Rendering+Liveness

=Rendering Liveness:=

__Definition__: “makes it appear as if representations are unmediated because images and texts seem to be presented on the screen at the same time time as the viewer is watching” (342) “Real-time events occur at roughly the same speed that they would in real-life” (348)

The television and Internet are the main tools used in portraying liveness.

Liveness on the Internet
 The Internet is often portrayed as a living breathing space/thing due to its ability to mimic real life. Virtual environments; such as those found in computer games and virtual character: avatars, are key tools that the internet uses to appear live.

Users of the internet can enter or control a body construct that represents them within the screen. For instance, yahoo messenger avatars are conceptualized as your presence in the virtual community growing inside 2D or 3D virtual worlds. (345)
 * Examples of Liveness on Internet: Webcams, Webgames, Virtual Reality, Instant Messaging.

__**Avatars**__
An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games or internet forums ([|Lessig, Lawrence)]..The attributes of Yahoo Messenger avatars, which include automatically blinking eyes and changing facial expressions, also indicate that individuals have a presence within the internet setting and that their representations are alive. (3 45)

The problem with internet images(avatar) is that they reproduce stereotyped conceptions of identity. For example, avatars based settings are usually male or female; ignoring transgenders, female avatars are depicted as young and light-skinned, and there are no options to change the age or shape of the avatars.

Internet liveness is occurs when users can re-write code, reconfigure settings,

"Daniel Palmer also portrays a computer and the internet as embodied when he described the webcam as the 'bastard child of TV', with its obsession with liveness" (345)  According to White, the promises about personal engagements and live responses on internet settings such as webcam sites is what attracts individuals to the internet 

media type="youtube" key="kyquAXKeEI0" height="344" width="425"   "The Peeping Moe FAQ notes that the internet has been gravitating towards a more //personal// and direct method of socialization, and webcams certainly allow for a more //intimate// interaction than the telephone and postal mail" (351)

__Discussion Question:__ Is this really the case? Is chatting via webcams or sending mail via email more personal that receiving a hand-written letter or a phone call?

Liveness on Television
Television liveness occurs when the 'time of the event corresponds to the transmission and viewing times'. Television 's functioning capacity lies in important aspects such as time, present-ness and a 'celebration of the instantaneous'.

At the time of the 'golden age' of television, many televised performances occurred at about the same time while viewers watched them. Today, the term 'live' continues to be employed in American television programmes such as 'Larry King Live', 'Live from Lincoln Centre' and 'Primetime Live'. And programmes like 'Saturday Night Live' proclaims that it is happening 'live from New York' although it is being rerun and sold as recorded compilations.

media type="youtube" key="NCeUwu9gOzk" width="425" height="350"
 * Examples of Liveness on Television: SNL, American Idol
 * Consequences of Liveness on Television:
 * Lack of control, negative repercussions if mistakes happen
 * Ex: Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at Superbowl Half-Time performance
 *  [[image:http://i.cnn.net/si/2004/writers/b_duane_cross/02/02/janet.jackson/p1_jannet_jackson_ap.jpg width="191" height="191"]]
 * Ex: Ashlee Simpson Lip Sync's on "Saturday Night Live"

__**Personalization**:__ "the internet representations are live and unfolding within the viewer's space, the Net is a home for people, and the internet is a dense bazaar inhabited by all kinds of people" (342) "A variety of internet settings use the television and print media convention of direct address and target viewers with pronouns like 'you' in order to render a unique and personalized experience. this direct address, which is used in such television shows as home shopping programmes, MTV, news reporting, and talk shows encourages the viewer to have a more personal engagement by making it seem as though the technology is only speaking to the individual" (343)


 * The advertisements that you see on the right side of this wiki are an example of this (personalized advertisements based on what we're writing)
 * Ex: Barack Obama's personalized speeches:

media type="youtube" key="HY_utC-hrjI" height="340" width="560"


 * Your profile** – creating the digital you, the thing that represents you as entity and interoperable dynamic soul, extended into the digital space, enabling (Hayes):


 * Content creation and customization** – media that you create and share that reaches others – AV, text, image, re-edits, mashes, sampling, blogs, vblogs, wikis all richly meta-tagged to allow personalization engines to draw your media and match it.


 * Metadata, metatagging** Without this personalization would be nigh on impossible. All content in the system will have a range of data about the data describing what it is, how suitability for certain users and an extensible range of other descriptive info. Users likewise can be described in a similar way but their profiles of course are constantly changing and being updated with new elements. MPEG7 is the next in the infamous sequence, a new standard that will be the container for media metadata.


 * Cookies:** We all know what these are. A small file residing on the media server (local or remote) providing a way to track and capture a users path through content. The raw data in these cookies can then be used (with user consent) to provide a more relevant personalized experience.

An example of this can be Facebook and how the ads on the side follows the user's history of "Cookies." and records the information given to facebook by the user. for instance, dating ads are found on the side of users who have their status as "Single."

[|Arcade]

media type="youtube" key="YrVy76P3V44" height="344" width="425" align="right"

__**Consequences of Liveness:**__ media type="youtube" key="9ubYTIazskQ" width="425" height="350" align="left"
 * Lack of face-to-face communication
 * How bad will it get?
 * Ex: "Gamer" and "A Game Tale Documentary"