Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Principles of New Media
Principles of New Media
1. In "What is New Media?" Lev Manovich proposes 5 principles of new media: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. Choose an example that you consider to be "new media", and describe it in terms of these principles. What implications do these principles have for narrative and play within interactive media?
Disclaimer: Having no experience with any DTV whatsoever, this paragraph is purely based on what I think and hope the DTV is and will become.
One upcoming form of new media seems to be the Digital Television (DTV), an example of the digitalization of analog media. As the name suggests, DTV has numerical representation, as movie-quality images and sounds are transferred by data bits, and is easily programmable. Modularity also exists, as it is precisely these different data bits (smaller independent parts) that form the images on digital television, subject to access without changing the entire programme. DTV also incorporates automation, as it saves the viewer's favourite channels or settings (for example, if I programmed the primetime movie to be shown in widescreen format). Variability also exists as DTV offers viewers a user interface and choices. Click HERE for a very simple demo. Finally, there is evidence of transcoding as the cultural layer (storyline, fimilogy) influence and are influenced by the computer layer (hardware and data bits).
These 5 principles naturally lead to the development of interactivity (because choices give people the illusion of power and people love to be in control). Going back to my example, it is now possible to play games or even choose your own ending on DTV, defining a whole new function of the television and blurring the fine line between the television and the computer.
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