Time: September 23rd 2010, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Place: Media Centre Lume, Aalto University School of Art and Design (Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki)

Locative media are digital media that concentrate on social interaction with a place and with technology. The focus in the SPOT ON seminar is on location data and its possible uses in journalism and storytelling. The seminar is organized by YLE New Media / Future Lab and Aalto University Media Factory.

The keynote speaker of the seminar is digital strategist and freelance journalist Kevin Anderson. He has been an online journalist since 1996, designing, editing and creating content for websites in both broadcast and print media. He has more than a decade of experience with the BBC and the Guardian.

“Location is like RSS. As a technology, it’s invisible to most users but it opens up a huge range of opportunities for publishers and audiences. – There are new services and revenue streams attached to location technology”, says Anderson. ”Location is about enabling the delivery of more relevant information to audiences. In a sea of information, relevance is valuable to audiences and to publishers wanting to increase revenue from digital content.”

Program

9.00  Opening words: Mikko Villi (Aalto University)

9.15 Keynote: Digital strategist & freelance journalist Kevin Anderson

10.30  Panel discussion on the possibilities of location data and media: Kevin Anderson, Teemu Kurppa (Huikea), Mikko Hämäläinen (Grey Area) and Mika Raento (ZenRobotics), moderated by Tuija Aalto (YLE)

11.30  Lunch: Discussing locative media services over sandwiches. Each panellist acts as “head of table” and facilitates discussion about certain aspects of locative media and storytelling. Participants may freely seek their choice of group.

12.30 Augmented reality. Wikitude app and other cool stuff: Mark A.M. Kramer (mamk.net/)

13.30 Spatial data – enabling services for citizens and consumers: Antti Rainio (National Land Survey of Finland)

14.00 Generating and using location-based data in citizen participation: Joanna Saad-Sulonen (Urban Mediator)

14.30 Developer’s Wish List. This We Could Do With Your Data?: Ilkka Pirttimaa

15.00 Closing words: Mikko Villi

The seminar is free to attend, but requires registration in advance. The seminar is targeted for YLE staff, Aalto University students and staff, specialists in the locative media field, independent developers, and members of the general public who are interested in the theme.

Please register to the seminar by Monday 20th of September in the following web address:
https://www.webropol.com/P.aspx?id=456778&cid=13678773

Seminar on typography and type, Media Factory & Department of Media
Lume, Sampo-sali, 18th of November 2010
For over the past five hundred years, typography has been bound to paper, to the printed page. Not anymore. A growing part of our communication happens in the electronic world of the Internet, and more and more of the typography we read is pixels instead of ink. The screen be it laptop, TV, tablet, e-book, mobile is the next context for text. What does this paradigm shift mean? Should we re-think typography? Which are the new kinds of fonts to be used? Which are the new kinds of font licenses for Web page use?

Our one-day seminar will cover several of the key issues of the future typography. There will be a diversity of speakers: some concentrating on technical issues, some on the aesthetical aspects of type and some even covering both. Jukka K. Korpela, a researcher and writer, whose book on web typography and layout is soon forthcoming, presents the possibilities of web page layout and typography. PhD researcher Harri Heikkilä is going to talk about e-readers and different ways of producing content and visuals for screens. Teemu Suviala, creative director of Kokoro&Moi, presents creative ways of doing typography on the Web. International speakers include the legendary type designer Gerard Unger, especially famous for his work on legible typefaces for newspapers, like Coranto, Gulliver, and Swift; and Peter Bilak, a pioneer in extensive OpenType fonts for wide range of languages as well as a forerunner in web fonts. The third type specialist is Sami Kortemäki, the graphic designer of the year 2010 in Finland, our own type star of Underware, the makers of fine-tuned, popular fonts like Liza, Sauna, Auto, and Bello. Saku Heinänen, designer and lecturer of Aalto University, acts as the MC for the event.

The seminar is intended for professionals in design, publishing and advertising as wells as for researchers and of course to all students interested in these areas. The day includes morning coffee, a light lunch and afternoon coffee.

For more information please contact Saku Heinänen saku.heinanen ( a ) aalto.fi