Frank Tremain

“The past is not a guide to the future.” – Wendell Bell, Foundations of Future Studies (1997).

By studying BCM325, I have learnt that having a notion of what the future holds is entirely different to understanding future thinking. My digital artefact (DA) aims to take inspiration from the careers of music journalists of the past, however, Bell’s way of thinking has motivated me to think and plan ambitiously, both when crafting my DA and providing my peers with feedback.

Throughout the weeks of this subject, we have been identifying the future ideologies, technologies and trends explored in science fiction films. Despite seeing rogue AI’s, flying cars and space expeditions, I feel as though my DA is far more grounded in its sensibility. As Alfred North Whitehead said, “almost all new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced.” With that said, I’m looking forward to adding a sense of absurdity to my DA and helping other students expand upon their own project.

Digital Artefact 1: Virtual Reality Rise – Leo

For my first DA review, I looked at Leo’s Virtual Reality Rise video pitch. Leo plans to explore the rise of VR technology and its implications in the next 20 years.

In my comment, I referred him to two different sources including an article that might prove useful in one of his future video essays and then a reading from Wendell Bell titled ‘Making people responsible’. I recommended the second source as I thought his pitch lacked reference to the subject readings and lectures. This was something I struggled with as well and by commenting on his pitch, I was able to apply the readings in a way different to my DA, allowing me to better understand Bell’s work.

Another thing I pointed out in my comment was Leo’s methodology. His was clearly defined and it was obvious that he had approached his pitch with prior background reading. While I feel like I am knowledgeable in my own DA topic, Leo demonstrated how to express this more effectively to an audience.

Digital Artefact 3: The Future of Social Media Marketing – Rachel

In my second review, I commented on Rachel’s pitch and her investigation into ‘The Future of Social Media Marketing’.

Rachel’s pitch is an extremely well researched and thought-out start to her DA. Out of all my comments, this was the project I was interested in the most, as a clothing label owner and someone who is also passionately interested in social media marketing.

In my comment, I commended Rachel on her in-depth background research and clearly outlined methodology. As her project already has an existing audience, I suggested that she could play around with certain aesthetics and aspects to her DA, to create an immediate feedback loop for herself. This was something I did in previous subjects and it made it super easy to recognise what was working and what wasn’t.

As she already had plenty of academic sources, I sent her a couple of local brands that I enjoyed to give Rachel a few more ideas on different marketing techniques. One thing I forgot to include in my comment was a suggestion that she should include a multimedia element to her DA, as this was one of the key points of feedback that I received. Commenting on Rachel’s pitch inspired me for my own DA, especially when I focus on the clothing brand component of my future career plan.

Digital Artefact 2: VR Fitness Games – Yidi

The final DA review was for Yidi’s VR Fitness Games. Yidi’s DA is similar to Leo’s in the way that it explores VR, however, this particular pitch takes a more niche approach and plans to examine the use of VR for fitness.

In my comment on Yidi’s blog, I gave her some pointers on ways to get her DA to a 300-level project, as my DA was criticised for was its lack of multimedia elements. Yidi intended to carry out her project through three blog posts, similar to my own. However, I gave suggestions on how she could include multimedia aspects, such as a workout time-lapse or an instructional video on how she sets up her equipment. As part of this audience, I would be much more inclined to read a blog that included something like that and this has helped me understand how essential including a video or audio element in my project would be.

I sent her an article regarding VR and fitness that could be beneficial to her and I felt as though it gave an interesting amount of context that I didn’t quite understand from her pitch. Lastly, of course, I suggested that she include more subject related materials as this was something I’m still kicking myself for not doing more of.

Reading my peer’s blogs and checking out their DA’s has allowed me to better understand the importance of including subject materials and different ways to approach my own work. I’m looking forward to checking out all these DA’s and more as they develop into their beta.

Frank Tremain.