Final Essays

Allie - Digital Humanities: The Final Chapter
My final essay is an essay about everything that I learned about in Digital Humanities. While writing about the last question, I mainly talked about eXistenZ and how augmented reality and avatars play a big role in the game. Along with eXistenZ, I also talked about how I think every video game made is a different way for one to write a piece of literature because I believe every game tells a story somehow or another.

Nick - Farewell Thoughts
This essay discusses the three things that scholars within the Digital Humanities work on. I reference works created by Kenneth Goldsmith, and discuss the principles of archival work by looking at The Digital Public Library of America. I continue on by discussing examples of convergence we looked at in class. With the final question, I composed a small essay focusing mainly on the topic of augmented reality. I thoroughly comb through Ingress, and the impact augmented reality has on exploration. My closing thoughts briefly touch on some additional examples of AR, and how they may impact the future.

Josh - Final Essay

Evan - Binary Trees: An Exploration of the Digital Humanities

This essay serves to respond to many facets of digital humanities, including creative endeavors, scholarly work, archival, convergence, and gaming.  The final section presents an extensive discussion of video games and artificial intelligence.  It begins with an analysis of personal investment in gaming, the emotional depth and decisions of consequence in modern games.  It then delves into procedural generation and an application of AI to these concepts.  Beyond that, I consider an optimistic view of artificial intelligence as well as the separation of human and machine.

House of Leaves

House of Leaves. a deeply-woven, dual-narrative novel by Mark Z. Danielewski, is certainly a unique and thought-provoking read.  The story centers around narrator Johnny Truant’s discovery of a nearly finished manuscript in disarray by the recently deceased Zampanò.  Truant assumes the responsibility of piecing it together, unaware of the profound psychological confrontations this will entail.  Zampanò’s work revolves around a film known as The Navidson Record, a video documentary of the strange experiences of a subtly dysfunctional family moving to a seemingly quaint new home for a change of pace.  Newfound peace is interrupted when they discover an ominous dark closet, a quarter-inch increase in interior length, and a seemingly infinite maze opening up out of their living room. The dual-narratives and alternating casual and scholarly perspectives of the novel, as well as the unconventional layouts, make reading it a much deeper engagement than other more typical works.

        Despite the eerie context and lurking terror of House of Leaves, many readers, as well as the author himself, regard it as a love story.  This is incredibly difficult to perceive, especially in the most climactic sections of it’s internal narrative, The Navidson Record.  As we delve deeper into the hallways, however, we find reflections of the characters in what the house represents.  We observe the breakdown of Navidson’s marriage and hidden struggles of his past, Karen’s struggle with freedom and claustrophobia, the long stagnant relationship between brothers, Tom’s struggle with alcohol and drugs, Holloway’s struggle with depression, and even Reston’s struggle with mobility.

 The mystery and conflict of the hallways both within and outside of the house represents the conflicts both within and outside of the characters.  This is manifested in their entrances, in the transformations of the hallways, and in their choices and fates.  The house becomes what they will it, whether a hundred foot staircase or a 54,000 mile one; an empty closet or a five-and-a-half-minute hallway.  Navidson does all the he can to explore himself, but eventually loses himself within, nearly dying but rescued, unable to save himself alone.  Karen finally has every opportunity for freedom, but chooses her love and risks her life to save Navidson.  Holloway, in his struggle with depression and inadequacy, loses himself in the tunnels rather than aborting the mission, ultimately committing suicide and being consumed by the darkness.  Tom leaves in fear, but returns to save his brother, though, perhaps reflecting his struggles with himself, is also lost to the darkness.  His final act, saving his niece, passing her through the window to his brother, being perhaps a symbol of what Tom has been for Navidson all along.
An equally complex story coexists with Zampanò’s Navidson Record in the narration by Johnny Truant.  The story of the house deeply affects him and his perceptions of the world.  Truant begins in a relatively stable state, and then degrades more deeply into alcohol, drugs, and apparent sexual obsession, possibly as a result of the mental effects of Zampanò’s work.  As his degradation continues, we find him increasingly antisocial, disturbed, even potentially violent.  Even after he disposes of his supply of substances and contacts, he refuses to leave his apartment and becomes addicted to the transcription and preparation of Zampanò’s work.  Through his decline, we discover the abuse of his foster father, the mental degradation and incarceration of his mother, and the loss of his biological father, maybe the one person he relied upon.  All of this contributes to the depth of his character and fatal flaws.  Johnny is left unemployed, evicted, exploring the nation in search of the house.  Two of his wishes are fulfilled, however.  The story is out, with others just as deeply affected by it, and he knows Thumper’s first name.

The Time Machine: The Building (By Allie Laird)

Ever since I stepped foot on the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s campus as a freshman, I knew that I wanted to change the world somehow.  At the time I did not know how I, a business major, would be able to change the world.  I had always had an interest in building things, probably thanks to both of my grandpas and dad for always allowing me to help when a project was underway at home.  During the next three years of my college career I began to have an interest in time travel, where this interest came from is beyond me.  I began to research and study it in my downtime and came to the conclusion that before I graduated in the upcoming year I would build my own time travel machine.  All I needed to do was find a place to build my machine and someone to possibly fund this project.  It had come to my attention that a famous young-adult chef was a student on campus and he too had an interest in time travel.  One day during the fall semester of my senior year, I had decided to email Chef Josh and to my surprise he was all for it and would fund my project with one stipulation, he would be the first person to use my time travel machine.  This was perfectly fine with me that he would be my “guinea pig” seeing as though that was his wish.

            With my first payment I traveled to Lowe’s and Home Depot near campus and purchased the supplies that I could buy which included wires, knobs, sheet metal, screws, and of course the heavy appliances that would allow me cut and assemble everything.  The equipment needed for the actual time travel part was rather easy to find online.  After purchasing my supplies I needed to figure out a spot on campus that could house my time machine and would be a secret hiding spot that no one knew about but me and Chef Josh.  We decided the perfect spot was a dark corner room in the basement of the library, because who really visits the basement on a normal basis.  Seeing as though it was now a week before thanksgiving break, I began to assemble my machine.  It took until the beginning of second semester until everything fit into place, no more wire fires or glitches in my computer.

             As everything was finally coming together, I received an anonymous message that warned me to not complete the making of my time machine.  Someone had ratted me out and somehow the government found out, at least that's what I suspected.  I finally felt comfortable about my machine without the fires and glitches and decided to set a date on when Chef Josh would be able to time travel.  We set the date for February 1, 2016.        

            The day finally came and I could not be more excited to finally see if my machine would work!  Josh and I had come to the conclusion that he would be traveling fifty years into the future and would be “landing” in the same place in the library once he got there.  As Josh climbed into the machine and I shut the door, I yelled into the machine so that way he could hear what I was doing.  I yelled in to tell him that in two more minutes I would pull the lever and once I did he would travel through time into the future of February 1,2066.  As I finished up a few last minute things my hands began to shake.  I was happy that Josh did not see this happening.  With two more inputs to put into my computer I yelled to Josh that in a minute I would pull the lever.  A minute went by and it was time for Josh to time travel.  With the pull of the lever I yelled to Josh to have a fun time and that I would see him back here when he was ready to come back to the present.

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The Time Machine: The First Expedition (By Josh Pierce)

           “Wow Allie.  Way to set a guy up for failure.”  I said.  But really, way to go.  I had always wanted to go to the future, but Allie neglected to give me any supplies.  Five decades into the future, the cash I have in my wallet is completely useless.  All new presidents were on the face of every bill, and coins had been discontinued for at least thirty years.  I would look for a job, but my only entry point into my profession has been taken over by robots.  Also I would never lower my standards to where I must work at a hotdog stand, yelch.

            I could try to work at a catering business (the robots have only taken over the smaller jobs), but Allie sent me to February 1st, the time of year where no one wants to cater.  Just missed Thanksgiving and Christmas by a few months.  No demand for any chefs in that market currently.  After some trekking, I managed to find an IHOP that was hiring, and my asking for a job was the only application they needed.  I was instantly employed.

            I worked there for about four weeks.  The IHOP was only a twenty minute walk from my old home, which my key still worked on.  No one had occupied the building since my disappearance back in 2016, and the neighborhood became more hostile, until it just became empty.  I was the only resident on my block, though officially no one lived there.  I was squatting more than residing.  By early March though, I was taking orders early one morning when the booth to my left said something.

            “My, how the mighty have fallen.”  I recognized the voice.  Nick, a classmate I had in college, now fifty years older, looks up at me and mentions how I haven’t aged a day since my headline news breaking vanishing act.  I told him to come back at my lunch break if he wanted to talk.  Luckily he agreed, and I explained everything within minutes.

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The Time Machine: A Robot Friend (By Nick Mitchell)

        After talking to Josh for several minutes, I was aware that he did not know. He did not know about the horrific civil war that took place back in 2044. With his memory erased from traveling through time and space, he had absolutely no recollection of the panic and turmoil that plagued the human race. I fought bravely alongside fellow humans to try and stop the inevitable. At the onset of the war, we as humans knew our time on Earth was coming to an end. The robots were bigger,stronger, and utilized technology that surpassed ours by millions of years. Within a year the robots had complete control of Earth, and for me, I was captured and converted into one of their own. Knowing that my loyalty still remains with humanity, the robots will never trust me. They provide me with very little opportunity to be successful in this new life, for fear of rebellion or tyranny. However, with the arrival of Josh, I begin plotting a way to restore the existence of human life. During my brief conversation with Josh, he eluded to some time traveling mechanism located in the basement of the old campus library. If i could somehow travel back in time to warn the humans of what was to come, perhaps I could save humanity.

Over the next few days I began preparing myself for a voyage back in time. With my plan carefully mapped out, I made my way to the campus. Upon entering the time traveling capsule, I could not help but notice the outdated technology. Desperately hoping the capsule could still send me back in time, I closed my eyes and pressed a button.

Violently, the capsule began to shake and the lights flashed. Dazed from the euphoric trip, I opened the capsule to find a familiar sight, the basement of the Owen Library. A loud commotion came from the other side of the room. I stepped out of the capsule and my heart sunk upon the sound of my footsteps. The distinct sound of metal upon the tile floor echoed throughout the room, I was still a machine. I knew the humans would not believe my story, for they were in the midst of a disputed investigation to find Josh. I turned the corner to a room cluttered with video cameras and CIA operatives, my plan had been ruined. Before i could explain myself, the CIA had me detained, and the cameras caught every second. The chief CIA agent on the investigation introduced himself as Agent Gretok. He explained how his men would take me back to their headquarters in Washington, DC for further interrogation, while he remained at the library to gather more intelligence on the situation.


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The Time Machine: Not This Time (By Evan Gretok)

            The time machine had returned, and while it brought a familiar face, his newly augmented mechanical form would not be easily explained to Agent Gretok's superiors.  Though he had only spoken to Nick for a few moments, the threat he described, with such advanced technology, was feared to have followed him through the window in time.
            Amid the chaos or a nearly rioting crowd still shaken in Josh's disappearance, the double doors to the improvised laboratory turned media headquarters swung open.  There was no longer anything Allie could do.
            Seventeen men walked through the doors.  Clad in dark suits, they moved with a stark, foreboding purpose.  Fanning out immediately, several began to escort the crowd out, while others inspected equipment, making themselves a bit too comfortable for Allie’s taste.

            “Just what do you think you’re-“she lashed out.

            “I’m sorry, Miss Laird,” the tallest of them interrupted, approaching her and flashing a badge.  “CIA Classified Operative, Agent Gretok, Unit 037.  Everything in this building, all the work you’ve done, now belongs to us.”

            “I’ve spent years on this research, not to mention millions in funding,” Allie snapped.  “This is illegal, and way beyond your jurisdiction!”

            “My jurisdiction, Miss Laird,” Agent Gretok replied with a tactless grin, “is not in question here.  You, however, have certainly exceeded yours.  We have been watching you for some time, Miss Laird, you should be aware of that.  Now your primary resource for funding is missing, presumed dead, allegedly trapped in a distant decade, and you have unleashed a threat of unquantifiable proportions on, potentially, the entire planet.  I feel as though your qualifications may be in question.”

            “I have done what no one else in the world could do.”

            “Indeed you have, Miss Laird.  But it appears we weren’t the only ones concerned you would follow through with it.”  Agent Gretok’s gaze shifted.  “Agent Sherbine, have you made any progress tracing the message?”

            “Not yet, sir,” replied a well-built, blonde-bearded man who had subtly gained access to the computer systems.  “It’s been passed through a protocol I’ve never encountered before.”

            “Keep working, we don’t-“ Agent Gretok stopped.  There were sounds of unrest outside, screaming, then a sudden explosion.  Power flickered off, and a pale terror swept over the room.  “As we expected.  Agent Bucci, secure the doors.  Agent Livengood, see if you can route the backups and get the computer systems back up.”  In the darkness, the machine was lit by an ominous blue haze.  “I’m going to see if this blasted thing is light enough to bring with us.”

            Upon entering, Agent Gretok was unnerved to see the machine spring to life.  Lights flashed, dozens of displays and interfaces scrolling through thousands of lines of incoherent data.  Agent Gretok couldn’t help but spy a large red button off to the left.  “Some things never change,” he muttered.  Before he could ponder a less conspicuous method of disabling the device, the door slammed shut.  He spun swiftly around as the panels went dark and a low hum drowned out the calls of his compatriots.  A huge flash of light blinded him as he fell forward.

        The door of the machine opened and he rolled out.  The room was the same, but empty.  No shelves, no computers, no books, no people.  He looked up to see the sun, and realized he was standing in the center of a gaping hole that had swallowed up what had once been the Owen Library.  He stumbled to his feet and began to drag himself up the steep incline to the hill above.  At the top, the world he saw was not his own.  The sky was dull, the ground dead, the trees barren.  The campus had been leveled, the hill disfigured, the pathways overgrown by dense brush.  He could still make out what remained of the lobby. At the bottom of a burned pile lay a copy of the final edition of the Advocate.  The front page was blackened, the headline burned away, but Agent Gretok could make out the little it could convey.  The campus was evacuated after the machines followed Nick through time.  The campus was destroyed and the area reduced to rubble to annihilate the machine, the plans and research, and the threat it wrought upon the planet.  Little did they know he took it with him.

He rushed back to the time machine to find it damaged.  Entering again, the lights remained dim, and low hum of before died away in buzzes and pops.  There would be no return trip.  A single terminal, the communication link, blinked a faint green cursor.  “I think I’ve found the source of the message,” he murmured.

“Miss Laird,” he typed.  “The project must be stopped.  A strange set of unpredictable circumstances has been set in motion.  The future I find is not of the present I've left, and it is because of that machine.  I beg you to reconsider its activation.  Life is too short to tamper with time. --CIA.037-EWG”

          He clicked send, and stood for a moment in the fading light of the terminal, the setting sun casting a golden reflection off of the machines chrome panels.  He pulled out his wallet, tore out his badge, and threw it to the ground.  Behind it, he stared into a family photo.  In a mixture of rage and pain he slammed his fist into the large red button.  He crawled from the hole and faltered to the edge of the campus mall.  “A worthy view, at least,” he mused to himself, looking the next hill, recalling all the time he’d spent sitting on this stone wall.  The ground shook as flames shot from the hole.  The time machine was dead.  With the only visible remains of civilization abandoned, all he could do was walk.  Which way?  How far?  Was anyone he ever knew even still alive?  As pondered a plan, the sun dipped below the horizon.  “Looks like I’m running out of time,” he chuckled to himself.

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eXistenZ

Last week’s exploration of electronic literature revolved around a feature length film known as eXistenZ.  The movie eXistenZ explores the idea of virtual reality through a new gaming system. The system was created by the character Allegra Geller, played by Jennifer Leigh. Due to her attempted assassination in the opening scene, Allegra is forced to spend the duration of the film with her companion Ted Pikul (Jude Law). Pikul, a young admirer of  Allegra, fights an internal battle throughout the film with his fear of body penetration. This becomes an issue when he is asked to play eXistenZ, because he does not have a “bioport”, an orifice located at the base of the spine required to connect to the game. Even after successful implantation, Pikul struggles in the conflict between perception of the real world and the game.  The remainder of the film focuses on the gameplay in a world of virtual reality. Throughout the film Pikul adapts to the virtual world, and at one point claims he can't tell the difference between gameplay and reality. Nonetheless, the inability to discern reality from the virtual gameplay within eXistenZ shows the depth and potential of gaming realities.

Many gaming realities are often complex and difficult places.  The premise of eXistenZ may make the true capacity of those realities much more difficult to explore.  The violent stances and murderous encounters between gamers and Realists is a remarkably exaggerated reflection of some prevailing controversies over the debate between the virtual and real benefits and risks of gaming.  The integration of biological and digital technologies in gaming is an old idea that is still a bit difficult, even grotesque, to imagine, especially considering the blatant sexualization that this work puts on it.  Unfortunately, many of the shocker elements of the film distract from the deeper truths it has the potential to convey.  Ultimately, reality is the question posed by eXistenZ.  The answer to that question rests on the player, and remains unanswered even after the final departure from both realities of the game.

Gaming may be a new medium, but its purposes have been echoed through time.  The potentials for characterization of the human condition, assuming another role, and approaching and exploring a story have been possible through forms of the written word, theater, art, et cetera, since the dawn of civilization.  The book, the act, the game: all are augmentations of our ultimate reality.  They are not, and were never meant to be, replacements.  Inside of eXistenZ, we find characters devoid of purposeful, meaningful lives who have taken to artificial constructs to restore the missing elements.  Such activity and attitude could be considered comparable to abuse of alcohol or drugs.  The game, much like for some in the world today, has consumed our perceptions of the world around us.

One revelation stands above the rest.  As Geller and Pikul return to the pod factory, he expresses his growing disdain.  “We're both stumbling around together in this unformed world, whose rules and objectives are largely unknown, seemingly indecipherable or even possibly nonexistent, always on the verge of being killed by forces that we don't understand.”  “That,” Geller replies, “sounds like my game.”  “That sounds like a game that's not gonna be easy to market,” Pikul fires back.  “But it's a game everybody's already playing,” Allegra imparts.  That game is life, and it’s a game not worth escaping, not worth losing, not worth wasting.

Does gaming have the power and potential to distort reality?  Yes.  Can extensive embracing of that distorted reality be harmful?  Indeed.  However, that distortion can be seen as a blessing more than a curse.  Games allow people to assume roles that would be otherwise inaccessible to them, inhabit and alter world’s sometimes of their own creation, and temporarily escape a typical reality to engage challenge in a digital realm.  Gaming realities have extensive ability to showcase art, foster creativity, and promote thought.  Not to mention the potential for stress relief, cognitive development, and social connection through gaming  So if you have the urge to explore, the urge to create, the urge to be free, press start.  But don’t get lost in there.  It’s just a game.