AND OTHER STORIES THESIS

DESIGN

INFORMATION

ACADEMY

DESIGN

EINDHOVEN

2O13—2O14

FEEL THE UNIVERSE OF LITERATURE WHICH IN FACT LITERATURE IS THE MIRROR OF REAL LIFE

AND

OTHER STORIES

A NE W RE ADING SE RVICE C URAT ED BY PEOPLE WHO BE LIE VE LITE RATURE IS T H E MIRROR OF LIF E

HSIU CHUN HSU

FOR TOMORROW'S READER

and other stories

TERMINOLOGY

A-D

#1

Algorithm

E-I

#11

9, 67, 97, 111, 114, 115

#2

Comparison

#3

Empathy 21, 33, 45

#12

Flow

Connection

#13

Form

#4

Critical thinking

#14

Hybrid

#5

Crowds sourcing

#15

Hyper

#6

Culture

#16

Identity

#7

Curator, Librarian

#17

Ideology

#8

Deep reading

#18

Information architecture

#9

Digital native

#19

Information literacy

63

40, 41, 66, 105

9, 13, 45

9

9, 13, 16, 17, 28, 34, 36, 37, 43, 44

97, 98, 101, 102, 105, 111

9, 13, 21, 31, 33, 45, 105

28

#10 Dynamic

9, 43

13, 16, 28, 43, 53, 63

110

61

28, 78, 83

16, 25

115

115

#20

Insight

#21

Interdependence

#22

Interpret

#23

Investigate

85, 101

31, 33, 45, 110

9

78

101

2

K-N

#24

Keyword Map

S-W

#32

110

#25

Layer

#26

Social reading 92, 111

#33

Space

Linked data

#34

Story

#27

Meme

#35

Story DNA

#28

Narrative

#36

Syntopical

#29

Natural language Processing

#37

Tag

#30

Navigation

#38

Universe

#31

Nomadic

#39

Wonder

44

110

35, 36, 50

51, 61

66, 67, 115

9, 110

9, 85, 111

13, 47, 55, 66. 67. 85. 86, 91, 92, 93, 95, 101 13, 17, 36, 43, 44, 45, 51, 53, 59, 61, 63, 68, 69, 78, 105, 115

50, 51, 53, 110

9, 44, 105

43

9, 17

63, 66, 115

#40 Words 16, 21, 22, 41, 43, 45, 47, 53

3

and other stories

TABLE OF CONTENTS

07−09

19−37

ABSTRACT

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Algorithm, Critical thinking, Crowds sourcing, Culture, Deep reading, Flow, Interdependence, Navigation, Nomadic, Story, Syntopical, Universe

Culture, Deep reading, Digital native, Empathy, Form, Identity, Ideology, Insight, Layer, Meme, Story, Words

11−13 I. INTRODUCTION

1. Urgency

Critical thinking, Culture, Deep reading, Form, Space, Story

2. Transition

15−17

3. Deep reading

II. RESEARCH MOTIVATION Culture, Form, Ideology, Story, Universe, Words

4. Meme

SCALE OF THE SUBJECT FROM HUMAN BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL INTERACTION, STORY TO WORDS

4

38−101 IV. DESIGN RESEARCH Algorithm, Comparison, Connection, Critical thinking, Culture, Librarian, Deep reading, Dynamic, Empathy, Flow, Form, Hyper, Identity, Interpret, Investigate, Narrative, Natural language processing, Nomadic, Social reading, Space, Story, Story DNA, Syntopical, Tag, Wonder, Words

103−105 V. HYPOTHESIS

Algorithm, Connection, Librarian, Dynamic, Insight, Story, Syntopical

107−111 VI.DESIGN PROPOSAL

1. Words

2. Story DNA a. Evolution of Text b. Non-linear Storytelling c. Objective Information d. Natural Language Processing e. Integration

Deep reading, Form, Keyword Map, Linked data, Navigation, Nomadic, Social reading, Story, Story DNA

113−115 VII. CONCLUSION Algorithm, Librarian, Form, Hybrid, Natural language processing, Story, Wonder

117−121

VIII. TERMINOLOGY NOTES 3. Social Interaction Platform

123−125 4. Nomadic Reader a. The s(h)elf b. Space and Memory c. Space and Relationship d. The Basic Needs e. DAE Library f. Scarcity

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

5

ABSTRACT

and other stories

Blue Room Event , 1966, Yoko Ono

8

ABSTRACT

I feel the plague of language, for the powerful media overwhelmed our world with images of constructed illusory and changing meaning. Nowadays, people often ”watch” instead of “read”, to receive an impression instead of to absorb the content. And perhaps a weapon to counteract these would be the act of reading literature.

Reading requires creativity, concentration and critical analysis, especially deep

#04 #08

reading. By deep reading we absorb much more than mere information, for the story contains and evokes emotions, memories, even taste and smell.

As an information architect, I would like to constructed a new reading universe.

The emotions, memories and insights flow smoothly under this structure,

#12

where the inhabitants share lively atmosphere with each other. People will not get lost because the navigation system provides them readily understandable

#30

information. For the inhabitants who enjoy reading, this is a harmonious utopia.

For the nomadic lifestyle people, this is a great attraction to stop by and explore.

#31

The aims of this project are to raise more awareness of reading and trigger more people to read, in which I propose the following strategies and designs.

First of all, I suggest a new definition for the reading universe by defining

#38

and filtering the information, as well as determining the extent of related and necessary information. Secondly, through Syntopical navigation, a list

#36

of subject and context specific reading is drawn, so that the readers can understand the information effectively in accomplishing his or her own specific purpose. This recommendation system can be personalized to meet each user's expectation through the use of geometric progression, algorithm, curating

#01

and crowd sourcing. Lastly, since codes cannot interprets culture, we still need

#06

human intervention. Interdependence and elements of social interaction are

#21

#05

indispensable.

This is a new reading service curated by people who believe literature is the mirror of life, for tomorrow's reader.

9

I. INTRODUCTION

and other stories

To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.

A. C. Grayling

12

I. INTRODUCTIN

We are in the transition to digital age where digital form of reading is now

#13

dominated. Our capacity to think deeply has been changed reflectively in an intellectually autonomous manner when we read, and this is a question well worth raising.

Reading requires creativity, concentration and critical analysis, especially deep

#04

reading. By deep reading we absorb much more than mere information, for the

#08

story contains and evokes emotions, memories and even taste and smell.

#34

Since humans are never genetically designed to read, the computer culture we

#06

have now may lead to the atrophy of the "reading brain" and depress our reading behavior.

To preserve the capability and beauty of deep reading, I would like to make use of virtual space and new technologies to create an intriguing reading atmosphere

#13

that eventually stimulate a new reading experience.

13

II. RESEARCH MOTIVATION

and other stories

It sometimes seems to me that a pestilence has struck the human race in its most #40

distinctive faculty—that is, the use of words. It is a plague afflicting language, revealing itself as a loss of cognition and immediacy, an automatism that tends to level out all expression into the most generic, anonymous, and abstract formulas, to dilute meanings, to blunt the edge of expressiveness, extinguishing the spark that shoots out from the collision of words and new circumstances.

At this point, I don't wish to dwell on the possible sources of this epidemic, whether

#17

they are to be sought in politics, ideology, bureaucratic uniformity, the monotony of the

#06

mass media, or the way the schools dispense the culture of the mediocre. What interests me are the possibilities of health. Literature, and perhaps literature alone, can create the antibodies to fight this plague in language.

I would like to add that it is not just language that seems to have been struck by this pestilence. Consider visual images, for example. We live in an unending rainfall of images.

The most powerful media transform the world into images and multiply it by means of the phantasmagoric play of mirrors. These are images stripped of the inner inevitability

#13

that ought to mark every image as form and as meaning, as a claim on the attention and as a source of possible meanings. Much of this cloud of visual images fades at once, like the dreams that leave no trace in the memory, but what does not fade is a feeling of alienation and discomfort.

But maybe this lack of substance is not to be found in images or in language alone, but in the world itself. This plague strikes also at the lives of people and the history of nations.

It makes all histories formless, random, confused, with neither beginning nor end. My discomfort arises from the loss of form that I notice in life, which I try to oppose with the only weapon I can think of— an idea of literature.

Italo Calvino, 1996, Six Memos for the Next Millennium

16

II. RESEARCH MOTIVATION

What Italo Calvino said speaks my mind. I feel this plague of language, for the

01

powerful media overwhelmed our world with images of constructed illusory and changing meaning. Nowadays, people often 1.”watch” instead of “read”, to

02

receive an impression instead of to absorb the content. Therefore, the constantly flowing cloud of visual images often fade away not long after being perceived, and leave no trace in the memory like dreams. But what stays is a feeling of alienation and discomfort resulted from the rather general impression. How can we bridge this vague and unfamiliar perception in connecting to the real world, in order to maintain a sense of substantive existence as an ethical and intellectual whole?

As an enthusiastic reader, an editor at a publisher, and a designer, I was fascinated by the powerful universe of reading. While working in the book industry, I was

#38

eager to find a way to help people better enjoy reading. This unique personal experience has led me to a philosophical and theoretical research, looking for a comprehensive way to strengthen and visualize the quality of reading through a new system.

Some of the news articles have pointed out that about eighty percent of the students in higher education come from upper social classes, mainly because they have more resources. However, I truly believe and hope reading will be able to provide equal right to people, to go beyond the boundary of social class and hierarchy, even though its value seems to be diminished by the media.

Whenever I recommend my younger sister some nice books, she often replies “it’s boring” with her iPhone. Whenever I am excited to share books with my friends, most of them would say “but I don’t have time”, for they have no time left after consuming massive fragmented information. So instead, I would just buy these nice books based on their respective interests and gave them when I feel they need it at certain point in life. Many of them told me never had them so touched and fully concentrated on the book before, but still some of them claimed “it’s so hard to be concerted on reading nowadays!”.

This personal experiences triggers me to think deeper about how the media has gradually changed our behavior, our “reading brain”, culture and the society as

#06

a whole. Books will no longer have same value and usage as in the old days. And as an information designer, I would like to design a new way of presenting the interesting part of the story, to maintain the spirit and beauty of reading in this

#34

age of big data.

17

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

and other stories

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 Photographor, Steve Mccurry

20

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Urgency

1. What's the urgency and necessity of deep reading at this point in time?

#08

A series of protests happened in Taiwan recently. Hundreds of protesters were barricaded in Taiwan's legislative chamber for more than three weeks opposing the governing party's push for a controversial trade agreement with China, in which its expedited passing process worked under the table against the democracy.

While I shared this news with Zifei, a first year information design student at DAE who comes from China, she find it difficult to imagine living in a democratic society like Taiwan since she grows up in a communist one. She cannot picture how angry the people of Taiwan are, for losing their right to say no to the government and their fear of losing freedom. Although she can easily find the definition of "democracy" and "freedom", as well as receive lots of informations about this issue on Facebook,

Zifei, Li, a student at DAE from China

but words without further background are just abstract ideas.

#21

The definitions and updates cannot convey emotions and meanings without the context.

So how can we really understand things and to be understood with only fragments of information, through the media and images?

Especially in this information era, as we consume more information, the more confused and doubted we are. We will just suffer from the overwhelming information if we cannot think independently or perceive them without empathy. Perhaps by reading stories like 1984, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies,

Hsiu Chun, Hsu, a student at DAE from Taiwan #11

A Tale of Two Cities will help both Zifei and I to have a clearer, objective and comprehensive view of dictatorship, freedom and human right.

Although those stories are not the stories of now, but the distance of time actually gives us more space, to breath and think objectively, so that in a way we become closer to its core as we feel like living inside the story with the characters.

The stories stood the test of time, carefully preserve the value we long for, to share the emotions and conflicts in humanity of all time.

21

and other stories

There are those who hold that the word is the way of attaining the substance of the world, the final, unique, and absolute substance. Rather than representing this substance, the word identifies itself with it (so that it is wrong to call the word merely a means to an end): there is the word that knows only itself, and no other knowledge of the world is possible. There are others who regard the use of the word as an unceasing pursuit of things, an approach not to their substance but to their infinite variety, touching on their inexhaustibly multiform surface. As Hoff-mannsthal said: "Depth is hidden. Where? On the surface." And Wittgenstein went even further than this: "For what is hidden ... is of no interest to us."

I would not be so drastic. I think we are always searching for something hidden or merely potential or hypothetical, following its traces whenever they appear on the surface. I think our basic mental processes have come down to us through every period of history, ever since the times of our Paleolithic forefathers, who were hunters and gatherers. The word connects the visible trace with the invisible thing, the absent thing, the thing that is desired or feared, like a frail emergency bridge flung over an abyss.

For this reason, the proper use of language, for me personally, is one that enables us to approach things (present or absent) with discretion, attention, and caution, with respect #40

for what things (present or absent) communicate without words.

Italo Calvino, 1996, Six Memos for the Next Millennium

22

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Urgency

Students in Taiwan Protest Trade Deal With China March 30, 2014 Heng, New York Times

Protesters occupying the parliamentary chamber March 18, 2014 Wikipedia

23

and other stories

Books.com.tw March 20, 2014 The biggest online bookstore made the selection about the trade pact issue, " What do you espect to this land? The book exhibition about the trade pact"

Readmoo.com "Sit in, think out" Reading is the soultion to this turbulence.

Tazze.tw "Don't unload the weapon of your thinking."

Facebook of Chen Wei-tin April 17, 2014 "The books list worth while reading"

24

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Urgency

At least five hundred thousands people have occupy the streets of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, to protest against the controversial trade agreement with China since the Eighteenth of March, 2014.

The concerned issues seems to be about justice, globalization, social awareness, as well as the relation between Taiwan and China. But as we dig deeper, it is more of a cultural problem. Behind the various discussions on the economic and trade policies, there are more questions and issues worth noted in this social movement. Such as the question of whether we should choose economic growth or happiness when we cannot have them both at the same time? How can we keep our dignity if we are forced to give it up for the physical needs? What happens when this government voted by Taiwanese people becomes a dictator?

Most important of all, most people speak out against the Chinese government for the reason of "we are different from them", but when we deny others, do we have a clear view and strong will of who I am? Or are they just denying for the sake of it?

Reading helps us define ourselves in relation or even in opposition to it, from reading, we think, we respect the scene which we can't see. While protest is to break the existing system, reading is the simplest and most basic way to construct or supplement our own ideology.

#17

During this period of time, the three main online bookstores of Taiwan all made list of bibliography, which narrate and elaborate on Taiwan’s protest from different aspects, from civil right, dictatorship, new movements of crowds, economy, China to humanity, etc. The leader of this Sunflower Movement, Chen Wei-ting, also recommend a book list, which he called “ideology supplements after movement” on his Facebook page.

25

and other stories

Losing Our Way in the World Shimrit Elkanati July 20, 2013 New York Times

26

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

2. Transition

2. How does information age changes human associations and the value of reading ?

We don’t really need to go to library to check the informations, we can just easily find abundant sources on the internet nowadays. However, since the internet knows more and can produce more quickly, it may also replace other people as external source of knowledge and memory, which the ability reading requires. With internet, there seems to be less and less need to involve and share with others as we seek for information. The internet also acts like our internal cognitive faculties in a way that there seems to be less and less need to inscribe things on our memory, big or small.

It seems that computer have become our transactive memory partner, for it is sometimes quicker to retrieve information from the internet than from our own memory.

The prevalence of smartphone and tablet make it easier to access information

04

05

anywhere anytime where the boundaries between our personal memory and the massive digital database may have started to blur, in which we rely more

06 07

and more on the latter. It seems that we are getting more used to off-loading information to the digital sources and less able to fix details in our own thoughts.

As a result, the internet might have become part of our own cognitive tool set.

Most people worry information overload causes us to lose vision and sight of the big picture, the opponents defend for the value of this new era.

27

and other stories

For instance, while most of people worry the new media is taking the cognitive 08

ability for reading, Johnson, the author of Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, points out actually the

#06

popular culture are now much more complex than they once were. Consumers now constantly have to learn to become smarter in adapting to new cultural products. They need to develop better focus and analytical skills, do more cognitive work like making not only quick decisions but also long-term strategies in role-playing video games, and master new virtual environments. These new

#09

media may change the way of thinking for digital native. While we are worry the new media will weaken the value of reading, the way of reading will gradually

#13

09

adjust to a new form.

Also, Clay Shirky, the author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, his assessment of the impact of new technology on the nature and use of groups is marvelously broad minded, coherent, and powerful; there will be more spontaneous networks of social interaction, people are willing to share their experience and help others with their knowledge. Imagine, when all the librarians and experts volunteer themselves to help improving reading experience.

As computation and data transfer advances, our mind and machine work closer and closer together. We might have developed a “Inter-mind,� a new intelligence that is no longer situated only in our own brains. We easily access and rely on the powerful information source of the internet as our transactive partner, make

#16

fully use of and merge ourselves with it without losing our own identity. We have transcended the limits of our memory and thought. And since we do not have to remember all the facts and details anymore, we may be able to apply our newly available mental resources onto greater use. Perhaps the evolving Inter-mind can bring the creativity of the individual human mind with the internet's vast amount of knowledge together to create a better world, including the world of reading. A fell backward generation to forward generation.

28

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

2. Transition

29

and other stories

The first lesson reading teaches is how to be alone.

Jonathan Franzen, How to Be Alone

30

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

3. Deep reading

3. Do we still need slow contemplation while deep reading?

#06

“We read more and more often, but with less concentration, which affects the quality of our reading. Ecstasy has made way for distraction, slow media for hypermedia. Modern reading consists mostly of mere glancing over, checking, and scanning the headlines.”

10

According to publicist Nicholas Carr, this transitory reading behavior, even in a worrying way our cognitive abilities. If we do not preserve the deep reading brain, we will forget the attentive reading that lead to reflection and insight. Atomize knowledge

#20

into pieces that don’t have a home in a larger conceptual framework, When this happens, we surrender means to guardians of knowledge and it loses its personal value.

11

The act of reading is a miracle. Every reader possesses the extraordinary capacity to rearrange text beyond its original in order to understand written symbols. But how did our brain learned to read? As world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist and scholar of reading Maryanne Wolf explains in her book of Proust and the Squid, we taught our brain to read only a few thousand years ago that inevitably leads to our intellectual evolution. According to Wolf, “as we come to appreciate how the evolution and development of reading have changed the very arrangement of our brain and our intellectual life, we begin to realize with ever greater comprehension that we truly are what we read”

12

31

and other stories

Reading enables me to maintain a sense of something substantive– my ethical integrity, my intellectual integrity.

Jonathan Franzen, How to Be Alone

32

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

3. Deep reading

Reading involves quite some complicated mental processes that are not natural to the brain's primal functions. So in order to be a good reader, a person must develop new neural connections in the correct order. Several brain scans and tests support and point to this finding as the neural pathways are well shown.

One of the most significant differences between human beings and other mammals seems to be how we can keep the information communicated and endure the test of time.

Communications are vital and through different means we are able to pass on information to people we never met before. We use complex languages to express and keep the experiences of many senses as well as to tell stories that not only contain information and knowledge but also with our emotions and memories.

Reading can bring more experience to individuals. Moreover, a paper published by the New School for Social Research also points out that reading literary fiction will enhance skills and thought processes fundamental to complex social relationships, for the “functional societies�. The task of this era, is not only to

13

acquire the necessary information, but also by deep reading

#08

in literature, to preserve the precious humanity, imagination, insight and empathy, the great gifts from the literature.

#11 #20

33

and other stories

INFORM ATION /

#35

MEMES

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MAINSTREAM MEDIA

CONSUMPTION SOCIETY

••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••

CULTURE TRADITIO N

#06

PRACTICES

2014, Hsiu Chun Hsu

34

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Meme

4. Why does the existing social recommendation engines, such as of Amazon, still needs to be better developed for scouting books? And what is the danger of it?

One of the biggest concerns of social recommendation engines is their natural pyramid structure of “popular� bias derived from how public awareness is stirred and manipulated. Basically, marketing investment often affect and facilitate public awareness.

With more awareness and exposure, some choices become more visible and recommended than others. As a consequence the bestselling titles often dominate the tops of list at the social recommendation sites, simply because more people know they exist. Due to marketing strategies, we might lose the Biblio diversity.

35

and other stories

14

“While suggestions provided by existing book recommenders can introduce users to books that they are not aware of, these recommenders are not personalized enough to achieve their design goals. It is imperative to develop personalized recommenders that provide finer suggestions pertinent to individual users’ interests or preferences. To the best of our knowledge, there are no recommendation systems that simultaneously consider users’ relationships , along with user-generated data extracted from a social website, to recommend books .” This research also stresses out the weak point of the existing recommendation system.

15

Also, both Dan Dennett and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie point out in their respective talks at TED, On Dangerous Meme and The

#34

Danger of a Single Story, how globalization and

#36

mainstream media make the meme incomplete

#06

and we might lose our culture, tradition and diversity.

36

III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Meme

“The single story creates stereotypes,

16

and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story�

I was quite surprised to learn that my younger sister did not know much about the story of Chinese Zodiac, classic in our culture, but rather familiar with the details of Harry Potter. It will be a pity and danger that the coming generations have not yet realize that many cultural memes are disappearing

#06

from our civilization, but only know stories through popular culture and new media.

37

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

and other stories

After a while the whistle is repeated by the same blackbird or by its mate but always as if this were the first time it had occurred to him to whistle; if this is a dialogue, each remark is uttered after long reflection. But is it a dialogue, or does each blackbird whistle for itself and not for the other?

And, in whichever case, are these questions and answers (to the whistler or to the mate) or are they confirmations of something that is always the same thing (the birds own presence, his belonging to this species, this sex, this territory)?

Perhaps the value of this single word lies in its being repeated by another whistling beak, in its not being forgotten during the interval of silence.

Or else the whole dialogue consists of one saying to the other I am here, and the length of the pauses adds to the phrase the sense of a still, as if to say: I am here still, it is still I. And what if it is in the pause and not in the whistle that the meaning of the message is contained? If it were in the silence that the blackbirds speak to each other? (In this case the whistle would be a punctuation mark, a formula like over and out.) A silence, apparently the same as another silence, could express a hundred different notions; a whistle could, too, for that matter. To speak to one another by remaining silent, or by whistling, is always possible; the problem is understanding one another. Or perhaps no one can understand anyone: each blackbird believes that he has put into his whistle a meaning fundamental for him, but only he understands it; the other gives him a reply that has no connection with what he said; it #03

is a dialogue between the deaf, a conversation without head or tail.

17

40

Italo Calvino , The blackbirds whistle , Mr Palomar

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Words

1. Words - Sentences - Stories, Why do we talk?

When do we use words? How can we connect

#03

those words to the words in other stories?

Words are minimal free forms. Words are

#40

consider as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. Put words into specific situation or context, and if there is context in conversation, in thinking, a group of terminology is formed. If the new reading experience system needs words in daily life to be the date bound from our personal life track to fictions, how can those dates be collected?

As technology develops, I see that in the future people may construct their own hierarchy of personal terms, based on the context in their daily life, and further relates to their readings and the fictional world.

41

and other stories

“There are certain emotions in your body that not even your best friend can sympathize with, but you will find the right film or the right book, and it will understand you.” - Björk

42

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Words

Incidents happened throughout the history and shaped culture. When involving themselves

#06

in those issues, people experience and arouse emotions, ideas and memories. Within the context, people often use certain words to describe or make record of the issues. When they arrange these words into form, a story is created. As we living in the ongoing flow of time, when an incident happened, our emotions,

#34 #40 #13 #12

curiosity or confusion aroused. We often use words to express how we feeling. And if we look back into the history, we can relate to other incidents happened before marked and expressed with similar emotions and words.

While people have long used words to communicate with the world, it seems that the new generation uses words in a more flexible way. They tweets, add tags, like and share all the

#37

fragmented pieces of information.

Perhaps human beings are like Calvino’s blackbird, they whistle not only to communicate with each other but also probably to prove their own existence.

43

and other stories

E VE N T HIS TO RY C U LTU RE

PE O PLE

ID E AS , E MOTIO N S , ME MO RIE S

SYNT RE

storyDNA CO N TE XT

THE LAYER author bio key facts historical and literary context extra credit audio different length characters obects behavior themes motifs iconography

44

BACKGROUND INFO PLOT SUMMARY

S TO RY

BO O K D E E P RE A CO MPRE HE

IN F ER EN T IA L, DEDUCT IV E R EA S O N IN G , A N A LO G ICA L S K

ELEMENTS CORE VALUE

KN OWLE

IN D E PE N D E N T

E MPAT

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Words

O N G O I N G TIME

P EO P L E

TOPICAL EADING

EMOT I O N S CARE

WOND E R

CO N F U S I O N

WAN T TO U N D E R S TA N D WAN T TO BE U N D E R S TO O D

DING NSI ON

KI L L S , CRIT ICA L ANALYSIS, RE F LECTI ON, I NSI GHT

S TO R Y

BOOK

EDGE

T THI N KI NG

T HY S TO R Y

BOOK

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Words

A Room of Ones’s Own 2013, Hsiu Chun Hsu

Concept The words themselves have no meaning until people read,

#40

think and use them. Words are just like seeds, we humans provide the best container for them to grow. Within our thought and through our realization the words become text or what we called poetry, novel, lyric. The words are just the basic elements at first, but when we apply them, they become emotional objects (or terms).

Design Google is like a tree hole in the real world, where everyone can store and keep their keywords in it. This is a idea of using google search engine and 3D printer in a space to illustrate

#33

how people can take a word out of a seed, speak to the tree, and get the falling emotional fruit generated by all the people who have spoke to the tree.

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Words

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and other stories

Human Genome

meme, idea, info

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50

storyDNA

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

2. The next generation of recommender systems based on StoryDNA

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From genetics, we learned that all human beings are based on the same group of DNA. Although different combinations of DNA make each person unique, but we can still find some similarity in appearance among those who share the same DNA. Likewise, in stories, all our emotions and ideas are based on the same group of StoryDNA, but when applied to different context and with different mix, people are always able to create new stories. StoryDNA are the essential elements of every story, which we can find the same elements in our life plot.

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Instead of searching a book by its genre, the new system here use StoryDNA to search for books. It identifies the thematic ingredients essential to a story's narrative, not limited to how

#28

prominent that ingredient is within the text. The following experiments are mainly to discuss how can we extract the most relevant features from stories and how to define the condition to filter the meaningful informations.

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and other stories

IV. 2. a. Evolution of Text

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

a. Evolution of Text

The track of how readers practice and apply the spirit of the book into the real world.

I have the idea about the words, ideas are in books or stories are organism since very long time ago. The idea of storyDNA

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was inspired by the concept of my previous work in year 2013, A Room of Ones’s Own. It is about when words come together, they will create a story, where ideas will be transferred to

#40 #34

reader, and by different personal experience, the words will have different life again. Through different medium and with different readers, the text will also transform into different forms.

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While I was doing research on books in Design Academy Eindhoven’s library and interviewed a couple readers, I found out how new life is formed from the books to the readers.

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

a. Evolution of Text

Gabriel, SD Master student Gender Space Architecture: An

#33

Interdisciplinary Introduction, Iain Borden, Barbara Penner, Jane Rendell Bought in 2009

Gabriel

Thesis topic: Gender in Space

Wei Lun, Yang, ID Master student Logic and Design, Revised: In Art, Science, and Mathematics, Krome Barratt Borrowed in 2013

Wei Lun, Yang

Thesis topic: Analog Machine

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and other stories

Sep 2009

May 2010

CAMP, MARK

Atelier Van Lieshout in de Onderzeebootloods

ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

a. Evolution of Text

Wang Chia Wei, Active Bachelor student Lieshout, Joep Van Atelier Van Lieshout: A Manual, Bart Lootsma, Piet De Jonge ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT 7.036(492) After attending the camp of Mark in 2009, Wang Chia Wei came across with Joep van Lieshout for the first time. He then borrowed his book, Atelier Van Lieshout: A Manual, from DAE library. The September of next year, year 2010, he found out an exhibition of Joep van Lieshou was held. Before visiting the exhibition he borrowed the book again. And after he visited the exhibition and took some pictures, he felt somewhat more confused about Joep van Lieshou’s work, so he borrowed the same book again.

May 2010

Sep 2010

Sep 2010

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and other stories

IV. 2. b. Non-linear Storytelling

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

b. Non-linear Storytelling

The Misunderstanding by Albert Camus 2013, Hsiu Chun, Hsu

Concept Normally, all the ingredients in a story should be fixed, otherwise

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it will become a different story if any of its elements such as characters, plot and scene is changed. However, the idea of this concept is to turn storytelling around by making the narratives non-linear and participatory.

Design To deconstruct all the elements in the story of The Misunderstanding by Albert Camus, where the characters, scenes, actions, time and objects all become flexible. Then reconstruct them in a new order, which as a result will lead to a different story.

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

b. Non-linear Storytelling

Conclusion Interactive fiction is not a completely new idea. There were vast amount of ‘Choose your own adventure books' in the eighties, and the adventure game genre, such as The Hobbit and Zork, has become a mainstream in the computer games industry too. Interactive fiction scene has also thrived on the internet for a decade already, letting independent developers create interesting experimental examples to download themselves.

But can 'ordinary' novels really be transformed and enhanced this way? I can sort of see the value in an ebook application with hyperlink leading to further information online of the location, item or person mentioned in the story. Perhaps while reading James Ellroy's American Tabloid, we will spend much of the time looking up information on John F. Kennedy, Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. But then, this is also something of a distraction.

While trying to be engrossed in a novel, one could easily be commercially exploited, that the last thing most readers will want is an electronic novel stuffed with contextual advertising so that every name of the places or brand come with a link to the relevant tourist site or manufacturer.

There are some foreseeable possibilities, for a new breed of novels and the coming generation of writers to play with the ebook format and develop new interactive ideas. There is already a growing amount of writers who are simultaneously working on games, films, comics and novels, combining different narrative methods as the entertainment industry evolves. Readers of crime fiction enjoy sorting the clues from the red herrings, so why don’t we make that process more vivid both visually and tactually?

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#15 #34

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But for me this idea should not be applied to the printed literature existed already. I would love to keep the quietness and purity of ordinary novels.

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and other stories

IV. 2. c. The Objective Information

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

c. The Objective Information

Lamb to the Slaughter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl 2013, Hsiu Chun Hsu

Concept With coding, we can gather the data we wanted. The statistics will tell the truth, find the pattern and reveal facts that we are not easily and readily aware of. I wonder, that by coding a story, how much insights can those objective information reveal? What

#34 #39

kind of role can those statics play in the system and are they worth studying?

Design Starting with two short novels of Roald Dahl, Lamb to the Slaughter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to try getting the statistics based on their respective topics, for example, the punctuation, keywords, gender and so on. Then by presenting those data in the same color as the color of text. That although the two books are designed and presented in the same form,

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but from the cover to the pages inside, we can see a clear comparison.

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

c. The Objective Information

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and other stories

IV. 2. d. Natural Language Processing

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The precious thing about literature is its emotional part. If to think about analyzing this mysterious words, some people might say it will destroy the spirit of reading, but technology is just a tool, depend on how people use them. As big data is now the trend in our technology development, I wonder if big data is

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structured by intuitive methods like "genetic algorithms". If so, then the spirit of literature can be unfolded; where it can better connect with our everyday life, and bring reading to a whole new

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level.

Ever since long time ago, people already dreamed of this technology, such as in the 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The technology is called Natural language

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processing.

Natural language processing (NLP)is a field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages. NLP covers any related issues of human and computer interaction.

Therefore, many challenges involved include natural language understanding, which is enabling computers to derive meaning from human or natural language input, and also others such as natural language generation.

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The purpose of natural language processing is to create the kind of interaction for non-programmers to obtain useful information from computing systems. This kind of interaction was popularized

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

d. Natural Language Processing

in the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and in the Star Trek television series. Natural language processing also includes the ability to draw insights from data within emails, videos, and other unstructured material. Despite that human beings have drawn a big picture of artificial intelligence in countless fictions and film, NLP is still remains a tough area yet to be developed.

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In January of 2014, Yahoo launched News Digest, its first mobile application based on Summly, a company it acquired with a focus on summarizing vast amount of information. Also based on the science of NLP, the application aims to provide concise and coherent summaries. While Summly started with a relatively simple extraction algorithm for general news, they have now

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take a greater and more ambitious effort to push summarization technology far beyond its present state. Summly’s in-house research team makes innovative use of machine learning and natural language processing, as well as using evaluation metrics to show our technology to be highly effective.

Summly has joined forces with the best people and technology organizations in the field, and together to push towards massive innovation.

There is no doubt that computer science will be better developed and more advanced in the coming years. And if we assume there will be no problem for NLP to tell (or identify) the emotional part of the stories, then the real question will be how far are we from artificial intelligence?

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and other stories

IV. 2. e. How

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can the information integrate with the story and to help the readers?

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

e. Integration

Lamb to the Slaughter and Charlie by Roald Dahl 2013, Hsiu Chun Hsu

Concept Imaging while you are reading a difficult novel, but there is graph to illustrate sentiments according to the plot and scene in the text, the hints for important icon or the map of where you are now in the story. It is like a system to help you find your position,

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to guide you through and deeper into the story, to the core.

Design This information can be applied both to the ordinary paper books and digital reading material. The information can be integrated easily with hyperlinks, but how can we apply this to the ordinary book is a matter of reading behavior. For example, to provide information about the external and internal of characters, the time they costume, the scale of the setting, the key objects, the suitable typography and the color palette according to the atmosphere of the text for both Lamb to the Slaughter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dah, in a way to redesign the books. And there are various ways to present these ideas, such as directly on the pages, in between the pages, hidden in the cover or show date on the text block.

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and other stories

T I M E & S PA C E 01

02

05

06

OUTDOOR 16:50 INDOOR

1F

B

OUTDOOR

INDOOR

1F

B

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

03

04

07

08

e. Integration

18:00

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and other stories

CHARACTER without anxiety

Mrs. Maloney Emotion

curiously peaceful

Internal&External

01

02 satisfied loved

Mr. Maloney

thoroughly exhausted

said

Postive

04

Emotion

08

12

16

20

04

08

12

16

20

Negative

Mr. Maloney Mrs. Maloney

waiting

glanced

bent

took hung made

listen heard stood went up kissed said

05

puzzled horror

Mrs. Maloney Emotion Mr. Maloney

knocked rolling

answered

Action

back sewing

sighed lifted swallow get spoke drank get up knew

sit quietly enjoying

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couldn't slight without feel sicknessl thinking told you

motionless afraid

Postive

04

Emotion

08

12

16

20

04

08

12

16

20

Negative

Mr. Maloney Action Mrs. Maloney

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kept said head down waiting

told

added watching sat

said couldn't went took looked carried saw stopped thought imagined not lifted acted heard feel held took whispered went looked walked

walked swung

hit

stepped crashed waiting standing

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

03

04

04 get frightened

08

said

12

16

drink

cried jumped up

noticed

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said

said

said

waited

went

08

told

clearthinking knew

16

20

carried ran put turned put washed

16

said

said

finished said

lowered watching

brightly smile

04

sat fixed

20

08

tried to smile

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puzzled eyes

12

stood up placed

moved

07

04

08

said

shock surprised

came feeling stood looking holding

04

e. Integration

tried said sound tried smile

08

practiced ran took went

brightly

12

16

20

told

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and other stories

"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on th following one it should be fired.� - Anton Che

OBJECT

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01

02

05

06

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

e. Integration

he wall, then in the ekhov LAMB

03

04

meet freezer

drink

07

breed cheese

chair lamp supper

freezer

sewing table

chair

drink glass

08

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and other stories

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

2. StoryDNA

e. Integration

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and other stories

The most precious part of a story its the abstract emotion, even

#34

though there are well developed systems which we can get statistics from texts, they might miss the most essential part of a story.

Although big data can reveal lots of truths, codes still cannot #22

interpret culture until now so we need human intervention.

20

How to transform the experience and knowledge of other

21

readers or librarians into recommendation data, perhaps we can learn from social interactive platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

To know one's own strengths and the enemy's is the surest way to victory. By exploring all the related digital contents, there are:Â 1. How to present huge volumes of information in a clear and intuitive way?

2. When there are several items, how do they present the data effectively and efficiently?

3. When there are recommendation systems, do they show the related data accessible and understandable?

4. How the social elements crosses over from different digital landscape and

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spread personal identity in the same time?

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

3. Social Interaction Platform

1. How to present huge volumes of information in a clear and intuitive way?

GOOGLE MAP

INVENTING ABSTRACTION 1910-1925 MoMA The Museum of Modern Art 2012 http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstraction/?page=connections

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and other stories

THE FACES OF FACEBOOK http://app.thefacesoffacebook.com/

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

3. Social Interaction Platform

2. When there are several items, how they present the data effectively and efficiently?

PINTEREST http://www.pinterest.com/

THE FACES OF FACEBOOK http://app.thefacesoffacebook.com/

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and other stories

3. When there is recommendation system, do they show the related data accessible and understandable?

LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/

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IV. DESIGN RESEARCH

3. Social Interaction Platform

4. How the social elements cross over from different digital landscape and spread personal identity in the same time?

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SOUNDCLOUD https://soundcloud.com/

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and other stories

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

Nomadic Reader

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Nomadism is a lifestyle adapted for infertile regions such as steppe, tundra, ice or sand, where mobility is the most efficient strategy for exploiting scarce resources such as food, water and grazing land.

We live in a society that is inseparable from mobile devices, which allows us to relentlessly engage in instant lifestyles regardless of our physical location, transforming the modern day consumer into an urban nomad in the virtual world.

Our nomadic behavior of moving between new digital landscapes is done by

22

accessing technology devices to interact with friends, consume media, work and read from almost anywhere in the world. Not only that we use these technologies remotely, but we also move from one source to another to access information.

We move where the information is, whether it is directly from the news source, or social media like Twitter and Facebook, etc. We are the digital omnivores hungry for information from anywhere we can get it.

Since the time and space varies and have different meanings to nomadic reader

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it also establishes a dynamic space for conversation. The reading experience

#10

will gain a new dimension as the exercise of commenting reconciles reading and writing to produce deeper thinking.

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and other stories

We are like snails. The tracks of our life are invisible to our eyes but can be found in the books we read. Reading helps us define ourselves in relation or even in opposition to it. Reading is about continuously having conversation with ourselves. It is also the way out when our sprit cannot be understood in reality. It is to sort out our inner #33

space, as all the panic and confusion settle like dust. The display and movement of the books on the shelf change as our life progresses.

Bookshelf is the space where book resides, but it is also the projection of our inner space. You are what you read. How’s your bookshelf, how’s yourself.

2013, Hsiu Chun Hsu

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

a. The S(h)elf

The S(h)elf Concept Lots of students in the Master departments of Design Academy Eindhoven come from far place abroad to study here. Because of the distance and the limitation of luggage, the chosen books we brought from home are often carefully chosen with specific reasons and very personal meaning. The shelf is the representation of oneself, in the similar life pattern of study abroad at DAE, the books we have brought could probably be interesting for the group of people who share a similar life experience elsewhere.

Experiment By interview for almost twenty DAE students who came from abroad, make a catalogue of their chosen books with reason, and also present their bookshelf and their beloved reading space and position.

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and other stories

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

a. The S(h)elf

Conclusion There is pattern of life experience and the pattern in stories, by defining the

23

specific classify according to the user’s background and reading behavior, we can develop the system of social collaborative filter. There’s something very obvious in the social fabric of reading service that makes personal recommendations more valuable: people don’t like computers telling them what to do. We’ll reply more on the recommendation reading list from our friends or the people who share a similar life experience than just a raw list of “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.”

89

and other stories

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

b. Space and Memory

Space and Memory

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Reading diaries about my childhood memories, at a different place now, and see how the social interaction in a space can create a unique atmosphere and irreplaceable reading memory.

91

and other stories

Few research centers made surveys on who read both printed books and e-books in the past year, and which format they

PART 1

70.15

Space & Relationship

thought was better for different situations. From their result, we

reading with a child : 80%

see that people prefer e-books when they need a book quickly, would like a wide selection, or when they want to read “on-thego” while commuting or traveling.

On the other hand, they prefer printed books as a way of “social reading,” such as to share books sharing books with others : 69%

with others or read to a child.

24

reading in bed : 43%

reading while travling or commuting : 19%

52

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

iPad

4. Nomadic Reader

c. Space and Relationship

THE EVOLUTION OF TEXT check the pdf online

Experience | Reading

reading with a child : 9%

sharing books with others : 25%

reading in bed : 45%

reading while travling or commuting : 73%

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and other stories

How to build your own living structures, Ken Isaacs

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

d. The Basic Space

The basic needs in a reading space are a table, space for books and peace. Also,

#33

from childhood diaries, I read most often in bed and restroom due to their quietness, intimacy and feel of isolation.

Inspired by Ken Isaacs’s living structure and Le corbusier’s modular, I made a series of simple space, that could possibly create simple yet quiet atmosphere for readers.

The basic needs for reading space: 1. A table 2. Space for books 3. Peace

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and other stories

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

e. DAE Library

DAE LIBRARY The Design Academy Library is a small library mainly with design related books.

Especially in this digital era, the library is still using the analog system, for instance: the postcard to remind returning the books or the borrowing card by handwriting. Although it’s a small one and not a modern one, but for me DAE library is a unique one because of there is a librarian, Evi Piepers: she made my

#07

reading experience totally different from before.

Whenever I visited there with a vague subject, she was not only introducing the book that I couldn't find from the search system, but she also recommends me the related books or exhibitions that I had never thought about.

Evi Piepers had been working in the DAE for more than 20 years, she has the knowledge about design and art and also the experience of working with design academy students. The recommended reading list is not only according to the subjects from DAE, but also the books fit to personal needs.

From my reading diary, I discovered that more than half students who visited the library had asked the help from her. Whenever I talked to her I felt her passion towards books and helping students. That’s a very essential element of reading experience that seems missing on the digital content.

Is it possible to transfer her method of proving a list of books according to a subject and apply this social relationship to our future reading system? Surely, the suggestions from the person who I can rely on will work much better than the algorithm system like Amazon.

#01

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and other stories

ISSUE 1. DAE library, April, 2013 In April of 2013, there was an issue at the DAE’s library, which the school #07

stated they didn’t have enough budget to hire a librarian. They even considered to merge DAE’s library with the Eindhoven’s public library. Soon, the DAE students demonstrated against the policy and they claimed that a librarian is an indispensable role for the DAE, and due to the protest, the DAE’s Executive Board decided to postpone the policy and our librarian, Evi Piepers, is still helping with DAE students.

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

S H E R MA N

f. The scarcity

ALEXIE

September 1, 2013

Hello, hello, you gorgeous book nerds, Now is the time to be a superhero for independent bookstores. I want all of us (you and you and especially you) to spend an amazing day hand-selling books at your local independent bookstore on Small Business Saturday (that's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 30 this year, so you know it's a huge weekend for everyone who, you know, wants to make a living).

Here's the plan: We book nerds will become booksellers. We will make recommendations.

We will practice nepotism and urge readers to buy multiple copies of our friends' books.

Maybe you'll sign and sell books of your own in the process. I think the collective results could be mind-boggling (maybe even world-changing).

I was a bookseller-for-a-day at Seattle's Queen Anne Book Company when it reopened this past April. Janis Segress, one of the new co-owners, came up with this brilliant idea. What could be better than spending a day hanging out in your favorite hometown indie, handselling books you love to people who will love them too and signing a stack of your own?

Why not give it a try? Let’s call it Indies First.

Grassroots is my favorite kind of movement, and anyway there’s not a lot of work involved in this one. Just pick a bookstore, talk to the owner (or answer the phone when they call you) and reach an agreement about how to spend your time that day. You’d also need to agree to place that store’s buy button in a prominent place on your website, above the Amazon button if you have one. After all, this is Indies First, not Indies Only, and it’s designed to include Indies in our world but not to exclude anyone else.

This is a great way to fight for independents—one that will actually help them. It’ll help you as well; the Indies I’ve talked to have told me that last year Small Business Saturday was one of their biggest days of the year, in some cases the biggest after the Saturday before Christmas—and that means your books will get a huge boost, wherever you choose to be.

The most important thing is that we’ll all be helping Independent bookstores, and God knows they’ve helped us over the years. So join the Indie First Movement and help your favorite independent bookstore. Help all indie bookstores. Reach out to them and join the movement. Indies First!

Yours in Independence, Sherman Alexie, An Absolutely True Part-Time Indie

ISSUE 2. SHERMAN ALEXIE, September 1, 2013 The author of “An Absolutely True Part-Time Indie”, Sherman Alexie had made a movement about “Join The Indies First Movement”. While Alexie urged writers to pick up the phone and call their local booksellers, the ABA( America Bookseller Association) was helping to organized the movement by posting forms online for authors and booksellers who want to participate.

"Authors who have already signed on for Indies First include Laurie

25

King, Paul Fleischman, Cynthia Lord, Rick Bass, David James Duncan, David Abrams, Shannon Hale and Josh Hanagarne, according to the ABA. Small Business Saturday has become a key annual event for independent booksellers, a chance to boost both sales and consumer awareness. The ABA’s “Thanks for Shopping Indie” promotion will also launch on Nov. 30.

In actions, ranging from the individual to the large scale, authors are finding ways to give back to independent booksellers and educate readers about the importance of shopping at indies. Indie First provides an opportunity for many more authors to do the same."

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and other stories

ISSUE 3. POLARE, January 28, 2014 Polare has admitted to an “unforeseen loss in book sales.” Public spending on books has been on the decline since 2008, but have not yet reached their expected lowest point.

All 20 shops owned by Polare, namely Selexyz and de Slegte, will “temporarily” shut their doors following a “strategic reorganization” that will also see their online store go back. Polare revealed on Monday that the organization considers this measure necessary in order to safeguard its future. Polare is now in discussion with various parties. “Despite the recently resumed supply of CB, the Centraal Boekhuis, a leading Dutch book distributor, the renewed agreement doesn’t offer a structural solution,” Polare writes in a declaration.

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III. RESEARCH QUESTION

4. Nomadic Reader

f. The scarcity

Conclusion The reading space such as a library or the physical bookstores now are facing the

#33

crisis of the economy and new technology. From the three issues above, it comes to me some ideas and inspiration. I think there is no conflict between the real world and the virtual world in reading system, we should take advantage of both and integrate them into a new one.

The traditional chain bookstore will get less and less, because the space for reading or the three-dimensional pages will not be the boundary for readers anymore. Can we transfer the experience and method from librarian like Evi

#07

Piepers to the virtual reading space, the metadata of every book in her brain becoming the open data for the reading system? The role of an expert like her in design and art field should be the mediator or curator of a specific theme, and there will be different fields of curators to investigate and defining the

#23

metadata. When readers or bookstores buy the books because of their effort, they’ll have reward as well.

The system with open data can be the tool for independent bookstores and library to choose precise books for the limited space or when there is no budget to hire professional librarian, both the bookstores and the library are no longer the places just for purchasing books, but more like your intimacy reading club or the Salon, for people to gather and exchange their emotions base on the interest of specific topics, the reading space can be dynamic and not fixed anymore.Â

#10

Sharing, Human Touch and Community Marketing will shape the new type of community bookstore and publisher in the future.

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V. HYPOTHESIS

and other stories

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"The medium is the message" - Marshall McLuhan

For McLuhan, it was the medium itself that shaped and controlled “the scale and form of numan association and action�.

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V. HYPOTHESIS

One might think internet weakens the value of deep reading because we can

#08

easily find answers online instantly instead of reading to search for them that may take some time. However, what we can do instead, is to make use of the new technology to create a new experience of reading, and bring new life and value to it.

From the book of Here Comes Everybody, People like to share, by using the

26

transformational power of the new forms of tech-enabled social interaction, the readers can motivate their friends who were just viewers to become readers.

The overloaded information means almost like nothing to us, but if we can filter out the rest and focus only on the core of the information, and create a set of terminology around the topic, it will help us to clarify the essence of issue.

Perhaps one of the reason that people do not think reading is valuable is because they think the content in the books are too far from their real life. So on the contrary, if we can connect their crazy imagination in life to the world in the

#03

story, will they be more interested to read again?

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“A single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that

15

they are untrue, but that they are incomplete�. But with Syntopical Reading,

#36

several books can come together to better inform reader about a subject, where the ultimate goal of reading is the growth of mind, for a fuller experience as a conscious being.

If we suffer too much from perceiving sound and inputs from other senses that distract us in deep reading, we can be more concentrated if there is a guide so we

#08

can follow through the stories.

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VI. DESIGN PROPOSAL

and other stories

Remember, it may be true that mammals, not dinosaurs, came to dominate Earth’s land masses, at least for this tiny sliver of our planet’s history. But even now, dinosaurs didn’t vanish from the earth; they’re still here. We call them birds.

Tim Carmody, Amazon Doesn’t Care About Your Local Bookstore

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VI. DESIGN PROPOSAL

From the research and experiments, the proposal will follow three main concepts and form the design.

Why reading literature is important to this generation?

Now, protest is everywhere. We're facing crisis more than ever, such as limited resources, global finical difficulties, environmental problems and political issues under the condition of the third industrial revolution. If an issue is pitched into a crisis, either the nature of the issue is problematic, or the historical facts which cause the consequence.

"Literature comes out of a situation of great social turbulence, it fought with a huge, important history, for example, like the industrial revolution, the political revolution in France and America. While history was moving rapidly under people's feet and they felt a certain thing of value were being threatened, and all art or literature became repositories of value. That have them being rather jealously protected from the winds of history. The concept of literature as a sort of privileged enclave that we received is by no means common in human history." — Terry Eagleton.

With our limited life experience, we’re desperately seeking for the value we're longing for. Reading is not only for escaping, we read because we want to have an insight to read the World. There is urgency for developing deeper reading experience in this generation. For example, while Facebook aware this phenomenon, they extend their content to "Paper", the new application for users to explore and share stories deeper and meaningful.

109

and other stories

1. The new attitude of reading from the definition to filter the content.

The different attitude toward reading is starting from how we define the condition to filter the information. The way of search, the navigation system should provide the data with insight. The

#20 #26 #24

visual for presenting the linked data with keyword map should be accessible and understandable. By providing the selected

#35

StoryDNA from macro historical background to the micro

#30

facts, and use that to the navigation system and visualization synoptical reading list. It allows the readers to evaluate the source and data critically. The way of presenting the subjects in the recommendation books list letting readers to access the needed information effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the readers can understand an issue from different perspectives of views.

Triangular prisms are used to disperse light, that is, to break light up into its spectral components. The idea of my system is also to decode the subjects in stories.

2. The recommendation systems should be more personalize enough to meet user's expectation.

The data base for recommendation are not only in depth discussion of various content based from the stories, but also should collaborate with the user input data and user generated

#14

data, which extracted from social websites and hybrid websites with review for getting the reader's pattern. The system itself

110

VI. DESIGN PROPOSAL

is geometrically progressive; the curator creates a profile to define the condition for algorithm to capture the data, and then with the reader's participation will give richer content for the algorithm.

GEOMETRICAL LY PROGRESSIV E algorithm

#07

crowds sourcin g

librarian publisher as curator mederato r

3. Social reading will help the reading experience and improve the reading system.

The experience of reading gains a new dimension as the exercise of commenting reconciles reading and writing to produce deeper thinking. Nomadic reader will cross the boundary of the reading page to the great community of networking, broaden the scope of reading and expanding the notion of reading. By practice and sharing the reading experience into real life is my goal of this project.

More haste, less speed. The emblem of the dolphin and anchor which has been used since Roman times to illustrate the adage. This example is the printer's mark of Aldus

111

VII. CONCLUSION

and other stories

114

VII. CONCLUSION

A greater community Digital content has controlled and changed the scale of reading. It forms the human relationship and their behavior in a new way. Thus, mimicing print-like experience is not my strategy in the process. I'm more interested about the information literacy. While all catalogues, databases, and a growing number

#18

of books are available on the Internet and the greater community, what does technology means for reading behavior and what can designers do for it.

I, as an information designer in this reading field is more like an information

#19

architect. Define the condition to filter the information, also determine the extent of information needed. I’d use my aesthetic to build the visualization, letting readers to access the needed information effectively and efficiently, evaluate information and its sources critically, incorporate selected information into reader’s personal needs, understand the information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose, and make sense of the issues surrounding the use of information.

By investigating inside the system, which within four layers of a story itself

#34

and to the system bound up with the reading behavior which including from searching, making the decision, how readers perceive information and how social elements integrate in the reading behavior nowadays, I think human intervention is indispensable also when we consider the scale like reading system than the information designers should cooperate with experts in different fields especially information technology. So my proposal is about the reading application is geometrically progressive by the algorithm, the mediators and crowds sourcing.

#01

From what I mentioned at the beginning, we're still in the transition period of digital content development. So the reading beyond binding papers is just an issue in this short decade. I wonder in the future, how might the reading

#39

system will automatically progress by natural language processing. And artificial

#29

intelligence that we can even detect emotions in dialogs, all the abstraction can be analyzed, all the ideas, emotions will be connected as a greater community. I wonder how far is from now to there.

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VIII. TERMINOLOGY NOTES

and other stories

TERMINOLOGY NOTES drawn from Wikipedia

#1

Algorithm 9, 67, 97, 111, 114, 115

#7

Curator, Librarian, Mediator 97, 98, 101, 102, 105, 111

In mathematics and computer science, an

#2

algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for

The essence of the Mediator Pattern is to

calculations. Algorithms are used for calculation,

"Define an object that encapsulates how a set

data processing, and automated reasoning.

of objects interact". Mediator promotes loose coupling by keeping objects from referring to

Comparison 63

each other explicitly, and it lets you vary their

The act of looking at things to see how they are

interaction independently.

similar or different or suggesting that two or more things are similar or in the same category. #3

#8

Connection 40, 41, 66, 105

The active process of thoughtful and

The act of connecting two or more things or the

deliberate reading carried out to enhance one's comprehension and enjoyment of a text.

state of being connected, a situation in which two or more things have the same cause, origin,

#9

goal, etc. #4

or after the general introduction of digital

Critical thinking 9, 13, 45

technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater

Critical Thinking defines critical thinking

understanding of its concepts. Alternatively, this

as the intellectually disciplined process of

term can describe people born during or after the

actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,

2000s, as the Digital Age began at that time;

analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating

but in most cases, the term focuses on people

information gathered from, or generated by,

who grew up with the technology that became

observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or

prevalent in the latter part of the 20th century

communication, as a guide to belief and action.

Crowds sourcing 09 Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining

and continues to evolve today. #10

Dynamic 87, 101 The dynamical system concept is a mathematical

needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting

formalization for any fixed "rule" which describes

contributions from a large group of people, and

the time dependence of a point's position in its

especially from an online community, rather than

ambient space.

from traditional employees or suppliers. #11 #6

Digital native 28 A digital native is a person who was born during

The National Council for Excellence in

#5

Deep reading 9, 13, 21, 31, 33, 45, 105

Empathy 21, 33, 45

Culture 9, 13,16, 17, 28, 34, 36, 37, 43, 44

Empathy is the capacity to recognize emotions

The evolved human capacity to classify and

that are being experienced by another sentient

represent experiences with symbols, and to act

or fictional being. One may need to have a

imaginatively and creatively; and the distinct

certain amount of empathy before being able to

ways that people, who live differently, classified

experience accurate sympathy or compassion.

and represented their experiences, and acted creatively.

#12

Flow 9, 43 Move along or out steadily and continuously in a current or stream.

118

#13

Form 13, 16, 28, 43, 53, 63

#18

Form is the shape, visual appearance,

Information architecture is the structural design

constitution or configuration of an object. In a

of shared information environments; the art

wider sense, the form is the way something is or

and science of organizing and labeling websites,

happens, the answer to "how?" #14

#15

intranets, online communities and software

Hybrid 110

to support usability and findability; and an

Something that is formed by combining two or

emerging community of practice focused on

more things.

bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. Typically, it involves a

Hyper 61

model or concept of information which is used

In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to

and applied to activities that require explicit

data that the reader can directly follow either

#16

Information architecture 115

by clicking or by hovering or that is followed

details of complex information systems. These

automatically.

activities include library systems and database development.

Identity 28, 78, 83 Personal identity is the distinct personality of an

#19

individual and is concerned with the persisting

The ability to know when there is a need for

entity particular to a given individual. The

information, to be able to identify, locate,

personal identity structure appears to preserve

evaluate, and effectively use that information for

itself from the previous version in time when it is

the issue or problem at hand.

modified. It is the individual characteristics arising from personality by which a person is recognized

#20

Ideology 16, 25 An ideology is a set of conscious and unconscious

intuitive understanding of a person or thing. #21

Interdependence 9 Interdependence describes relationships in which

ideas that constitute one's goals, expectations,

members of the group are mutually dependent

and actions. An ideology is a comprehensive

on the others. This concept differs from a

vision, a way of looking at things as in several

dependence relationship, where some members

philosophical tendencies, or a set of ideas

are dependent and some are not.

proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society

Insight 31, 33, 45, 110 The capacity to gain an accurate and deep

or known. #17

Information literacy 115

#22

Interpret 78 The act or result of explaining or interpreting something, to explain or to be understood.

#23

Investigate 101 Carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of an incident, allegation, etc. So as to establish the truth.

#24

Keyword Map 110 A Keyword Map is to stay relevant, location targeting and avoid getting lost.

119

and other stories

TERMINOLOGY NOTES drawn from Wikipedia

#25

#26

Layern 44

#32

To form or arrange parts or pieces of something

Although reading itself is often a solitary

on top of each other.

experience, taken more broadly, reading can nevertheless be viewed as a very social activity.

Linked data 101

From individuals sharing their perspectives in

In computing, linked data describes a method

a book club to students discussing a particular

of publishing structured data so that it can be

passage in class, reading often involves a

interlinked and become more useful. #27

significant social component. Furthermore, even

Meme 35, 36, 37, 50

if readers do not engage in such explicit social

A meme is "an idea, behavior, or style that

behavior, they will often carry out a conversation

spreads from person to person within a culture."

with the text itself, such as questioning an

A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas,

author's argument or agreeing with a particular

symbols, or practices that can be transmitted

section. In one sense, annotations may be

from one mind to another through writing,

considered the currency of such interactions.

speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters

#33

fundamental importance to an understanding of

analogues to genes in that they self-replicate,

the physical universe. However, disagreement

mutate, and respond to selective pressures.

continues between philosophers over whether it

Narrative 51, 61

is itself an entity, a relationship between entities,

A narrative is any account of connected events, presented to a reader or listener in a sequence of written or spoken words. #29

of computer science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human natural anguages. #30

Navigation 9 ,110 The act, activity, or process of finding the way to get to a place when you are traveling in a ship, airplane, car, etc.

#31

Nomadic 9, 85, 111 Nomadism is a lifestyle adapted to infertile regions such as steppe, tundra, or ice and sand, where mobility is the most efficient strategy for exploiting scarce resources.

120

or part of a conceptual framework. #34

Story 13, 17, 36, 38, 43, 44, 45, 51, 53, 59, 61, 63, 68, 69, 78, 105, 115 A recounting of a sequence of events.

Natural language processing 66, 67, 115 Natural language processing (NLP) is a field

Space 13, 47, 55, 66. 67. 85. 86, 91, 92, 93, 95, 101 The concept of space is considered to be of

of the concept regard memes as cultural

#28

Social reading 92, 111

#35

Story DNA 50, 51, 53, 110 The elements to compose a story.

#36

Syntopical 9, 44, 105

#40

Words 16, 21, 22, 41, 43, 45, 47, 53

Syntopical reading is the ultimate goals of

In linguistics, a word is the smallest element

reading from the book "How to Read a Book"

that may be uttered in isolation with semantic

by Mortimer Adler, at this stage the reader uses

or pragmatic content with literal or practical

several books to inform himself about a subject

meaning. This contrasts with a morpheme,

such as love, war, particle physics, etc. In the final

which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not

pages of this part the authors expound on the

necessarily stand on its own.

philosophical benefits of reading; "growth of the mind", fuller experience as a conscious being.

The first requirement of any syntopical reading project is understanding that more than one book is needed in answering a particular question and the second requirement is finding the books necessary to read in an inspectional way to receiving the knowledge that you need in answering your question. #37

Tag 43 In information systems, a tag is a nonhierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file. This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. Tags are generally chosen informally and personally by the item's creator or by its viewer, depending on the system.

#38

Universe 9, 17 The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of existence, including planets, stars, galaxies, the contents of intergalactic space, the smallest subatomic particles, and all matter and energy.

Similar terms include the cosmos, the world, reality, and nature.

#39

Wonder 63, 66, 115 Aristotle thought that Philosophy begins in wonder. Wonder is some thing children do quite well. It comes natural to them.

121

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other stories

INSPIRATION Adler, M. and Van Doren, C. (n.d.). How to read a book. 1st ed.

Hesse, H. (1951). Siddhartha. 1st ed. [New York]: New Directions.

McLuhan, M., Fiore, Q. and Agel, J. (1967). The medium is the massage. 1st ed. New York: Bantam Books.

Norman, D. (2011). Living with complexity. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Perec, G. and Sturrock, J. (1997). Species of spaces and other pieces. 1st ed. London, England: Penguin Books.

Rawsthorn, A. (n.d.). Hello world. 1st ed.

II. RESEARCH MOTIVATION 1

Calvino, I. (1988). Six memos for the next millennium. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

2

Gerritzen, M., Lovink, G. and Kampman, M. (2011). I read where I am. 1st ed. Breda: Graphic Design Museum.

3

Mccurry, S. (2010). Reading. [Photography].

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4

Ward, A. and Wegner, D. (2013). The Internet Has Become the External Hard Drive for Our Memories. [online] Scientificamerican.com. Available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-internet-has-become-the-external-hard-drive-for-our-memories/?page=1

5

Gregoire, C. (2013). How Technology Is Warping Your Memory. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost. com/2013/12/11/technology-changes-memory_n_4414778.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

6

Carr, N. (2010). The shallows. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton.

7

Johnson, S. (2005). Everything bad is good for you. 1st ed. New York: Riverhead Books.

8

Bauerlein, M. (2011). The digital divide. 1st ed. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.

9

Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody. 1st ed. New York: Penguin Press.

10

Gerritzen, M., Lovink, G. and Kampman, M. (2011). I read where I am. 1st ed. Breda: Graphic Design Museum.

11

Carr, N. (2010). The shallows. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton.

12

Wolf, M. and Stoodley, C. (2007). Proust and the squid. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

13

Kidd, D. and Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 342(6156), pp.377--380.

14

Maria Soledad Pera and Yiu-Kai Ng, ( 2010). With a Little Help From My Friends: Generating Personalized Book Recommendations Using Data Extracted from a SocialWebsite, U.S.A: Computer Science Department, Brigham Young University, Prov

15

Adichie, C. (2009). The danger of a single story. [online] Ted.com. Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_ single_story

16

124

Dennett, D. (2002). Dangerous memes. [online] Ted.com. Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_memes

IV. DESIGN RESEARCH 17

Calvino, I. (1985). Mr. Palomar. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Stuart, K. (2010). Is interactive fiction the future of books?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/ gamesblog/2010/sep/22/ideo-and-interactive-fiction

18

DEANGELIS, T. (2014). The Growing Importance of Natural Language Processing | Innovation Insights | WIRED. [online] WIRED. Available at: http://www.wired.com/2014/02/growing-importance-natural-language-processing/

19

Given, K. and Given, K. (2014). The Best Goodreads Alternatives: Book Reviews, Cataloging, Recommendations, and More.

20

[online] Kerrygiven.com. Available at: http://www.kerrygiven.com/1298/the-best-goodreads-alternatives-book-reviews-catalogingrecommendations-and-more/

21

Woods, B. (2014). 15 of the Best Music Streaming Platforms Online Today. [online] The Next Web. Available at: http://thenextweb. com/apps/2014/01/17/15-best-music-streaming-services-which-is-the-best/1/

22

Daisy.cti.gr, (2014). URBAN NOMADS - A lifestyle transformation from passive to fully mobile integrated being. [online] Available at: http://daisy.cti.gr/webzine/Issues/Issue%202/Position%20Paper/index.html

23

Zanganeh, L. (2014). Lila Azam Zanganeh on Why Literature Makes Us Better Lovers. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=z0wMy_kkPAk&feature=youtu.be

24

Zickuhr, K. (2012). Print books vs. e-books: Which is better for what. [online] Pew Internet Libraries. Available at: http://libraries. pewinternet.org/2012/04/13/print-books-vs-e-books-which-is-better-for-what/

25

Authorsguild.org, (2013). Sherman Alexie Urges Authors To Become Hand-Selling Superheroes For A Day | The Authors Guild.

[online] Available at: http://www.authorsguild.org/general/sherman-alexie-urges-authors-to-become-hand-selling-superheroes-for-a-day/

V. HYPOTHESIS 26

McLuhan, M., Fiore, Q. and Agel, J. (1967). The medium is the massage. 1st ed. New York: Bantam Books.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS HEAD OF INFORMATION DESIGN DEPARTMENT Joost Grooten

MENTORS Joost Grooten Gert Staal Simon Davies Nikki Gonnissen Arthur Roeloffzen Frans Bevers

THESIS MENTORS Gert Staal Sanne Jansen

MAY 2014