Final Touches

Presentation

It’s nearing presentation, and I am working on how best to convey this concept. I have been struggling a little with how much academic knowledge I should incorporate.

I have loads of information regarding my choices, and in most cases here at HIHM they want you to identify all of these choices as much possible.

The problem however: How do I make the audience understand what this program actually is? And how it works? If I talk about the interface user guidelines from KDE? (http://developer.kde.org/documentation/standards/kde/style/basics/)

I tried out my presentation on a classmate, and he was a big question mark when I was done.

So now I think I might take a chance, and just focus on conveying the concept, and not bring in all the dry stuff. I will try to make it a “walk with the user” kind of presentation. Where the audience and I pretend we are a user, and go through the program step by step in order to achieve a very specific goal.

It is like when you have to learn a new program, it’s just horrible, and takes time. You need tutorials, and I will try to be the audiences’ tutorial. I really have picked a complicated area, I both love and hate the challenge! Feel I rub more forehead more than going “Eureka”.

However, if I can manage to make everyone in the audience understand where the program comes from, how it works, and why it’s so lovely (hehe) then I will be satisfied.

Any input on this?

Approaching Exam – Exactly what will I deliver?

For the exam I plan to present a concept for a specified component of a larger project called the “interactive design document”. I will say very little, if any, about the larger project and will only try to outline the general idea so that the background for the component is clear. I will give a verbal presentation with 9-10 powerpoint images of the program, and will only focus on concept, not the technical aspects.

The presentation will be broken down into two parts: a 5 minute session about the reasoning behind this concept, and then a 10 minute presentation with descriptions. This depends on how long the presentation is supposed to be, the main point remaining that the first part is relatively short compared to the second.
The component is called the “Design Board”, and is a tool for senior concept, design and 3d modeling artists to share their ideas and guidelines towards the team.

The component will feature the following:

• Five boards: The main board, and four arranging boards with the themes: Form, Material, Color, and Restraints.
• The ability to upload images and text to either of the four themed boards
• The ability to create design Sets (defining them with marking tools), combining parts of all four themed boards
• Unlimited number of Sets (as long as the pc can manage), and easy access to these for all team members with all four categories easily summed up within.
• The ability to freely customize and arrange personal images or text into a visual impression that serves the developers purpose, on either themed board of choice. Meaning dragging and dropping wherever suits best.
• + A range of small handy tools to help mark, define, name and color areas of interest.
• The ability to save sets or load in additional ones.
• A quick and easy access to the developers self arranged filing system.

References for this development:

• The design of everyday things, Norman Donald A, Basic Books
• Ergonomic Guidelines for User-Interface Design, http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ahtutorials/interface.html Cornell University Ergonomics Web.
• Presentations from Interactive 3D, Basberg Johann, Hedmark University College
• Gamasutra, http://www.gamasutra.com/, The biggest website to day from game-developers all over the globe

Tiny update

A slim update is due!

So what am I working on?

I have begun to map out the functionality of the setup. That means “how will the user best apply this?”, and I am using a method we have learned in Interactive 3D called GOMS. GOMS is a way of backtracking a user-actions to try and figure out exactly how long time and how many steps it takes the user to perform a certain action. And through this you then figure out where some major changes and improvements need to be implemented. You can almost see it as a storyboard, except it picks the users actions down into every little bit.

Example:
User goal: hit start button (everything that follows is what is needed to accomplish this goal)
User goal: Find start button
-look on the site
-shift eyes
-Understand logical setup from left to right
-locate button
-push button

-Goal completed

I have changed around my two main rows of buttons. The 4 different categories are now situated on the top of the screen, and they all have a small submenu that allows the user to pick out specific items, add notes, set background color, name, and more to specified selections.
On the left side menu the newly made sets will now appear. This makes a lot more sense overall, as those are the ones that really matter. The user can now easily access a set and se all four groups pluss study each individually. This is a much better solution than prior and it will really speed up the distance between the users goal and the time he / she reaches it.
I am also using something called the “ERGONOMIC GUIDELINES FOR USER-INTERFACE DESIGN” to map out the buttons, colors and fonts. Check it out at http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ahtutorials/interface.html . It gives some great principles to use when trying to enhance the user friendliness of a software interface.
There, just small input for now =)

The Change around, and the begun product!

Here is finally a long overdue update on my project, the interactive design document. It has turned out as I feared to be far too big a task for me to undertake. But instead of dwelling on that and wasting time; I have moved on to dive straight into the work of developing the “Design Palette”!

The Function

So how does this thing actually work? And what exactly is it? How do you use it? What does it look like?
Let me share just a few words to try and clarify any questions as to what exactly this is. The “developers design board (or palette)” Is a program that will help anyone developing visual items or characters in a larger team to sync it with the other team members, making sure that everyone is aware of the overall design and its restraints. One of the biggest benefits with this tool is to avoid confusion within the team, something that has plenty of negative side effects. It will not only save the team from de-motivation and irritation, but will spare the world from a finished product with conflicting visuals, and can also shave valuable time and money from development.
The actual program looks like this: (click it for a larger version)

What you are looking at is the drawing board where the senior developers can put in their information in the form they best see fit. Be it visual or text.
There are four main categories on the sidebar.

• Form
• Materials
• Colour
• Restraints

Each of these represent an area vital to any item development.

The first dictates whether you want fluent forms, sharp corners, fantasy inspired forms perhaps, or possibly even ornate forms. Theese are just examples, and the designers creative mind is the limit. It may sound confusing but for a designer managing an art team this should make a lot of sense as you can sculp the overall feel that you want from each and every scene, and then let that directly inspire your team.
The second will dictate materials used. Pretty self-explanatory. A designer can put up a wide variety of materials and fabrics, and give a few notes to them. Example: On a heavy silk fabric it might say: “Not too much of this only rather light touches!” Or on a dark oak material you could find the note “Main material in the bedroom”.
The color category will show you to a very handy color palette where the designer can promptly pluck out all the colors that are not allowed in the level, or in the overall production. He can set up several color picks and use them later to refer to. Example: For the woodland path you should be using color-setup 5 primarily.
The restraints category deals with practical restraints that the developers need to consider. Such as general measurements, time period (if essential), setting, functionality etc. Example on functionality would be if you were developing a real looking office environment and you wouldn’t want any furniture that was to abstract or impractical.

At the bottom corner I will create a small main menu where a senior developer can log in and upload information, plus edit around what he feels is necessary.
In addition I will at the top create a shared set of folders for items which the senior developer can demand that his team use to deliver their final items. This gives him/ her and the rest of the team a chance to have a full overview at any time.

And that Is what I can reveal so far!

What needs to be done?

 Goal of the project:

•  To create the concept for a fully functional Interaktive Design Document. A means of better documenting and developing game plans and strategies, in a format that everyone on the team can understand and make use of.

What do I need?:

To set up this project I need to do a fair amount of research in the game design area.

I wish to cover 5 main aspects when I search for background material:

• What aspects of the document are the most critical.
• What seems to be the biggest drawback in design documents today
• Why does the team hardly ever manage to use the design document?
• How does different workgroups within the game design team feel that the design document should be developed to best suit their needs.
• The latest “buzz” about design documents.

 Tools:

What tools do I wish to use to achieve this collecting, and how do I wish to organize it?

Internet is the key, and I will do something so simple as googling all sorts of combinations from the sentances above (my goals with the background research). The possibility that relevant information will lead to more is high, so I am convinced this will not be a problem. However, I will primarily use Gamasutra should it become an issue. I am not yet sure how I wish to organize this documentation, wether it be a standard document (do I hear dull sighs?), or find some other useful way.

Once I have a sufficient amount of background information to understand the complexities of the design process, I will attempt to set up strategies and plans for the most efficient and usefriendly development method.

And then I will begin the process of creating the ”design” for the interactive design document.

That’s about it so far!

The Grand Finale

And so came the day of displaying our finished works! The group used around 30 minutes on each work, and the students introduced their piece and also debated it with both Per Plateu, the teacher and once again the students.
So how did it go? Did I achieve my initial goals? Did I get something other than what I had expected? And what did I learn? How was my process and did it produce mental or physical results?

Let’s start of with the initial goals. I wanted a piece that said something about the emotions of being stuck when your imaginary feelings affects your real ones. To not know what comes from where, and to be confused. This I think I succeeded in, the response I got both from the outside visitor and the students proved that something was going the right way with the installation.
I also wanted something big and very void. This in turn changed entirely around and became small and intimate. Instead of a prototype of a much larger model, I created a work in progress in actual scale.
I had also envisioned only using mirrors, and possibly having a prop to represent a human. With my countless attempts at battling the issue of economics vs glorious school projects I ended up with a digital model. And in the end fused the digital and physical together as an experiment to show of both my intentions and my process.
All in all I would say: Yes I achieved my initial goals, but in a very unexpected way. I still managed to create the slightly eerie solitary experience I wanted the audience to have.

My expectations. Well here there is some very important elements to put in! I had expected knowing what I wanted to make from the start, and then making it happen like I usually do in other projects. This on the other hand turned around entirely as both economic and physical barriers forced out a different way of experimentation (infused with some level of panic dare I say). I learned to achieve results with a completely different kind of process, for which I am very happy. Of course the model itself also turned out entirely different than expected, and I love it!

And what did I learn? To not be afraid of unconventional tactics when approaching difficult and unusual tasks where my background knowledge falls flat and gives me nothing. I have never been a big fan of modern art, and haven’t really viewed myself as an artist in any way, but it does give me some grade of satisfaction to know that I can step into an unknown area and manage to obtain some of the basic things needed to progress within that field. It shows me that I can learn the things I want, IF I want. And even though that revelation may not be very important to this course, it is important to me.

How was my process and did it produce mental or physical results?
Seeing as the final instalment was put together by mostly cardboard, glue and other cheap materials I must say that my process primarily unfolded in my head! I did manage to put together a doable and simple piece for the demonstration, but the real results surely lie in the process.

After our last session with the class I ended up changing some but not all of the points that I had gotten critique on. The question of whether I should rise up the box so that you looked directly into the pc as an audience both came and went. The more I worked, the more I decided that I liked the bird view. It is sort of surreal, a situation where you often see yourself from the outside, you see all your weird and uncontrolled emotions, but you can’t seem to get down again and just grab it by the root. Another good reason to keep the inside of the box lower is that you weren’t able to see what was inside, before you actually took the chance and peeked in. It would kill the mystery. In addition the box would have a large opening where you looked in, and the figurine would not feel so confined in its own world.

Conclusion:
By combining my attempts with the physical and the digital version I got something I would have never thought of. It managed to hold my both my process and the effects I wished to pass on to the audience. I am overall pleased with the results, but mostly pleased over what I achieved on my own. In my own little world of mysterious thoughts and dazzling dreams!

And with that I wish you a wonderful Christmas, and a happy new year!

Ps: Here are some of the photos taken from the making of this instalment, and the final product, I couldn’t find a good place in this post to add them

Evaluating three different items

I have taken three different containers for apple juice, and I will be evaluating them on the grounds of: First impression, deeper study,  and final conclusion.

Lately there has been an increase of products within the juice industry, and you can find a great number of apple juices. I therefore decided to pick three different kinds with the same shape to make it even more interesting!

As you can see, they have the same design in form, but still give very different impressions.
I can say shortly that the long lean shape makes me think there’s a lot in all of them, and it looks easy to pour from it. In addition it doesn’t seem to take up much ground space, which I love on a kitchen table. But let’s get to the visual aesthetics!

The first: Lerums Apple juice made of Sogn apples.

First impressions: This is terrible. I thought it was a new cleaning product, but seeing the apples I got the sense that I was missing something. It looks almost dirty, like something is smudged on the surface.
Deeper study: The fact that the box is grey with white dots, makes it look dirty and untidy, something you really do not wish to associate food with. I had to get close and study the box before realising it was juice, even though it stood in the shelves along the other juices!
Final conclusion: This was a terrible design. You don’t think fresh, you don’t think thirst, and you certainly don’t think that you want to pay for it when you can have a much nicer type that is cheaper on the side. The fact that this is from Norwegian apples should have been pumped up much more.

The second: Also Lerums apple juice (assumingly from normal apples, whatever that is) 

First impression: This must be a thin juice. Thin? What is thin? Well it’s white; I am thinking a lighter, slimmer taste, perhaps one of those” water with a twist” juices. I didn’t really pick it out of the crowd very well.
Deeper study: It looks like they have tried to draw the consumer’s attention by framing in the apples so that you would better see them in the sea of colours around it. The pricture is pretty, and closer p I do think of a nice summer fresh juice.
Final conclusion: Its much better than the first, but one of the apparent problems is the idea behind the picture arrangement; “Lets frame it in, so people will notice!” But the picture itself is rather small, and the overall impression hint to an unknown product that you aren’t quite sure what is. And you definitely don’t want to drink something you don’t know what is. It is clean though, which I like on food, and when you stand close you can see what it is and might want to give it a shot.

The third: Ica’s Apple Juice

First impression: Corresponding colours, I like it! Big picture, looks delicious. I’m seeing the one thing that is the reason for buying this product in the first place: Apples!
Deeper study: The picture they chose to put on this cartoon is really good. They have chosen apples that look extremely fresh and delightful, plus it’s an apple sort which shows both yellow and red on the same fruit. And that is hugely important, as apple eaters tend to have a preference to one of them. So here they offer you both.
Final Conclusion: I spotted this a mile away, and it was exactly what I was looking for. If you are going to buy apple juice, you will see apples. And this cartoon certainly has a lot of them. Not only that, but it’s a pleasant colour that both far away and close up looks like it has a purpose. By that I mean that it is well coordinated, clean, tidy, and it stands out.

And that is what I have to say for now in regards to applejuice cartoons and their subconcious role in my life!

The feedback – the looming of the deadline

And so came the time when the first feedbacks on our works were to be made! And the criticisms rained upon our artists and their marvellous creations as the slightly biased audience made their conclusions about out works.

The creator of each piece sat back and listened to three things: Initial reaction, the breaking down of the piece (sort of a deeper exploration of the installation), and finally the groups conclusion to what the creator was trying to achieve (and if this corresponded with their emotion). After this the creator got to say a few words, and we discussed as a group how to better the presentation overall.

Let me post some of the feedback I received in each of the three categories. I will then go to talk a bit about how that corresponded with my intentions, and then finally I will explain what I intend to attempt in the coming week.

Initial responses:

-“It looks mysterious”
-“I want to peak inside”
-“I really want to know what’s on the inside”
-“Makes me curious”
-“The black colour is something unknown, could be anything”

Breaking down the piece:

-“I wonder why the tree figure is different”
-“The whole scene is only lit up by the pc”
-“It’s sort of relaxing, in your own world”
-“It’s a very static setting”
-“I wonder if the plates on the wall are supposed to reflect anything. They seem not to”
-“The figurine could be seeing its own face in the pc”
-“I feel a little closed in, that I need more room”
-“The digital image is very flat, I feel like its tricking me”
-“The sound is very effective”
-“The sound has small pitches, almost like its talking or complaining”
-“The box is black on the outside, and white on the inside”
-“There are no shadows cast, did anyone think about this?”

Group conclusion:

-“The sound is very closed of, you get into your own world”
-“The figurine is mirrored in the screen. It’s the digital self”
-“It seems like it is trying to identify people”
-“I wish to see more movement, or some form of happening to really get sucked in”
-“I miss some more sound somehow, to get more drawn in”
-“It looks like it’s the meeting between the analogue world and the real world”

My reaction to:

Initial responses:
The reactions made me very happy. The idea of the black box is exactly what it did to the audience. Every day when I turn on the pc, it comes with a level of curiosity. I am excited about what I am going to experience this day, I have no clue what will happen, I am thrilled over the things I have yet to discover, and I simply cannot wait from the moment I open my eyes in bed. This is part of the addiction that a computer has, and I love it.

Breaking down the piece:
I am overall very pleased with the groups breaking down of my installation. The way they described coming into your own world, being mirrored by the digital world, meeting something fake, was absolutely excellent.
“The digital image is very flat, I feel like its tricking me”. This line above all excited me! I am tricked by the pc, it’s a fake world that still entice me. Although I understood the context of the feedback, which was that we need to see the dimension a bit better, I still liked to hear that it felt like being tricked. The challenge is to keep the feeling of trickery, but improve the dimension of the digital image.

Group conclusion:
The group conclusion was somewhat what I had expected, being as they are slightly biased. They figured out what it was supposed to be, and felt it gave a solitary experience, much like gaming in your own world.
We debated the things that needed improving, mainly motion and a few technical issues.

What will I work with this coming week?

The number one thing I am going to work with is movement. To get some sort of happening in there that draws in the audience even further. It seems to be the one big thing that is still holding it back.
In addition I need to fix it so the screen does not go black, and I need a bigger hole in the box so that you can peak inside with the earphones on.

As I see it, the time for the really drastic exploration is somewhat closed at this point. If I haven’t succeeded in that now, I doubt I will achieve a major breakthrough in this last week. With that said I by no means rule it out!

Priliminary Assignment Delivery

The time has come to see the first images of this installation, and to show them I need to explain a few things first. The first part of this report will deal with a 3D model that I have put together, and the second part will talk about the physical model.

But before I get started let me talk briefly about my last reflection “Breaking The Mirror”.
I debated breaking it and creating some form of change, but after further pondering on the subject I came to the discovery that such a remodelling would change the goal of this task. The project is to convey the feelings that I experience in my twilight zone unto others, without them knowing the connection, and still getting the same emotional result. However, by changing the actual setting I was about to change my twilight zone, and that is of course incorrect. Changes that could be made should only be in the purpose of further drawing the audience towards my twilight sensation.

Now that the last reflection has been cleared, let’s get to the current work!

 Part 1

3D Model:

In the attempt of using makeup mirrors and other house mirrors to experiment with the atmosphere of the installation I kept meeting the wall in terms of exploring whether the idea would actually produce the desired effect. The mirrors were of all the wrong sizes, I could never get the feeling of standing in front of them, as they were pretty small, and trying to make different setups was a puzzle. I wanted, and desperately needed, to be able to determine the actual effect of the mirrors, their direction, size according to a person etc.
I therefore decided to construct a second version of my installation in 3D max, which is a 3D program from the company Discreet. In the complete scene I have played around with camera angles, lights, sizes and shapes.
When placing a camera in front of the big mirror it greatly helped me to experience the effect of the room, as I could now for the first time see what it would look like from a visitors poiont of view:

Slightly from the side here, causes the camera will cut the person if you take it directly in front. The mirrors on the reflections right side also reflect the person like you see here on the left. The dark line by the persons feet is actually his / her shadow that is split in two and move outwards to meet the mirrors.

Lights: I have up till lately had the idea that the light should only be clinical, and have no further effect. But through the 3D environment I was able to experiment with this, and found a certain way of positioning very bright lights that enhance the twilight sensation for the audience in a fantastic way. Dare I say it quite excites me!
Two really bright spots is placed on each side of the mirror, and they create a pattern like sunbeams down through the mirrors:

The idea behind this is that the pc is shedding light over all the different angles of my personality. The spots are also placed so that the person’s shadow is actually split in two, moving to both sides at once. Although that was not my first idea when I placed the lights, it has proven to be a remarkable effect that I now cherish more than the actual reason for why the spots are where they are.
The light is very bright, causing a slight discomfort, adding to the sensation that this isn’t pleasant. Maybe because you actually shed lights on some sides that you really wouldn’t like to see*. Notice that the spots will sit far enough out from the big mirror making sure that you can look into it without being it being blinded or in great discomfort.

Room seen from the back. Notice the lit up corners where the spots will appear.

*I can mention as a side note that when you start playing roles with darker angles (murderers, thieves, traitors), you are confronted with your darker sides, but more so confronted with your delight in playing those sides.

Sound: This weekend I am borrowing sound recording equipment from the library at HIHM, and I am going to be recording my very unique pc sound. To transmit the sound in the room I think the loudspeaker will be placed just above or behind the mirror.

Part 2

Now lets have a look at the actual model. I am still struggling somewhat with this, but I think I will be able to put it together by December.
I have gotten my hands on 9 small canvases (10cm x 14cm) that will be the nine human sized mirrors. These have been painted white on the back, and covered with foil on the front to represent a blank mirror surface.
The main mirror is a canvas (24cm x 32,5cm) that in the same way has been covered in foil:

As you can see, the foil is still loose here, and I am trying to find out if I can glue it on. The back of the canvas had a stamp from the manufacture company, but a couple coats of white acrylic paint will do the trick. Only one coat here on this picture. It will be good! =)

In the 3D model I show a person in the room, and I am doing the same on the actual model. I have found a very simple wooden figurine that will pose as a visitor in the instalment. The reason for its simplicity is that it is merely a placeholder, not part of the actual project:

I still do not have the bottom to place this on. I am not sure whether I will put the entire thing in a box with two floors on top of each other (so that I can stick the canvases down into the first layer), or if I will try to glue the thing down on a wooden plate.  I will also try to work out if I should mark the floor, so as to help the audience along. But I fear that it will take away some of the mystery, and also not let the visitors really explore it.

So that is what I got going so far, I hope this satisfies what is needed of the preliminary assignment delivery. Please leave a note if there are any questions or anything missing! Also feel free to leave feedback, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the whole thing.

Thank you!

31.10.07 – Breaking the mirror (Reflection)

It would seem that if you can destroy it, you can venture through it and discover yourself as a whole person, not just bits and fragments that never gets a chance to all hang together.

I must admit that such a feat is very tempting. Search onward, break the wall, fight for something, stepping out of the grey zone, being one out of the crowd, moving, doing something, grabbing the passion and refusing to become just reflections. Not just staying alive but empowering yourself with the lust for life. Perhaps this is where I should go with this thing. And show some fighting spirit and make a giant crack in the work that is until now so depressing in form. Perhaps I can even add strings of colour that flow out through the cracked up mirror. Interesting thought there.

The mirrors are my twilight zone. And the breaking is what I wish to do to attain something real. Cliché? Pretty much, but its still a valid expression of what those emotions are like.

If I end up doing this, then I do not want it to be an “emo” act of thrashing a mirror, but rather a spirited move of optimism.