Three years ago, IDEO introduced Nelson, Coupland and Alice, different types of digital reading experiences. Nelson cross-references everything, Coupland helps you filter information based on your interests and networks, and Alice allows you to change the narrative of the book you`re reading. Quickly looking at the responses on YouTube, reactions seem to be consistent over the years. Some people are excited, but it seems like more are annoyed and not interested in being overly stimulated: ``can`t people just read books,`` ``go to the library.`` A few aspects of the three characters seem to have integrated the world of digital reading, such Nelson`s ability to connect sources. With the common use of smart technology being relatively recent, are we still adapting to a different pace of exposure to information, and what seems like extreme interactivity might eventually become normal?
The Architecture of Books is a seminar taught by Reto Geiser at the Rice University School of Architecture. Students are introduced to the book as a means to think about the production of space, and as a critical vessel to discuss and disseminate architectural ideas.
Vy, this was very interesting!
ReplyDelete"Nelson" totally freaks me out. The video proclaims, "Nelson--giving readers what they need to form their own opinions on the important topics of our time." I have no interest in having a computer application help me form my opinions on reading material. I can't help but have vision of corporations tapping into Nelson-like devices to engineer public opinions on books. Nelson is probably buddies with HAL.
On the other hand, I'm a sucker for ideas like "Alice" that bias a more game-like mentality. I could envision a sub-genre of literature that exploits real-time, real-location networks like Alice.
And as a side note: I think this video was very beautifully crafted.