Michela could you give a brief description of what the State registry files will look like?
Q) What is the story of the RIG?
For decades researchers had been trying to create the ultimate man-machine interface. From crude wet-ware experiments in the 80s and 90s, the technology has evolved to allow a person's mind to be connected to a computer network with any invasive physical contact. A sophisticated array of wireless sensors was eventually devised and, the year before our story begins, the device was released for public consumption.
Like broadband, the Web, the PC, the jet, the car, and the wheel before it, the RIG quickly became a tool of the State, endorsed as a new way of life and seized upon by the DENR as the ultimate two-way tool for surveillance. You know longer have to look at computers. They look at you.
The Chief of the DENR has taken prime credit for the RIG (a little like Al Gore who "invented the Internet") and is the source of the corrupting influence in the heart of the State bureaucracy. His personal use of the RIG is becoming an obsession. He is taking increasing pleasure in defining the rules of the world.
Q) Are there Surveillance state cameras everywhere? what are their limits?
Yes, cameras are everywhere. Everything in the State is recordable. The principle limit on the cameras is that they require power and therefore funding. In practice there is more surveillance data available to the State than they can use. The Registry is awash with clutter.
Q) Does everyone have a RIG?
No. Only early adoptors do. It's a little like the take-up of the Sony EyeToy a year ago. "Hardcore gamers and drug dealers" according to one source. The DENR and Activist geeks like Dad are early adoptors - Big Brother vs Little Brother.
Q) How and why does she have a RIG?
Blake has a RIG because her Dad gave her one. He is a professor of Information warfare, a reformed hacker and into his toys. He's taken pride in passing on his knowledge to his kid and gave her bleeding edge technology to play with. Over time this became a bit of a cop-out for real parenting, a little like giving her a bedroom TV instead of personal attention.
Q) Will blake's avatar look the same in the void as the other virtual/augmented reality locations
Yes.
Q) Will she look as she does in the real world. ie bedroom as the avatar? ie are avatar and blake exactly the same or differently dressed or more extremely different ie steps to BLADE. is she identical but to her live action self but treated somehow.. holographic.. whatever..
Blake's appearance in virtual worlds must be different but subtle. There is no reason why her features and body should not be exactly the same (the price of photorealism has gone down) but equally the audience must know at all times that she is not in the real world. How this is shown is largely a question of budget and imagination. She could be slightly opaque, slightly wireframe, slightly streamlined, whatever.
I had two ideas - one similar to the girl in the red dress in Schindlers list (i.e. constantly treated slightly different visually with make-up and post) and the other looking identical but with subtle visual glitches (e.g. one-off distortion of face, flickering facial expression).
Q) if so are the state troopers also treated in the same way or are they real any way or as they are in both virtual and real worlds how do we represent that?
Think of the Ringwraiths in Lord of the Rings, they exist in two worlds at the same time. There is no reason why their virtual world appearance has to be the same as Blake's as long as its clear that what we are seeing is not something that exists in "the real world".
The PointOfViewBreakdown suggests that we use information overlays plus glitches in a stylistically different way from Blake. If we can show a person "degrading" momentarily to wireframe that would be nice but it would have to be used sparingly. That was one thing I wanted Xian to discuss with Artemis-style folk about.
my conversation with artem's nick indicated tat full body scan and associated motion/fcail capture was posisble. they are however not really ready with the technology until feb. perhpas we can beta test it for them on some shots to give the wireframe/glitch effects.. however i anticipate that we would need to plan this glitch shot specifically and blue screen blake, do a mathcing action mocap, hand blend the two shots unless they can do the mocap without indicators on the body similar to how they do facial cap. then the two can be done in one shot.
Posted by: xian at December 17, 2004 09:57 AM