Your project proposal begins with a statement of concept that expresses a big picture sense of what you wish to accomplish and why. Pay special attention to the 'why' part, particularly inashmuch as you haven't done this before as an artist. Next, include a review of prior work that is relevant to your concept and intention. In your preparation process, seeing the prior work may influence your statement of concept. Close with a thorough project plan. In all areas, *be as specific as possible*!
This deliverable (and all others in this final project cycle) must be submitted in ACM Conference Format. Note: this is 2 columns, 9-point type, not large margins. These pages are longer than you might think of a page as being.
Statement of Concept [1 page]
So, what are you going to make? Why do you want to make it? What will it reflect? What is the installation's function and social role? What processes (e.g., person, social, technological) are important to your project? Why? Develop a 1 page statement of concept. In this section, make sure to convince the reader that project is innovative and beneficial. Make the contribution clear. Do this without using any language that sounds like a sales pitch!
Prior Work Analysis [1-2 pages]
Write a thorough and incisive description of the relevant prior work. Prior work includes techniques and methods, as we as other approaches to the scenario / solutions to the problem that you are addressing. When you cite prior research make sure to be clear and explicit in describing what in particular is relevant about that work, and how you will apply it in your project.
This is a hybrid scenario, so include relevant research from HCI, multimedia, hypertext, cognitive psychology, graphics, etc (the sciences), *as well as* relevant art citations. Use Google, Google Scholar, the ACM Digital Library, CiteSeer, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Rhizome and TAMU LibCat, as well as the papers already on our reading list. Pay special attention to the Art Track from last year's Multimedia Conference. When you find a relevant article, use it to find others through citation chaining. Consider commerical and freelance applications, as well as academic papers. Create a bibliography, with the entries alphabetized and formatted properly.
Evaluation Plan [1 page]
How will we know if your project is sucessful? The goal of evaluation is to establish (prove!?) that you have accomplished what you intended to. Design experiments that will establish this. After you have built your installation, you will conduct these experiments later in the project cycle.
We have discussed the fact that many people (especially those who call themselves scientists) strongly associate research with including evaluation processes with clear metrics. How do we know if we've succeeded? While this is not the nature of arts paradigms, which typically depend on intepretive evaluations by experts, to produce creative experience as research, I believe evaluation is necessary. How can it be formulated creatively to be an interesting source of relevant data, rather than deadly dull?
Drawing from approaches we've seen from predecessors such as Smith, Czsiksentmihalyi, Bodker, and others, formulate an evaluation plan.
Development Plan [1 page]
How will you develop the project? Consider both the prototype time period, and the longer term. What software and hardware technologies are involved? What functional modules do you envision? How will they interconnect? What is the systems architecture?
Further, what roles is each person playing in the project? What are the milestones and deliverables that each person will be responsible for? When? Include something like a GANT chart. Be very specific in defining each step.