Reflections....

Successes

Exploring potential ideas early on with the team was an exciting prospect. Initially, we only had a very vague idea of what we wanted to accomplish, but it seemed feasible and worthwhile. Constructing the scenario designs as individuals revealed further possibilities for implementation, as well as revealing a number of potential artistic styles.

The concept of exploring a foreign, virtual environment without having to wear any cumbersome VR apparatus or be tethered to a mouse and keyboard was an immensely appealing one. As such, we thought it appropriate to apply this style of interaction design to provide an opportunity for students new to the CI environment to explore the ecology in an experimental, highly stylised, playful manner. The exploration of a foreign environment could then be conducted in a seemingly private manner, without fear of 'looking lost'. Ironically, the user is constantly under the watchful eye of the motion-sensing web camera as a means of detecting their current location.

From a technical standpoint, further development of this project seemed only to be limited by constraints on finances and resources - all of the knowledge, skills and technology required to take the project a few steps further existed within the team and its current set of tools. As such, I would be keen to explore the possibility of continuing this project into another semester, incorporating audio feedback, collision detection, more complex room layouts, and so on.

More importantly, I'd love to be able to have the opportunity to implement this interaction piece in a full-size installation, complete with stereo sound and 4-way projection setup. The 360-degree immersion in the 3D environment was a highly sought-after goal.

Incorporating the Myron WebCam Xtra was a major leap forwards for the technical implementation - this was the first time I'd dealt with Xtras, and I was extremely pleased with its completeness, functionality and adaptability.

The late separation of the art direction from the technical functionality was a productive process, particularly since both sub-teams had an accurate idea of what the finished product was going to look and act like. A rigid, logical file-naming convention (and well-distributed layout map) made this process easier still, giving both sub-teams a common language of reference. Bringing the artwork directly into the final Director movie was trivial as a result.

Shortcomings

Demonstrating this piece will be [has been] our biggest trial. There are team-members who have not yet been able to see the fully functioning piece first-hand. Several environmental conditions must exist for it to function at its best, not least of which is a flat coloured, expansive floor that provides ample contrast with a user who happens upon it. This high contrast will then allow for very accurate tracking of movement by the camera. Similarly, the lighting conditions to maximize the impact of 4 simultaneous big-screen projections can be equally difficult to acheive outside of a controlled environment.

An on-screen demonstration of a hi-res monitor split into four quadrants (representing the North, South, East and West projections) fails to accomplish the desired immersive effect, but manages to show off the art style and software-driven technical accomplishments of the piece.

Without a correctly-placed web-cam in a life-sized environment, the impact of the piece loses considerable weight.

If I Was to Do This Again...

Knowing a little more about Director and its capabilities for real-time 3D rendering, I would probably approach the implementation considerably differently. The art team would still be able to work with the current style, but instead of finalising their work as a 2D wall, the textures would wrap around low-polygon 3D models. These models, together with a rudimentary room layout, could be used as the source for the current projection tiles.

Presently, the wall tiles change in a 'flick-screen' manner, reminiscent of pseudo-3D adventure games from the very early 1990s/late 1980s. By positioning virtual 3D cameras within the 3D world described above (one each pointing East, North, South and West), the four walls would be able to move in sync with the user's position, and their view would be updated in real-time to reflect what a user would see if they were looking in that given direction - transitions between spaces would become seamless, and the current collision detection for rooms would be superfluous.

Looking back, few of the team members had 3D experience at the commencement of the project but, now many of them have just completed a 3D modelling subject, it would be worth tackling this approach.

I am excited by the potential direction the application of this technology could have on the future of both projection and interaction installations. For example, the ambient movement of users walking through a public space has a plethora of seemingly random, easily-harnessable inputs that can be transformed into a mesmerising audio or dynamic projection piece in real-time, while still preserving the individual's privacy.