In the lab following our team's first brainstorming phase we learned that the camera/projector set-up that the whole class would be using made all our ideas unfeasible in their current configurations. A further brainstorming period was required in order to improve our ideas and adapt them for the classroom's equipment set-up.
Most of the ideas we tossed around were extensions from the Invisible Friend idea from phase 1, and of those ideas there were a few that seemed viable and are detailed below.
An Emotional Fairy
Audience: Children (though adults are allowed to play too)
What is it: Taking inspiration from a line in Peter Pan that said "fairies are so small that they only have room in their heads for one emotion at a time." We have decided to create a digital fairy that will follow, flit about, and interact with people who are visible on camera. The fairy would be depicted as a glowing colored ball of light, with the color depicting its emotion. The fairie's default state is to orbit around and follow the user, maintaining about a 1' distance. If the user stays very still for a while or moves slowly enough the fairy will calm and fly in closer. Potentially landing upon the user for a time.
The fairie is easily startled and its emotions react to speed of movement from the user. A curious fairy will follow a running child moving away from it but fast, abrupt movements towards the fairie when it has drawn close will startle it and send it zipping away and then flying quickly around the user. Waving and swiping at it when its scared will freak it out even more, potentially leading to angry dive-bombings. Slow, calming movements from the user will coax it back down and perhaps once again land on their hand.
Playful Shadow
- 2 people in different rooms interacting with one another’s shadows
Peter Pan's Shadow
Continuing the Peter Pan inspirations, this idea was born from our wish to take the invisible friend through footprints theme up onto the wall where the projector will be aimed.
In this case the goal is to have the camera tracking the user's silhouette and the projector sending that silhouette back onto the screen offset slightly from the user and acting as his/her shadow. After an initial period where it perfectly matches the users movements the shadow will begin to mis-behave, taking on a life of its own and interacting with the user.
Achieving this second shadow seems challenging and the team tossed around possibilities for pre-recorded movements and other solutions before deciding that a dual set of the interactions could work to create the effect. A second camera and projector in a different room could be tracking a different person's silhouette. And each "misbehaving" shadow is in-fact the motions of the person tracked by the other camera. This second set-up makes the idea unfeasible for this project but remained an idea we were pleased with.
2D --> 3D (Completing the Message)
- Pixar short inspiration
- 3D world only seen through 2D shapes
- Completing the message based on the amount of participants interacting
A piece of film, a message, some sexy typography is displayed onto the screen but only inside the silhouette of a user being tracked by the cameras.
One version of this could have it be such that the more people in the frame the more complete the message/broadcast is.
The second version would have each person blob in the view frame linked to its own video or message, and how the things displayed inside them relate and contrast with those of other users could become part of the focus.
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