Task: Start to work on final project proposals – prepare three ideas for a screen-based experience that you’d like to create (it can be speculative). Illustrate your ideas and post them on OSS. The ideas can be based on any of the field trips done so far or can be something completely new.

“Rethinking our everyday environment / Empty spaces / Overlooked / Narratives”

Possible locations:

MRT transiting zones (empty but busy places where many passes by without a second look)

Void Decks / Corridors (empty places but where many hangout)


Idea I : Stories / Culture

  • Objective : A platform where people can share and/or listen to the hidden stories of others and themselves.

Inspiration:

Hidden Stories by Red Paper Heart

Scapes by Halsey Burgund

Living Library by  design I/O (immersive experience for storybooks)

The idea here is to allow people to share their own experiences and/or listen to what others have to say about certain common things found in that place or maybe different topics as indicated by the illustrations. I feel that there is always special attraction in the narratives and one can never gets sick of listening to them. They are also constantly evolving based on what we experience/see/hear/etc and thats where I think many of us miss out on what others may have experienced. I was also thinking that the playback of recordings are random so the chances of people listening to same story is lower. Possibly, background music that aids in conveying the mood? In Singapore, we’re so often thought as the culture-less country and we don’t know how to express ourselves but I think that is not true, we have but it just gets covered, buried, hidden and lost along the way as we progress so quickly. It is so often that many individuals have the misconceptions that they are the only one experiencing this “weird” thing/action/etc. but who knows someone might have similar experiences as you!

 

Possible executions :

Touch screen

Sound recorder and player


Idea II : Slowing Down / Emotions / Traces

  • Objective : To provide a more immersive and informative way of telling people about what is currently happening in Singapore – festivals/traditions/etc.

Inspiration:

Interactive Animations Retail Design by Dalziel & Pow

Remember by Red Paper Heart

The idea for this is because many people are so busy that they often are unaware or do not know what is happening is Singapore (eg. festivals, events, etc) so I thought what not create something that will slow down the pace of life for a moment through a immersive informative experience?

Instead of the wordy explanations or advert types of experience which causes many to skip/overlook it, why not through animations and something ‘alive’?

Possible executions :

Tracking – Eyes / Faces / Body

Body Motion

Concentration intensity which affects how lively the festival or event is

Touch screen that adds more life

 

  • Objective : To give people some inspirations for everyday.

Inspiration:

The Good Deed Machine by Red Paper Heart

The idea for this is because Singaporeans are often thought to be cold/dull/minds-own-biz but in actual fact most of us aren’t! Hence, this interface allows for one to receive simple do-able inspirations upon touch. Additionally, I thought also maybe quotes too? To help one who is feeling whichever emotion to feel better & be more inspired.

Possible executions :

Touch screen

Choices to do sth for someone or for yourself

Detector that can gauge one’s current emotion and advise according

 

  • Objective : Integrating art into everyday life with people’s traces.

Inspiration:

Studio Play by  design I/O

Flowers And People, Cannot Be Controlled But Live Together by TeamLab

This idea is simply just collecting the lingering traces of whoever passes by/ stays at that place for long and displaying it with paint strokes/splatters or other possible art. Paint strokes could vary with speed/weight/etc.

Possible executions :

Tracking


Idea III :  Environment / Inclusiveness 

  • Objective : Bringing people closer to their environment in a fun and playful way.

Inspiration:

Connected Worlds & Night Bright by design I/O – the environment that grows/changes

Story Of The Time When Gods Were Everywhere by TeamLab – possible interactions?

Google Androidify by  Red Paper Heart – possible interactions?

Puppet Parade by design I/O

The idea for this came about because their is a lot of potential in the relationship we have with our environments. One thought I had that why Singaporeans are always rushing from one place to another and overlooking the places they are at, could it be that because of the empty and dull/boring looking walls and that they do not have much attachments to it? Was it because there is nothing there for them that attracts them to slow down or feel the urge to “take care” of it.

Hence, I thought why not recreate this spaces with something that attracts them plus helps in developing a sense of belonging/attachment for it? What if there was an environment (real/dream?) that changes together with time (day..night) and grows or dies with the actions of people.

Possible executions :

Touch screen

Timezone detector?

Memory that remembers previous users actions and adding on present that carry on into the future


Featured Image from here.

Task: Write a response to one of the projects shown in class on “Interactive Environments & Experience Design.” You can review these projects on OSS and select one to discuss.

 

Project: Scapes by Halsey Burgund

DESCRIPTION

Scapes is a sound art installation that allows participants to walk around the deCordova Museum’s sculpture park listening to a mixture of a musical composition and voice commentary from previous participants all filtered and influenced by physical location.

Participants make their own contributions to the piece using a smartphone app which allows them to tag any location in the park with their own recordings. These recordings are immediately available for everyone to hear as part of the evolving composition. As participants walk around the sculpture park, the individual path they follow creates their own personal version of the Scapes audio experience. The music is directly influenced by the landscape and is composed using custom algorithms which constantly generate new music; there are no repeated loops.

RESPONSE

Personally, I really like the concept of this work as it immerses viewers with the mixture of music and voices of other viewers, both from the past and present as well as the future. Music and sound itself is something I feel that can hit people’s heart when done right. In this case, the viewers are listening to it while walking around the park. I feel that this enhances the chances of them remembering this very work and their own experiences in it. Also, another aspect that I really loved was the choice of allowing the viewers to part not just by viewing but adding their own flavours into the artwork itself. I feel that it is a great way to help people see not just through their eyes but on a rather more emotional level their surroundings. They can also hear about the experiences of other people together with their own plus the music of the sculpture park. Even though there is no set narrative structure, all this little fragments pieces still pieces together into a narrative, be it liner or non-linear. Hence, I think this would be a great experience and would allow for memories that one would unconsciously keep because it reaches the viewers on a more personal level.

 

Featured image from here.

In the reading, Eric Zimmerman mentioned about how can we capitalize on the unique qualities of games in order to create new kinds of game-stories? What if dynamic play procedures were used as the very building-blocks of storytelling? It is true that in the current times, there is tremendous amount of interest in the intersection of games and stories, such as the example of game developers increasingly relying on filmic story techniques that is just turning games into another kind of cinema.

The term “game-story” can be debunked in many various ways and there is no right or wrong answers. The four terms – play, games, narrative, interactivity – are also not mutually exclusive or representative of four categories. They are in fact overlapping and intersecting the others in complex and unique ways. Hence, when we think about what “game-story” is, we have to think of this four terms together and not separately.

I really like the three parts definition of the term “narrative” by J. Hillis Miller as personally I adored narratives yet always found it hard to address it with a definition. It is also true based on his definition, many things that are not usually thought of as narrative happens to be a narrative as well. I found this interesting and insightful as I used to only think narrative was mostly just about books or stories.

Interactivity was another interesting concept that Eric Zimmerman has debunked with four modes – cognitive, functional, explicit and meta. Interactivity is not just about two people or things responding to one another. Again, these are not four distinct categories but it overlaps and occur at varying degrees. The four modes are also mostly incorporated entirely or some simultaneously.

For play he divided them into three general categories – game play, ludic activities and being playful. He also gave a definition that addresses all of these uses – Play is the free space of movement within a more rigid structure. The key takeaway was the free movement and within a rigid structure.

He mentioned games are voluntary, explicit participation with behavior constraining rules, has artificiality, embody conflict and a quantifiable outcome. This is true. Gameplay is not just restricted to on the gameplay elements but also the player’s experience in entirety. 

ZANTHEUS: THE BIG, BAD WOLF?

Synopsis:

Zantheus is a boy who comes from a well-to-do family, but his parents are often absent, either away on business trips or returning late at night to leaving early the next morning. Neglected, Zantheus hates being in the empty house that only serves to remind him of his loneliness. He finds comfort in his “friends” and keeps up with his tough frontier to fit in but deep down, he is unsure of what he really wants. Anything, but his loneliness, he’ll do it. He wants to be in, to belong somewhere.

One day, he is tasked to ruin someone’s life as revenge for his “friends”. Their target, Scarlet. Accepting the challenge, he initiates an conversation with her online. As he learn more about her pitiful past, he unexpectedly finds himself sharing about his as well. They sympathize and confide in each other. As their virtual relationship grows closer, Scarlet decides to try and solve his problems by searching and calling his mother’s office, hoping to enlighten his parents of his predicament that they are unaware of. Zantheus faces some slight hesitation about hurting her as he felt that she cares and listens to his woes more than others ever did.

They decide to meet for the first time.

Scarlet is infatuated and falls under his charm. That night, while he is sending her home, the sudden rain drenches them. Zantheus is extremely restless as he ponders over his agenda and is aroused at how alluring she looked with the bits of drench clothing that clung onto her body. He leads her to a dark alley.

He lunges at her. She struggles, begging repeatedly for him to stop. He doesn’t. She gives up struggling. Realising her lack of movement, he is confused and finds himself stopping just before tearing her clothes. So close to his goal, he hesitates because he realizes he is making her relive her ugly past in the worst way. He fights a dilemma between his conscience and pleasing his bunch of “friends”. He decides to give up on the task. Fortunately, Scarlet’s neighbor on the way home hears the noise and comes to check before escorting her home. Zantheus is long gone.

Zantheus is enlightened to whom his true friend is when he thinks back. He is horrified at the person he has turned into just to please others and decides to sever ties with his “friends”. Nightmares sourcing from his guilt and regret from all the past deeds that he had done for his friends gives him trouble sleeping. He apologizes to Scarlet by text to try to make things better.

He awakes the next day to someone brushing his hair. He thinks it was Scarlet but realized it is his mother, who was back from her business trip. This time for good after hearing from Scarlet a few days back. His father has also taken a day off. His mother hands Zantheus his phone before leaving to join his father in setting up for breakfast. Beneath the numerous miss calls and texts from his old “friends” is a text from Scarlet. He deletes everything except for Scarlet’s. As his parents calls for him to join in on their first breakfast together, he knows this is the fresh start he needs.

Based on: The Little Red Riding Hood