231 - Project 3

Project 3: The Experience

In the first two projects I was looking heavily into how we as humans use our eyes. I wanted to study the effects of having some part of sight taken away or altered. “Sight is without doubt our most dominant sense, yielding nine-tenths of our knowledge of the external world” (Pocock, 1981) I knew the experience of having something we rely on so much changed or altered would be an interesting one.  One of the most profound experiences I studied was the effect of having someone’s peripheral vision cut off or obscured. By taking the peripherals away the way in which we see things is completely changed, peripheral vision makes up more than 95% of what a person can see, the other 5% is our range of focus in the vision eye spectrum. By taking the use and ability of being able to see out of focus images around our area of focus is one of them most useful abilities the human eye has and it so often goes unnoticed. By limiting the sense of vision and striping back the experience of sight without peripherals I hoped to create an austere mood. By creating a pair of glasses that had small holes cut through them I wanted to create a false sense of tunnel vision. I had the participants attempt to walk around a room, sit down and use their hands to pick objects up and put them down. The use of motor skills while under the influence of limited sight was a very interesting experience that I sought to explain by studying the sensory experiences.

Our vision is taken for granted every day. Being able to see cars coming from around corners or see obstacles travelling at fast speeds passed our field of vision is one of the most important aspects of human sight. Mark Stokes explains that “our perception of the external environment is continually shaped by internal goals and expectations”(Stokes, 2009), by taking this expectation that our vision can never fail us, and by limiting the perception of a person’s vision the entire experience of sight and vision becomes austere. When our vision is refined and stripped back of key components we become aware that what we never think about, what is so ‘internally expected’ by our brains, can actually be the most important aspect to the experience. 

The object I created to make the experience of austere vision was a very simple and austere construction in itself. By painting a pair of glasses black and attaching thick sheets of black paper to the outside of the field of peripheral vision and drilling two small holes in the lenses of the glasses I could severely reduce the cone of vision for the eye. This design aided the idea of austerity in the experience by being as simple and austere as possible, “austere beauty of ruthless simplification of interaction” (Jones, 1969). The effects of the glasses were instantaneous, every participant expectations of what the experience would be like were instantly changed when they were asked to move around and pick objects up. The experience affected not only the field of view but also the sense of perception of space and distance. “it is obvious that the handicap of tunnel vision would be lessened if the item being viewed could be reduced in angular size, that of it would fall within the narrow cone of vision” (Gordon, 1984), participants would sway as they walked and had to check which direction they were travelling constantly. Depth perception was decreased as well. By cutting the peripheral vision out our brains find it harder to form three dimensional objects in close areas. I believe this effect helped create the mood and emotion of austerity by stripping back our perception of what we see even more, by only seeing objects as two dimensional shapes the experience was so refined that most participants wanted to take the glasses off before they either fell over or walked into something. This experience further emphasises the fact that our sense of sight is not only the most important sense for experiencing anything but also that it is the most utilised sense when it comes to motor skills and concentration. The experience left participants unable to carry on with physical movement leaving them idle, trapped in an aura of limited potential. Movement was near impossible and trying to perceive objects and limitations of sight was impossible. The experience was so linear and refined that “momentary awareness of a visual scene is very limited” (Huang, 2007) the only thing the participants were capable of doing was looking around their environment, studying it and planning a safe route for travelling anywhere.

I believe that the fact that the participants had to plan and double check their movement was a great example of an austere emotion. By having to check, plan and remember where obstacles were and how to best get around them the participant had to memorize the smallest of things only to achieve the most basic of movements and interactions.

Having such an important sense such as sight altered and obscured so radically with such a basic and simple interaction as looking through two tiny holes creates an experience so austere and refined it makes participants realise how important their sense of sight is and how austere the feeling of having their peripherals completely removed can be.

Creating an austere experience is not easy, the human mind and body is so complex and the senses so linked and connected that stripping away the parts that makes up the whole can be very difficult. But I believe I achieved an experience that is purely austere and totally refined and disconnected to all other senses. Sight and visual stimulus is granted the most important sense of all because without it we are stunned and disjointed from our other senses; I created the austere experience of having sight stripped of all its complexities with the most simple of tools and implementations to create not only an austere object but the most austere visual experience possible.

Bibliography:

Pocock, D.C. (1981), Sight and Knowledge Vol. 6, No.4, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 385

Stokes, M. (2009), National Academy of Sciences Vol. 106, No.46, Nov. 17^th, Shape Specific Preparatory Activity Mediates Attention to Targets in Human Visual Cortex

Jones, P.L. (1969), Leonardo Vol.2, No.2, April, The Failure of Basic Design

Gordon,I. (1984), Leonardo Vol.17, No.3, A Visual Aid for Artists and Others with Retinitis Pigmentosa

Huang,L.(2007), American Association for the Advancement of Science, New Series Vol. 317, No.5839, Aug 10^th,  Characterizing the Limits of Human Visual Awareness

Sensory / Emotional Experiment - CCDN 231

Sensory / Emotional Experiments CCDN - 231

In project one I studied the sensory experiences of walking and texting. Through this research I recorded first hand responses of the sensory reactions of relying on peripheral vision to navigate obstacles. Participants in the research all accounted an underlying factor of the experience; relying on your peripherals was harder than expected. My experiment was to record the actions of a participant jay-walking whilst texting on his/her phone with earplugs in. The mood I was attempting to create was one of rebellion.

 In today’s society there are social and behavioural norms that are created through “sensory stimulus of the immediate environment” (Milgram, 1970), behaviours relating to the way in which people commute through inner city streets are often due to social and sensory reactions. In a growing population it is a common psychoanalytical opinion that suggests commuters do not wish to stand out in a crowd or break social conventions. This perhaps explains society’s intoxication with technology and the use of hand-held devices, all of which is simply a distraction to the overwhelming sensory experience of commuting through a busy city.

I experimented with these social conventions in relation to the sensory experience of walking and texting. By breaking these social conventions of order and structure the participant was in turn rebelling against them. The social norms for crossing a street are of course to engage all senses into safely crossing a street, looking both ways, waiting for traffic to pass etc.  But when these sensory experiences are taken away or distracted the emotional and sensory experience is completely changed. In terms of sensory awareness I created the feeling of rebellion by taking away the participants sense of hearing and sight. Relying only on peripherals the participant was rebelling against social conventions and norms. Although dangerous and avoidable the emotional experience of being vulnerable and completely distracted was a rebellious sensory experience. A recent analysis of texting and walking described their participants saying “distracted individuals (were) unable to detect safe opportunities for action” (Hyman, 2009) this explains the sensory feeling of vulnerability; the inability to detect danger is an exact rebellion of our social and natural responses.

Even the act of walking and texting is fast becoming a breach in social convention, in 2011 the reported cases of accidents due to patients walking and texted was over one thousand, which was double 2010’s results (DailyDealMedia, 2012). Even after these incidents pedestrians still insist on distracting their senses and rebelling against social conventions. Whilst a person is walking in the social norm of engaging all their senses to walk in a straight line, a recent study concluded that “

; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> dual-task of walking while using a cell phone impacts executive function and working memory” (Lamberg, 2011) this means that the sensory and emotional experience of walking and texting is as much a cognitive experience as it is a physical. By experimenting with participants senses, by either taking them away or occluding them, their emotional and sensory calibration is altered. Furthermore, by putting them in a situation that exceeds their social, physical and biological conventions they are in turn rebelling against these conventions and also their senses.­­­

The video below is of the participant crossing the street with his sense impaired. More so his hearing is cut off by music/earplugs, his sight is restricted to peripherals due to texting off his cell phone. It shows how dangerous and deluded our senses can make us when we rebel against social constructs and safety above all else.

For my second experiment I wanted to look at how I could make walking and texting glamorous. I had my participant stand in places that have aesthetic value of glamour, expensive items such as suits and perfume are all part of the construct of "glamour". By simply surrounding yourself with glamorous objects you in turn become glamorous as glamour is about vanity, wealth and materialism. This experiment actually had an effect on the participant, making him more aware of his surroundings. The speed at which he walked and texted decreased hugely. Cautious not to hit anything he simply walked slowly and immersed himself in his surroundings. Perhaps this is a result of the objects around him? The objects influence on society changed the way he viewed his surroundings. He noted that although the act of walking and texting did not become glamorous  emotional and sensory experiences were heightened to the point of glamour. The smell of perfume around him made him feel as though he was as important as the images that relate to the perfumes and suits that surrounded him. 

The senses effected were of course sight, the surroundings could only be seen through peripherals but sense such as smell were effected positively. The smell of perfumes and leather could be smelt while he walked slowly around texting.

Surrounded by suits, very glamorous 

Engaging only smell

Participant smelling the sweet smell of chanel

For my third and final experiment I was looking at comfort. I constructed a pair of glasses that had mirrors attached to them. They were angled back so the person wearing them could see his peripherals in greater detail without having to look up at all. The notion that safety is comfort was utilized in the creation of this experiment. By changing the sight sense component to the activity of walking and texting the participants sight was aided. The participants could still walk and text at the same time but with comfort as he/she could see more than they would have had they not have been wearing the glasses. Not being able to see more than your peripherals is the main reason walking and texting is so dangerous and awkward, but by changing the senses so they can better navigate the person experience of walking and texting becomes more comfortable. This experiment was successful because it succeeded in making the experience more comfortable. Sensory experiences were changed to achieve this result. 

Below are some images of the glasses that were created and an attempt to show how they would work if wearing them. 

This is one of the angles of sight with the glasses on

This is what the glasses look like on their own

Another showing the angle of reflection

Being able to visually see your surroundings clearer when they should be negatively effected by the activity of walking and texting is a successful attempt at creating the mood of comfort. By altering sight the participant said that his emotional experience was more comfortable. Before wearing the glasses he said he felt vulnerable and unsafe as his peripherals were not enough to see oncoming obstacles as he made his way down the street. But once he was wearing the glasses he could see more than what his peripherals would have been able to show him before. The effect of this on his senses was one of comfort.

Game Design - Project Two

Carrying on with my project one idea and concept. The baby Rhino was a theme that I thought could be easily adapted into platformer style game. Although there are many styles of platformers with numerous laws of gameplay and rulebinds this fact in turn worked in my favor for creating an original game with a unique concept of game play.

The player is in forced motion and only has the ability to jump and move forward, not backwards, this makes this game  play interesting and challenging as one mistake can result in a death. To make game play unique I thought to use the fact that the character is a Rhino and add a charge feature to the environment, giving the player the ability to charge through objects and barriers when needed.

Basic parameters include:

 •Forced movement, no running back.

•Charge and jump mechanics only.

•Death at falling off screen or onto traps.

•Revive at beginning of level.

•Collect coins for a scoring system at the end of the level.

•Environmental interactions slippery materials such as mud, slopes, jumps, gravity.

•Pickups? Boosts or power ups: Speed boost? Shield? Coin magnet?

•Character could use horn to charge through environment?? i.e. trees, rocks etc. 

Aesthetic values for the game include only vectored or high res backgrounds and textures, this is the modern prerequisites for any game now.

Some early sketches of the in game and level displays can describe with more detail the kind of game I want to produce:

The vision I had for gameplay elements was a kind of mix between Sonic the Hedgehog and Tiny Wings, the forced running with elements of curved slopes and spirals to make the level more dynamic for a platformer.

The paper prototype shows a simple level in play:

Research Diary - Walking and Texting

For my research diary I recorded five people walking down a street whilst texting a small paragraph into a hand held device. The idea behind this experience is that your senses are effected by the experience of having to rely on your peripheral vision to guide you as you walk. Here in lies many sensory experiences that go unnoticed, and when interviewed about their experiences participants said that once they had to think about their senses and analyze them was when they realized how intricate and complex their sense of vision
was when obscured.

This image is part of a collective group of artwork related to the study of peripheral vision, the idea was that you can recognize scenes and objects more clearly using peripherals then focused vision.

The process of walking a texting is the catalyst for the experience. It is hard to study the peripheral vision if you do not make it apparent, peripheral vision goes unnoticed so often because it is a natural process for the eye.

Recording the experience was a difficult task. It is hard to directly engage with another persons sight, and for this reason observing sight is a difficult process. To get over this hurdle is instead asked participants to tell me their experiences in words. I interviewed the participants both when they were walking and texting and after they completed the task. This was the way I collected my data. I repeated the process three times so that the participants could get an understanding both of their own sense and also how to answer the question. When asked generic questions about their experience I let them answer how ever they wanted in hopes of getting an honest and natural collection of data.

The diary itself is self explanatory and to the point. The results could be averaged out into five main experiences that went unnoticed. The fact that everyone could relate to the same experiences made the research accurate.

Some images were taken by the participants of their experience i.e. their field of view while walking and texting. Because a camera cannot illustrate the way a human eye sees an image recording research with video or camera becomes relatively unimportant, the real research and experience was within the verbalization of the experience, the interviews, the personal reactions and realizations of the participants when they have to verbalize a new experience. I felt that for my research this was the best method of collecting data.

However, I will include some images that the participants took while they were walking and texting:

 As you can see from the pictures they are not nearly as expressive of the experience as a verbal recollection.  But nonetheless it is important to see some pictures of the research to perhaps see what the participants saw, even if it does not communicate the experience as well as words.

Videos of the experience were recorded as well but were not nearly as expressive or accurate as an interview of the experience.

Background for In-Game Environment

This entry includes images used for in game environment and game play components. All were created using photoshop, flash and illustrator.

These tilesets for platforms were never used in the final game environment as they took away from the aesthetic and scale of the interaction. However, these would be very useful in creating a more dynamic and complex game style.

Tilesets for platforms

Backdrop

 This is the background used in the final simulation. It depicts a safari grass land at night with stars in the sky and thick grass with low mountains in the very back.

Terrain Style

This was the tileset used a basis for the final terrain tileset. Rocky and grassy, just like the African reserves.

Final terrain tileset clip

EXPLANATION OF STYLE

The environment was always going to be stylized adaptation of the natural environment of Rhinos. However the desaturation of the colour for the terrain tileset was a stylistic choice. I wanted the environment to evoke the feeling of the baby Rhino - sad, lonely and somewhat scary. The desaturation also aided to the night time aesthetic. By having the environment lacking in bright and over powering colours it does not take away from the character itself. In fact a brighter scene makes the character less important. By making the environment more dull the character stands out.

Final Character

This is the final HI-RES vectored character concept. At this stage I had brought him into flash and animated a list of cycles for the character's movement. With his head, tail, body and four legs moving in time it created a very believable walk cycle. 

The colouring for the Rhino was under much debate. After many iterations I settled on this kind of navy-blue and light brown tail. I made this choice because I wanted him to be recognizable as a baby Rhino. There are many dark skinned Rhinos in the world and also many light skinned. Their colours range from a very dark grey to the lightest of browns. This gave me a lot of real-world information on the natural colouring of Rhinos.

Final Character

This Rhino is meant to represent the baby Rhinos left abandoned in the wild motherless and defenseless. I wanted to encapsulate the colouring and aesthetic of baby Rhinos and I think this colour is a great colour that is not too over saturated but also not too dull. The characters skin can be noticeable at very small resolutions and this is thanks to the high lights on his upper legs and back.  

In terms of personality and individuality of the Rhino I really tried conveying his pain, sadness and helplessness through his face. This is another reason for the proportional scaling of the head and body. By having his head much larger then his body the viewer studies the face longer then the body as it is more imposed on the character then the body.

With this observation I gave my character large eyes, perked up ears, a worried mouth, frown lines and eye bags. These were all intentional characteristics given to the character to convey the point of animal cruelty and sadness emanating from the character itself.

 This is the sprite sheet used to create walk, jump and idle states for the basic animation of the platform style game. (CLICK TO SEE ACTUAL RESOLUTION)

This is the model of the mother Rhino I created to link the story of the baby Rhino to the real world issue. The mother stands motionless in the corner of the screen. Bruised and battered it links the idea that this mother has been poached or attacked. Her giant horn dwarfs the babies immature horns.