characterises a 'community of practice' as 'members brought together by joining in common activities and by what they have learned through their mutual engagement in these activities' . University teaching staff automatically belong to such a community as we are all working to Plymouth's strategies and policies.
'To connect like-minded people and avoid re-inventing the wheel' - although I work for all faculties and am fairly well placed to connect people and projects, I suspect that loads of effective e-learning solutions originating from the UoP remain unknown to me. The Horizon Report (2007) comments on the rise in popularity of 'social networking' - giving students the opportunity to contribute, share, communicate and collaborate with peers. Siemens (2006) describes 'connectivism' as a 'new learning theory for the digital age'. He states that 'learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes of information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network.'
With these in mind I returned to the criticisms and looked at what I, personally, couldn't fix as easily:-
to be reconsidered.' I don't consider myself to be an e-learning expert - e-learning is a huge area and I'm learning all the time! However, I do feel able to contribute ideas and share informed opinions with others involved with e-learning - a 'community of practice'.
Conclusions
From the above considerations, and with the availability of Web 2.0 technologies enabling real-time collaboration, I feel 'Designing for e-Learning at the UoP' would be a more effective resource if it was presented as a wiki. According to the most well-known wiki, 'WikiPedia', a wiki is ' a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.'
But would staff engage in 'collaborative authorship'? Obviously introductory sessions to wikis with opportunities to try out contributing would be essential. However, research carried out by Wheeler (2007) suggests that those new to wikis require 'leadership' in the form of moderators - in this case managers of information. I'm prepared to put up the site so far and continue to contribute - is anyone else?
My role, as a Learning Technologist, involves supporting teaching staff as they begin to explore different media to enhance their students' learning. One of the ways our team try to do this is through providing a website packed with 'how to' guides and links to further resources - Designing for e-Learning at the UoP (UoP username and password required) For my final PGCE module, 'Researching Relations between Theory and Practice', I decided to critically evaluate the site's effectiveness.
'But shouldn't user-testing be done throughout the design process?' I hear you say. Well yes... ideally. Unfortunately in the real world, we simply don't have the time! We always ask for feedback but, unless something is badly wrong, such as a link not working, we very rarely get it.
I began my evaluation with sending out a survey - unfortunately this didn't get to all the teaching staff it was intended for and I think the responses reflected this. The site was also the subject of a teaching observation where I observed my tutor (a typical user) navigate D4e-L.
Results of Evaluation
Positive comments:
- good to find out what other people are doing around the Uni
- useful explanation around 'what is e-learning'
- packed with useful information
- vibrant and welcoming
- links to external resources really useful
- contact details of learning technologists
- FAQs useful
- site difficult to find - search for 'e-learning' brings up many out of date, untitled EDaLT pages
- too many links on the front page makes navigation complicated for non-techies
- too text heavy
- information out of date - no information about SharePoint
- too many assumptions that people know about things before hitting the site
- images take up alot of top space so you have to scroll down to read text
- images should be relevant to content
- showcase faculty links not obvious
- Creating content should be more prominent on front page
- could flow better - eg. link SSBTV as an example of using video in 'Creating Content' section.
- Learning Technologist pages should include photos to aid feeling that a person can be contacted
- not all links working - content of each link should be evaluated for quality and relevance.
- refrain from making the site too big as it may ultimately undermine its usefulness
- explain the examples of best practice - include case studies
Analysis:
I am pleased that the staff questioned value D4eL as a useful resource. This backs up my own experiences when I have presented it and confirms that there is a 'need' for it. What interests me most, however, are the criticisms and how these can inform the site's improvement. Many of these could be fixed quickly and easily from a technical point of view but this evaluation has prompted me to think more deeply about the purposes of the site. These are:
- to promote good practice for designing new or converting existing learning materials to be delivered online.
- to connect like-minded people for collaboration on e-learning projects and avoid 're-inventing the wheel'.
- to advertise the services of Learning Technologists and other e-learning support teams.
Who decides what is good practice? An individual? A national body such as JISC? QAA? In my experience JISC and other such organisations disseminate good practice, informed by funding innovative projects and research, to a national and international e-learning community. Wenger (1998) characterises a 'community of practice' as 'members brought together by joining in common activities and by what they have learned through their mutual engagement in these activities' . University teaching staff automatically belong to such a community as we are all working to Plymouth's strategies and policies.
'To connect like-minded people and avoid re-inventing the wheel' - although I work for all faculties and am fairly well placed to connect people and projects, I suspect that loads of effective e-learning solutions originating from the UoP remain unknown to me. The Horizon Report (2007) comments on the rise in popularity of 'social networking' - giving students the opportunity to contribute, share, communicate and collaborate with peers. Siemens (2006) describes 'connectivism' as a 'new learning theory for the digital age'. He states that 'learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes of information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network.'
With these in mind I returned to the criticisms and looked at what I, personally, couldn't fix as easily:-
- information out of date - no information about SharePoint
- too many assumptions that people know about things before hitting the site
to be reconsidered.' I don't consider myself to be an e-learning expert - e-learning is a huge area and I'm learning all the time! However, I do feel able to contribute ideas and share informed opinions with others involved with e-learning - a 'community of practice'.
Conclusions
From the above considerations, and with the availability of Web 2.0 technologies enabling real-time collaboration, I feel 'Designing for e-Learning at the UoP' would be a more effective resource if it was presented as a wiki. According to the most well-known wiki, 'WikiPedia', a wiki is ' a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.'
But would staff engage in 'collaborative authorship'? Obviously introductory sessions to wikis with opportunities to try out contributing would be essential. However, research carried out by Wheeler (2007) suggests that those new to wikis require 'leadership' in the form of moderators - in this case managers of information. I'm prepared to put up the site so far and continue to contribute - is anyone else?
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