attraction/repulsion process & development

[attractionrepulsion2020]

01-08-20

The final prototype & installation mockup.

The installation is a comfortable, intimate environment where the participants can experience the projection. They are detected by the motion sensor within arms reach.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

24-08-20

Feels good to have some easy wins. I realised that I had been changing the wrong parameter to control the total time that the animation would take before restarting. Here, have changed to 1000000, which should effectively never end.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

Some reflections 16-08-20

Some interesting reflections have come out of the last few playtesting sessions. One participant pointed out that the work feels ‘more like an expression of fluidity than an explanation of fluidity’, which is to say that they felt they could understand the work because they were reminded of their own experience with identity and sexuality, while others who hadn’t experienced this would be less likely to take something meaningful from the work.

This made me think about the role of an artefact that makes an interactive experience about fluidity. Who is it really for? The work takes participant data and turns it into a fluid visualisation. The work communicates fluidity and when participants interact with it they are offered an experience of fluidity. It follows that this will be received by people who can relate to feelings of fluidity.  

Potentially this work’s role in the world is to help the people who ‘get it’ to feel understood, rather than to try and demonstrate or explain something to people who do not experience fluidity already. 

The significance of the work is in its ability to amplify or visualise the fluidity of sexuality. 

Looking to the values that I presented in my research document:

Participants seem to find the visualisation to be an immersive experience, they spend a long time watching it and talk about the colours, texture, etc. Some participants have felt more inclined to play with the blobs than others - some just want to watch. Playtesting has shown that the work is captivating as participants often spend a long time watching the visualisation. 

The playful elements of the work (as according to Costello & Edmonds Pleasure Framework (2007)) are :

Earlier on, I had intentions to make the blobs directly interactive, so that the participant could use gesture to move the blobs around the screen. However, I have found that harder to do than I thought. This has shifted my focus to taking data from the participants’ presence in the space. There are some specific kinks that are my priorities to iron out this week:  - How to stop blob cycle restarting - How to measure number of people in the space on top of proximity Once I have worked out how to measure the number of people, I will have the right technical set-up that just needs to be calibrated to fit the space that the final work will be housed in.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

Thinking about documentation, I think that Cuppetelli & Mendoza have a simple and effective approach. The production doesn’t distract from the work itself. The video gives a strong impression of how it feels to use the work, and the simple text offers just enough information to get an idea of what is going on. After watching this video, I feel like I understand the work, even though I haven’t used it myself.

This video contains:

Title Pan of idle work & set up info Pan of work in use Close ups More of the work in use End

For my own documentation, I would be inclined to add more information about the meaning of the artwork, as I think that is missing in Cuppetelli & Mendoza’s work.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

17-08-20

Playtesting with Georgia

- Georgia remarked that she felt like she wouldn’t at first feel comfortable moving with the blobs if there were people around, but once she started interacting with the blobs she was enjoying herself

- We discussed that the interaction isn’t entirely fluid and that it needs to be more intuitive if the user is going to be moving with the blobs

- We playtested with music behind the blobs to test potential for sound. The second video has a slower soundtrack (this Black Sabbath number) which suits the mood better. The slower music is more like the slow movement of the blobs, which helps to pace the user with the fluid movement. The potential for sound or music is still in the works as I do not think it’s appropriate to just find a song to play in the background - perhaps sound could be generated by the work itself. This will be a lower priority than the user interaction with the blobs. 

[attractionrepulsion2020]

16-08-20

Playtesting with Isaac & Tori

In this version the speed & size of the blobs is controlled by the user’s proximity.

Reflections from the playtest:

- Isaac and Tori felt compelled to sit and watch the blobs moreso than try and dance/play with them. They said they found the blobs very mesmerising to watch them move around slowly - just like a real lava lamp. We discussed the potential for the number of users in the room to control the speed and diversification of the blobs.

- When the user reaches the minimum distance from the camera, the blobs become tiny, perfect spheres that move very quickly. According to Isaac & Tori this can feel disorientating and isn’t at all satisfying like the blobs that are large and slow.

- They also remarked that these kinds of spheres do not translate the idea of fluidity. This has made me realise I should set a proximity limit so that the small, perfectly shaped spheres are never exposed.

- The “perfect gloopiness” appears in the first video around 00:47. They are “perfect” in the sense that the blobs are constantly separating and re-forming.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

11-08-20

Inspired by the playtesting with Sonia, I am trying to make the interaction more dependent on the user’s hand gestures. In order to do this I now am using the motion analysis to control not only the size of the blobs but the rate at which they move.

This is much more complicated to sort out the maths so I have been struggling a bit. 

The position of the blobs is controlled by a noise function so I am effectively using the motion input to change the way that the position of the blobs is calculated.

This video shows the interaction that is *almost* happening, but it is not quite as reactive as I would like it to be.

This week I have also been thinking about sound and whether it is feasible that I can develop a soundscape to accompany the projection.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

04-08-20

Playtest 1:

Today Sonia play tested the blob prototype.

Although I had anticipated that the experience would be more interesting in a bigger space, it became clear that proximity as the only interaction is pretty limited and a bit boring. It also became clear that walking back & forth is not the intended experience - it had been my intention for the user to embody the fluidity and gooeyness of the blobs, and this is not evident when the user is simply walking.

During the playtest, Sonia began to move her body to mimic the fluidity of the blobs. It became clear that this is where the strength of the interaction lies. Interestingly, this had been my intention at the outset, so it was a good reminder to get back on track! I am also reminded of a friend who told me at the outside that if she had the opportunity to interact with a lava lamp, she would want to dance inside the blobs. 

We also noticed that the sensor was much more responsive when Sonia was closer to it. This is probably because the room has low lighting in order for the projection to work. The silver lining is that these conditions make it much more appropriate for an interaction that relies on the user’s gesture rather than proximity. 

Finally, Sonia remarked that the blobs seemed the most compelling at this density (below), rather than shrinking and expanding from full-screen size.

For the next week I am going to work with making the blobs interactive with gesture, focusing on approximately 2m away from the motion sensor. Proximity is still relevant as the distance from the user to the camera will affect how much the blobs change. 

I need to understand the part of the code that controls the random movement of the blobs, and plug in the user’s movement into this parameter.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

04-08-20

Another concept for visual effect

[attractionrepulsion2020]

03-08-20

blue + pink = sensory overload (or just enough?)

[attractionrepulsion2020]

03-08-2020

Reversed the interaction so that the blobs separate as the participant approaches. In a metaphorical sense this is more appropriate, as the amorphous, giant blob become diversified as the participant interacts with it... The gloopy & ambiguous self becomes stratified.

The blue background is based off some inspiration I had with some party lights, the blend of blue & pink on a large scale should create a very intense atmosphere. I will experiment more with the colour scheme when I experiment with the projector.

I also anticipate that the interaction will be much smoother in a bigger space, with more room to walk than in my kitchen. I also intend to experiment with a ‘ramp’ in Touchdesigner to smooth out the proximity input.

More experimental ideas: - use proximity to change total volume of blobs - change colours? - experiment with different settings for multiple users

[attractionrepulsion2020]

30-07-2020

Today I finally found the correct driver to use the Intel Realsense D415 with Touchdesigner.

In order to control the size of the blobs with proximity, I have mapped the range of the space (0.1 - 2m) with the size of the blobs (Smoothness parameter 1-8).

Based on this experiment I increased the max range of Smoothness from 5 to 8.

The next step is to experiment with this set up in a much bigger space, as I predict that the overall experience will be much more captivating. The blobs grow too quickly in a space of 2 metres.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

30-07-20

Prototyping set up: in my kitchen

[attractionrepulsion2020]

29-07-20

Today I investigated the Intel RealSense D415 camera that I intend to use for proximity detection. Unfortunately I met a lot of technical difficulties trying to get the depth camera to be detected in TouchDesigner. I have posted in some forums and I’m crossing my fingers.

How I anticipate the interaction to work provided I can get to the bottom of the technical issues...

I also had another idea for a potential interaction to experiment with:

The number of participants could control the number of blobs. The ‘number of participants’ could be calculated by using a simple camera input on a blank wall and adjusting the threshold to detect the difference in white/black input.

More to come.

[attractionrepulsion2020]

Week 1

Brushing up on touchdesigner skills in tutorials while waiting for windows machine to arrive. The raymarching array used to create the blobs in the semester break were not compatible with Touchdesigner on OS, so I have sourced a Dell with a sturdy graphics card to do the job. Just sending good vibes to AusPost to overcome the Covid-19 delay...

Trying to find information about a room at QUT that I can set up in as I want to avoid extensively re-calibrating camera settings every time that I test the motion sensing.

Organising this blog because I want to create a platform for this project to bring together all of my various musings. 

[attractionrepulsion2020]

05-07-20

Simulating a possible interaction with blobs - using proximity detection to control the size of the blobs. I am working with a recorded video of the blobs while waiting for my Windows machine to arrive. 

I am most interested to experiment with the rate at which the blobs will increase/decrease when using the body in space, as opposed to moving my finger on the trackpad. I anticipate that using the body in space may encourage the user to move slower and more organically. Interesting results could also come from users moving too quickly, and the blobs become jittery. 

[attractionrepulsion2020]

05-07-2020

#prototyping in my house