Classlist
From Designing Around Place
Dennis Crowley
Hi - my name is Dennis and I'm one of your co-hosts this semester. I've been working in the mobile + locative space since 2001 - e.g. Vindigo, ITP (PacManhattan, Big Brother Foosball), dodgeball, area/code (ConQwest, Plundr, Google). I'm like to explore how you can combine locative + social tools to make cities easier to use and how game theory could be used to change the ways people experience the city. I'm an average PHP programmer, I'm okay at MySQL, I know zero about Java development, and I have an iPhone. Oh yeah, and I'm an ITP grad '04 and live in the East Village.
Michael Sharon
Hi, Michael here - I'm your other host this semester. I've been working in mobile since 2001 and in the mobile + social + locative space since 2003 with various projects and companies like - Socialight,Kamida, Identity, Superstar Tokyo, ConQwest and 23c Stories. My interests tend towards user experience, social discovery and filtering - figuring out how to make the truly interesting things around you emerge and using those bits of data to change your experience of places. I like Ruby, Python, Java (mostly J2ME) and PHP. I was going steady with MySQL, but have recently started an affair with PostgreSQL. I have far too many phones to list here, but my main setup these days consists of an iPhone + Nokia N95 8GB. I'm an '04 ITP grad, living in the Lower East Side.
Corey Menscher
I began working in the web industry after undergrad in 1995. I started out as a co-founder of the AdOne Classified Network, which brought small to medium sized newspaper classifieds sections online. After AdOne I worked for a small consulting company called TCB Data Systems, where I converted the Market Data Reporting system for the NYSE, Nasdaq, and other exchanges from a BBS-based system to the web. From there, I moved to Organic, Inc., where I helped create websites for Tommy Hilfiger, Sting's Brand New Day World Tour, and Bloomingdales...for which I created Organic's first-ever mobile WAP site. After the bubble burst and all but a few were laid off, I went back to TCB Data Systems, where I remained until ITP. My interests are mainly in interface engineering and user experience, but I have a wide variety of technical skills (PHP, Javascript, ColdFusion, .Net, SQL, server admin, network admin...). My personal blog is crackblur, and my del.icio.us, twitter and flickr names are all "crackhead". (No, I don't smoke crack...at least not literally.) I have an iPhone 3G, but still have a soft spot for my last phone, the Nokia E70.
Alex Abreu
I studied computer engineering while in undergrad, but was never much interested in all the theory. I took a job as a software consultant after graduation which reaffirmed for me my interest in applying my technical skills in a creative vain. I enjoy both programming and design, and often like to have some control over both facets of a project. While at ITP, I've focused on creating toys (for children and adults) which have both a tactile and web experience. I believe in the power of that duality, and my projects encourage a user experience less reliant on screen-based interactions. I am interested in mobile devices because we keep them on our person's all the time, but I have my qualms about the limited ordered-list experience and the increasing number of redundant applications. I am extremely interested in the associations between applications and attempting to find a way to simplify and consolidate rather than adding new applications to the ever-increasing stockpile. I'll try to keep my musings updated on itp.alexabreu.com
Seanita Tolliver
What should I write about here? Well, I have no formal mobile development experience but last semester completed a human-centered design research project around mobile shopping experiences. I also took Chris Sung's DWD class last semester (and promptly forgot most of it--please don't tell him). In terms of programming--I usually kick, scream, claw my way through stuff until it works--but I'll try to be more poised and dignified this time(I'm a 2nd year after all--gotta represent). My background lies primarily in entertainment and creative media/product development--toys, animation and education. I began working as an information architect/user experience specialist this summer and will continue to do so this fall--that's the plan anyway. Did I leave anything out? Oh, I don't have a fancy phone yet--just a TMobile Rizer--was hoping to get an iPhone last week while in Louisiana but Hurricane Gustav convinced me otherwise.
Josh Berry
I have yet to develop anything on a mobile device, and I am interested in brief but concise correspondence that contributes to a greater story. Sometimes it takes a bit of back-and-forth with SMS between you and your friend to tell the whole story. Likewise one person in one location may catch part of a story that another person in a completely different location may be able to continue.
User A sees a sad clown without his red nose moping around Times Square. This user sends that bit of first-hand information to a central site, and GPS logs the location. Ten minutes later User B sees a man in a suit at 23rd and Broadway wearing a red clown nose. Without knowing any of the context surrounding the situation, the curious user sends this piece of information back to the central site. All the information is placed into context by an algorithm, and both users check the site later on in the day and deduce that the man in the suit stole the clown's red nose, hence his sad countenance.
A system like this can be fun and helpful. It can be used as a sort of location based mad libs or real-life Clue, where messages can contribute stories that may be ludicrously unrelated but may also be staggeringly related. The man who was seen with a bloody knife in one location may have been 5 minutes later changing his clothes and throwing away the weapon. While one user may be able to contribute only one small piece of a potential story, others can fill in the blanks. I'd like to build a system like this in class to see what puzzles we can solve using location and mobile telephones. here look at this: http://asterisk.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~amd471/chat/josh/
Andrea Dulko
Hi, Ang here. After undergrad at Parsons, I worked at an ad agency for year, which was a lot of fun. While applying for ITP, I then moved over to saks.com as designer/developer. Here, I realized that php and mobile and the combo are awesome.
I'm really into location because, when it's added, the experience is always different and changing. I try to make applications that will enhance people's life experiences and encounters.
Amateur news is one of my major interests. I like the idea of reporting what's going on near by and having the option to see what's happening anywhere in the world.
On another note... I've been working on a group project called RootPoops. This is a service that, when phoned, plays encouragement for taking a shit that other users have left. That little extra push! Another feature allows you to access the nearest "high-rated" public facility from your mobile device.
That's all.
Bye!
Jaeyoon Kang
Hi, my name is Jaeyoon and I have fine art degree of digital media design in South Korea. I live in midtown West since last year and so far, I like this city besides subway. Before I came to ITP, I worked on diverse kinds of professional design fields as an illustrator, graphic designer and mostly web designer for several years. First semester, I made a physical computing project called ‘B&D Messenger’ which is mobile assistive technology for blind and deaf people. I wanted to expand my design experience toward product design field and it was really fun and also painful. 2nd semester, Alex, Jiaxin, Jaewook and I were struggling with ‘blogick’ project that is sort of web based toy design for kids and either adult. I contributed this project on visualizing 3D images of physical blocks by using Processing and some part of Flash with papervision 3D. During this summer, I had been working at a company as a GUI designer for developing an application with Flash and Flex. I will be keep working in the office after 3 weeks later in order to design application UI for the iPhone, which is really exciting for me :-)
Mitch Said
Hi, I'm Mitch. I've got fine art background (mainly animation), and I've been doing Flash design and coding for a while now. I haven't had much a singular focus at ITP, but there does seem to be a sort-of theme about connecting physical, public space and digital media - I've taken a few seminar courses on the subject ("Mapping Narratives" and "Site Specific"), and I'm definitely interested in combining this interest with mobile stuff. I took Shawn van Every's "Mobile Media" last semester, where I learned what little I know about PHP and MySQL, and played around with mobile processing and J2ME coding, though I focused on the 'user generated' side in the end, working on a couple of collaborative mobile phone photo applications/sites, primarily using MMS. (These are ‘Mobody’ and ‘Resembuild’. My lone google maps mashup before ITP (which I designed and conceptualized, and got a friend to code) was ‘Tree ID’, based on locating the South African cell network towers disguised as trees.
Additionally, expect me to make some bad puns in class.
Che-Wei Wang
It's pronounced Say-Way because my mom misspelled my name when I was a kid. I grew up in Tokyo then PA then NYC. After graduating from Pratt Architecture, I worked for a bunch of architects, a morphologist, then started a design practice and teaching, realized my interests were deeply rooted in technology, so came to ITP. I've built a bunch of stuff. It's mostly on cwwang.com. I firmly believe, if and when objects become consistently and reliably location-aware, we'll witness the next big evolution in technology.
I have an iPhone and a Nokia E70. I used to publish my current location on my website via my phone every 10 seconds just to see what would happen. Some people used it to see if I was in town or in the neighborhood to meet up. I became more honest with my excuses.
Stella Jung Euk Kim
American born Korean. Born and bred in New York. BA in Fine Art. One day became interested in mobile social software. Did some UI development this past summer for a web/mobile app company in Shanghai to get hands a little dirty. Does not enjoy making or working on super serious solemn projects. Not super techy. Blah programmer. Is interested in, and likes the idea of "play", laughter, and taking the piss out of things. Stella just wants to have fun, have a good time and maybe have a little giggle.
Other interests: games, GRT's, Soccer/Footie, Top Gear, ghetto barely functioning mobile phones
Theresa Ling
Hi, I've been quite unfocused at ITP, but it looks like I can't get away from performance, gesture-aware projects, and space. I have a BA in English Lit and a background in dance. I spent my pre-ITP days rehearsing and touring around the world in various modern dance/theater/opera productions and also directed a little performance collective for a few years that was just exhausting. Along the way, I also worked in curatorial (performance), writing, strategy, and IT kinds of things. I work at the Metropolitan Museum doing web-related work for the Concerts & Lectures department, so if you want to get into the Museum on a Monday, let me know. That's the best time to see exhibits there.
My programming skills are whatever, but I muddle through. Took DWD, remember some. Never made anything for a mobile device. I have an iPhone. Why am I interested in the class? Uh. Well, I have an obsession with spatial awareness and I want technology to be more effortless and more meaningful. Relevance regarding location seems to be pointing us toward that combination...?
Armanda Lewis
I did my graduate work in Spanish and Portuguese literature and have a background teaching languages and lit. I love learning languages, dancing flamenco and writing, and while at ITP I have really enjoyed making physical computing projects related to wearable technology, and making digital tools that help people to learn and teach better. I took DWD (ITP) and Javascript (SCPS) last semester and made an interactive activities bank called UTILLitI. I am currently writing about how handheld devices help children learn, so I am looking forward to building some location-based devices and games (maybe an interactive novel?) for kids this semester. I am going to get an iPhone by next class.
Kristin O'Friel
Hi, I’m Kristin. I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii, started my undergraduate degree in Portland, OR as a Biology Major and finished in the Bay Area with a BFA in New Media Arts. Since moving to NYC I have become extremely interested in the ontology of cities, the richness of urban life, ethnographic inquiry, urban infrastructure and the subtleties that transform our experience of space. My work primarily engages public space and cognitive frameworks through interventions in the urban experience. I am most compelled by environmental design, social innovation and playful means. blog
Jonathan Swerdloff
I started work on the web in 1995 as a junior in college. I've been a longtime blogger and part time programmer for around 12 years now, my languages of choice being Perl and PHP/Mysql. I made attempts to leverage WAP back in the day, but those went nowhere. I've been a reasonably prolific user of Dodgeball and Brightkite. I became less prolific after the Last Hope conference, at which I saw a lecture by a security professional that made me wonder about the tradeoff between convenience and privacy. I haven't resolved those issues for myself yet.
I was also a lawyer for awhile, the relevance of which is that I have been looking at these new technologies with an eye towards how they will play in litigation as well as looking at the technologies themselves. Locative software, for instance, has implications for matrimonial and criminal law. It's not entirely relevant to the course at hand, but it's something I keep in the back of my mind. Swerdloff Dot Com
John Dimatos
I studied International Relations with an interest in tech policy and network economics, and started working on the web as an associate producer at Modem Media in 2000. In 2001,I found myself starting an oriental rug import company with Mehmet Bozatli running operations, IT, and selling some fine handmade rugs to curmudgeony retailers across the nation. Attending ITP wasn't a hard decision; it was more of realization that I wanted to be a part of creating all the things I love to use.
Thus far at ITP, my main project has been a networked wildfire detection prototype which has increased my desire to understand how to make location aware devices accessible in cost and time sensitive applications. This past summer I worked at AMI in Glendale CA, doing physical computing prototyping and user experience design in a future labs setting. My personal website can be found at Hindsight dot su.
Thomas Chan
Hi, my original background is in biochemistry and computer science. After undergrad, I moved to San Francisco taking several jobs in biotech and software consulting. I've developed internal and external facing enterprise apps for F500 clients, prior to starting grad school. Some of my ITP projects were an Ukikit, immersive foosball game and a gesture based video controller. I'm interested in using the web/mobile to explore new social interactions. My portfolio site is here and my school blog is here. I also have an iPhone 3G and am interested in making apps for it.
Anaid
I've always wanted to store locations of places I've traveled to to be able to see them later and do more with that information like interface it with video libraries and photos. This got a bit more intense when i lived on a boat for 2 years and used the log books to mark maps with the places we'd visited to then use them in videos. It changed our lives to go from putting pins on an actual map in the wall to getting internet on board and using Google Earth to monitor our route. After just one year of traveling in Europe and Southeast Asia we'd covered more than the circumference of Earth with so much going back and forth between places!
I love google maps on iphone, I don't think my experience of NYC would be the same without it! I've also thought a lot about mobile devices to enhance the experience of a place but more recently i'm interested in how this location based devices can know more about the places we are it and work differently depending on that.
my PHP is ultra basic and SQL is really non existent but i'm trying to learn it and taking Dynamic Web this semester to make sure I do. my blog is here.
Vikram
I have a undergrad degree in photography, and spent several years producing photo shoots and art directing for Men's Health magazine. I absolutely love looking at maps and figuring out directions. I even have a world map shower curtain. I am very interested in making mobile applications, but I have no idea how. I am really into making stuff easy to use. I'd like to explore the idea of persistent location tracking, but i don't want everyone to know where I am. I started programming for the first time last year. I have a pretty good ability to code in processing and java. I am working out my PHP skills and my SQL as well. I would like to learn more about iphone development, and will be able to get one in January!
