New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Ceci n’est pas une Influencer; the rise of ‘Virtual Influencers’ a fad or the future of online interaction?

Not everything we see on the internet exists outside of our computers and in 2019 we’re not that easily fooled anymore, or so we think… Instagram influencer Lil Miquela truly seems like any other influencer these days; she has...

By Anniek de Koning on 09/23/19 Comments Off

Mobile Apps as a New Level of Reality

“New Media”. This collocation is used so often nowadays (and not just by researchers or practitioners, but by journalists, self-proclaimed experts and general populace) that it takes a conscious effort to take a step back and ask “What’s new...

By Leonid Goryachev on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Oculus Rift: the next big leap towards virtual reality

In August 2012, the company Oculus VR set up a Kickstarter project to encourage the development of a revolutionary technological device, capable of plunging users into an immersive virtual reality. The Kickstarter rose to see $2.4M invested by 9’500...

By Alexander Guian-Illanes on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Selfies and Zombies – sharing photos in videogames

In the past decades, videogame developers have been adding realism and immersion (as well as blood spattered details) to their games. With the advent of powerful graphical processors and high-definition screens, the images have become sharper and the line...

By Jan-Jaap Heine on 09/16/14 Comments Off

Masters thesis: Virtualized Subjectivity in Contemporary Art Practice

A few weeks ago I completed and submitted my Masters thesis, ending my yearlong study at the University of Amsterdam’s New Media MA program. Our cohort will officially graduate this Tuesday, 20 Sept, 2011. Here it is, if anybody’s...

By Ashiq Khondker on 09/19/11 1

Augmented reality: the first steps to a society of control?

Layla van Daalen, Chris Hoogeveen, Hanneke Mertens Every aspect of the world has an extra layer of information. It may not always be obvious, but these extra layers are most certainly present. Marc Tuters and Kazys Varnelis describe these...

By Chris Hoogeveen on 03/13/11 2

MMORP-FPS

Introduction In Money for Nothing, Steven Shaviro claimed that the virtual life is getting more and more intertwined with the real life, focusing a lot on its economic aspect (Shaviro, 2007). He discusses the book “Play Money” by Julian...

By Sander Jansma on 10/24/10 1

Second Life meets FaceBook: Why do we like being part of a virtual community?

Even though Levy‘s writing style is not my favorite (and that is probably because I am getting used to the Dutch style, very to-the-point), I still can handle it (probably because, in the end, I’m Italian and his mother...

By Marta Colpani on 10/13/09 2

‘Hyves’ and ‘LinkedIn’. My Schizo-life

When people look at my profile on Hyves and LinkedIn they will find only one thing in common: my picture. There is a clear cut line between these two worlds, they are actually existing on two different physical locations...

By saskia korsten on 10/05/08 3