U76/78 Task3 Section3
This section will explore and analyse the top ten interactive media products currently in the marketplace, and will cover such areas as strengths, weaknesses, costs and potentials.
#1… Personal Home Computers of all types have been the most complete world changer, when it comes to interactive media, being the first hardware to offer the home user the chance to build, design and communicate in a myriad of ways. The Altair 800, released in 1975, can probably be regarded as the first Personal Computer, as we view them today. It ran on BASIC computer language, had 256 bytes of memory and sold for around £300 (equivalent to £2,500 today), the first graphical user interface came along in 1983 with the Apple Lisa. It have 1MB of RAM, a 12 inch black and white monitor. The Apple Machintosh followed a year later. In today’s marketplace you can get your own custom windows machine made for around £2,500, and it would come with 12TB of hard-drive space, 64Gb of on-board RAM, a 8GB Graphics card and state of the art Sound Blaster sound card. The main strengths of the PC are its pure versatility – it can become anything that the user desires – whether for gaming, rendering, office work, showing film and animation. The weaknesses are that it has to be continually upgraded to keep up with emerging technologies and software. The future of computers is still good, although people may get tired of keyboard interfaces, these can be changed in favour of more movement or voice based inputs, in the end the core will still be useful to most people for the foreseeable future.(CHM, 2017)
#2… 3D render software is one area of software that is supremely useful, my personal favourite being Autodesk 3DS Max, because of its ease of use, continual updates, good community forums and a plethora of video tutorials for the beginner. The general usefulness of all 3D render software can be seen everywhere – it’s used in many areas of manufacture as part of the CAD/CAM process, 3D printed objects can be produced from the objects that are designed in the software, and it’s also used in many games, films and animations, all elements that are useful to marketing and interactivity generally. There are many options for 3D render software, and depending on the functionality, depth of development and product support, the price for the user can vary hugely. Blender is open source and free, but lacks the refinement and functionality of Autodesk software, which can cost thousands of pounds, but is free to students.
#3… The Moto G4 Smartphone is one of the best current smartphones, in my opinion, at a mid-range price of around £150, that is affordable for the casual user, it has a larger screen than standard at 5.5 inches, good camera, good on-board RAM of 2GB, 16GB storage that is expandable, all of these count towards its strengths. (Compared with the top of the range Mototola Droid Razr Maxx, released only 5 years previously, which had 1GB RAM and 8GB) Combined with the G4’s use of the latest Android system, and the hardware to accept the upcoming Android upgrade, this phone will keep most users happy for a few years at least. The only real weakness is the eventual out-dating of this device, along with all phones, no matter how advanced, since smartphone technology, capabilities and demands put on them, grow yearly. (Motorola, 2017)
#4… The Digital Camera was first conceived of in 1962, as an aid to astronauts – the idea being to digitally photograph the stars to give an accurate position in space, however the technology didn’t catch up until 1975 with the first digital stills camera prototype, being the size of a small toaster and weighing in at 4kg, and capturing black and white images .It captured 0.01 megapixels in 23 seconds. Today’s conventional digital cameras being around 24 megapixel, can capture moving images at 1920 x 1080 resolution at 1/60 fps, and cost around £500. Comparing with soon to be released 39 megapixel Hasselblad H3D II, which can capture moving images at a resolution of 5,412 x 7,212, and a huge price of £18,000. The Digital camera has come a long way in 40 years, but still has some way to go before it can capture true imagery with all its contrasts.(Cnet, 2007)
#5… Adobe Image and Film Software is some of the finest creation and editing software available, and commonly accepted as the industry standard. It has been so successful that any image that has been edited tends to be called ‘Photoshopped’, even if other software was used in the process. Photoshop itself has existed for nearly 30 years, with many improvements and updates to keep it ahead of competitors. The film software side of Adobe, especially After Effects can be used by many budding film editors to change the whole look of a film. With the advent of Creative Cloud, Adobe operates a monthly fee strategy, with the ability to customise software suites, including continual updates, and cheaper package versions being available for students. The strengths of this software is the continual improvement through updates and features, and is available on multiple platforms including all Windows and Apple machines and even has applications available through Android devices to add great portability, the weaknesses are the wider range of rival software available with varying prices and features.
#6… The Playstation 2 is my favourite games console. Originally priced at £300, it is now considered obsolete by the makers, but it remains a favourite of many gamers, partly because of its backwards compatibility – it could play PS1 games, and partly because of some of the great game characters developed by Sony up to that point. Although new versions of the console now exist for around the same release price, they lack the backwards compatibility and charming characters of the Playstation 1 and 2. This appears to be a common occurrence in present interactive design, the lack of backwards compatibility and lack of endearing characters – perhaps something that should be considered by future developers.
#7… The Sony W805/809C series TVs are probably the best option for TVs at the moment, in my opinion. Ranging between 43 inch and 55 inch displays to cater for user needs, the great picture quality at High Definition, affordable price of around £600 to £800, it is the go-to option for many a film buff, and although it lacks 4K display, the price makes it a better option that the slightly low quality 4K equivalents presently on the market which can be three times the price. The Android TV interface is also cumbersome, but the price and look out way these negatives.(J, Archer, 2016)
#8… Interactive robot lizard! No Top Ten can be complete without an element of whimsy. This little robot lizard can run from you, threaten you, come and greet you and interacts by using simple movement sensors and motors. At £15, for a build your own pack, it is available to everyone. The potential of this specific interactive toy is not great, but any designer that keeps contact with the natural world in a cheap, cute and interactive way is sure to recoup their development costs and more.(Menkind, 2016)
#9… Augmented Reality Software, has grown greatly over the last decade thanks mostly to smartphones. Combining printed ques on paper with software pattern recognition has helped create 3D books when viewed through a smartphone screen. The phone camera is pointed at a pre-printed symbol or code and the augmented image is overlaid on the book or pamphlet to product interesting and engaging results. There has been some conjecture that the printed word would become obsolete due to technology, but augmented reality via printing seems to counter this idea. this type of media can provide your customer with an experience that is personal and immersive, and can help highlight your brand and ideas. This software can introduce a strong individual edge to any company, although can quickly look outdated if designs are not kept up to date. The potential for this software interface is great, and it is likely to become more common as technology grows. (Augment, 2016)
#10… Touch Screens have revolutionised interactivity. Effectively dispensing with the mouse and keyboard and allowing multiple touches at once, the touch screen can be found on phones, tablets, PC’s, information boards and can even be bought as an overlay for existing hardware, such as televisions and monitors. The strengths of the touch screen are that it is cheap and can be fitted to almost any existing technology, its weaknesses are its weight and ease to damage. the potential is good, although it is also possible that more virtual interfaces, such as gesture control, may out-date this technology.
References:
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