Yale CCAM Zoom One Day Hack-a-Thon
This FRIDAY 4/3 noon-5pm
In our new COVID-19 existence, telepresence applications, namely Zoom, have become the go-to resource for online workplace connectivity. In this new paradigm of communications there is an opportunity to explore novel forms of expression embedded within these mediums. What can we do to build on the functionality and experience of the Zoom interface? The CCAM team has spent the past two weeks communicating via Zoom and we started seeing opportunities for hacking into the interface, from adding GIF’s to the background to tiling together the zoom squares to make a single image. To continue exploring we are inviting all types of tinkerers and makers to join us for this virtual hack-a-thon. From specific details to full on transformations we want to see what is possible.
Media is the mechanism by which our ability to communicate is made distinct from our physical presence and becomes able to linger, to travel, and to multiply. At the same time that media makes our ability to communicate into something archival, far reaching, and manifold, it also changes the kinds of things we say and the way that we interpret the communications of others. Now that we are all forced to find new ways to communicate and socialize, and as business entities like Zoom and Slack become our primary means of engaging with others, let’s find a way to make these mediums our own. Let’s spend the day poking and prodding at these structures to see how they can be transformed into more habitable zones, let’s learn to share our experiences online without having to compete for likes and follows, let’s discover new ways to be, together.
Prompts:
How can you use the Zoom interface, as it exists, to do something it is not supposed to do, but that provides a new way to socialize? (a game, a toolkit, a collection of expressive gestures)
Can you create an add-on or a third party product that adds a new dimension to how the platforms are used? (an interface, a game, a tool, an instrument)
What does a performance look like on these platforms, is there a way to convey some of the positive qualities connected to live engagement but by working remotely? (A song, a play, a painting, a film)
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