April 11, 2005
brad's thesis
Abstract
(untitled) is a communal play experience involving cooperative puzzle solving and improvisational expression among 3 participants in a physical installation. The experience will attempt to use the power of the "magic circle" and intuitive interfaces to achieve creative and intimate interactions between participants. It will take the form of a large room akin to a surreal garden / playground, within which reside interactive tangible devices, along with some form of display of real-time graphics that are meaningfully connected to the interaction with the physical objects. This may take the form of projection, augmented reality displays, or both. Interfaces will be intuitive largely, and at times gestural. Techniques of sensing capacitance without touch (as in Theremins) and computer vision to detect motion would be employed, with OpenGL used to generate the graphics. The audience would be wide to create connections between strangers. 15 yr olds and up would likely be the best audience for the subject matter. Those inclined to being open, honest and creative would excel in the experience and could be a catalyst for others to.
Motivation / Background
This thesis follows from my interest in the power of play to decrease barriers and establish intimate connections between participants, as well as new forms of communication possible via interactive media. In addition, it involves interaction with tangible devices connected to computers that offer a more direct and visceral interaction. And last but not least, the power and uniqueness of immersive experiences to frame and focus interactions.
I am looking at prior art including: Happenings art movement, New Games Movement, Ludology theorists, Media artists using gestural interface such as Golan Levin and Zachary Booth Simpson. Surrealists/Dadaists, location based entertainment / theme parks: e.g. Disney, Universal, Chuck E. Cheese. Fantasy movie set design, Social / group psychology, adolescence and it's connection to creativity, gameplay, sexual / psychological development, hypnotism, ESP, synchronicity, improvisation, hallucinations, dreams, meditation, magic, etc. Bernie DeKoven, Carl Jung, Aleister Crowley, Marcel Duchamp, Allen Kaprow, Katie Salen/ Eric Zimmerman, Will Wright...
Methodology / Flow
I want to create a cooperative game to increase communication, understanding and expression in groups. Communal goals and play use the power of the magic circle and the lusory attitude to bring people together, now what can we do with this power once they're inside other than repetitive-distinct goal based activity? Where else can that connection be steered while maintaining the magic? What forms of interaction are more intimate than others? How can we seduce participants and lower social barriers with games, environment, and interactive media? How can you create more meaningful play and interactions? Is there a way to provide some individual expression and exploration within the experience? What sort of technology is most appropriate for creating this experience, and what sort of tech could create new content?
I would like to address these questions by creating a series of experiences that get people into a flow of interaction that can build and culminate in a sublime experience. I think that there are certain sequences and cycles that can be designed to build upon one another. For example, having participants engage in a playful and accessible group activity / game at the start of the experience may help to warm people up to one another, lower their guards, and establish a bit of trust. Following this with a simple puzzle can establish more complex intellectual cooperation and interaction. Providing a meaningful payoff and playful reward to solving the puzzle can make people value the amazing things that can be accomplished as a cooperative group, perhaps increasing the participant's value of different people's strengths, as well as increasing trust. Using the energy and state of mind that's been established, it may be easier to persuade participants to become more vulnerable than they normally would by getting them to reveal some personal aspects of themselves in service to the play of the game. The trick would be how to do this while not destroying the lusory attitude and the trust that's established. The payoff may need to be linked to people's level of admission. Psychological and Hypnotic techniques could be employed here.
Design
At the beginning of the experience, participants will enter from 3 separate and symmetrically spaced entrances into a domed tent roughly 12’ in diameter and 8’ high. 3 cushioned seating areas just inside the edge would clearly be designated. Low ambient music / sounds would be played over surround speakers. A physical structure residing in the center (very vague at this point, something between a tree / fire / bubble) would faintly glow (perhaps via an array of embedded LED’s) and come alive when all three participants took their seats. 3 projectors would be mounted outside the dome and project onto the dome’s translucent surface. Cameras inside the device would act as its eyes to observe the participant’s movements, and tangible tendrils jutting from the device would allow them to physically touch and interact with it. Capacitance sensors would provide non-touch interaction. When participants move in a certain manner or hold hands to form a circular link, the projections and sound would react.
Each person will have unique imagery and sound that is generated based on their movement. The manner with which they need to move their body will also be unique, in the hope that their interactions can form a sort of unified gestalt when they act cooperatively.
The experience would possibly begin with a fun and joyful activity such as popping or bouncing around images and sounds. A method of sensing touch and linking between participants would be rewarded with interaction that is more fun than when they act separately (e.g. what were separate musical notes or chords might unite into a song.) This would serve as a way of acquainting and training people to interact with the system.
Puzzle solving or simply a more structured game would follow this to engage participants in a more complex and communal goal driven activity (e.g. building some virtual device via stacking or interlinking of pieces). Upon reaching this goal or solution, this virtual device may come alive and integrate with the physical device, and provide an expressive form of interaction (similar to the beginning playful activity, but in this case more complex and refined, like the difference between clapping and a drum set).
Posted by brad at April 11, 2005 02:58 AM
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