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Archive for the 'Culture' Category

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Society is asking for more dialogue with culture.

zooom is an answer to the approachment between art and society today, to make them meet again and have a discussion by means of digital technologies and information. Thanks to them cultural centers and museums can offer to their visitors richer experiences and a more stimulating and creative pedagogy of art. So adults and mainly younger generations can understand and experience closer the work of an artist, an epoch or a collection, using technology that is familiar and indispensable in their lives. Today understand and admire art means interact with it, not only contemplate. This meeting point is like a neutral space where technology plays the role of intermediary.

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What is zooom?

zooom zooom is an interactive customizable installation, with the help of which any pedagogical activity in a museum can be made.

We come to a museum. We come to visit an exhibition. We go watching paintings. We observe them, we are moved by one in particular, we interpret them and we are surprised by their techniques. Or, on the contrary, we are disillusioned, disappointed. Perhaps we are accompanied by our small children and they follow us bored waiting for the end of this torture. Perhaps parents are able to encourage them with imagination and patience.

The thing is that at the end of the route we find a wall with interactive magnetic pieces placed on an iron board and a video camera in front. When moving them towards the center, a detail of a previously seen painting immediately appears in a big projection. Somebody approaches another piece to the center and we listen immediately to a music that transfers us to the epoch of the painting. A child comes closer attracted by images and sounds, moves another piece towards the center and begins to turn it like a button to raise volume, thus increasing the size of the photo. He smiles satisfied. We are all absorbed by what is happening: the precious jewel, that is the protagonist of the photo, turns into two abstract brushstrokes.

We change piece “photo” for another one, thus appears a black and white video of the artist creating the painting that has touched us before. Another hand acts and with the piece “show through” mixes the video with the photo below, so that we start experimenting with infinite possibilities of multimedia. Afterwards another piece makes the last brushstroke by making a photo (screen shot) of the result of our interaction, and we can take it home in our pendrive. Music, photos, videos, texts, animations in 2D and 3D, make transparent, colour, saturate, speed up, etc, everything is possible in zooom in order to experiment art. We leave the exhibition and feel richer, we learned, we enjoyed all of us, the big and the younger ones.

zooom is an application created in order that visitors of a museum could not only contemplate the exhibited works, but also interact with them and connect with artist. Based on augmented reality technology, the application is designed in order that any educator or professional of an education department of a museum could easily customize any pedagogical activities.

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What is zooom useful for?

+ For educator and group (young or adult) so that they could participate in an active, funny and stimulating way while working a pedagogical activity in a museum. With zooom we achieve better comprehension by experiencing with the proper palette and paintbrushes of an artist.

+ With zooom the education department of a museum can customize its own interactive pedagogical activity about an exhibition or the collection of a gallery. They can add images of a painting in order to discuss details or to show different periods of the painter, they can include videos to support an explanation, they can choose music that makes reference to a time or circumstance, can include texts that support a concept or can work with animations in 2D or 3D. For example if we want to work on the blue and pink periods of Picasso, with zooom we could play-experiment with shades of the painting and add music that seems more appropriate to us. With Mondrian we could be adding part by part the figures of basic colors and thus achieve different geometric compositions. With zooom we could discover that what looks real turns out to be only a brushstroke, by increasing or decreasing a detail of a Monet’s painting. Or by our own interaction we could get an impressionist, expressionist or abstract result.

+ zooom invites, after visiting an exhibition, to experiment individually or in group what we saw and learned. The result of the interaction with zooom can be taken in a pendrive as a screen shot in order to continue working on it in class or at home by editing or framing them.

+ zooom can be used with or without educator

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How does zooom work?


zooom
is based on the “augmented reality” technology. The user can include/customize, by means of a software, photos, videos, texts, music and animations that are necessary to create an activity. Each multimedia element, photo, music or others, is turned into an icon. Once you print the icon on a piece, it will be recognized by the camera when it is exposed in front of her. Once the video camera detects the icon, it sends a signal to the computer so that it calls to the related image and projects it. Same way with each piece.

There can be all necessary pieces created for “photo”, “video”, “music”, “text” or “animation”, but it is necessary to take into consideration the surface on which we will work with them all. As regards to Hardware, it is required a projector, a video camera and a computer with sufficient memory capacity in order that all multimedia elements could interrelate fluently.

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We test zooom

“ZOOOM” PROTOTYPE IN “POU D’ART” GALLERY IN SANT CUGAT.

We are testing zooom in an art gallery in Sant Cugat (Barcelona). Angel Herraiz, member of Utani, is exhibiting his paintings in the gallery; these we will use to work with zooom. Pupils of primary and secondary education, who came to the gallery, will first study the symbols that are presented in the paintings. In this particular case, they will discover that all paintings are still life that will soon return to life when arriving at zooom. Here in zooom each spectator will become a creator with the elements gathered from all paintings of the artist, and will get his/hers own results of the interaction. They can also take away a screen shot of their own creation.

Here are some examples of the results which users of zooom created and taken away in their pendrives:

zooomresultados.jpg Vídeos of zooom:

Demo of how it works

workshop with children

Results of interaction with zooom

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El pasado 18 de Marzo, Utani estuvo presente en Expodidáctica con sus dos proyectos MESOSFERA y ANIMO. Además de ser la ocasión para presentarlos oficialmente, tuvimos el grato placer de recibir para nuestra Mesosfera el primer premio al producto pedagógico más innovador.
Además participamos en un taller ANIMO en el espacio del Museo Maritim y tuvimos la ocasión de explicar Mesosfera en las jornadas DIM organizadas por Pere Marqués (desde aquí gracias pere por la invitación).

seguimos….

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ANIMO en el CCCB

EducationCulture  21/10/09

ANIMO: comunicación en familia y trabajo en equipo.

El pasado 17 y 18 de Octubre, Utani participó con ANIMO en una nueva actividad familiar del CCCB. llamada “nano”. Nano ofrecía a niños y adultos un conjunto de actividades que giraban en torno a temas de concienciación de interés mundial. Se trataban aspectos como la importancia de ser más sostenibles, respetuosos con nuestro planeta, educarnos para vivir en ciudades más limpias y en energías alternativas, para vivir de forma más realista.

Nano supuso también un espacio donde pequeños y mayores pudieron compartir, jugando y participando, experiencias alrededor de valores como la amistad, la generosidad, la belleza, el espíritu crítico y la creatividad.

Con ANIMO planteamos a padres e hijos, trabajar en equipo una animación. Invitamos a que de forma colaborativa, padres e hijos se comunicaran, se organizaran y repartieran el trabajo. Fue una satisfacción para nosotros ver en directo el esfuerzo de todos por hacer un buen trabajo. Y ese esfuerzo mereció la pena.

Si clicas aquí podrás ver las animaciones que han subido desde el CCCB.

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School failure and lack of interest in the classrooms should be solved with imagination.
Today, more than ever, we need to stimulate and to work creatively in education, not only to change inflexible structures but in order to provide imaginative tools with low resources to face global and total system reorganization.

To achieve this, they will need to rely on government support to encourage knowledge, innovation and education as a central theme of improvement.

Animo is:

A new tool as an educational game designed for educators and students, with or without learning problems, to turn concepts given in the classroom or academy into audiovisual animations.

Animo (UPF patent pending), intended to be an alternative, stimulating and the height of fun for what should be the education in the 21st Century.

Animo, challenges the lack of imagination of new generations of children and young people who are accustomed to following patterns and predefined challenges in video games that are obsolete of imaginative effort.

In addition to triggering the imagination through the game, educational values can be worked through understanding, not only by explanation given in the classroom, but lots of concepts that affect and shape today’s society.

Animo, is invaluable in learning new skills and taking part more in interactive work strategies. On the basis of one of the best ways to learn is playing and taking advantage of new digital technologies, Animo fulfils both characteristics and speaks the same language of young people.

Animo is also a useful tool for sensory stimulation, boosting creativity, and personal development with people who have learning and mental health problems. It is also a direct means of communication between patients and specialists.

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How it works

Animo is straightforward in its use and fast in its results. Once the animation is visualised and approved, it can be automatically saved as a movie (Quick Time File) onto the hard drive.

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Aims to be fulfilled as UTANI project:

o Turning the classroom into a space where educators and students have fun, be amazed, feel and reflect.

o Through the game, with its easy and friendly technology, new ways of learning, finding out and understanding can be inspired.

o To offer a new process and technology in order motivate and excite the teacher and student.

o On attaining an achievement, in our case an animation, it is suitable as a self fulfilment and personal satisfaction tool that can be enjoyed and much-admired by the whole group.

o To make, organise and set in motion a thought, a reflection. It is a tool of inclusion encouraging classroom integration by cooperative working, bringing closer the disabled person and increasing their potential.

o Teachers can motivate their students, inciting them to express their ideas, their innovations, developing them in such a way as not to be held back by traditional and monotonous daily teachings.

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animo videos and workshops with our first prototype

Here some of our first social experiences with animo in schools and disabled people.

Here videos with the final prototype

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Why work on an education project?
What is Mesofera?
Its construction
We test Mesosfera at school (video)
Educational demo (video)
Mesosfera’s agenda

Mesosfera: Patent pending

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Talleres Utani

EducationCulture  11/07/09

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Se puede aprender jugando

Desde el 1 de Julio, Mesosfera participa en las colonias de verano de Citilab Cornellá. Junto con otras actividades, como el programa “scratch” para que los niños se acerquen a la programación de forma divertida y fácil y hacer un programa de televisión trabajando fondos en croma y pensando en los guiones a grabar. Los monitores han creado un “blog de campo” donde van aportando sus experiencias alrededor de Mesosfera.

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Citilab nos pidió que pensáramos la forma trabajar en la Mesosfera de una forma más lúdica, manteniendo su esencia de mesa grupal de aprendizaje. A partir de allí, Utani creó y desarrolló un nuevo nivel llamado “atomo”. Este nivel ofrece, como los demás niveles, unas funcionalidades-herramientas interactivas para que el dinamizador y usuarios, creen su propio juego. En otras palabras, este nivel es un “generador de juegos personalizados”, siempre con un fin didáctico. Juegos de memoria visual, auditiva, de motricidad, de expresión espacial, de habilidad, de destreza, etc, pueden configurarse en esta superficie y jugarse entre 8 o 10 participantes de edades entre 5 y 90 años.

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Con José García, como responsable del área de educación y Ramón Sangüesa, responsable de Citilab, estamos muy a gusto trabajando y experimentando esta nueva experiencia de una forma más colaborativa. Desde Utani creemos que Citilab es realmente un proyecto de visión, único en España, donde se teje y entrelazan con especial interés la tecnología con la sociedad. Creemos que es un proyecto no innovador sino realista, que trabaja para que la tecnología empape en todas las generaciones y las experiencias se entrecrucen como en un laboratorio trabajado en equipo por toda la sociedad. espacios así serán los auténticos generadores de proyectos de I+D de nuestra sociedad, mientras las leyes y políticas destinadas a la innovación se aclaran. Les felicitamos desde aquí por la iniciativa. seguro que servirá de inspiración para el resto de poblaciones y grandes ciudades. Hace falta que los ayuntamientos, políticos y profesionales de la tecnología y educación se dejen de discursos y pasen a la acción con ejemplos como este.

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Utani

Comments (3)

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Mesosfera Asturiana

Entre el 4 y el 9 de Mayo, estuvimos de taller Mesosfera con docentes de diferentes ciudades y rincones de Asturias. Educadores de infantil, primaria, secundaria, bachillerato, formadores de docentes, profesores de universidad, profesores rurales, responsables de educación de ayuntamientos y diputación, profesionales de educación especial, profesores de arte dramático, responsables de museos, etc, Por grupos de entre 8 a 10, fueron llegando para participar en este taller introductorio para trabajar en grupo con Mesosfera.

LABoral, Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, fue el marco de las actividades, y Mónica Bello, responsable del departamento de educación del centro, fue desde el principio la madrina e impulsora del taller.

La verdad es que tanto Carles Sanz como yo, nos hemos sentido muy a gusto trabajando con nuestra Mesosfera entre tantos profesionales de la educación, unos 60 docentes aproximadamente, con la ilusión de verlos trabajar y plantearse temas en esta superficie multitáctil y grupal.

¿En qué consistió esta vez el taller?

A un grupo de entre 8 y 10 participantes les explicábamos, alrededor de Mesosfera, la razón y objetivos del proyecto, el manejo, aspectos funcionales y ejemplos prácticos. Una vez que tocaban-jugaban con ella, les proponíamos que pensaran en una actividad de un tema que estuvieran tratando en clase, y seguidamente que lo pusieran en práctica en Mesosfera trabajando con el resto de docentes como si fueran sus alumnos. La mayoría se arremangó, le dedicó unos minutos y se decidió a “cocinar un plato” (cápsula de comprensión) junto con los demás cocineros.

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Lo que más nos ilusionó de la experiencia fue observar el proceso natural de muchos de ellos, de pasar del recelo y escepticismo al enfrentarse con una herramienta metodológica y tecnológicamente extraña, al convencimiento a medida que iban pensando en alto ideas para hacer con sus alumnos, de que Mesosfera podía ser realmente de utilidad para trabajar en grupo cualquier tema, cualquier asignatura.

El taller de formación acababa el viernes 8, pero lo más bonito venía después. Durante el mes de Mayo y Junio, los participantes en el taller de introducción, vuelven con sus alumnos para elaborar juntos la actividad creada durante la formación.

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Durante estos días ya de trabajo volveremos a recoger conclusiones, más ideas y ejemplos de como han trabajado los diferentes cursos y edades.

Aprovechamos de nuevo para felicitar desde Utani el trabajo e ilusión de Dear Design en el diseño, paciencia y construcción de la mesa.

Un saludo afectuoso a Asturias y su pueblo, nos sentimos muy a gusto allí.

Utani

Comments (1)

Web social

Como cada año los “Utani” nos escapamos al Ars Electrónica, festival de arte electrónico (Linz,Austria) para ver y tocar por donde anda el arte trabajado con tecnología de todo tipo (digital, electrónica, mecánica, etc). Básicamente porque creemos que son dos aspectos, arte y tecnología, que “sociabilizándolos” o acercándolos a la sociedad pueden ser de mucha utilidad desde el punto de vista emocional y funcional.

Además de conocer de primera mano obras interesantes de artistas japoneses (“tecno-poetas” para nosotros), americanos e incluso españoles, nuestro mayor interés era conocer de cerca proyectos sociales dirigidos a comunidad. Lo que denominan ellos en su categoría como “digital community”. Un apartado que vemos tiene poco de artístico y más de activismo político y socio cultural. Según la organización esta categoría la definen del siguiente modo:

“Digital Communities, whether with social or artistic background, give rise to group action and interaction, engender constructive contexts and social capital, and promote social innovation as well as cultural and environmental sustainability. An essential precondition for this is making the respective relevant technologies and infrastructure more widely accessible or perhaps even developing them in the first place. Digital Communities take part in efforts to achieve comprehensive human development, a key aspect of which is reconfiguring the relationship of power between citizens and political leaders, the state and its administrative bureaucracy as well as financial and commercial interests in the sense of increasing participation, strengthening the role of the civil sector, and establishing a framework for democracy and artistic work to flourish.”

Este año encontramos dos proyectos que nos gustaron. Uno, el premiado, es www.1kg.org,
En regiones rurales de China hoy hay más de 400.000 colegios de educación primaria y secundaria están padeciendo una tremenda escasez de personal, de libros, material escolar y hasta de alimentos básicos. “1Kg más” no solo llama la atención de este problema también invita a cualquier viajero que viaje por China a que incluya en su equipaje un kilo extra de ayuda, como libros, sal, azucar, legumbres, etc y lo acerque hasta alguno de estos puntos. “1Kg more” hace efectivo el uso cotidiano de la mobilidad de una enorme cantidad de personas para generar una efectiva red de acción perfectamente orquestada desde la esta web.

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Otro proyecto web que nos llamó la atención fue “patients like me” (pacientes como yo). Como reza en su website, “Comparte tu experiencia, aprende de otros y conecta con pacientes como tú”. Por eso la comunidad “pacientes como yo” ha sido creada para ayudar a que personas de cualquier edad no se sientan solas en su enfermedad sino que la compartan con otros pacientes que padecen la misma situación, experiencia, síntomas, estados anímicos, etc. A partir de los foros de usuarios que comparten una misma enfermedad investigadores y especialistas se suman para apoyar, informar, diagnosticar, etc. En definitiva la tecnología se pone a disposición de las personas para unirlas en su sufrimiento.

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Utani

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“Animo”

  03/07/08

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School failure and lack of interest in the classrooms should be solved with imagination.
Today, more than ever, we need to stimulate and to work creatively in education, not only to change inflexible structures but in order to provide imaginative tools with low resources to face global and total system reorganization.

To achieve this, they will need to rely on government support to encourage knowledge, innovation and education as a central theme of improvement.

Animo is:

A new tool as an educational game designed for educators and students, with or without learning problems, to turn concepts given in the classroom or academy into audiovisual animations.

Animo (UPF patent pending), intended to be an alternative, stimulating and the height of fun for what should be the education in the 21st Century.

Animo, challenges the lack of imagination of new generations of children and young people who are accustomed to following patterns and predefined challenges in video games that are obsolete of imaginative effort.

In addition to triggering the imagination through the game, educational values can be worked through understanding, not only by explanation given in the classroom, but lots of concepts that affect and shape today’s society.

Animo, is invaluable in learning new skills and taking part more in interactive work strategies. On the basis of one of the best ways to learn is playing and taking advantage of new digital technologies, Animo fulfils both characteristics and speaks the same language of young people.

Animo is also a useful tool for sensory stimulation, boosting creativity, and personal development with people who have learning and mental health problems. It is also a direct means of communication between patients and specialists.

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How it works

Animo is straightforward in its use and fast in its results. Once the animation is visualised and approved, it can be automatically saved as a movie (Quick Time File) onto the hard drive.

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Aims to be fulfilled as UTANI project:

o Turning the classroom into a space where educators and students have fun, be amazed, feel and reflect.

o Through the game, with its easy and friendly technology, new ways of learning, finding out and understanding can be inspired.

o To offer a new process and technology in order motivate and excite the teacher and student.

o On attaining an achievement, in our case an animation, it is suitable as a self fulfilment and personal satisfaction tool that can be enjoyed and much-admired by the whole group.

o To make, organise and set in motion a thought, a reflection. It is a tool of inclusion encouraging classroom integration by cooperative working, bringing closer the disabled person and increasing their potential.

o Teachers can motivate their students, inciting them to express their ideas, their innovations, developing them in such a way as not to be held back by traditional and monotonous daily teachings.

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animo videos and workshops with our first prototype

Here some of our first social experiences with animo in schools and disabled people.

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Pese a que vivimos en una sociedad donde lo lúdico está muy presente, por ejemplo, en la comunicación, en el aprendizaje, etc., parece que hemos olvidado que dar espacios para el juego a los más pequeños es un aspecto fundamental para su desarrollo. Nos planteamos aquí, cómo jugamos y cómo deberíamos jugar en la era de las tecnologías de la información.

Pese al desarrollo de la tecnología, pocas cosas han cambiado en el valor que le damos al juego en la infancia. Para empezar, se trata de un tiempo y un espacio que se encuentran fuera de las obligaciones, un lugar sin reglas (más allá de las que el propio juego impone) donde nos sentimos libres (Huizinga, “Homo Ludens”). Se trata de una actividad placentera donde los participantes pueden “crear un mundo aparte” que sólo es real durante el tiempo que dura el juego y totalmente “desinteresada”, ya que al no formar parte de la realidad, no hay provecho posible más allá que la diversión del momento y “la satisfacción de revivirlo”. Esa definición de juego, que data de hace casi un siglo, y (¡afortunadamente!) sigue totalmente vigente.

Y a pesar de esa cualidad de “pequeñas vacaciones” de la vida que describió Huizinga ya en los años 30, el juego es una actividad fundamental para nuestra educación. En primer lugar porque es una actividad que facilita la sociabilización de los niños, creando vínculos y complicidades ya que se crea “el sentimiento de hallarse juntos en una situación de excepción, sustrayéndose a las normas generales”. Además, los juegos fomentan la imaginación y la expresión corporal. Se trata de una “representación” donde sus participantes, pese a saber que se trata de una ficción, “actúan como si fuera verdad, aunque sin perder por completo la conciencia de la realidad”

El valor educativo del juego

Naturalmente, a lo largo de sus casi tres décadas de historia, los videojuegos han probado sobradamente su capacidad para recrear mundos de fantasía con sus propias reglas, donde los usuarios pueden “sumergirse”. Con el tiempo, las tramas se han vuelto más complejas y ricas, de la misma forma que han proliferado todo tipo de títulos y esta forma de ocio se ha extendido tanto, que ya son muchos los centros escolares y profesores que ven en este medio un vehículo idoneo para enseñar de manera amena no sólo contenidos, sino también valores. En nuestro país tenemos la experiencia pionera de Pilar Lacasa (podéis encontrar un artículo más completo en este enlace), pero estas iniciativas han sido experimentadas en países de todo el mundo. En Reino Unido destaca la labor de la investigadora Sara de Freitas. Para ella, se trata tan sólo de adaptar la escuela a la realidad de los niños (“los videojuegos ya forman parte de su realidad cotidiana y no se debe ignorar en el entorno docente”) aunque “los juegos siempre se han utilizado como vehículo para el aprendizaje”. Según de Freitas, mediante el uso de materiales y dinámicas lúdicos, “se favorece la motivación e implicación, principales causas del fracaso escolar”

El valor de los juegos “de siempre”

Sin embargo, a la vez que se reclama la introducción de los videojuegos de las aulas, otras voces se alzan reivindicando el valor de los juegos tradicionales. Y es que “la hora del patio” y “salir al parque” pueden tener beneficiosos efectos sobre los pequeños. Para empezar, por su valor sociabilizador. A diferencia de los videojuegos, los juegos tradicionales se practican en equipo o junto a otros niños. De esta forma, y hay que volver a Huizinga, se crea “un sentimiento de hallarse juntos en una situación de excepción, de separarse de los demás y sustraerse a las normas generales”. Desarrollar las normas de ese espacio “aparte”, acatarlas, discutir y consesuar el papel que cada uno tiene y otros pasos relacionados con el juego, hacen que los participantes pongan en práctica el diálogo y ciertas reglas de las relaciones sociales. En palabras de Julian Richter, que lleva tres décadas desarrollando parques infantiles y observando las dinámicas que se crean entre los niños “la clave es que se diviertan y que se sientan libres para jugar. Entonces serán capaces de hacer movimientos físicos, jugar creativamente con los materiales, estar de acuerdo con otros niños que también están allí jugando, es decir, desarrollar las relaciones sociales. Entonces se convierten en individuos capaces de ser creativos y tomar decisiones” (BDU es la empresa española que le representa)

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Por otra parte, como se ha demostrado en un estudio reciente, pueden ser un potente arma contra la obesidad (y no es un tema baladí, ya que los niños españoles son los más obesos de Europa). Así, en un estudio realizado por investigadores de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, donde se midió y pesó a más de mil niños durante dos años a la vez que se les ofrecía una actividad extraescolar basada en los juegos tradicionales al aire libre, reveló que un programa de actividad física con juegos tradicionales reduce la obesidad infantil. Asimismo, este tipo de juegos aumentan la autoestima y el rendimiento académico de los niños. Mairena Sánchez, responsable del estudio, declaró al diario El País que “los niños lo único que quieren a esas edades es jugar. Así que pensamos en qué tipo de juegos y de qué manera podrían participar todos los escolares, introduciendo el ejercicio físico como una actividad extraescolar divertida”, a partir de juegos “de toda la vida”.

También para los mayores

Además de estas aportaciones directas sobre el cuerpo y la mente del niño, los juegos tradicionales han tenido un papel crucial que parece destinado a desaparecer. Y es que, el contexto del parque público donde se producían estos juegos, servía también como espacio para la comunicación entre generaciones e, incluso, como articulador de la vida pública. Este rol del parque como espacio público para el encuentro de personas de edades distintas, que pueden interactuar y comunicarse, lo destaca también Julian Richter, experto en el diseño de estas áreas. “Las zonas lúdicas se deben utilizar para unir a los ciudadanos, a varias generaciones al mismo tiempo” Se trata.de desarrollar lugares “donde la gente” (sin identificar rangos de edad) “esté a gusto”. En ese contexto, los niños, pero probablemente, también en cierta manera los adultos “se convierten en individuos capaces de ser creativos y tomar decisiones sociales. Y este debería ser un objetivo para toda la sociedad. Todos deberíamos querer formar parte de una sociedad con individuos capaces de tomar sus propias decisiones, de interactuar socialmente y, por último, de ser creativos, es decir, tener ideas y seguir sus propios puntos de vista”. Para Richter, todo esto se fundamenta en los espacios lúdicos y en el juego ordenado pero libre de los más pequeños.

Así, parece que unos y otros están de acuerdo con que el juego forma parte del proceso de crecimiento de los niños. Son tan importantes los que se desarrollan en el entorno doméstico de manera individual. Los videojuegos y la tecnología en general, se han ido incluyendo en la escuela por ser el lenguaje más conocido y valorado por las nuevas generaciones, pero también por servir como entorno “de inmersión” apto para vehicular todo tipo de materias. Mientras tanto, otros parecen querer recordarnos que los juegos que se realizan por equipos o junto a otros niños, al aire libre, exigen cierta dosis de imaginación y creatividad, a la vez que estimulan la sociabilidad de los niños. Como ya hemos visto en otras ocasiones, quizá los juegos en el futuro deban mezclar elementos de uno y otro mundo. Aunque es también posible que sea una labor de los educadores, recordar el valor que tiene en ocasiones, jugar con otros niños bajo la sombra de un árbol. ¡Y sin necesidad de enchufes!

Utani

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Goodbye privacy

Culture  13/09/07

Adiós a la privacidad

Esta semana pasada, 6 al 10 de Septiembre, los Utani nos escapamos como cada año a ARS ELECTRÓNICA, forum mundial de arte y últimas tecnologías que se celebra en la ciudad de Linz, Austria.

Cada edición gira en torno a un tema que, además de servir de telón de fondo a las propuestas artísticas, propicia también cierto diálogo. Un debate que surge al asomarte a esta ventana de últimas tendencias tecnológicas y artísticas, donde se revelan muchos aspectos de comportamiento social realmente interesantes.

Este año el tema central era “Goodbye Privacy” (“Adiós a la privacidad”). El fin de la intimidad es realidad social palpable que empieza a despertar la movilización social global. La privacidad, sobre todo entre las nuevas generaciones, empieza a ser un bien escaso.

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En esta sociedad de la información que habitamos se está vendiendo la intimidad a cambio de la conectividad. El espacio privado se cambia por notoriedad en píxeles. Pero, ¿a qué precio? Por ahora al precio de una tarifa plana. Pero debemos reflexionar sobre el coste que tendrá llevar dignamente una doble vida: una en el mundo real y otra virtual, muy intensa, activa y conectada, en el futuro.

Hoy el que trata de salvaguardar su intimidad o privacidad en cierta manera esta desconectado socialmente o puede perder la posibilidad de tener-como apunta Javier Cremades en su libro- una parte del “micropoder” que adquiere toda persona conectada.

Second Life”, “Flickr”, “Youtube”, “My Space”, “MSN Messenger”, son algunos de los espacios, entre los miles de redes que existen, donde perdemos de manera voluntaria nuestra privacidad. Donde nos dejamos observar al mismo tiempo que observamos aspectos íntimos de los demás. Espacios sin tabiques, sin fronteras, levantados por píxeles para libre acceso de todos los que hayan decidido perder, como la virginidad, su privacidad.

Millones de ventanas abiertas para que millones de “voyeur legales” entren y deambulen de vida en vida como abejas para ver en Flickr las fotos de la familia Ruiz o Jahenssen este verano en Menorca, los pinitos musicales de cuatro adolescentes en Youtube, la exposición de pintura digital de un amigo de un amigo en “second life” o un blog chino donde su autor cuenta su experiencia personal en la plaza de Tiananmen y un largo etcétera. Los contenidos de la Enciclopedia Británica son desbancados por la nueva “enciclopedia del pueblo y para el pueblo”, la Wikipedia. ¿Preferimos variedad a calidad en los contenidos? ¿Nos fiamos de la cantidad de información hipertextualizada en la red por desconocidos “maestrillos” a la aportada por expertos de una materia? La sociedad tenía necesidad de hablar, cuestionarse las cosas, dialogar, compartir, participar, desnudarse. Sociabilizar en lugar de privatizar. Debatir discursos en lugar de escucharlos. Ahora cuenta con los medios para hacerlo.

Mantener por otro lado tu privacidad sin compartir o ceder tus conocimientos o experiencias es como pretender ser socio de un club nudista pero andar por la playa vestido. Hoy parte de nuestro conocimiento es nutrido por un suministro incesante de información muchas veces cedida por otros usuarios desinteresadamente. Aprendemos o podemos crecer como profesionales gracias a los avances de otros. El ADN de nuestro aprendizaje esta formado por una cadena de cientos de miles de “profesores”. El movimiento llamado “Open source”-código abierto- es una evidencia clara de que la sociedad puede avanzar y evolucionar sola sin tener que depender de gobiernos, multinacionales o marcas. El “yo me lo guiso, yo me lo como” es hoy más que nunca adaptable a una sociedad que hoy podría ser autosuficiente o bastante independiente de los mercados de consumo.

Hemos visto en Ars Electronica como una comunidad online de actualmente 1.600 personas-www.theoscarproject.org- comparten conocimiento, gracias a los principios básicos del open source, para desarrollar un nuevo modelo de automóvil sin patente. Demostrando a su vez que hay cientos de gadgets o accesorios que sobran a cambio de simplicidad y funcionalidad. ¿Un claro ejemplo de proyecto de desarrollo sostenible participativo? Creemos que sí. Si ahora 1.600 usuarios construyen coches, ¿qué harán cuando sean 100.000?

Otro proyecto destacable es “Dropping Knowledge”-www.droppingknowledge.org- una plataforma web que invita a la sociedad global a preguntar o responder cuestiones, compartir ideas y comenzar iniciativas. Un amplificador social que ofrece conocimiento sin censuras de ningún país y ofrece la posibilidad de que actuemos responsable y socialmente dentro de una red internacional. De esta forma, uno se da cuenta de que, más allá de su procedencia, hay muchas coincidencias en cuanto a inquietudes, miedos o necesidades.

La perdida de nuestra privacidad a cambio de información y conocimiento está provocando un pulso entre realidad y ficción. Positivo en muchos casos, inquietante en muchos otros.

Paradojas como la que esta pasando en los colegios en donde alumnos de una misma clase pueden llegar compartir sus más íntimos secretos a través del Messenger pero luego no dirigirse la palabra en el “mundo real”. O personas que prefieren conocerse más fondo a través de su “avatar”(o álter ego virtual) durante unas sesiones en el “Second Life” antes de tomarse una cerveza cara a cara en un bar. O los que prefieren en “My Space” dar los primeros datos informativos de rigor a una posible pareja y ahorrarse las formalidades antes de un primer encuentro. La cara y la cruz de un acontecimiento sociológico que se incuba a nivel global y que tiene visos de convertirse en las formas comunes de obrar y relacionarse de este siglo XXI que comienza.

La tecnología sociabiliza pero al mismo tiempo distancia o enfría. Nos acerca a muchas personas y culturas pero nos sirve a su vez de pantalla protectora, nos evita el cara a cara muchas veces incómodo y comprometedor. ¿Acabaremos siendo cada vez más sociables en la red y más individualistas en nuestras vidas “físicas”? Indudablemente encontrar un punto medio adecuado para actuar y ser personas equilibradas entre nuestra vida virtual y real será tarea de padres y educadores de cara a las nuevas generaciones. A los no tan jóvenes nos toca, mientras tanto, ser la generación que le dijo adiós a la privacidad.

Utani

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In the framework of the so called information society, museus are no longer the temples of wisdom they used to be. Many such centres think about how to attract visitors and how to make their exhibitions and collections more accessible to audiences of all types. The use of information technologies and, above all, a clear educational mission, are now emerging as the basic ingredients for attracting visitors to museums. And, above all, for ensuring that they enjoy their visit.
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The time has come to take a more active part in culture

When technologies are introduced into the world of art, as in other social sectors, they have always needed an “assimilation period”. According to a study conducted by Dosdoce last year, our museums are still hesitant about introducing new technologies not only into their rooms, but even as a strategy for communicating and bringing their activities to wider attention. For Javier Celaya, who directs the institution and headed the study, Spanish art centres not only are not making the most of available technologies that are simple and accessible, but continue to work with a model of vertical communication. In the age of blogs, Wikipedia and, in general, the net understood as peer-to-peer conversation, institutions still keep up practices where they hold the power and are the vehicles for a sole “official” discourse from above (the communication department or education services) to below (media, readers of the press, but also visitors to the centre and users of its websites).

Faced with this scenario, few centres allow, for example, the public to express their opinion, offer their point of view on a particular work or exhibition, not only on the premises, but, much simpler, through their webpages. In a word, even in the era of the reviled “museum shows”, possibly some still perceive “Art” as a “sublime” discipline, to understand which the lay audience needs a “one-off” explanation, in the framework of a univocal communication (whether in the form of a guidebook, audioguide, room notes or web page).

Education, a growing demand

All these issues are also marked by crisis in the form of transmission. Now, with immediate access to information, horizontal organization and the questioning of the idea of one authority, museums and centres need to think about new models for attracting and communicating with their audiences, and about what it wants to transmit via the process. In this respect, one figure that is growing in importance are the so-called “educational services”, responsible for conveying that message to the audience, whether the audience is expert or not. They should ask themselves whether, at the same time, they are also helping to promote dialogue and gather opinions. Just as we saw that educators are thinking about values and subjects that go beyond exercises and syllabuses, through this type of activity many art centres are launching debates on particular questions, relating creation with current facts, or suggesting dynamics that are enriching for their audiences. And, often, as we have already seen in recent educational experiences, the activities serve as a point of departure for discussing issues related to contemporary society and its values.

It is worth saying that these educational departments are becoming more and more important with the museum structure. In a recent A-Desk blog interview, Vicente Todolí, the director of the Tate Modern of London, was asked about the growing tendency to “turn art centres into educational centres”. According to Todolí, this is because of their public funding, but it is also a way to “create the audience of the future” as well as being “the only way of dealing with diversity” and providing access to culture to “people from not very developed areas”. In the interview he also states that this is “a phenomenon that is going to grow in the coming years”.

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The question of before and after

This is something that all the centres are clear about, as Gloria Valls explains from Caixaforum, the Barcelona headquarters of the Fundació La Caixa. From the very inception of this foundation, activities in principle “aimed at schools” were started. When the Caixaforum centre opened on Montjuíc hill, the activities were centralised there. The targets of their workshops, concerts and other offerings are children, families and senior citizens, although “basically they are aimed at children”, as Valls specifies. The activities always have as their starting point an exhibition in order to establish “crossover relationships between artistic disciplines and historical moments” using “the referents of children to put the works in context.”

Despite the fact that currently most of the workshops are conducted following the visit, the head of the centre’s educational services says she is an advocate of prior exercises that help to put what is going to be seen in context as well as “stimulating the children’s curiosity.” In this respect, a standout is material for schools in which an exhibition becomes a “centre of interest” for different materials. A way of structuring classes that we already saw in the experiences recounted at the Multiple Intelligences Congress. But what is the role of technology in all this? Caixaforum is thinking about putting the small works of art resulting from the workshops and activities on the foundation’s webpage. In fact, recently five songs written during the “RAPsodas” workshop dedicated to the history of hip hop were presented at a concert by real representatives of this musical genre. And it seems important that the product of this learning should go on to form part of culture and society. In fact this workshop is an excellent example of how activities serve to discuss values beyond the practice of the art in question. In“RAPsodas” the audience is attracted by an explanation about a genre well known to our teenagers: rap. From this “hook”, the audience engages in an activity directly related to the school curriculum: writing a song, where work is done on literary aspects such as rhyme, language, etc. Although the final goal is to foster group work in an orderly and democratic way. The value of respect for one’s neighbour and the importance of solidarity and collaborative tasks is something that was also included during the explanation, as one of the positive principles of these “rappers”.

Works of art in class

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona is also backing pre-visit work. As Jorge Ribalta, Head of Public Programmes explains, the experience “is structured in two phases: first museum staff explain the Collection in schools and then the visit is made.” For Ribalta, “the idea is to create debate about the period covered by the collection”, from the postwar to present day. “They are historical subjects that generate debate, but this should be relevant and useful for different disciplines and for contemporary life”. Another way of stimulating interest a priori is by means of Expressart. This didactic material created by the centre itself consists of a case with a series of small objects that bear a relationship to the works in the collection. The material may be used openly, as a central element in various subjects, from plastic expression to sciences. According to teachers’ experiences, these objects serve as a starting point for open classes in which the dialogue and interests of the pupils themselves ultimately determine the subject matter to be dealt with. What is encouraged is that the pupils themselves express themselves and become able to get documented and elaborate the materials. Backing this “previous work” obeys the centre’s interest in “involving teachers in the life of the museum, which, in fact, should form part of the school curriculum”. In Ribalta’s opinion, the fields of education, culture and research “are separate in contemporary society, and this is a mistake”. Similarly, an appeal is made to “networking, between centre, school, and family” to “offer models and experiences that go beyond the space of the museum”. This work is necessary especially in the area of contemporary art where, in addition, “the many prejudices aroused in the lay public need to be overcome.”

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Promoting participation

Technology can be a tool of communication, not only between museum and audience, but between visitors and works. Virtueel Platform is engaged in the specific study of these materials, the communication between the culture industries and technology. It is an institute funded with public funds which, since 2001, has tried to build bridges between organizations and firms dedicated to technology and culture. We spoke to Martine Posthuma de Boer, director of programs for this institution, about one of the most recent workshops held at VP: a seminar on museums and technology. “I believe that there is great potential in the content available in museums. If we create well designed applications we can contribute a context that gives meaning to all this content. To date, museums have been concerned above all with digitization and not contextualization”. For this organization, the cultural sector must enter the virtual and digital domain, since they are new channels for contacting the audience.

In addition to making use of new media, ways of experiencing culture are also changing. “Present day culture is about creating and ‘doing it yourself”. The interactive media have encouraged participation. Cultural organizations should anticipate the possibilities of participation in this networking society.” Or what amounts to the same: “Our culture deals with relationships and social dynamics”.

“Take -away” art and heritage

In this respect, last summer Vitueel Platform organized the Take away the museum workshop, in which both professionals in museology, documentation etc and from the technological field took part. The moderator of this workshop, Dick Rijken, formulates one of the main conclusions reached: “There is going to be less certainty about what is real and more space for errors and, above all, more for pluralism”. That is, these new experiments encourage participation while trying to eradicate the prejudice of the “unique meaning” of the work, which is precisely what inhibits the spectator.

Martine explains some of the experiences carried out at Virtueel Platform. For example, he talks about the collaboration of two museums dedicated to music (Gemeentemuseum of The Hague and Wereldmuseum of Rotterdam) with 3voor12.nl, a Dutch online radio station. “The centre has a major stock of antique instruments from different parts of the world, which are difficult to find outside museums and which hardly anyone knows “what they sound like”. The Dutch centre uploaded to this radio service a series of samples of these instruments. This experiment made available to the public a series of music which would otherwise be inaccessible, allowing listeners not only to hear them, but also to use them freely, both for copying and “remixing” them or incorporating them in their own compositions.

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Within the framework of this workshop some interesting ideas were launched (which for the moment have not led to real projects) about how to use the potential of technology for the diffusion of culture. The workshops were led by Ulla Maria Mutanen, who set up ThinkLink.org, a project where designers, artists and artisans can “tag” their work, and by Mediamatic, a studio that has developed Symbolic Table, an interactive table that shows information about objects tagged with RFID technology. Both projects, unlike the proposals from the workshops, are actually in operation. The main premise of these workshops was that the ideas should start from the relations between software, object and personal relationship. Again, then, we come back to the need for users to interact. One of the participating groups thought of the possibility of replacing audioguides with a system of key words or tags suggested by users themselves. Using this same technology, the itinerary of each visitor could be be identified, saving these “sessions” for subsequent visits. Visitors could find out whether others share their key words, thus encouraging interaction amongst them. Another of the groups taking part had a similar idea, in this case by putting RFID labels on a card next to the object. The visitor could take the cards of the items they were most interested in and use them later to obtain more information from the Symbolic Table.

When the spectator defines the object

Experiences of this type are proliferating throughout the world. Thus, the Steve project attempts to explore the power of user-generated descriptions (in the style of applications like image-sharing services, such as the popular Flickr, or bookmark sharing, like Del.icio.us) in order to attract and improve online access to museum collections. Steve is a publicly funded initiative from the Art Museum of Indianapolis in which essentially, volunteers take part from different North American museums. For this project, the possibility of users describing works in their own words, and not from the specialised language of commissioners and art historians, can help other spectators to find interest in them. According to the Steve promoters, often, what visitors to an exhibition remember about the items is not described in the documentation provided by the museum. For this reason, they seek a rapprochement with user-created terminology, creating descriptors that can then be used in the information generated by the museums.

Works or exhibitions?

Despite the excellent intentions of these experiments, we acknowledge that there certain issues. In a recent article in El País, the journalist and music critic Diego Manrique talks about MP3 players are somehow “finishing” with the internal narrative of albums to extol the minimum ‘unit’ of the song. Saving distances, the experiences described here appear to encourage spectators to get close to works independently or to create their own itineraries within the framework of an exhibition. In a word, as in so many other disciplines, the decontextualised unit is prioritized over the more complex discourse. An exhibition is not a succession of independent works; rather, the works are interrelated and become a vehicle for global discourse. The proposals for “social tagging” or the elaboration of self-generated itineraries (by means of RFID technology, for example) would seem to force the spectator to ignore this “narrative” idea proper to an exhibition project. For her part, from her column in The Guardian, in reference to the Steve project, journalist Lindsay Irvine questioned the utility of the experiment and criticized the fact that the works are presented with no information other than that contributed by users. In this way, Irvine continues, there is a possibility of knowledge being reduced to its lowest common denominator; one of the problems that cause searches on art to fail is, precisely, basic user errors such as wrongly spelling the names of artists or works. Here a basic problem is how to keep a balance between rigour and proximity to the audience.

Conclusions:

The structure of communication has changed and it should also be transformed in the field of culture if a connection is to be made with audiences. One of the most efficient tools for “explaining” content and also for encouraging dialogue are the educational services of museums and art centres. These departments propose different methodologies to make the exhibition visit richer and to serve as a centre around which different material can revolve.

While in this country museums still have some qualms about adopting the so-called web 2.0 technologies that facilitate participation and “conversation” between users, we have found different experiences in both the US and Europe which give visitors the power to generate their own content, to classify works with a language closer to their own, or to create their own itineraries for visiting exhibitions. The sum of all these ideas, while the rigour proper to these centres is maintained, may result in something akin to the “museum of the future”.

Utani

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Mesosfera

  04/07/07

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Why work on an education project?
What is Mesofera?
Its construction
We test Mesosfera at school (video)
Educational demo (video)
Mesosfera’s agenda

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“Animo” or the imagination made in a Flipbook

The town council of West Bromwich works on a social-cultural project where the community takes part in a process of dialog and interaction with the exposed work.The Public Gallery holds ‘participation’ as it’s key idea and will have a programme of temporary exhibitions and activites alongside permanent art works. We in Utani think that this is one of the first initiatives of bringing art and society together. We are very excited to participate and learn from this experience.

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Project Status

ANIMO already installed in the gallery. New images to be posted soon.

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Proyecto de Hospitalidad

Necesidad social detectada en el ambito de la hospitalización

De nuestro dossier sobre hospitales, publicado en la home de nuestro Blog, haciamos énfasis en que Algunos hospitales en el mundo se han dado cuenta de que, aunque aumenta la esperanza de vida y mejoran las condiciones sanitarias, la sociedad se está deshumanizando dentro y fuera de los centros hospitalarios. Y en el caso de los hospitales infantiles muchos especialistas trabajan ya desde hace tiempo en todo aquello que es posible hacer para que la estancia, en este caso de los niños, sea lo más agradable y positiva posible.

Gracias a los avances médicos y tecnológicos, hoy en día es natural acumular experiencia sobre el diagnóstico y tratamiento de las enfermedades, pero debería ser igual de importante dedicar la misma atención a cómo el paciente desearía ser tratado.

Humanizar la hospitalización significa no solo curar sino ser “hospitalarios” y respetuosos con el paciente. Y es en este aspecto donde hay un gran trabajo por hacer y donde creemos que en Utani podemos ser útiles. Nos hemos propuesto como meta el estimular, alegrar y hacer más soportable de algún modo la hospitalización de niños y adultos.

Fase del proyecto de hospitalidad

En el mes de Febrero el proyecto presentado por Utani fue aprobado por el Hospital San Joan de Deu de Barcelona para ser desarrollado. Estamos a la espera de encontrar la financiación necesaria para ponerlo en marcha en 2010.
En la medida que vayamos avanzando iremos publicándolo.

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