Craig vs. Craig … & other chapter 5 concepts

Reading Response Week of 10/8-10/10

Craig, Understanding Augmented Reality (Chapter 5 – Content is Key! — Augmented Reality Content)

In chapter five’s opening page, Craig states: “It is a mistake to think it is optimal to directly transfer content from one medium to another” (Craig, 2013, p. 151). Another Craig, Craig Mod that is, shares similar ideas and voices them in his essay, “Platforming Books.” Mod addresses his interpretation of publishing a book in today’s digital world and defines “platforming” as the ways through which a book may take digital form. The “platforms” he speaks of include iBook, eBook and Kindle.

Similar to what our AR Craig writes in his book, Mod claims “a defining quality of a good design is one in which the essence of a thing can be transmitted between mediums while staying true to the new medium” (2011). Craig (2013) reminds us that “the virtual world exists regardless of the medium that it is represented in” and that “a representation can be very general or can contain very specific details” (p. 152-153). Most importantly, he writes that, “different representations are appropriate for communicating different kinds of information for different types of purposes” (Craig, 2013, p. 153). This is exactly what Mod addresses in his essay. The comparisons made between these two works further reiterate McLuhan’s idea of the medium as the message. After all, in the opening pages of Understanding Augmented Reality, Craig notes his use of augmented reality as “a medium, as opposed to a technology” (2013, p. 1). AR, therefore, essentially can be a way to “platform” a work, an idea, a message, etc.

We see this idea of adapting content to fit its domain or format nearly everywhere. It’s a common practice in the newsroom, where print stories are different than their web counterparts. Print stories must be shorter and mold to issues of word count, space limitations, competing content, etc., whereas web stories can be longer and include more photographs. The print vs. web issue is prominent in design as well. As we’ve learned from Costello, designing for print requires different image resolution and color codes than does web. Today’s digital technologies afford us opportunities for content to be displayed on computers, tablets, smart phones and more. Mod, Craig and Costello all comment on this topic. Mod asks the following: “How do we put books and magazines into these devices,” rather than asking, “How does digital affect books and magazines?”

Mod pays attention to the idea of the linear medium — something that McLuhan also puts forth in his works. Craig informs us that augmented reality is not necessarily linear; rather, it is in many ways up to the creator (and the participant) to manage the reality. Craig reminds us that, “the virtual world coexists within the real (physical) world. Thus, it is reasonable to raise the question of where the virtual world ends and the real world begins and vice versa” (2013, p. 154). This idea prompts us to consider the linear way we think and act in the real world and how this path can become distorted via the capabilities within augmented reality.

Sources:

Craig, A. B. (2013). Content is key! — Augmented reality content. Understanding augmented reality: Concepts and applications (151-183). New York: Elsevier.

Mod, C. (2011, August). Platforming books: Making Art Space Tokyo digital. Retrieved from http://craigmod.com/journal/platforming_books/