Objective:
To allow users to interact with the space, creating a unique immersive experience with their surroundings.

Problems Faced:
We wanted to find a way to record the video of the projection and improve our project to make it more immersive. During the past two weeks, we made a decision to include a helmet to enhance the experience so as to create a more interactive approach to our initial idea. With the addition of the helmet, we could put the other cameras and the knobs in place. We also feel that the helmet gave the users more incentive to explore the space around them.

Camera & Wiring Problem
One of our cameras was damaged while installing the helmet. We also had some problems with the devise detection in MAX MSP. For some reason we would not detect the cameras until we restarted the computer. In the end,  we decided to use just one camera and the computer’s webcam so as to simplify things. Another issue we faced was that the camera wire was too short and we had to get extensions for it. We also realised that if we want the user to interact with the space, we might have to consider the use of wireless devises.

Knobs on iCubeX
There were some connectivity issues with the iCubeX knobs. We  found that the connection played an important role in determining whether the knobs will be manually adjusted or based on the built-in sensor.

Recording on MAX MSP
Recording the projection via MAX was a tad tricky and it took us a while to find our how it works. The commands stop and write was quite confusing as it is not the typical kind of file-saving process. To record, we found out that we had to click “WRITE” once to name the file and then a second time to start the recording. The “STOP” message is used to stop the recording and save it at the location selected by the user.

Patch-Related: xFade & Theta
One of the difficulties we faced for the patch was deciding the values/range for cross-fade and theta options. How funky or trippy did we want the user’s experience to be? What is the perfect range of values for cross-fade (if the value is too high, the screen blacks out)? We also decided to narrow down the number of things we wanted for the project.

Patch-Related: jit.glue

The jit.glue patch was of a great help in achieving the end-result of our project. Based on our research and our little kaleidoscope experiment, it was necessary for us to use jit.glue to create our kaleidoscopic effect. It is now more visually-intriguing and creates a more trippy effect intended for the users.

Final Patch:

Improvements
One of the improvements we would make for this project would to add sound to this interactive experience. We were not able to include the sounds due to the time constraints but if we could do so, we would like to include a colour tracking patch that triggers sounds based on the image created by the users. We could also include more LED lights and cameras on the space helmet as we realised that the lights produces interesting images on the screen when videoed.

Final Presentation

Password: SpaceTrip

Have a fun trip!