Kod Book Interactive
Nazemi, Kate
Digital code is the requisite material used by scientists to process information and produce results, and now by artists who use it as a creative tool. Here, we find a link between two seemingly disparate disciplines. But the connection goes deeper than shared material and the challenge is how to communicate it across the linguistic divide.
Kod Book Interactive is a gesture driven interface and a printed book. Both domains complement each other well: the interface allows participants to explore the visual and aural elements of code, while the book provides a historical foundation for learning. Together, these methods blend the nonlinear, dynamic, and unique explorative attributes of interactive digital media with the linear, static, and analytic properties of the printed book for a complete multi-sensory experience.
Each method of representation rigorously investigates various levels in, and representations of, a programming language in order to relate it to the broader context of human experience and learning. This is observed in the following ways: 1. Translation—code to computer, fixed language of science to the fluid language of poetry, visual to sound; and 2. Relationships—size, weight, value, contrast, rhythm, space.
Overview
Kod Book Interactive: Book is a soft-covered book measuring 6x9. The book is an analytical examination of the transformation of the scientific language of code to the poetic interpretation of “kod.”
Kod Book Interactive: Interface, was developed in flash and runs on a touch screen monitor. Participants, presented with a continuous flow (left to right) of “kod,” are encouraged to explore the poetry through touch.
Relationships
To relate is to connect. Kod Book Interactive fuses traditional formal elements in design: scale, contrast, rhythm and space, with properties of dynamic media: modularity, variability, and time, to make clear visual and aural connections between content and form. In unison with the poetic language of “kod”, this creates an environment for learning and understanding.
Integral to Kod Book Interactive: Interface is the typographic scale of “kod.” Here, distinctions in typographic size distinguish inactive typography—small type flowing from left to right—from active typography that, when touched, scales in relation to the volume of the word heard. Here, a the following relationship between scale and sound are formed: the larger the word, the louder the pronunciation. Another relationship between scale and sound is found in the rate of word flow: the larger the word, the slower it moves from left to right. These variations in typographic scale and sound create contrast and rhythm in the interactive environment.
Adding to a sense of contrast and rhythm are the vocal expressions of the two typefaces chosen: Mrs. Eaves and Franklin Gothic. The voice of words set in Mrs. Eaves (a feminine typeface) is female, while Franklin Gothic (a masculine typeface) is male. Within each voice, alterations in pitch range from high to low depending on speed.
Space and time are also explored through the developing user relationship within the interactive environment. Through the touch of a hand, changes in size, content organization, and time are investigated. The fluid gestures of a hand allow participant the freedom of isolating certain words and re-organizing them within the given space. The time line of events can also be paused to allow a more thorough investigation.
Conclusion
What began as a modest experiment in how to communicate the language of code across a linguistic divide has opened the door for future explorations in multi-sensory and multi-methods of
communication.
Kod Book Interactive: Interface was a featured exhibition at the 2005 Boston CyberArts Festival. It received a warm response and helpful feedback, much of which is reflected in the 2005 exhibition: The Language of Dynamic Media.
Kod Book Interactive: Book was also featured in the 2005 AIGA BoNE Show and awarded a Certificate of Award.
