The goals of the NLC include the following:
To investigate how new and emerging technologies are changing how we design, inhabit and interact in physical spaces
As screens get smaller and smaller and content is shifting away from hard drives and into networks, the spaces of media consumption are moving away from the theater, living room and office. Increasingly, it is on the street, in the subway, at a friend’s house or in a café. This shift in technological practice is transforming the shape of the media and quite literally, the shape of the spaces from which we consume the media. As an innovator in communication and the arts, it is imperative that Emerson College remains in the avant-garde of media form as well as content. This collective brings together the work already taking place at Emerson College on this topic and provides the framework for encouraging other faculty and students to contribute.
To develop technologies for emergent forms of place-based and immersive media
New technologies, whether they are computer hardware and software, or image capture equipment such as video and still camera equipment are constantly emerging. NLC would act a test bed for the technologies that are best suited for the production of place-based and immersive media, and to develop technologies when none exist.
To design new processes, practices and methodologies for the use of those technologies
Identifying and developing new technologies is only half the battle. Projects that are housed in the collective are all concerned with how new and emerging technologies can be used to innovate content, provide greater access to information and knowledge, and open up opportunities for collaboration. For example, Imaging Place has developed a groundbreaking method for delivering content in virtual worlds, and Hub2 employs virtual worlds to foster innovations in the community engagement process around urban design. Future projects will look towards producing new hardware and software to better meet social, political and aesthetic goals.
To build a flexible and dynamic digital archive
Archiving is more than just storing files on a server. The collective seeks to create a flexible archive that can accommodate multiple file formats and access scenarios and a dynamic archive that can easily grow and be made compatible with other data sets. In this era of digital accessibility, archiving is one of the most important tasks of a research group, as it assures the continued relevance of the work.
To facilitate international, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary collaborations
By its nature, this work is international, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary, and collaborative. NLC would provide the technology and the infrastructure for conducting collaborative activities over distances, between individuals and institutions, and across disciplines using telecommunication technologies. The telecollaboration features of the NLC would act as a model that could be replicated elsewhere.
To create a public exhibition space that showcases the work
The NLC would include an exhibition space, where the public can engage in a permanent, but evolving exhibition of the work as it is produced. Additionally, exhibitions could be prepared, tested and packaged for travel and servers would stream web-based versions of the work.
To stage conferences and events tailored to the mission of the collective
The NLC would sponsor public events, including symposia and conferences. In addition to the continuation of the well-respected Floating Points series, the collective would make an effort to invite local scholars and artists to speak and conduct workshops at Emerson College.
To innovate teaching and learning with digital technologies through project-based curriculum
In an attempt to engage students in these possibilities and to develop a global, twenty-first century approach to pedagogy, we have already begun experimenting with place-based immersive and networked media curriculum development. This is represented in the Exchange Program that is in the planning stages at Emerson College and the Hub2 Program that connected Emerson with the City of Boston. The idea is to create a collaborative, interdisciplinary, inter-institutional series of courses that could take advantage of new and emerging media.
