Toca Boca and Stack!

In my search for precursor projects to our final project, I decided to research different apps. From my search, I found an app created by Toca Boca (https://tocaboca.com/about/) called Toca Life and Stack! created by Ketchapp. Because our project is going to be more of a cause and effect based project, I found that the apps that I found followed very closely to the goals that we initially wanted.

Below is an introductory video that gives you a feel of what kinds of products Toca Boca makes.

The apps that Toca Boca creates cater more to younger children and letting them interact with a virtual world while also simultaneously teaching them lessons in a more fun and dynamic way. The apps are simple enough for young children to use while also visually appealing.

The next app, Stack! helps as a precursor because in our final project, we wanted to implement a game where particles are being dropped from the top of the canvas onto a platform in the lower part of the canvas. This app encompasses exactly that as it has blocks that fall from the top of the screen onto a separate canvas. However, where the goal in this app is to stack the blocks as high as possible, the goal in our project’s game will be to gather different types of ingredients for a new recipe that the character makes.

Project Name: Carl Makes a Meal (tentative);

Project Partner: Hamza Qureshi (hqq);

Project Manifesto: “For our project, we are creating a two-part immersive experience that’s part-“choose your own adventure” and part-platform game. The premise brings back an earlier character Hamza created in the early days of the class, Carl, whose goal is to make a nice, home-cooked meal for his girlfriend Carla. But, it has to be perfect. In a choose-your-own-adventure game, you’ll have the option to check the fridge for ingredients, or travel to a new country to pick some more rare ingredients. There’ll also be information on these pages about these ingredients. We’ll create these pages on Illustrator and use a series of key presses to activate each ones. (see diagram below).

Players will “cook” the meal through a platform game where they use a plate to catch the ingredients to make the “perfect” meal (see below). Once the stack reaches a certain height, the game ends with an image of the final meal in its finest presentation.

NSynth: Neural Audio Synthesis

NSynth is Google Magenta’s—a small team of Google AI researchers —latest project. Their main pitch was that this new system will provide musicians with an entirely new range of tools for making music. It take different sounds from different instruments, and blends them together creating an entirely new sound as the creator can also alter how much of one sound is used.

According to an article in the New York Times, “The project is part of a growing effort to generate art through a set of A.I. techniques that have only recently come of age. Called deep neural networks, these complex mathematical systems allow machines to learn specific behavior by analyzing vast amounts of data. ” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/arts/design/google-how-ai-creates-new-music-and-new-artists-project-magenta.html)

The following link below contains samples of the types of sounds that NSynth can generate:

https://magenta.tensorflow.org/nsynth

Below is an interactive page where you can mix and match your own sounds:

https://experiments.withgoogle.com/ai/sound-maker/view/

sketch

/*Rachel Park
rsp1@andrew.cmu.edu
Section B @ 10:30AM
Project 11: Turtle...anything*/

var myTurtle;//global variable for defining a new name for the turtle
function setup() {
  createCanvas(330,400);
  background(0);
  noLoop();
  myTurtle = new makeTurtle(width/2-50,20)//the turtle
}

function draw() {
  var dragon = dragonCurve(14);//variable to substitute in for function
  turtleDraw(dragon,200,90,2);//drawing the line
}

function dragonCurve(depth){//using L-system logic to create pattern
    if(depth === 0){
      return 'FX';}

    var turtle = dragonCurve(depth - 1);
    var newTurtle = '';
    for(var i = 0; i < turtle.length; i++){
        if(turtle.charAt(i) === 'X'){
            newTurtle += 'X+YF+';
        }
        else if (turtle.charAt(i) === 'Y'){
            newTurtle += '-FX-Y';
        }
        else {
            newTurtle += turtle.charAt(i);
        }
    }
    return newTurtle;
}


//------------------------------------------------
function turtleDraw(text, startx, starty, length) {//using turtle functions to draw out the patterns
    var direction = 0;
    var x = startx;//initial horizontal position of line
    var y = starty;//initial verticle position of line

    for(var i = 0; i < text.length; i++){

        if(text.charAt(i) === 'F'){
            //'F', draw forward length in direction
            var endx = x + length * Math.cos(direction * 0.017453292519);
            var endy = y + length * Math.sin(direction * 0.017453292519);

            var red = x/400 * 255;
            var green = y/400 * 255;
            var blue = (x + y + 300)/400 * 255;
            c = stroke(red,green,blue);
            myTurtle.setColor(c);//setting gradient color of lines

            line(x,y,endx,endy);//drawing the line
            x = endx;//reinitializing to new horizontal position
            y = endy;//reinitializing to new verticle position
        }
        else if(text.charAt(i) === '-'){
            //90 degrees added to direction
            direction += 90;
        }
        else if(text.charAt(i) === '+'){
            //90 degrees substracted from direction
            direction -= 90;
        }
    }
}
//-------------------------------------------------------
//other turtle functions

function turtleLeft(d){
  this.angle-=d;
}

function turtleRight(d){
  this.angle+=d;
}

function turtleForward(p){
  var rad=radians(this.angle);
  var newx=this.x+cos(rad)*p;
  var newy=this.y+sin(rad)*p;
  this.goto(newx,newy);
}

function turtleBack(p){
this.forward(-p);
}

function turtlePenDown(){
  this.penIsDown=true;
}

function turtlePenUp(){
  this.penIsDown = false;
}

function turtleGoTo(x,y){
  if(this.penIsDown){stroke(this.color);strokeWeight(this.weight);
    line(this.x,this.y,x,y);
  }
  this.x = x;
  this.y = y;
}

function turtleDistTo(x,y){
return sqrt(sq(this.x-x)+sq(this.y-y));
}

function turtleAngleTo(x,y){
  var absAngle=degrees(atan2(y-this.y,x-this.x));
  var angle=((absAngle-this.angle)+360)%360.0;return angle;
}

function turtleTurnToward(x,y,d){
  var angle = this.angleTo(x,y);
    if(angle< 180){
      this.angle+=d;
    } else{
      this.angle-=d;
      }
}

function turtleSetColor(c){
  this.color=c;
}

function turtleSetWeight(w){
  this.weight=w;
}

function turtleFace(angle){
this.angle = angle;
}

function turtleReset(){
  this.reset = 0;
}

function makeTurtle(tx,ty){
  var turtle={x:tx,y:ty,
    angle:0.0,penIsDown:true,color:color(128),weight:1,left:turtleLeft,
    right:turtleRight,forward:turtleForward, back:turtleBack,penDown:turtlePenDown,
    penUp:turtlePenUp,goto:turtleGoTo, angleto:turtleAngleTo,
    turnToward:turtleTurnToward,distanceTo:turtleDistTo, angleTo:turtleAngleTo,
    setColor:turtleSetColor, setWeight:turtleSetWeight,face:turtleFace,
    reset:turtleReset};

    return turtle;}

In searching for inspiration, I happened across the notion of the L-systems. I really liked how the visual of this specific patterned looked and wanted to try it out for myself. Although I did find resources to help me with the L-systems logic to generate the pattern because of its specific equations and such, I found that the over code was pretty straightforward in its use of the turtle graphics functions.

http://cargocollective.com/limilab

Filipa Valente

I chose to research the works of artist Filipa Valente for this Looking Outwards blog. What most caught my eye when I was perusing the list of women artists, was that Filipa’s works were that of architectural lighting. For me personally, I am currently an architecture student but I am also very interested in the aspects of lighting design and how they can be implemented into the user’s experience and such.

Her work, Filtered Transparencies, is an interactive art installation that uses layered light, space and sound to create an immersive experience. The installation uses projected imagery and a maze of transparent screens to blur physical spatial boundaries and transports its users into an augmented hologram-like environment.

The installation’s structure is designed to become ‘invisible’ and traversable – an architectural void into which the illusion of mass and dimensionality emerge. Users can interact with the space as well by altering the projected content, and switching environments.

sketch

/*Rachel Park
rsp1@andrew.cmu.edu
Section B @ 10:30AM
Project 10: Generative Landscapes*/

var sushiArray = [];
var sushiFrames = 0;
var sushiFrequency = 110;

function setup() {
  createCanvas(500,200);
  background(252,245,229);

  frameRate(10);
}

function draw() {
  setting();
  drawBelt();

  updateSushi();
  displaySushi();
  addSushi();
  makeSushi();
  moveSushi();


}

function updateSushi() {
  for (var i = 0; i < sushiArray.length; i++){
    sushiArray[i].move();
    sushiArray[i].display();
  }
}
function addSushi() {
  var a = random(1);
  if (a < 0.05) {
    sushiArray.push(makeSushi(width));
  }
}

function moveSushi() {
  this.x += this.speed;
}

function displaySushi() {
  push();
  translate(this.x, this.height);
  for (var i = 0; i < this.number; i++){
    drawSushi();
  }
  pop();
}

//sushi
function drawSushi(){
  noStroke();
  fill(210);
  ellipse(20, height/2+25,35,35);//plate..?? how to make sushi move sideways?
  fill(255);
  rect(13,height/2+20,15,10,5);
  fill('red');
  rect(13,height/2+15,15,10,5);
}

function makeSushi(posX) {
  var sushi2 = {x: posX,
                number: floor(random(1,3)),
                speed: -4,
                height: 10,
                move: moveSushi,
                display: displaySushi}
  return sushi2;
}


//setting/background context
function setting() {
  for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++){
  noStroke();
  fill(139,33,12);
  rect(width/5*i+25,height/2-55,45,75,5);//chairs
  }
}

//conveyor belt
function drawBelt() {
  noStroke();
  fill(138,138,137);
  rect(0, height/2-20, width, 90);
  fill(0);
  rect(0, height/2-10, width, 70);
}

I decided to take a little spin off the landscape project and made a moving conveyor belt that brings out little plates of sushi. I wanted to apply the same concept of the moving landscape to a more real-life situation and perhaps make it a bit more amusing.

Hamza Qureshi Looking Outwards Week 8

I was very inspired by the Looking Outwards blog written by my peer Hamza Qureshi. Like Hamza, I am interested in the possibilities of design through user experiences and architecture, and found that this specific project exemplified just that. Artist Taeyoon Choi has skills in both the arts and computational coding, so he combines those skills to create something useful to all who come across his works. From Hamza’s blog post, Choi coins this term ‘poetic computation‘, in which it “allows an artist to intervene in a social space to use digital and computational tools to reorganize and reparametrize that space.”

Hacking IKEA

In his project, Choi makes a field recording while making noise with motors and microcontroller in the showroom, often interacting with the shoppers and the products on display. Since it is producing only harmlessly tiny noise, the symbolic importance is gained by paying attention to the noise created within the shop, and also the products, which will become a material noise in near future.

sketch

/*Rachel Park
rsp1@andrew.cmu.edu
Section B @ 10:30AM
Project 09: Pointilism Portrait*/

//initializing global variables
var img;
var Psmall;
var Plarge;
var x;

function setup() {
  createCanvas(480,480);
  background(255);
  img = loadImage("http://i.imgur.com/lSfjznd.jpg");//loading image uploaded onto imgur
  Psmall = 4;//ellipse size; small
  Plarge = 20;//ellipse size; large
  imageMode(CENTER);
  noStroke();
  frameRate(50);//speed at which ellipses are drawn
}

function draw() {
  var pointy = map(x, 0, width, Psmall, Plarge);//remapping different sizes of ellipses
  x = int(random(img.width));//setting random values gained from width of image as integer to use as location of ellipses drawn
  y = int(random(img.height));

  Pcolor = color(img.get(x,y));//initializing new variable where color of ellipses follows color of image being drawn
  fill(Pcolor, 255);
  ellipse(x, y, pointy, pointy);//drawing each ellipses
}

I decided to go with a selfie for this project. I chose to use a pose which engages the whole canvas and shows the features of the face. I really enjoyed the concept of this project because it is so abstract, and at the same time fun to see actual images of yourself emerge from a conglomerate of shapes.

Poisonous Antidote

https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/4xq99d/london-artist-turns-entire-online-public-portraits

London-based artist Mark Farid explores Poisonous Antidote in an online gallery (Gazell.io) where he offers up his various online presences as 24-hour public portraits over the course of 31 days. He uses data from emails, text messages, phone calls, Skype conversations, and other platforms are then used as fodder for an abstract, ever-evolving 3D-printed sculpture made of four unique parts, each portraying a week of Farid’s life. In his project, he focused on how ones internet personality is established in the form of passwords and other inputs that one might have on the internet about themselves.

From Farid himself, “I’m interested to see how I self-censor and how I change my actions because everything is being broadcast live,” says Farid. “Will I stop saying certain things to certain people? Will I try to look more interesting and fun, so will I go on different websites?”

As his visualization, Farid decided to  3D print the data that he gathered into a solid object, almost like a graph.

Calligraffiti

https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/nz57wz/activists-are-projecting-digital-calligraffiti-onto-walls-in-berlin

Calligraffiti is an art form combining traditional calligraphy with graffiti. In yet another unlikely symbiosis, calligraffitos are now fusing it with new media to render “digital calligraffiti,” which is projected onto the sides of structures. Worked on by refugees, the medium is a part of a community project organized by Public Art Lab. The main idea with this project is to transform the “urban screens” such as subways and building exteriors into communication platforms for immigrants. A lot of these pieces convey messages such as  “love not war,” “art is love,” and “no violence.”

From this project, I appreciate how new media art is now also being used as a new platform to raise awareness of social injustice or unnecessary violence. Instead of being just a static installation that lives in a museum, Calligraffiti can be seen in the simplest of neighborhoods and the everyday lives of the citizens who live nearby these pieces.