0:00:00.101,0:00:03.515 (Fraistat) So I'll turn it over to Jen[br]for the introduction. 0:00:04.197,0:00:06.526 So I'm Jen.[br]Nice to meet you. 0:00:07.618,0:00:11.093 I actually printed out what to say,[br]in part because Anne 0:00:11.093,0:00:14.543 has a CD that's like 8 million pages[br]longs full of incredible things 0:00:14.543,0:00:16.365 and I didn't want to fuck it up! 0:00:17.503,0:00:19.517 So for those of you who don't know[br]who Anne is, 0:00:19.517,0:00:21.614 She's a leading scholar in[br]media studies, 0:00:21.614,0:00:25.307 whose work links cultural studies,[br]digital humanities and interactive media. 0:00:25.307,0:00:29.235 She received her PHD in Communications[br]from the University of Illinois, 0:00:29.235,0:00:32.154 like some of the rest of us[br]and since then 0:00:32.154,0:00:33.660 has been affiliated [br]with Georgia Tech, 0:00:33.660,0:00:38.316 Xerox's PARC, the Annenberg School[br]and School of Cinematic Studies and Arts 0:00:38.316,0:00:40.753 at the University of Southern California.[br]She's currently 0:00:40.753,0:00:43.796 the Dean of the School of Media Studies[br]and Professor of Media Studies 0:00:43.796,0:00:45.468 at The New School. 0:00:46.298,0:00:48.369 It's funny when you get to introduce[br]somebody whose work 0:00:48.369,0:00:52.089 you've read and lusted [br]over for like 15 years. 0:00:53.565,0:00:56.849 I think Anne's work for me,[br]and for a lot of people in the room, 0:00:56.849,0:01:01.012 is a great representation[br]of what feminist scholarship looks like 0:01:01.012,0:01:06.998 and risky feminist scholarship[br]that, sort of takes a lot of agency, 0:01:06.998,0:01:09.764 not just for the reader,[br]but sort of empowers you as a reader 0:01:09.764,0:01:12.212 and a scholar to go and implement[br]the types of theories 0:01:12.212,0:01:15.030 and methodologies and approaches[br]she has in her work, 0:01:15.030,0:01:17.258 so if you haven't read her yet,[br]you should definitely 0:01:17.258,0:01:21.799 go pick up her work on Biotechnologies[br]on the gendered body, 0:01:22.906,0:01:25.686 Designing Culture, which is a great book,[br]on technological imagination 0:01:25.686,0:01:29.625 at work which is transmedia[br]to transmedia publication, 0:01:29.625,0:01:32.059 that has all kinds of really great [br]stuff that comes with it. 0:01:32.059,0:01:36.025 If there's a scholar to watch,[br]as careers grow, 0:01:36.025,0:01:40.891 I hope she's got another 30 years in her[br]because I want to see what she does next. 0:01:40.891,0:01:43.658 So I'm delighted to welcome today[br]to give her talk: 0:01:43.658,0:01:46.859 'Heavy Data, Cultural Memories: [br]Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt 0:01:46.859,0:01:48.691 Digital Experience Project'. 0:01:48.691,0:01:50.191 Thank you. 0:01:50.914,0:01:52.608 (Applause) 0:01:54.678,0:01:56.879 I'm not sure I want to have [br]another 30 years.. 0:01:56.879,0:01:58.648 (laughter) 0:01:59.174,0:02:01.787 Not quite ready to retire but... 0:02:02.111,0:02:05.121 So thank you Jen,[br]Stephanie, Neil, Trevor, 0:02:05.121,0:02:08.520 I had some great hosting[br]already happening the other night 0:02:10.796,0:02:13.961 and I have been a fan,[br]I've been kind of a "MITH groupie" 0:02:13.961,0:02:16.205 although I've not been, ever,[br]here before, 0:02:16.205,0:02:20.137 but I'm been following the work[br]of MITH from, I think, 0:02:20.137,0:02:22.004 it might have been the late 90's. 0:02:22.004,0:02:26.005 So I've known what's been going here,[br]and I've certainly been a fan 0:02:26.005,0:02:30.124 of Matt's work as the digital humanities [br]kind of blossomed, 0:02:30.124,0:02:35.480 to then make sense of what many people[br]were doing before their term showed up. 0:02:35.480,0:02:38.281 So I'm actually delighted to be here. 0:02:38.597,0:02:44.102 I'm going to talk a little bit today[br]about designing digital experiences 0:02:44.102,0:02:46.168 for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. [br] 0:02:46.168,0:02:49.535 But before I get into the details[br]of that project, 0:02:49.535,0:02:54.602 I thought that it would be useful[br]to frame it with some of the theoretical 0:02:54.602,0:03:02.269 and the conceptual, kind of material,[br]that comes to bear on this project. 0:03:02.269,0:03:07.091 So as Jen mentioned[br]the recent transmedia book project, 0:03:07.091,0:03:10.660 Designing Culture: The Technological[br]Imagination at Work 0:03:10.660,0:03:14.908 is actually an example[br]of transmedia scholarship 0:03:14.908,0:03:21.350 and it is also a project[br]that took, probably, 15 years 0:03:21.350,0:03:22.796 to realize. 0:03:23.772,0:03:26.973 So as I joke often,[br]I am the poster child 0:03:26.973,0:03:29.841 for slow scholarship[br]and a scholarship that takes place 0:03:29.841,0:03:31.910 all over the place. 0:03:32.120,0:03:36.319 It started when I was in the academy,[br]it continued when I was in industry, 0:03:36.319,0:03:40.985 and then I got, kind of, [br]embroiled in some start up companies 0:03:43.261,0:03:46.562 in Silicon Valley, [br]went back into the academy[br] 0:03:46.562,0:03:51.562 and the last thing to do was actually [br]finish the print based artifact, 0:03:51.562,0:03:54.061 which come to us in the form[br]of a book. 0:03:54.061,0:03:58.352 And in the process[br]it has many other different media forms 0:03:58.352,0:04:00.711 and what the project does,[br]is it does its intellectual 0:04:00.711,0:04:03.812 and scholarly work[br]across media forms. 0:04:03.812,0:04:08.046 There's an interactive documentary[br]of the UN Conference on Women in 1995,[br] 0:04:09.676,0:04:15.283 to an internationally touring museum[br]exhibit on speculations 0:04:15.283,0:04:18.561 on the future of reading called [br]"Experiments on the future of reading", 0:04:18.561,0:04:23.701 to the development more recently,[br]of things that I call video printers, 0:04:23.701,0:04:27.301 short pedagogical pieces[br]that take up top bits of the book, 0:04:27.301,0:04:31.333 and the print book [br]was the last thing to be put in place 0:04:31.333,0:04:35.833 although it had been written[br]and written in these moments 0:04:35.833,0:04:40.100 of oscillation, between doing digital[br]projects and reflecting 0:04:40.100,0:04:42.234 on them and doing them and so on. 0:04:42.234,0:04:46.533 So, in an interesting way,[br]I feel like the print based books 0:04:46.533,0:04:50.500 serves as an avatar for all the digital[br]work and in fact the digital work 0:04:50.500,0:04:55.767 came and went and in some cases[br]the shelf life of the digital work 0:04:55.767,0:04:58.534 was very brief, 18 months [br]before something, 0:04:58.534,0:05:03.700 from the time something was developed[br]to the time till it lapsed. 0:05:05.207,0:05:07.269 And the only thing I actually,[br]at this moment, 0:05:07.269,0:05:11.569 will put my bottom dollar on,[br]is that the book will outlast me, 0:05:11.569,0:05:14.402 whereas all the digitals [br]are actually going to disappear, 0:05:14.402,0:05:16.736 probably disappear even as we speak. 0:05:16.736,0:05:19.200 If you go back to see [br]any of the digital pieces,[br] 0:05:19.200,0:05:24.258 you see the bit rot, [br]that marks the traces of digital, 0:05:24.258,0:05:27.858 artifacts that were created [br]on one platform, 0:05:27.858,0:05:30.224 and then upgraded and upgraded[br]and upgraded 0:05:30.224,0:05:33.192 till they can't be upgraded anymore,[br]they can't be recompiled, 0:05:33.192,0:05:36.792 they can't be...[br]and they will be lost like in 2 years. 0:05:38.422,0:05:41.992 So the last chapter of the book is called[br]"The work of the book in a digital age" 0:05:41.992,0:05:45.487 and really theorizes why,[br]why did I spent the time 0:05:45.487,0:05:49.118 over those fifteen years doing other kinds[br]of media scholarship, 0:05:49.118,0:05:52.688 why did I take a commitment [br]to writing a book? 0:05:54.713,0:05:58.162 So the entire project, really,[br]is a meditation 0:05:58.162,0:06:01.129 about the role of culture[br]in technological innovation. 0:06:01.129,0:06:07.438 The book traveled, the work I did,[br]traveled across three territories 0:06:07.438,0:06:09.805 certainly the academy, [br]which is one site 0:06:09.805,0:06:14.206 in contemporary culture for the work [br]of the technological imagination 0:06:14.206,0:06:17.971 and the production of and the process[br]of technological innovation. 0:06:17.971,0:06:21.905 I also worked in the industry[br]research center, Xerox PARC, 0:06:21.905,0:06:27.171 and on the third site,[br]my third site of analysis, 0:06:27.171,0:06:32.494 is the cultural institution known as[br]"The Science Technology Museum". 0:06:33.277,0:06:36.233 And so those are the places[br]where I've done this work 0:06:36.233,0:06:39.977 I've done these projects[br]and where the scholarships circulated. 0:06:39.977,0:06:43.932 In the academy, in the museum[br]and in the research studies. 0:06:45.022,0:06:48.956 I'm actually not going to talk too much[br]about the broader project. 0:06:50.125,0:06:54.606 I'm going to focus on one part of it[br]which frames the work through the quilt. 0:06:54.606,0:06:56.506 Which is a chapter called 0:06:56.506,0:06:59.706 "Public Interactives and the Design[br]of Technological Literacies." 0:06:59.706,0:07:03.155 What I'm taking on in this chapter,[br]what is the cultural work 0:07:03.155,0:07:05.813 of this thing called[br]Public Interactives 0:07:05.813,0:07:09.646 and how does it serve as the platform[br]for cultural reproduction 0:07:09.646,0:07:12.109 over time and in the future. 0:07:12.856,0:07:17.646 To that end and what I've been working on[br]for the last 7 to 8 years, 0:07:17.646,0:07:23.146 certainly since I've left Xerox PARC,[br]is tracking a category 0:07:23.146,0:07:25.445 of what I will consider[br]emergent technologies 0:07:25.445,0:07:27.478 on cultural studies scholar.[br] 0:07:27.478,0:07:31.345 I draw heavily on Raymond William's[br]understanding of residual 0:07:31.345,0:07:34.711 emergent and dominant technologies[br]and I'm using this term 0:07:34.711,0:07:37.945 "emergent technology"[br]to name a category 0:07:37.945,0:07:41.211 of technological experience[br]that is not yet dominant, 0:07:41.211,0:07:44.978 but in its state of emergence.[br]It's gaining traction 0:07:44.978,0:07:48.946 and gaining momentum,[br]and in a pedagogical way, 0:07:48.946,0:07:51.712 I think this is becoming [br]the motivation for this, 0:07:51.712,0:07:53.910 I think it's important to talk[br]and to understand 0:07:53.910,0:07:58.011 this category of emergent technology,[br]that I call Public Interactives, 0:07:58.011,0:08:01.944 to understand what kind of cultural[br]work is going to be done. 0:08:02.825,0:08:06.624 To that end, for the last several years[br]I've been looking at and tracing 0:08:06.624,0:08:10.690 through different type of travels,[br]mostly in Asia, 0:08:10.690,0:08:15.591 and I've been working pretty heavily[br]in China for the last 6 years, 0:08:15.591,0:08:18.824 on tracking the genres[br]of Public Interactives. 0:08:18.824,0:08:21.725 I'm not going to go into this[br]because that's not exactly the focus, 0:08:21.725,0:08:24.291 but looking at everything from[br]Urban Screens, 0:08:24.291,0:08:26.658 which of course are,[br]kind of very prominent, 0:08:27.798,0:08:33.665 type of part of the media ecology[br]to other kinds of emergent genres 0:08:33.665,0:08:36.824 like interactive advertising[br]and a new genre 0:08:36.824,0:08:39.825 of casual game called[br]"Walk Up Games", 0:08:41.486,0:08:46.561 to a genre that is the kind of interactive[br]experience that I've been engaged 0:08:46.561,0:08:51.622 in developing and this is the genre[br]of the interactive Digital Memorial. 0:08:52.326,0:08:55.449 So wherever possible, whenever anyone [br]tells me about something, 0:08:55.449,0:09:00.776 I literally put this on my to do list[br]to track down examples 0:09:00.776,0:09:04.276 of interactive digital memorials,[br]in public spaces, 0:09:04.276,0:09:06.476 so not digital memorials[br]that are going on, 0:09:06.476,0:09:08.943 in the, kind of,[br]pages of Facebook and so on,[br] 0:09:08.943,0:09:11.809 but the things that are starting[br]to be in the world 0:09:11.809,0:09:15.409 and trying to imagine[br]what is the intersection 0:09:15.409,0:09:18.508 between the digital[br]and the material 0:09:18.508,0:09:23.309 in the, what are the purposes of,[br]kind of serving cultural memory 0:09:23.309,0:09:25.800 in cultural [inaudible]. 0:09:27.110,0:09:29.738 And we started this work,[br]a group of us, 0:09:29.738,0:09:34.106 actually started thinking about [br]the creation of digital memorials, 0:09:34.106,0:09:41.372 in late 2000, right around the turn of the century,[br]in 2001, we had an idea, 0:09:42.162,0:09:44.606 just a group of us[br]who had worked at Xerox PARC, 0:09:44.606,0:09:47.139 we got laid off at Xerox PARC,[br]we started a company 0:09:47.139,0:09:50.566 called Onomy Labs because we wanted[br]to continue doing the design 0:09:50.566,0:09:52.606 and research work that we were doing. 0:09:52.606,0:09:54.439 Our tagline for Onomy Labs[br] 0:09:54.439,0:09:56.881 was "Innovation that takes [br]culture seriously", 0:09:56.881,0:09:58.643 that started with questions [br]of culture 0:09:58.643,0:10:01.766 rather than questions of technology[br]and one of the first projects 0:10:01.766,0:10:06.235 that we took on to start imagining[br]was how could the technologies 0:10:06.235,0:10:09.902 that we were engaged in,[br]a lot of smart furniture things 0:10:09.902,0:10:13.266 and so on, our reading devices, [br]how could they serve 0:10:13.266,0:10:18.316 the mission and objectives[br]of the Names Project Foundation 0:10:18.316,0:10:23.267 and in 2001 we prototyped [br]a table top interactive browser 0:10:23.267,0:10:26.088 using one of the devices[br]we built at PARC 0:10:26.088,0:10:28.512 to create the first, kind of like,[br]spacialized browser, 0:10:28.512,0:10:30.373 for the AIDS Quilt. 0:10:30.895,0:10:33.662 We approached the Names Project [br]Foundation, this is the foundation 0:10:33.662,0:10:36.411 that serves as the stewards [br]for the Quilt, 0:10:36.411,0:10:42.378 we asked them if they would be willing[br]to participate and partner with us, 0:10:42.378,0:10:45.448 and they said absolutely, [br]this would be great but we have no money, 0:10:45.448,0:10:47.917 so you're on your own,[br]and when you get money, 0:10:47.917,0:10:49.668 you can come back to us[br]and then we'll allow you 0:10:49.668,0:10:53.120 to use our data sets but not until then.[br]Perfectly reasonable response 0:10:53.120,0:10:55.201 for the non profit,[br]that was at the time 0:10:55.201,0:10:59.400 having and still continues to have,[br]struggles to keep it's doors open. 0:10:59.400,0:11:01.505 But they've been on, [br]they've been a partner 0:11:01.505,0:11:06.301 conceptually and philosophically[br]on this project since 2001, 0:11:06.301,0:11:08.737 and of course, we couldn't have done it[br]without them. 0:11:09.696,0:11:16.762 As you know the Quilt Project[br]and the Names Project Foundation 0:11:16.762,0:11:22.840 have very long history.[br]It starts with, two people actually, 0:11:22.840,0:11:27.538 Mike Smith and Cleve Jones,[br]who found the Names Project, 0:11:27.538,0:11:32.104 and then the Names Project Foundation[br]in a small neighborhood 0:11:32.104,0:11:35.565 in San Francisco, [br]the Castro district. 0:11:35.565,0:11:40.004 From the very early days[br]of the public recognition 0:11:40.004,0:11:45.777 that people were dying [br]of a set of diseases 0:11:45.777,0:11:49.937 that seemed more than[br]coincidental. 0:11:49.937,0:11:53.147 So these aren't exactly the earliest[br]days of HIV Aids, 0:11:53.147,0:11:55.872 it was certainly before[br]we were just talking about that, 0:11:55.872,0:11:58.553 it was before we had returned..[br](mobile phone rings) 0:11:58.553,0:12:00.553 Who's calling me in the middle[br]of my talk?! 0:12:00.553,0:12:02.476 (laughter) 0:12:04.421,0:12:09.405 But this project that we[br]kind of [inaudible] into now, 0:12:09.405,0:12:13.062 comes 25 years later,[br]after the development, 0:12:13.062,0:12:16.706 the first kind of quilt panels[br]were created, 0:12:16.706,0:12:21.515 and about 30 years after[br]the public awareness of HIV Aids 0:12:21.515,0:12:25.089 as an international pandemic. 0:12:27.248,0:12:30.182 And I won't go into too much detail[br]about the quilt, 0:12:30.182,0:12:33.117 but just to refresh everyone's memory. 0:12:33.363,0:12:37.482 So this is a quilt panel, [br]quilt panels from those very early days 0:12:37.482,0:12:43.699 1986, the panels measured[br]3 feet by 6 feet, 0:12:43.699,0:12:45.748 which was, in some respects,[br] 0:12:47.271,0:12:50.090 there were a series [br]of very interesting accidents 0:12:50.090,0:12:53.778 that led to this understanding[br]about quilting names, 0:12:53.778,0:13:00.165 putting names on these textile pieces[br]but it is and was, 0:13:00.165,0:13:02.498 [inaudible][br]understood to be, 0:13:02.498,0:13:06.230 this is the form factor and size[br]of a casket cover, 0:13:06.230,0:13:10.483 so it has, kind of from[br]it's very early moments, 0:13:10.483,0:13:15.571 some understanding about [br]reconfiguring our material 0:13:15.571,0:13:19.448 kind of monuments [br]of memorialization. 0:13:21.294,0:13:25.078 So 3 feet by 6 feet [br]are individual panels. 0:13:25.078,0:13:28.610 When the panels are submitted[br]to the Names Project Foundation, 0:13:28.610,0:13:31.284 they are stitched together[br]into blocks 0:13:31.284,0:13:37.311 that are 12 feet by 12 feet,[br]so they are typically 8 panels per block. 0:13:37.311,0:13:42.180 So the size of the quilt,[br]when we talk about the quilt, 0:13:42.180,0:13:45.611 the quilt is kind of quilted[br]on several levels. 0:13:45.611,0:13:49.421 Its panels are quilted together[br]into 12 foot by 12 foot blocks 0:13:49.421,0:13:52.412 and then the blocks are often[br]displayed together 0:13:52.412,0:13:54.970 although they're[br]not stitched together, 0:13:54.970,0:13:58.722 the blocks are often displayed[br]in continuity with one another. 0:13:59.420,0:14:03.547 The first display,[br]public display of the quilt, 0:14:03.547,0:14:06.101 happened in 1987.[br] 0:14:06.101,0:14:10.515 It was to..[br]actually it was part of the march 0:14:10.515,0:14:13.649 on Washington for gay and lesbian rights[br]and it was also 0:14:13.649,0:14:16.049 work of activism to lay the dead[br]at the feet 0:14:16.049,0:14:19.450 of the law makers of Washington, [br]who at that point, 0:14:19.450,0:14:24.455 were not taking seriously,[br]the massive number of deaths happening 0:14:24.455,0:14:29.719 in what they thought at the time,[br]was just California and New York. 0:14:29.719,0:14:33.715 I just want to tell a story about this.[br]They were getting ready 0:14:36.330,0:14:40.096 to ship the quilt panels[br]and the blocks 0:14:40.096,0:14:44.055 from California to Washington,[br]to be part of the march on Washington, 0:14:44.055,0:14:48.555 the Names Project, [br]the Foundation of Castro (group), 0:14:48.555,0:14:51.063 the workshop there,[br]had just put out word, 0:14:51.063,0:14:55.664 to members of the castro, [br]if you could get us your quilt panels 0:14:55.664,0:15:00.139 by September 16th, we will make sure[br]that the quilt panels 0:15:00.139,0:15:03.439 are on the truck that is driving[br]to Washington 0:15:03.439,0:15:05.606 that we're going to lay out. 0:15:05.606,0:15:09.306 And so because they had to rent [br]a truck to take everybody out 0:15:09.306,0:15:12.045 they were organizing[br]as a community group. 0:15:13.787,0:15:16.785 At 5 o'clock that day,[br]the US post office 0:15:16.785,0:15:20.017 calls the Foundation[br]and says "you'd better bring your truck" 0:15:20.017,0:15:22.385 and they were like[br]"well, we're not going to load 0:15:22.385,0:15:24.926 the truck until tomorrow".[br]They were thinking about loading, 0:15:24.926,0:15:27.775 it was an RV and they were going to take[br]a whole group of people out, 0:15:27.775,0:15:30.659 and they were like[br]"no, no, you need to bring your truck now, 0:15:30.659,0:15:34.129 because you have all these packages"[br]and they were like "what packages?" 0:15:34.129,0:15:36.260 Because people, all day,[br]had been bringing in panels 0:15:36.260,0:15:39.521 to the actual workshop [br]so they didn't have the truck 0:15:39.521,0:15:43.739 but they got a Corvette, convertible,[br]and they made seven trips 0:15:43.739,0:15:46.445 back and forth [br]to the San Fransisco post office 0:15:46.445,0:15:50.061 picking up packages of quilt panels[br]that had been shipped 0:15:50.061,0:15:54.678 from all over the country,[br]to be included into the display 0:15:54.678,0:15:57.689 of the quilt, for the first time,[br]before even anyone knew 0:15:57.689,0:16:02.057 what the size of it was going to be,[br]for the march on Washington. 0:16:02.057,0:16:04.331 And that was before the internet. 0:16:04.331,0:16:08.230 And that was before our typical [br]notions of social networking. 0:16:08.230,0:16:12.436 The word spread throughout the US[br]through friendship networks,[br] 0:16:12.436,0:16:16.284 kinship networks, partnerships [br]and so on that people said 0:16:16.284,0:16:19.766 we want to create a quilt, a panel, [br]on behalf of someone we've lost, 0:16:19.766,0:16:24.152 and they came in from all sorts[br]of small towns around the US. 0:16:24.736,0:16:28.384 So I say that now[br]and I use this example often 0:16:28.384,0:16:32.889 to remind people that social[br]networking and viral marketing 0:16:32.889,0:16:39.664 and other kinds of cultural means, [br]did not start with the internet. 0:16:39.664,0:16:42.638 But there were other kinds [br]of social networks 0:16:42.638,0:16:46.100 that were actually very good[br]about getting the word out 0:16:46.100,0:16:50.189 and not in ways that left traces[br]of how the word traveled. 0:16:57.815,0:17:01.814 1996, it grew in a very short [br]period of time. 0:17:01.814,0:17:08.615 1987 to 1996, from about 2000 panels[br]to 40,000 panels. 0:17:08.615,0:17:12.149 This was the worst, kind of, [br]time in terms of frequency 0:17:12.149,0:17:19.330 of death from HIV Aids. [br]And so that was the last showing 0:17:19.330,0:17:24.980 of the quilt, 40,000 panels[br]on the mall of Washington, 1996. 0:17:26.919,0:17:34.968 In 2006, to mark the 20 year anniversary,[br]newspapers around the country 0:17:34.968,0:17:40.951 had headlines like this;[br]"Quilt fades into obscurity" 0:17:40.951,0:17:44.310 although it was still in circulation.[br]We had panels coming on average, 0:17:44.310,0:17:48.734 and still do, kind of,[br]one panel a day. 0:17:48.734,0:17:53.024 By 2006, in the United States at least,[br]people thought HIV and Aids 0:17:53.024,0:17:55.802 was a done deal, [br]was no longer a death sentence, 0:17:55.802,0:18:00.006 that it had been early on[br]and people were, of course, ignorant 0:18:00.006,0:18:04.121 about communities that were still[br]greatly at risk for HIV Aids. 0:18:04.768,0:18:08.244 But there's a sense of which[br]the day of the quilt had been done. 0:18:09.291,0:18:15.114 This headline really kind of gave us[br]more energy to work [br] 0:18:15.114,0:18:17.119 on our digital experiences[br] 0:18:17.119,0:18:20.679 which we had done the design (fiction)[br]and the prototype in 2001. [br] 0:18:20.679,0:18:25.245 By 2006 we had worked for 5 years[br]to try to get funding 0:18:25.245,0:18:29.347 to build these digital experiences[br]and we got no traction. 0:18:29.347,0:18:32.289 We couldn't get any client,[br]we couldn't get any funding, 0:18:32.289,0:18:34.943 we couldn't get any foundation.[br]This was right before 0:18:34.943,0:18:37.808 the NEH, Office of Digital Humanities,[br]starts, [br] 0:18:37.808,0:18:40.124 so it was right before [br]they were poised 0:18:40.124,0:18:43.442 to even receive proposals[br]for this, 0:18:43.442,0:18:47.576 so in 2006 we redoubled our efforts[br]to start looking for funding 0:18:47.576,0:18:51.396 to do these digital experiences[br]or at least one digital experience. 0:18:52.656,0:18:58.051 And in fact what happened was[br]we eventually got a digital start up grant 0:18:58.051,0:19:00.672 from the NEH to build [br]a tangible browser 0:19:00.672,0:19:03.372 for the Aids Memorial Quilt[br]based on the prototype 0:19:03.372,0:19:06.446 that we had done nine years earlier,[br]but this time, 0:19:06.446,0:19:10.954 what had happened in the technology field,[br]is that our, kind of one off, 0:19:10.954,0:19:14.740 interactive table that we had developed,[br]called "the tilty table" 0:19:14.740,0:19:19.484 had given way to some consumer grade[br]interactive pieces of furniture, 0:19:19.484,0:19:23.715 like Microsoft Surface,[br]and IBM, at this point, 0:19:23.715,0:19:28.207 also had an interactive table[br]so we knew we were going to be able to 0:19:28.207,0:19:30.977 do the tangible browser [br]on a different display, 0:19:30.977,0:19:34.063 had technology [inaudible][br]the ones that we had developed. 0:19:35.559,0:19:38.884 So in 2012 and this is where[br]we're going to turn the attention 0:19:38.884,0:19:43.116 to what we built and what we did.[br]In 2012 this is the size 0:19:43.116,0:19:49.075 of the quilt now, 91,000 names[br]plus, it's actually very difficult 0:19:49.075,0:19:52.339 to archive all the names,[br]because some panels 0:19:52.339,0:19:56.410 have literally hundreds of names[br]and it's unclear what the status [br] 0:19:56.410,0:19:58.903 of those names, are they names [br]of people who have died, 0:19:58.903,0:20:02.768 or names of the community[br]members who have made the panel, 0:20:02.768,0:20:05.469 but about 91,000 names [br]they have documented 0:20:05.469,0:20:07.450 of people who are memorialized. 0:20:07.450,0:20:12.613 There are almost 6000 blocks,[br]those are the 12 by 12 foot pieces, 0:20:12.613,0:20:16.276 48,000 panels so you can see [br]that the number of panels 0:20:16.276,0:20:18.723 have kind of slowed, [br]in terms of the production, 0:20:18.723,0:20:24.482 over the last, now, 20 years.[br]It weighs 34 tons. 0:20:25.701,0:20:31.378 34 tons of material culture[br]is stored in a warehouse in Atlanta. 0:20:32.227,0:20:36.886 It is stored in a warehouse[br]next to the headquarters 0:20:36.886,0:20:40.244 of the Names Project Foundation.[br]There are three staff members. 0:20:41.643,0:20:45.504 It continues to circulate,[br]continues to use a wider volunteer labor. 0:20:45.504,0:20:49.450 It is a textile work [br]of material culture. 0:20:49.450,0:20:51.327 It is breaking down. 0:20:52.467,0:20:55.893 Stitches either come unraveled,[br]these were not pieces 0:20:55.893,0:20:59.963 that were done by professional artists,[br]for the most part, 0:20:59.963,0:21:04.412 or by professional quilt makers,[br]so, kind of, the fragility 0:21:04.412,0:21:09.002 of the quilt in the [inaudible][br]is 34 tons is very obvious 0:21:09.002,0:21:11.971 whenever you see it.[br]So what happens is of the 34 tons, 0:21:11.971,0:21:16.993 it is constantly opened up,[br]restitched, so there's a constant 0:21:17.963,0:21:21.800 crew of staff who do nothing [br]but keep the quilt, 0:21:22.600,0:21:24.637 literally, stitched together. 0:21:25.247,0:21:28.254 If it were spread out,[br]it could be spread out, 0:21:28.254,0:21:32.558 in its entirety, it would cover [br]almost 1.3 million square feet. 0:21:32.558,0:21:35.574 That would allow you to have space[br]to walk in between the blocks 0:21:35.574,0:21:38.755 of 47 countries [br]and this is when we started 0:21:38.755,0:21:42.727 really understanding perhaps[br]a way to explore 0:21:42.727,0:21:47.076 what could the digital do[br]that the textile couldn't do, 0:21:47.076,0:21:50.982 which is that it would take you 33 days[br]if you only spent 1 minute 0:21:50.982,0:21:53.896 at each panel to view [br]the entire quilt, 0:21:53.896,0:21:56.366 and there's no way [br]a work of this magnitude 0:21:56.366,0:21:59.192 could ever be on display,[br]one because we don't have big enough 0:21:59.192,0:22:03.018 spaces for it and second of all[br]because of its fragility 0:22:03.018,0:22:05.419 in terms of it being laid out. 0:22:05.825,0:22:06.702 So... 0:22:08.425,0:22:13.403 in 2012 with the funding [br]that came from the NEH 0:22:13.403,0:22:16.310 we embarked on a,[br]what I call, 0:22:16.310,0:22:20.487 a distributed design research project[br]that involved 0:22:20.487,0:22:23.657 digital humanists [br]and cultural technologists. 0:22:25.533,0:22:28.383 It was my group [br]in public interactives research 0:22:28.383,0:22:31.390 at the University of Southern California,[br]the digital studio 0:22:31.390,0:22:34.253 for Arts and Humanities[br]at the University of Iowa, 0:22:34.253,0:22:38.957 Andy van Dam's[br]data visualization group 0:22:38.957,0:22:42.226 at Brown University[br]and then Microsoft Research. 0:22:42.226,0:22:46.867 In contrast to what Donald[br]may have suggested, 0:22:46.867,0:22:50.008 Microsoft Research came in [br]at the eleventh hour 0:22:50.008,0:22:53.632 to provide some displays[br]and funding 0:22:53.632,0:22:56.125 and so I had to really[br]wrestle him to the ground 0:22:56.125,0:22:59.629 to, not only just dump technology[br]on us, but to give us some money 0:22:59.629,0:23:02.214 to pay for people[br]to use the technology. 0:23:02.799,0:23:06.466 I love them and I was very grateful[br]for their help 0:23:06.466,0:23:09.360 but they don't understand [br]that dumping technology 0:23:09.360,0:23:12.547 is not a panacea[br]for doing digital humanities work. 0:23:12.547,0:23:16.220 You have to pay the people.[br]So they did finally [inaudible] 0:23:16.590,0:23:18.700 with some funding,[br]late in the game, 0:23:18.700,0:23:21.706 after many other institutions[br]had come up with 0:23:21.706,0:23:24.611 and contributed extensive[br]pro bono work. 0:23:25.521,0:23:30.372 Here are some of the challenges[br]that we faced in this digital design project. 0:23:31.708,0:23:36.822 Absolutely noisy datasets.[br]We had two datasets to work with. 0:23:36.822,0:23:41.047 The dataset of visual images.[br]We have a visual data set 0:23:41.047,0:23:47.235 of each of the large block images.[br]They are photographed over 25 years 0:23:47.235,0:23:53.038 meaning the earliest images [br]were taken with analogue photography, 0:23:53.038,0:23:56.369 and then they were digitized afterwards.[br]At the level of resolution 0:23:56.369,0:24:03.176 of 25 years it means different[br]images, it's really kind of quite varied. 0:24:04.018,0:24:07.609 So we have a very noisy [br]and inconsistent visual dataset 0:24:07.609,0:24:15.243 of these 58,000 large, or 5800 large,[br]images that are 12 by 12 feet. 0:24:16.063,0:24:18.457 The metadata set is very noisy[br]as well 0:24:18.457,0:24:22.410 because, again, 25 years [br]of accessioning, 0:24:22.410,0:24:26.392 some people were entered [br]in with nicknames only, 0:24:26.392,0:24:29.450 some people were entered in[br]with full names, 0:24:29.450,0:24:31.618 some people were entered in[br]with their nicknames 0:24:31.618,0:24:36.084 in quotation marks.[br]So the metadata and the visual images 0:24:37.154,0:24:41.243 were challenging datasets[br]and they were not integrated. 0:24:41.243,0:24:46.326 So you couldn't search the metadata[br]for the demographic information 0:24:46.326,0:24:50.249 and get to a panel or get to a block[br]and you couldn't search the panels 0:24:50.249,0:24:53.696 and the blocks to get to the metadata.[br]So one of the very first things 0:24:53.696,0:24:55.946 we had to do was to get [br]in under the hood 0:24:55.946,0:24:58.057 to look at these datasets[br]and figure out[br] 0:24:58.057,0:25:01.263 how we could clean them up[br]to make them useable. 0:25:04.224,0:25:09.035 And then there's a whole other[br]project about the lack 0:25:09.035,0:25:13.715 of digital tracking,[br]for example, these 5800 blocks 0:25:13.715,0:25:17.786 do not have QR codes[br]or any kind of bar coding on them. 0:25:17.786,0:25:22.035 They have a magic marker[br]number for the block number 0:25:22.035,0:25:26.549 on the actual quilt panel[br]which makes inventorying 0:25:26.549,0:25:31.389 the 34 tons of textile material[br]very difficult. 0:25:35.569,0:25:39.398 So we were able, [br]because we had some funding, 0:25:39.398,0:25:42.449 to come back to the Names Project,[br]they allowed us to use these datasets 0:25:42.449,0:25:45.658 and start getting into the project[br]of cleaning up the datasets, 0:25:45.658,0:25:49.034 both to help them[br]and to service the project. 0:25:49.034,0:25:53.593 The work that I'm doing now,[br]the reflective work, 0:25:53.593,0:25:56.516 is talking about this project[br]as an experiment 0:25:56.516,0:26:00.873 in designing culture[br]and exploring two concepts: 0:26:00.873,0:26:04.659 The poetics of interactivity[br]and the architecture of public intimacy 0:26:04.659,0:26:08.919 and how the design of these particular[br]digital experiences 0:26:08.919,0:26:14.715 kind of work out these two constructs,[br]that I think are central to discourses 0:26:14.715,0:26:17.757 and conversations [br]about digital humanities. 0:26:18.551,0:26:20.344 So I'm going to talk [br]a little bit about 0:26:20.344,0:26:22.312 the three interactive experiences[br]that we built 0:26:22.312,0:26:27.718 for the last display[br]of the quilt in Washington. 0:26:29.461,0:26:35.566 This happened in summer of 2012.[br]It was a six week event 0:26:35.566,0:26:37.883 called Quilt in the Capital. 0:26:38.744,0:26:41.893 I think I have slide about this...[br]no skipped it.. 0:26:42.676,0:26:46.954 So the quilt was first put out[br]as part of the 4 day 0:26:48.477,0:26:51.958 Folk Life Festival[br]sponsored by The Smithsonian. 0:26:51.958,0:26:55.285 Then the quilt was, quilt blocks,[br]were distributed 0:26:55.285,0:26:58.360 to about 50 venues[br]throughout the capital, 0:26:58.360,0:27:02.722 in the intervening 3 weeks.[br]And then to coincide 0:27:02.722,0:27:08.209 with the International [br]Conference on Aids, 0:27:08.209,0:27:10.483 which was happening[br]in Washington DC 0:27:10.483,0:27:15.808 for the first time, [br]since the Bush regime. 0:27:17.397,0:27:22.434 We attempted to lay out the quilt again[br]on the mall of Washington 0:27:22.434,0:27:27.565 and that ended up not happening[br]because, you guys probably remember this, 0:27:27.565,0:27:32.500 summer of 2012, I mean[br]there was everything except an earthquake. 0:27:32.500,0:27:34.804 I mean we had floods, we had hurricanes,[br]we had tornadoes, 0:27:34.804,0:27:41.084 I mean it was the worst possible summer.[br]It was 106 degrees in the shade 0:27:41.084,0:27:45.513 and the humidity was through the roof[br]and the days we were supposed to lay 0:27:45.513,0:27:48.651 this out on the mall[br]it rained every single day. 0:27:49.649,0:27:53.600 So the quilt, the physical quilt itself,[br]that was it's moment, 0:27:53.600,0:27:56.213 it will never go out again[br]in public. 0:27:56.213,0:27:59.832 If it was going to happen[br]it would have happened in summer 2012 0:27:59.832,0:28:03.298 and we just, we literally got[br]to the end of the logistics 0:28:03.298,0:28:06.100 that could make that happen,[br]we now understand. [br] 0:28:07.192,0:28:10.928 So for a good portion of the 6 weeks[br]that the quilt was in the capital, 0:28:10.928,0:28:15.260 the digital experiences were the only [br]access to the Aids Memorial Quilt. 0:28:16.137,0:28:19.975 The quilt was there.[br]If we could find a panel 0:28:19.975,0:28:23.040 and the panel maker came in,[br]we would bring the panel out 0:28:23.040,0:28:25.742 and we would lay it out[br]in our tent that we had 0:28:25.742,0:28:28.670 and we ended up turning[br]these digital experiences, 0:28:28.670,0:28:31.970 which were meant to augment[br]viewing of the textile quilt, 0:28:31.970,0:28:35.846 we ended up turning them [br]into a media system 0:28:35.846,0:28:37.494 for quilt archaeology. 0:28:37.494,0:28:40.744 People would come in and say[br]"My uncle Steve has a panel" 0:28:40.744,0:28:43.483 and we're like[br]Ok what's Steve's last name? 0:28:43.483,0:28:49.346 When did he die etc and it was through [br]the interactive experience 0:28:49.346,0:28:52.865 and I'll show you some facsimiles[br]of these, that we would help people 0:28:52.865,0:28:56.165 get to the actual panel[br]and then work backwards 0:28:56.165,0:28:58.813 to getting to the block[br]and then work backwards 0:28:58.813,0:29:02.843 to where in all the cargo containers[br]that were along the mall 0:29:02.843,0:29:07.164 might that panel be stored[br]so we can bring the panel, 0:29:08.214,0:29:10.389 or bring the block out[br]to show people. 0:29:10.389,0:29:13.026 Who had traveled from Alaska,[br]Texas and so on 0:29:13.026,0:29:15.061 to see these panels. 0:29:17.523,0:29:20.477 We ended up building the three[br]interactives, 0:29:20.477,0:29:23.500 I can't show you this one,[br]I'll show you a facsimile of this, 0:29:23.500,0:29:26.266 so we did use Microsoft,[br]what was then called Surface, 0:29:29.066,0:29:33.360 interactive table top browser[br]to create a searchable 0:29:33.360,0:29:37.282 and, kind of, viewable 0:29:38.854,0:29:42.864 interaction, interactive experience[br]where you could view the quilt 0:29:42.864,0:29:45.199 from different levels[br]of altitude. 0:29:46.219,0:29:48.833 These were the tables in the tent. 0:29:49.120,0:29:51.558 The team, the docent team. 0:29:51.558,0:29:54.526 We didn't do any formal[br]user research 0:29:54.526,0:29:56.757 because that was not really the point[br]of this project 0:29:56.757,0:30:00.231 but people came, they looked,[br]they watched, they searched, 0:30:00.231,0:30:04.245 they stayed for a half hour,[br]an hour at a time 0:30:04.245,0:30:07.746 and again we ended up doing[br]these things called quilt archaeology 0:30:07.746,0:30:09.721 working in one question[br]and experience 0:30:09.721,0:30:12.212 would lead to another[br]to another. 0:30:15.369,0:30:17.977 There was a list of names[br]that you could browse. 0:30:17.977,0:30:20.170 You could browse by image,[br]you could browse by name, 0:30:20.170,0:30:23.130 you could get metadata, you could [br]go between selecting the panel 0:30:23.130,0:30:25.633 and get the metadata [br]associated with that. 0:30:25.633,0:30:27.884 If you were to browse [br]the list of names, 0:30:27.884,0:30:31.535 it took 500 screens,[br]to browse, 0:30:31.535,0:30:34.342 so there were some browsing techniques[br]to get you able to shorthand. 0:30:37.344,0:30:39.396 We asked the question,[br]we were interested in, 0:30:39.396,0:30:42.208 what is the, what's the equivalent[br]of a digital rubbing 0:30:42.208,0:30:45.064 for a digital memorial? 0:30:45.804,0:30:50.001 We know that, certainly in the context[br]of the national mall,[br] 0:30:50.001,0:30:53.155 that a lot of the way [br]in which people interact, 0:30:53.155,0:30:57.067 with the marble[br]and the carved pieces and so on 0:30:57.067,0:30:59.843 and this was an unexpected,[br]kind of, 0:31:02.027,0:31:06.236 practice that we noted,[br]that people would find the panel 0:31:06.236,0:31:09.623 and then they would take a digital image[br]of people at the table of the panel 0:31:09.623,0:31:13.890 and so there was something,[br]again, to be explored here, 0:31:13.890,0:31:17.926 kind of how, the digital enables[br]people to be witnesses 0:31:17.926,0:31:20.707 and to be present at a moment in time. 0:31:21.846,0:31:27.133 Some amazing and very unusual[br]stories were evoked by this. 0:31:28.003,0:31:32.754 This is a panel for a young man[br]named Chris Parcell 0:31:32.754,0:31:36.970 and he died in 1990,[br]but in 1989, 0:31:38.969,0:31:42.306 a photojournalist named Billy Howard,[br]had done a book, 0:31:42.306,0:31:45.516 a photojournalist book [br]with some entries 0:31:45.516,0:31:49.517 on men who were diagnosed[br]as HIV positive 0:31:49.517,0:31:53.558 who were in the Castro district[br]and Billy was coming over 0:31:53.558,0:31:57.841 and he said I'd like to look up[br]the people who are in my book. 0:31:57.841,0:32:00.842 And so we were looking up the various[br]names, about 50 names in the book, 0:32:00.842,0:32:04.472 and 50 photographs[br]and Billy hadn't realized that 0:32:04.472,0:32:13.741 Chris' panel was a quilted version[br]of the photograph that Billy had taken 0:32:13.741,0:32:19.307 of Chris and it included[br]the clothes that Chris was wearing 0:32:19.307,0:32:23.678 in the photograph.[br]So those kinds of stories 0:32:23.678,0:32:27.118 that we wouldn't have seen otherwise[br] 0:32:27.118,0:32:29.008 because we wouldn't have been able[br]to have a mechanism 0:32:29.008,0:32:32.819 to get in and browse so precisely. 0:32:34.184,0:32:37.470 Some of the unexpected encounters[br] 0:32:38.510,0:32:41.656 and what we also realized, [br]of course, in doing this work, 0:32:41.656,0:32:45.168 unlike many of the other digital pieces[br]I've been involved with, 0:32:46.458,0:32:51.912 it's very much about using the digital[br]to be present with people 0:32:51.912,0:32:55.584 as they were remembering things[br]and to be a part of the witnessing 0:32:56.624,0:32:58.906 of the, kind of, cultural memories. 0:33:00.671,0:33:04.238 Second project that we did,[br]that is kind of on and off, 0:33:04.238,0:33:08.103 in terms of whether or not [br]it's still available on Microsoft's site, 0:33:08.103,0:33:12.506 because we used a new [br]Microsoft program called Chronozoom 0:33:12.506,0:33:16.803 to create an interactive[br]timeline of the history 0:33:16.803,0:33:21.247 of HIV Aids, that research[br]and those stories, 0:33:21.247,0:33:25.508 and that kind of interactive[br]timeline about the history of the quilt. 0:33:26.769,0:33:31.966 This was a very interesting opportunity[br]for me to get involved 0:33:31.966,0:33:38.647 and deep in discussions[br]with researchers at Microsoft about 0:33:39.917,0:33:42.664 some of the nuances [br]of historiography 0:33:42.664,0:33:47.750 and, like, this is so wrong[br]on so many counts, 0:33:47.750,0:33:51.012 that this Chronozoom[br]is so wrong 0:33:51.012,0:33:54.578 because it really is well suited[br]to telling the stories 0:33:54.578,0:33:59.744 of epics and epochs [br]and geologic times and so on, 0:33:59.744,0:34:02.586 such that it ended up making AIDS seem[br]like an eyeblink 0:34:02.586,0:34:04.992 in the history of humanity. 0:34:04.992,0:34:07.616 And I'm like we'll do it,[br]but I'm not happy about doing it 0:34:08.436,0:34:10.248 and I'm going to show you why. 0:34:10.803,0:34:14.636 It's because every time you turn around,[br]you can zoom out so quickly 0:34:14.636,0:34:19.740 to the geologic time frame that anything [br]that has to do with humanities 0:34:19.740,0:34:21.735 seems absolutely insignificant. 0:34:22.157,0:34:25.905 So helping them understand that[br]perhaps they needed some breaks 0:34:25.905,0:34:29.316 on those zooming capacities[br]on different timelines. 0:34:30.988,0:34:34.200 We had interesting discussions about 0:34:35.080,0:34:36.521 how one writes history. 0:34:37.631,0:34:42.858 Aids Quilt Touch.[br]This was probably our most successful, 0:34:42.858,0:34:45.997 kind of unintended consequence.[br]Very late in the day 0:34:45.997,0:34:49.763 the Digital Studio [br]for the Public Humanities at Iowa 0:34:49.763,0:34:52.178 said you know, [br]you need a mobile web app, 0:34:52.178,0:34:54.330 everyone's going to show up[br]at the mall 0:34:54.330,0:34:56.937 and they're going to want to know[br]where on the google map 0:34:56.937,0:35:00.017 is the panel that they're looking for[br]and we're like, 0:35:00.017,0:35:03.339 wow, we don't have any funding to do that[br]and the Iowa team said we'll do it. 0:35:04.481,0:35:08.279 And so in about 4 weeks[br]they built a very robust 0:35:08.279,0:35:10.168 mobile web app[br]that is still up 0:35:10.168,0:35:12.202 and available[br]and I'll show you that. 0:35:12.202,0:35:16.260 So I'd like to show you[br]just a few of the experiences here. 0:35:17.783,0:35:19.536 Let me start with.. 0:35:21.789,0:35:24.632 let me start with this one.[br]So this will give you a sense 0:35:24.632,0:35:27.034 of what you could do,[br]this is what I mean by 0:35:27.034,0:35:33.607 the poetics of interactivity.[br]So this is a virtual image 0:35:33.607,0:35:38.748 of 1.3 million square feet,[br]almost 6000 12 by 12 blocks. 0:35:40.517,0:35:43.247 There's no scale markers on here. 0:35:43.247,0:35:45.885 This is also the first time[br]when we did this, 0:35:45.885,0:35:49.659 this is the first time,[br]that the quilt block panels 0:35:49.659,0:35:52.011 were laid out[br]in chronological order. 0:35:52.747,0:36:00.037 So that means that they're [br]by accessioning numbers, 0001, 0002.. 0:36:00.037,0:36:03.996 it doesn't entirely correspond[br]to the chronology 0:36:03.996,0:36:06.905 of when the panels were created[br]because also what we learned 0:36:06.905,0:36:10.823 is that people hold onto the panels[br]until they're ready to let go. 0:36:11.539,0:36:15.245 And so down here you may have panels[br]that were created 25 years ago 0:36:15.245,0:36:19.314 that would have been up there[br]but weren't submitted at the same age 0:36:19.314,0:36:21.085 but at least for the way [br]in which the panels 0:36:21.085,0:36:24.167 were brought to the Names Project,[br]stitched into the blocks 0:36:24.167,0:36:27.238 and then accessioned,[br]this is a historical document. 0:36:29.554,0:36:32.080 And a document where you can[br]start to see the difference 0:36:32.080,0:36:35.257 in resolution.[br]So at the table 0:36:35.257,0:36:39.018 that you were at in, [br]one of the surface, 0:36:39.018,0:36:41.703 you would be able to do this kind[br]of zooming 0:36:41.703,0:36:46.093 just by gesture-based[br]and it's pretty fast, 0:36:46.093,0:36:49.163 it's pretty fast,[br]you could pan, 0:36:53.361,0:36:58.223 you could pan across,[br]zoom in at different altitudes 0:37:00.115,0:37:04.547 to the point where you would[br]get to a resolution 0:37:04.547,0:37:06.816 focused on a singular panel. 0:37:09.036,0:37:14.499 This project, to create that very smooth,[br]kind of, zooming from different altitudes 0:37:14.499,0:37:19.561 of viewing brought the computers[br]to its knees. 0:37:20.217,0:37:23.845 This was the Brown group[br]working furiously 0:37:23.845,0:37:27.276 to make a Microsoft [br]deep zoom application 0:37:27.276,0:37:32.240 able to handle the size[br]of the images. 0:37:32.240,0:37:34.223 Because this is 1.3 million[br]square feet. 0:37:34.223,0:37:36.706 This is not, so there[br]were different kinds of hacks 0:37:36.706,0:37:39.277 and work arounds[br]and stuff like that. 0:37:40.082,0:37:42.279 We really had the best [br]thinkers... 0:37:43.836,0:37:47.032 So at the table, [br]you would have been able to, 0:37:47.032,0:37:50.217 with gestures zoom in and out[br]to different altitudes, 0:37:50.217,0:37:53.558 you could pan around,[br]you could start to see patterns and so on, 0:37:53.558,0:37:56.439 but if you were at the table[br]you would be able to click 0:37:56.439,0:37:58.629 on a particular panel [br]and then get the metadata 0:37:58.629,0:38:02.122 for that panel[br]so you were able to go from, 0:38:02.122,0:38:05.705 and this is one of the examples of what [br]I mean by poetics of interactivity. 0:38:05.705,0:38:09.262 This is something the digital[br]could do that wasn't able to be done 0:38:09.405,0:38:11.652 on the textile[br]which is that you could zoom 0:38:11.652,0:38:18.896 from the, most, bird's eye view[br]of these large displays at this scale, 0:38:18.896,0:38:23.104 down to the 3 by 5, [br]3 by 6 panel. 0:38:23.104,0:38:25.398 To give you, kind of, a sense[br]of the oscillation 0:38:25.398,0:38:27.591 between the personal [br]and the cultural. 0:38:28.580,0:38:32.427 The significance of Aids[br]is certainly about every name 0:38:32.427,0:38:35.316 that's on the panel,[br]the most intimate 0:38:35.316,0:38:40.387 and the most, literally,[br]kind of, signature experience. 0:38:40.958,0:38:44.357 But for us, culturally, [br]the impact of HIV Aids 0:38:44.357,0:38:48.627 is arrayed by this,[br]apprehending this scale of the image 0:38:48.627,0:38:51.988 and that table,[br]that interactive table 0:38:51.988,0:38:55.706 enabled people, literally, [br]to go very seamlessly 0:38:55.706,0:39:01.630 from the individual signature name [br]to the sense of the scale of the project. 0:39:03.983,0:39:06.992 I'll just show you [br]the Aids Quilt Touch. 0:39:06.992,0:39:10.212 So this is still up and running[br]although it's definitely, 0:39:10.212,0:39:14.806 it's not even in beta, [br]some of the things that we did 0:39:14.806,0:39:19.132 and this is, kind of, the going in point,[br]we were interested in 0:39:19.132,0:39:24.318 being able to map for people[br]where a particular 0:39:28.692,0:39:31.914 where a particular panel[br]is going to be located on the mall 0:39:31.914,0:39:34.722 so it's really a google map [br]mash up. 0:39:36.738,0:39:38.404 (brief silence) 0:39:50.547,0:39:52.603 And so this is what I mean[br]when I say the database 0:39:52.603,0:39:55.382 was really noisy,[br]this is what we have: 0:39:55.382,0:39:58.907 We have "Bambi" for an entry[br]without really reliable 0:39:58.907,0:40:02.588 secondary metadata[br]so the kind of things we have to do 0:40:02.588,0:40:06.536 to clean up this database,[br]requires going back 0:40:06.536,0:40:08.746 into the physical archives. 0:40:09.891,0:40:11.400 (brief silence) 0:40:23.180,0:40:27.180 Anyway, so there is kind of a mash up[br]of where the displays are. 0:40:27.180,0:40:33.712 And then this was the first time[br]that the Names Project Foundation 0:40:33.712,0:40:37.050 had any sort of digital guest book.[br] 0:40:39.027,0:40:45.291 So what we invited,[br]what we invited people to do, 0:40:45.291,0:40:49.358 so here was something that was,[br]...a year after, 0:40:50.773,0:40:53.640 this was a celebration[br]for this person 0:40:53.640,0:40:58.961 and it's submitted by somebody [br]named by David Julio 0:40:58.961,0:41:02.509 and it's a testimony to somebody, [br]his friend named Michael, 0:41:02.509,0:41:06.192 who was an important part [br]of his life in 1979. 0:41:06.192,0:41:10.888 So this is now the first time[br]that the Names Project 0:41:10.888,0:41:15.045 had the capacity to invite people[br]to submit anything 0:41:15.045,0:41:20.649 from simple memorials to stories.[br]This is what we are now hoping to do 0:41:20.649,0:41:22.331 in the next phase of the project[br]which is to create 0:41:22.331,0:41:25.201 a much more multi media rich[br]and multi modal 0:41:25.201,0:41:31.489 kind of story, story engine [br]or story accessing engine. 0:41:34.419,0:41:38.151 And building off of the notion[br]that you could celebrate 0:41:38.151,0:41:41.320 individual people,[br]you could share your thoughts 0:41:41.320,0:41:46.193 about the quilt itself[br]and there were certainly 0:41:46.193,0:41:47.977 a number of... 0:41:51.327,0:41:55.425 a number of contributions[br]from people saying 0:41:55.425,0:41:57.566 I had no idea the quilt was so big[br]so people who didn't have experience 0:41:57.566,0:42:00.736 with a particular name[br]but was talking about 0:42:00.736,0:42:03.120 the significance of the quilt. 0:42:04.046,0:42:08.987 So I'm just going to talk about[br]two other, maybe more wonky, things, 0:42:08.987,0:42:11.707 that digital humanists in the room[br]will understand and appreciate. 0:42:13.848,0:42:15.970 So one of the struggles [br]that we had 0:42:15.970,0:42:21.982 was we only have images[br]of the 12 by 12 foot blocks. 0:42:21.982,0:42:25.367 We don't have images[br]of the individual panels. 0:42:25.367,0:42:30.190 They didn't decide to do that imaging,[br]they only imaged the block. 0:42:30.190,0:42:32.591 But for researching [br]and for searching 0:42:32.591,0:42:35.146 we would really like to be able[br]to get people 0:42:35.146,0:42:42.182 to return all the panels[br]for a particular name 0:42:42.182,0:42:45.817 or we would like to do parameter[br]based searching, 0:42:45.817,0:42:49.545 like I would like to know[br]How many panels are submitted 0:42:49.545,0:42:54.220 on behalf of people who died[br]who have my birth date 0:42:54.220,0:42:57.765 so that I can understand[br]who's my cohort 0:42:57.765,0:43:02.293 on the quilt and their children,[br]what year they died and so on. 0:43:02.293,0:43:07.156 I'm actually in the middle[br]of the demographics 0:43:07.156,0:43:09.537 in terms of who was susceptible to this. 0:43:11.669,0:43:16.518 So we did community sourcing[br]application, very down and dirty, 0:43:16.518,0:43:19.375 that just puts a block[br]on the screen 0:43:19.375,0:43:24.597 and then asks you to click[br]on the number 0:43:24.597,0:43:29.815 that is most closely[br]at the center of an individual panel 0:43:29.815,0:43:35.383 and then we also ask people[br]does this image need to be cropped? 0:43:35.383,0:43:38.127 Which this one does...[br]so I'm going to say yes, 0:43:38.127,0:43:40.627 it's a little kind of ugly there[br]and then you submit 0:43:40.627,0:43:43.194 the block layout.[br]So what we're doing, 0:43:43.194,0:43:47.263 we're almost near the end[br]of going through all the blocks, 0:43:47.263,0:43:53.179 times 3 to get inter...reliability,[br]inter reliability, 0:43:53.179,0:43:55.601 so that now we know[br]where on a block, 0:43:55.601,0:43:58.930 is the location [br]of an individual panel. 0:43:58.930,0:44:03.296 Because there are actually 32[br]different permutations 0:44:03.296,0:44:10.624 of 8 panels for each block,[br]some blocks are all 1 panel, 12 by 12. 0:44:10.624,0:44:13.699 This was one where Andy and Dan[br]said you should be able to do this 0:44:13.699,0:44:18.230 algorithmically and Andy said to us,[br]you're better off with human eyeballs. 0:44:18.230,0:44:22.609 And it has to do with [br]the imprecision of the colors, 0:44:22.609,0:44:28.454 because we have such,[br]the capacity to really discern, 0:44:28.454,0:44:32.619 to make distinctions between textile,[br]even in bad resolution images. 0:44:33.557,0:44:36.802 So what we're aiming for,[br]and this is another thing 0:44:36.802,0:44:40.129 we've got in beta,[br]we're aiming for, 0:44:41.429,0:44:44.762 again we've got the proof of concept[br]for the ability 0:44:44.762,0:44:48.904 to recreate the virtual quilt,[br]not for presentation and display, 0:44:48.904,0:44:52.402 but for research so you can do [br]parameter based searching 0:44:52.402,0:44:55.216 and get a collection [br]of the quilt panels 0:44:55.216,0:44:57.849 that represent the parameters.[br]So like I just typed in 0:44:58.959,0:45:02.957 "creation date 1992",[br]so this would be the collection 0:45:02.957,0:45:08.455 of panels,[br]this is a sample data set, 0:45:08.455,0:45:12.278 but the collection of panels[br]that were submitted in 1992. 0:45:13.721,0:45:14.501 Take that out... 0:45:15.553,0:45:18.728 We know that people [br]want to do things like 0:45:20.604,0:45:25.953 panels, where are the panels submitted[br]associated with a particular city, 0:45:25.953,0:45:28.424 zipcode, things like that. 0:45:29.134,0:45:31.885 I think this is going to be [br]a very interesting 0:45:31.885,0:45:37.147 set of research capabilities[br]when we can get this done 0:45:37.147,0:45:40.564 because there is so many interesting,[br]so many interesting patterns 0:45:41.794,0:45:44.861 that we can now start to see[br]in the quilt, 0:45:44.861,0:45:48.281 including quilting patterns[br]which we're connecting 0:45:48.281,0:45:50.350 up with the people [br]at Michigan State University 0:45:50.350,0:45:54.695 who do the quilt index.[br]So to also put the quilt 0:45:54.695,0:45:59.371 into yet another context,[br]which is a folkal part context. 0:46:00.441,0:46:05.520 It is one of the largest pieces of quilt[br]folk art in the history of the world 0:46:05.520,0:46:07.220 as far as we know. 0:46:07.870,0:46:11.032 So it would be a way,[br]this kind of capacity, 0:46:11.032,0:46:13.924 it would be a way in which we would[br]enable the datasets 0:46:15.034,0:46:18.199 to be searchable for cultural [br]questions, 0:46:18.199,0:46:21.900 not data analytical questions [br]and so I use this as an example 0:46:21.900,0:46:24.103 of what I mean when I say[br]"cultural analytics". 0:46:24.813,0:46:29.814 That it's about searching for patterns[br]that the data by itself can't reveal. 0:46:29.814,0:46:34.042 That if I just had access[br]to one set or the other 0:46:34.042,0:46:36.102 I wouldn't be able to get at them,[br]I can only get them 0:46:36.102,0:46:38.816 if I can do something different[br]with the data. 0:46:40.989,0:46:46.096 That is, those are our examples. [br]I'm not going to show Chronozoom 0:46:46.096,0:46:48.049 because Chronozoom[br]is down right now. 0:46:51.718,0:46:56.152 I think the lessons learned here[br]were that it literally, 0:46:57.682,0:47:01.501 it literally takes a village,[br]or rather, this to me was an example 0:47:01.501,0:47:05.084 of the thing, the construct[br]I've been working on, 0:47:05.084,0:47:07.318 this is something[br]you guys were starting to talk about, 0:47:08.298,0:47:10.928 the construct of a, kind of, [br]big humanities project, 0:47:10.928,0:47:15.598 like the big science project[br]that enabled us 0:47:15.598,0:47:17.629 to do the [inaudible] sequencing. 0:47:18.136,0:47:23.165 This is the kind of cultural[br]phenomena that cannot be done 0:47:23.165,0:47:27.098 by any single institution. [br]It's 34 tons. 0:47:27.098,0:47:30.529 The Smithsonian can't take it,[br]the Library of Congress, 0:47:30.529,0:47:35.505 is literally daunted by this,[br]so we've got to think about 0:47:35.505,0:47:39.249 an entirely different way[br]of archiving the physical pieces, 0:47:39.249,0:47:43.239 thinking about the role of the digital[br]and maintaining the integrity 0:47:44.079,0:47:45.549 of the physical archive. 0:47:45.549,0:47:49.714 We're talking about shifting from,[br]you know, putting it somewhere 0:47:49.714,0:47:53.829 permanently, to repatriating the quilt,[br]and putting the quilt 0:47:53.829,0:47:59.096 back to the cultural institutions[br]that are already vested in the project 0:47:59.096,0:48:04.745 of keeping the memory of HIV Aids, [br]gay and lesbian history alive. 0:48:05.345,0:48:10.483 So repatriating the physical quilt[br]and using the digital platforms 0:48:10.483,0:48:13.974 to do the work[br]of maintaining the integrity. 0:48:13.974,0:48:16.171 So we're just starting[br]to have these conversations 0:48:16.171,0:48:19.929 between the Names Project Foundation[br]and the Library of Congress 0:48:19.929,0:48:23.024 to try to understand [br]what's the mechanisms 0:48:23.024,0:48:24.576 for doing this. 0:48:26.260,0:48:29.446 So I use it as an example[br]of a big digital humanities project. 0:48:29.446,0:48:34.384 It's too big for any single institution[br]or any single set of researchers 0:48:35.654,0:48:37.385 and what it means[br]is it's more of a consortium 0:48:37.385,0:48:41.104 or a collaboration model[br]that divides the labor. 0:48:43.009,0:48:44.809 So thank you. [br]I think that's my time.