MAS 963 Crowds, both real and virtual

reading assignment:

There are three short readings about urban life (available outside e15-499) and about visualizing virtual crowds (online):

• Milgram, S. 1972. The familiar stranger: an aspect of urban anonymity.
• Milgram, S. 1972. Crowds.
• Whyte, William H. 1988. City: Rediscovering the Center. chapter 2.
• Donath, J. 1995. Visual Who.

1. Read: Please read all the assigned papers.
2. Short essay: Go someplace where there are many people - a train station, Harvard Square, a theatre lobby, restaurant, etc. Watch people for a while. What do you notice? What - and who - stands out? Why? What do you feel you know about the people you observe? What do you wish you could know?
3. Sketch with notes: Make a first pass at visualizing a virtual crowd. What are you using to represent people? What patterns are you showing? Is there motion? Where does it come from and what does it mean? Interaction?

   This assignment is due Tuesday Oct 5 by 5:00 p.m. Please submit the URL of your designs online.