/// Ice + Fire ///
As it did for many projects in
Prof. Levin's class, inspiration for this project came like a thief in the night, spiriting away my fancy – A simulated environment where the user becomes a Rain God. One hand would control the flow of a rainstorm, while another would serve as a platform for verdant growth.
Knowing when to ask for help
Unfortunately, this lofty vision was not to be. Despite two solid hours of hacking from computer guru Kaushal, the concept I envisioned was simply not tenable. Libraries weren't cooperating, algorithms crumbled, and the rain wasn't playing nice.
The Answer? Magic.
While attempting to salvage my shipwrecked masterpiece, I discovered a unique interaction opportunity afforded by the simple library I had settled on. Just as quickly as the first, this concept seized my fevered, sleep-deprived imagination. Time was running short, and the only choice was total commitment.
/// Puzzling ///
Puzzling is a creation born from a simple idea – Why do most augmented reality projections have to live so close to their associated markers? What happens when you toy with the spatial relationship between the two? How real can these virtual entities feel, and can they bring people closer together, physically or otherwise?
Opening Night
The final version is relatively simple, but thoroughly entertaining. Despite the technically frustrating lighting conditions of the final presentation space, visitors stuck with the game for quite some time, a few even managing to successfully match the pieces!
AR Troopers
The game uses fiduciary markers attached to the participants to project virtual puzzle pieces at a designated distance. The players must, through any sort of bodily contortions possible, fit the projected images together to form a unified whole.
Date
March - May 2012
Class
Interactive Art and
Computational Design
Carnegie Mellon University
Prof. Golan Levin
Techs
Processing + OpenNI
Open Frameworks
AR Toolkit Plus
Photoshop
Xcode
iMovie
Kinect
Skills
Serendipitous Adaptation
Conceptualization