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TELEPRESENCE IN POPULAR CULTURE
A study of portrayals of presence
Dopamine
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ABOUT THE WORK
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MEDIUM:
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Film |
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YEAR:
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2003 |
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WRITER(S):
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Timothy Breitbach
Mark Decena
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OWN COPY?
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No |
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ABOUT THE STORY
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SUMMARY:
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Rand, Winston, and Johnson have a small tech startup company in the Bay Area that's developing a artificially-lived computer character, Koy Koy the bird, who can hear and see and interact with the user. Koy Koy gets placed in a kids schoolroom for testing, and Rand develops a relationship with one of the teachers, Sarah. Rand learns that his scientific understanding of human mating isn't necessarily a roadmap for the real thing.
Summary written by Martin Lewison {dr@martinlewison.com}
from imdb.com |
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ERA/YEAR:
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Present day when produced |
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CHARACTERISTICS
OF WORLD:
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Present day 2003, San Francisco |
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ABOUT THE
PRESENCE-EVOKING TECHNOLOGY
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NAME:
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Koy Koy |
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DESCRIPTION:
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Koy Koy is an animanted bird that children can interact with. He is very real, although animanted and on a computer screen. He interacts with the children, responds to their commands by singing, moving, flying. He responds to vocal commands and questions, and can interpret facial emotions. He is quite shy and has to spend time with a user before he is confident. The children interact iwth him as they would a real pet bird. He behaves very shyly at first, as a real bird would. When they give him a mate, he acts as any bid in love would do - flying in circles, trying to impress her, etc. |
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NATURE OF TASK OR ACTIVITY:
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The children interact with Koy Koy in thier classroom, whenever they want. They interact with him as they would a real pet bird. So, they talk to him, tell him to do things, etc. |
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PERFORMANCE OF THE TECHNOLOGY:
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Very well. |
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ABOUT THE CREATORS OF
THE TECHNOLOGY
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DESCRIPTION:
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3 white men in their mid to late 20's. They have an animation tech start up in San Francisco. |
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MAJOR GOAL(S):
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To entertain users and provide a social outlet for people who may be shy/lonely or not able to have real pets. |
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ABOUT THE PEOPLE
WHO EXPERIENCE PRESENCE
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DESCRIPTION:
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Children in kindergarden class. All races, both genders. One creator also has extensive interactions wth Koy Koy - he is lonely and uses the bird as a social outlet and metaphor for his emotions about love. |
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ABOUT THE PRESENCE EXPERIENCE
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TYPE(S) OF PRESENCE:
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Social presence |
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DESCRIPTION:
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The users generally find the experience satisfying, espeiclaly once the bird is accostemed to the user and will engage with him/her. |
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USER AWARENESS:
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Yes. Although the children may not realize the bird is totally not real. |
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VALENCE:
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They find it pleasent. |
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SPECIFIC RESPONSES:
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Interacting with the bird lets users reflect upon thier own emtions. |
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ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES
OF PRESENCE
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LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES:
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Well, the guy gets the girl, but Koy Koy loses his funding, so we are left to think he is not to continued. But, the creator doesn't need him anymore anyway. Happy Ending. |
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AND FINALLY...
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OTHER INFORMATION:
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CODER NAME:
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Amanda Scheiner |
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CODER E-MAIL:
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amandags@temple.edu |
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CODER AFFILIATION:
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Temple University |
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DATE CODED:
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11/3/2006 |
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