GiANT plan

At the moment my group have been able to see our idea become clearer technically and visually. I am sure we have had this idea in the back of our minds for the past week but now that we have thought through it and understand what result we want out of it, we are able to look at the detailing and complexity involved. I think it also showed from a practice of the production how much we were interested in developing this idea. I can say I still find it intriguing with what we are using and can see myself being pushed by the practicalities of this project after a few full days of trying things out. This idea of ours will not be finalised or foolproof as we will expect changes, some being as far as changing the type of setting or theme. We do plan though on sticking to the practical parts of our project to not fall into the same problems we had a few weeks ago.

We will be creating a unified network within a virtual reality installation. There will be 3 people moving around in a physical space as well as virtual, each only seeing and (potentially) hearing in the virtual world.

They will be part of the imitation of life as a worker ant, which work together to bring food back to the colony and leave trails of their paths using pheromones. 

The ants following a pheromone path to food

We will be using the video glasses to immerse the users into the virtual world and the game engine Unity to display the virtual world. We will map out the trails of the users to show our network by radio frequency trackers. The users will also be carrying out own designed laptop holders on their backs. The laptops they hold will be connected to the video glasses and receiving data from a server that converts the data from the ultrasonic radio frequencies into something Unity can read.

Unity game engine symbol

We have been looking at the concerns of the project and will be heavily focusing on the tracking part. There were other options we have considered like linux with 3 cameras, but for the moment the support we have had and the easiest to start testing is with the radio frequency trackers. Most likely our group will split into its own sections so we can produce all parts of the project simultaneously allowing us to not have last minute problems as well as giving each person a good amount of work so no one is left out.

I have gained back my initiative for our project. I can see the final product and lots to gain from this personally and psychologically. I think I will be able to get into a set frame of mind and stay focused as long as my group can support me. A lot needs to be done and now is the time to start.

References

“MUTE: Simple, Anonymous File Sharing”, n.d. http://mute-net.sourceforge.net/howAnts.shtml.

People Detection and Tracking Multiple Cameras. Method 2, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmed-RBqpXg&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

“UNITY: Game Development Tool”, n.d. http://unity3d.com/.

Wikipedia contributors. “Unity (game Engine).” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., May 1, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unity_(game_engine)&oldid=490194181.

Changing method

Well now that the holidays are over and my group has reassembled we can now look at what we plan on continuing onto from here. From the feedback we received and the reflection we have made I think we have decided to focus on pursuing our interests and talents into our project rather than focusing on the purpose of the project for now. This is not to say we will be aimlessly going on tangents, rather move forward on our ideas before trapping ourselves into an indecisive position. As I am learning, the ideas become fundamental when we start to see results and action.

Over the last two weeks I have been testing Video Eyeware glasses and understanding what they can do. So far I can view videos on my Iphone as well as use a Sony handycam to have a live feed. Using the handycam has sparked up a few ideas I can put to use. Depending on where the camera is facing the user can become disorientated by simple movements, especially when they themselves can be seen in view.

Students from the Netherlands also have been experimenting using video glasses and created a project based around looking at oneself. They also used the glasses to create teamwork by giving half of their own vision and half of another persons. Both had to try and complete a picture. The project can be viewed here.

References

I See, I Am. A Visual Experiment for Two Persons., 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s5x034Nvk0&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

Silhouette Showdown

One of the other papers I am taking for my Bachelor of Creative Technologies course is Simulated and Immersive Environments. Our main task is to create a game that pushes the notions of play and challenges the player by having them play on the edge. What this means is this game has to have some originality to it that allows the player to feel challenged in a way that is not common in most games today. It still has to be on the ethical side of things but can be outside the player's comfort zone.

My group are looking into making an interactive game using the player's body as the tool to play the game. The players will be asked to make certain shapes that will be displayed on screen and will have to try recreate the shapes only using their bodies. They will see their body on screen from a camera as being completely black on a white background. Once the timer is up the camera will take a screen shot and then compare it to the original shape and give them a score on how accurate they were.

Apples ad using silhouette dancers

It will involve quick decision making not just in how the player will solve the puzzles but also if they are wanting to participate in trying to solve it. This will be our way of pushing the player's boundaries and help change what type of thinking is involved in playing compared to the more typical games. There is this connection between players that is never really used a lot in most games today, players talk and see each other but always within their own comfortable space and most likely in front of a screen. What we encourage is to get into this comfortable space and use it as a way to get a different interaction between the players. One that will be more physical and interactive between players.

We haven't completely got the features concreted yet (teams, difficulty, types etc.) and will be focusing on the main parts involved. We are hoping to get the big problems out of the way early on so we can focus on the smaller details later. From past experience, especially with coding, I have always found it distracting and time consuming trying to make it all work at once. Following most from other programmers advice I am sure we will attempt this by breaking down each part and simplifying it for each team member to work on. We have assumed that MaxMSP will be the safest option to achieve how accurate the player is and determine their score, also we will look at using it for modifying the cameras output to make it look more silhouette like. If this is too difficult we still will look into other options.

References 

“DIY iPod Commercial Costume | Chai Life”, n.d. http://www.chailife.com/2009/09/diy-ipod-commercial-costume/.

Silhouette Animation, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCmxUlhw_GA&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

Silhouette Collisions Processing Demo, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOgX23plbfg&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

Silhouette Dance Group, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfh1fAFBdqI&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

Silhouette Replay Processing Demo, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dbtX1N19Qw&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

Ant Game

One of our teammates was able to modify some processing code to create a metaphorical ant network. It moves player controlled ants around to collect food but have the ants almost completely in the dark as to where they can go. They have to branch out and collect food and bring it back to the base. They leave behind pheromones on the track so to guide the ants to where the food is. This then creates a unity between the ants as they work together to collect food by strengthening the paths to where the food lies as they keep going back and forth.

This ant program was a way of displaying a type of unity between creatures and how it is used for their survival.

This was handed in as part of our studio project. You can find out more about this at Jenna's blog here  

Now that our hand in is over I will be able to focus on testing with the video glasses (mentioned in a later post) in the holidays. Hopefully what I will come to use these things with will help inspire and take our project further. I think that as long as our group keeps moving as seen in the last few days then we can be collaborative and productive in our studio work.

Triggering Unity: Documentary

As our deadline for a fully completed project was getting closer our group decided to shift away from our current testing. We decided to use the information and recordings we had so far and turn them into an observation/documentation of triggering a unified network.

We all chose a part to work on in the documentation and piece it all together for everyone to look over. I was to help edit the footage we had gathered from our observations and experiments and piece it into a document style short film. For me I found making this film to be very interesting and exciting to work on. I thought this would be a challenge; to make something that flowed well and had purpose behind it. I took up this challenge because it was a puzzle that needed each piece put in the right place. I was at my most productive when I was doing this puzzle because it allowed me to try things out and see what worked and what did not. Looking back I had more footage to work with than I originally thought would be executable, I just had to start ordering the clips around to figure if others clips would fit in different sections. 

The free music used for our documentary

This change in our objective allowed my group to step forward and progress rather than the slow circling loop we have had for the previous two weeks. Even if we had not wanted to make a documentation, I was happy to be able to work on something that showed some of my work and gave me some practice in work that is stated in my course.

The final edit of the documentation I thought was at a level understandable for the time frame we began editing it. If we had planned this out a few days before I believe it could have created a better standard for the documentary. Overall I was surprised by the last two days and how it has affected the final hand in.

Here is the documentary "Triggering Unity":

 References

“Vodny.” Jamendo, n.d. http://www.jamendo.com/artist/Vodny.