SII199Y: Computational Reality, Illusion and Deception
Project
Due: 11:59pm Thursday 7 April 2011
Late policy: The project will receive a 0% late penalty until 11:59pm, 21 April 2011, after which the usual late penalties will apply.
Submission process: submit your work when done to
me
This course has touched on many topics related to computational
reality, including the science and technology of computer graphics,
human perception and illusion, neuroscience, simulation, computer systems,
content creation, virtual environments, the uncanny valley, social networks,
and mass media.
In this project you will bring as many of these concepts together as needed
to express your own point of view regarding the future.
It is April, 2061. Over the past fifty years, human society will
have absorbed profound technological changes, and one of those
technological areas of change is "computational reality".
Whether or not you feel people and society will also have profoundly
changed is the topic of your project. More specifically, the goal of
your project is to put together the issues we have considered in this
course, and to imagine how an individual in 2061 of about your age
now could well perceive, think and operate in his or her world, and
how this person might be different from you. As you form your view
of the future, the individual's actions and thoughts, and the society
in which he or she lives, will need to be plausible, justifiable and
related to the topics discussed in our course.
Here we go.
First, imagine a specific person living in that world who is to be
your protagonist. Write a brief biography of this character.
Then write a short story involving this character and some issues of
your choice that he or she confronts. The plot is totally up to you,
but as you write, be sure to populate your story with references to
computational reality that will help to tell a persuasive story about
the pervasiveness (or not) of this technology in everyday activity.
Your story could comprise a set of mundane events that taken together
illustrate the kind of world in which the protagonist lives.
It could instead be a single cathartic event that triggers some
kind of revealing crisis. It could be a description of a "day
in the life" of the protagonist. The society in which all this
takes place could a utopia, a dystopia, or something in between.
These choices are all yours to make.
Lastly, analyse your own story, indicating the themes you wanted
to bring out, and justifying the setting, plot and character(s)
in your story in terms of topics we have covered in this course.
You are welcome in your analysis to draw attention to other sources
such as films, books, non-fiction or animations you have seen
to support your story, but please make the story your own work.
How is your protagonist different from you? How is the protagonist's
society different from yours?
The entire project should not exceed 20 double-spaced pages.
Your grade will not be based on the literary quality of your writing,
but I will be looking for the thoroughness, quality, creativity and
cohesiveness of your thoughts on the implications of "computational
reality" on the people and society of fifty years from now.