Some thoughts on the field of play, where thinking happens and understanding grows:
MEDIA
8
Today I finish this short article with parts 8 and 9. Part 9 will be a very brief summary of all the parts. Part 8, here, states what Tangerine is going to do.
Two very simple ideas:
The purpose of this article so far, parts 1 through 7, is to draw out a recognition of two very very simple ideas.
The first idea is that media is a place where thinking happens, where ideas develop and are clarified, where understanding grows, both for authors and for readers.
The second idea is that “drawing” is a medium worth very careful study, for one simple reason: Drawing — and I’m referring to what drawing is, functionally, not whether you draw with spray paint, or whether you sink your hands and arms in smashed up berries and smear, and not whether you use a pencil or your finger, and not whether you use an electronic device and software or don’t use an electronic device and software, nor whether you draw on a cave wall; in all those cases, plus all other cases, it’s the function of drawing I’m concerned with. And that function — is an indispensable act fundamental to the nature of thinking itself (and understanding), as one half of the necessary tandem: [modeling <> drawing]. It is in this dynamic, this tandem, that thinking happens and understanding grows. Take away one half of the tandem and you’re left with the sound of one hand clapping; there’s no thought forming, no thinking happening, no understanding growing.
We discussed in part 4, Picasso’s “Plain Bull”, that what’s true for interpretation of the real world (we need simplifications to understand it) is also true of high-fidelity models in the virtual world. Indeed the higher the fidelity to the real world, the more we are dependent on simplified representations for understanding:
- we can’t understand real things, whole things
- we must narrow to simplified essence to understand real things
The Tandem: 1 and 2 are mutually dependent and in conjunction, because: (2) makes no sense without (1), and (1) makes no sense without (2). Our simplified representations make no sense outside the context of the wider reality that they simplify (they always exist within a mental model of the whole, or they mean almost nothing at all), and inversely, the wider reality makes no sense to us, without our simplified representations. Our mind creates continuous interplay between (1) and (2).
With this simple recognition of this inteplay, we’ve hit on something essential about the nature of thinking itself. Thinking (and understanding), not only involves, but essentially is, a bouncing back and forth between (1) and (2), a ping-ponging between things as they are, and simplified essential representations, between wide environmental whole, and the act of narrowing focus.
What is Tangerine going to do?
We’re going to build on this recognition of the fundamental significance of the function of drawing. We’re going to innovate to create the future of drawing. At Tangerine we’ve envisioned already the future of drawing. We know what it is. We see it. We’ve conceptualized it in detail, step by step, thoroughly. We’ve written it down on paper. We’ve not shared it publicly, yet. But we are going to create the future of drawing and it’s expression within various kinds of modeled digital environments.
Tangerine will transform what drawing is, and through it’s expression within spatial visual modeled digital environments, Tangerine will transform modeled digital media as well. The fusion of sound into silent film transformed both sound and film and created a new medium more expressive than either of the two component media were separately. Tangerine already made the analogous fusion of drawing into modeling, in 2012, when Rob Snyder, founder of Tangerine, was employed at another software company. Some examples of that early work are shown here https://tangerinefocus.com/media-innovations/
Today, Tangerine’s work reaches far further. Today’s work is based on a complete re-envisioning of what drawing is, and the expression of this new kind of drawing within modeled environments. While the old work from 2012 was motivated by the right concept, the new work realizes the idea far more successfully, and also breaks completely free from any patent claims associated with the earlier work.
How is Tangerine going to do this?
Tangerine is self-financed and will succeed with the help of others. Therefore, Tangerine will choose as opportunity arises from one or more of the following options:
- any software company that shares our interest in these ideas and wants to develop the future of media can contact us to work together. Anyone who reaches out to us will find that we are very easy to work with and very reasonable. If you share an interest in this, why not contact us now?
- in conjunction with the first option above, or independently, any angel investor, for a small investment, can fund Tangerine Media prototype development. Once ready, the prototype can be made ready for licensed use by other software companies.
There are other options, but we believe one or both of these two are likely to soon happen and will be most productive.
That’s not all though
Tangerine envisions another aspect of this work, and this second aspect gives us some flexibility on our approach as we seek opportunities to find the right partners to help us carry our work forward. Regarding those partners we’re looking for, what’s most important to us about partners? – shared vision.
The second aspect of Tangerine’s work involves cognitive computing. We preview our ideas here: Immersing Cognitive Systems in New Media
Go to Part 9: The Field of Play (9)
Return to part 1: The Field of Play (I)
[TANGERINE] 
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