during week six we were introduced to Unity. Although I have a few years experience, I enjoyed the approach to training – which seemed to provide a good surface level understanding of the scene view and basic tools.
In the reading, Laurel described the four specific affordances from the computer – these being procedural, encyclopedic, spatial, and participatory. What I found most interesting of these four was the participatory affordance. This is a unique allowance of contemporary interactive technology that has fascinated me for a while – specifically the idea that computers and the internet have allowed almost anyone to become a participant in their information reception. This is accomplished both through the ability to post and share information, media, etc. – as well as the multitude of options the user has the ability to choose from when digesting information. Unlike the television, one doesn’t need to depend on a few sources of information, but can instead decided which digital lens they use to view the world outside of their immediate surroundings. The problem with an affordance like this is the illusion of truth created from enough voices sharing similar untrue opinions. Recently, we’ve seen rise in “fake news” and echo chambers – systems that only exist because the mass of information presented online (the encyclopedic nature of the computer) can add noise to an argument and detract from truth-seeking.
