Even when you have nothing in common with someone, you can always talk about the weather. I am interested in weather's ability to transcend space, and yet I feel like a lot of interactive technology acts as a buffer against the communal experience of weather instead of a conduit. I would like to spend wintersession exploring the ways in which technology can react to, and interact with, the weather outside, with the goal of using data to create a sense of place online by strengthening the awareness of, and the connection to, the natural world.
My raw materials for this research will primarily be live data feeds - such as those provided by Yahoo Weather, Weather.com, and the National Weather Service - and secondary information from sources like geotagged images from flickr and text from blog or twitter updates.
I have started experimenting with web-based versions of this idea that use rss feeds and javascript, and I would like to continue with that, as well as integrate some Processing into the mix. The thing that I find interesting and challenging as a novice programmer is how to generate form from data that doesn't look data-y. How do you introduce visual randomness into a program? I wonder if by keying off of random natural phenomena that unique form might result.
My time will be broken down into a series of experiments (vignettes?), and will be a test bed for learning some new technical skills in the process. Ultimately I want to see if I can generate interesting form and/or patterns from the weather conditions outside, that can then be used to evoke the experience of weather online or in other design work.
Inspirations:
I Wanted to See All of the News From Today - Martin John Callanan
Suns from flickr - Penelope Umbrico
Infome Imager - Lisa Jevbratt
Nine Patch Generator - Jared Tarbell
(Week of) Jan 5:
class proposals
present prior experimentation
Jan 12:
refined web experimentation
Jan 19:
final web experimentation
first stabs at Processing
Jan 26:
refined Processing sketches
Feb 2:
more Processing
start documentation
Feb 9:
final presentations: series of web and Processing pieces
poster-size printouts of the most successful?
written documentation of code/process