LookingOutwards-12 – Page 2 – [OLD FALL 2017] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

hannajan_Looking Outwards 12

The first project that I found was called “True/False” by Onformative. This project is a kinetic sculpture made up of arrays of circular black metal segments in mechanical columns. The cylinders cover or expose the light to show an endless number of patterns. This visual makes up to show variations in the choreography that result in distinctive pattern changes. I found this particular project relevant to my final project because I also plan to use true or false statements to decide what to display given a certain command. Just like “True/False” shows variations in distinctive pattern changes, my project will show differences in outcomes depending on the variations of commands and situations that I code.

(Video Clip above showcases “4 rooms in one Tilt File”)

This is very different from the second project I found which is called “4 rooms in one Tilt File” by Stuart Campbell. In this art piece, the artist displays 4 different virtual worlds to the viewers. I found this particular art piece very compelling as he did a very good job in transporting the viewers to such a variety of different worlds. He is also usually a 2D artist but did a very good job in displaying this particular piece in the 3D form. I found this particular piece relevant to my final project as I also am planning to make a virtual world. I hope that my project is as convincing as Campbell’s of the existence of a whole new virtual world. This is different from “True/False” as “4 rooms in one Tilt File” is more relevant to the artistic aspect of my project, while “True/False” is more relevant to the coding aspect.

mmirho – Looking Outwards – Gamer Makers

The first project I’ve found is by Greg Borenstein, called “Ten Seconds”.

Here’s a video describing it:

Greg constructed a very simple game using methods we have already gone over in class. I could construct the game now, and that fact inspires me to make something like it. The project was created 2016-03-25.

I also want to highlight an indie developer and composer named Toby Fox. He built the extremely well-known indie game “Undertale”.

I realize this is lame, but the best resource I can find explaining the game is the Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertale

The way he constructed the game was incredibly simple, and he used every possible aspect of creativity that he could to make the game crush all expectations. I think the art, music, and storyline are all brilliant, and I hope to learn from what Toby created. The game was published September 15, 2015.

I hope to construct a very small version of something similar to Undertale, so the game is a big inspiration.

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For my project I was looking at twitter bots: specifically art bots and poetry bots.

@pixelsorter is an art bot that utilizes pixel sorting. The pixels of a base image are sorted and rearranged according to some value of the pixels, such as how much green is in each pixel, to create a new composition.

@a_quilt_bot is a bot that takes images submitted by followers and recreated them by editing visually similar photo snippets of fabric into place, creating what looks like the submitted image were it made into a quilt.

I’m interested in this kind of art because I think it makes use of a medium (in this case twitter) in a way that the medium wasn’t intended for originally. I view these projects as starting points, and want to include a generative element in addition to reorganization of the original content.

Other inspiration!

Nonsense Haikus, Using the Tweets of Donald Trump

http://botpoet.com/

Looking Outwards 12

For my final project I wanted to incorporate both maps and tracking data, so I looked for projects that used one or both of those.

The first project I looked at is “Mapping the World’s Friendships” by Stamen (https://stamen.com/work/facebook-mapping-the-worlds-friendships/). This project tracks the friendships of a people in a country with people from other countries. What I like about this work is how much clear and detail information is presented. I also like how the abstraction of the data and the lack of precision with numbers makes it even more clear. However, the labeling and description of the piece makes it a little difficult to understand the concept. This next project I think does a much better job with clarity. The “Eyeo 2014 Poster” by Pitch Interactive tracks the data collected from Eyeo participants (http://pitchinteractive.com/work/eyeo2014poster.html). It tracks where in the world the participants “had their first kiss?” or “where they were on 9/11?”. This poster also is interactive, because it “tells a new story” with each rotation.

LookingOutwards12 – jooheek

One source or inspiration for our project is the video of Spirited Away in 8 bit game form. In this game, the character is moved through keys and there are various interactions that the character has throughout. She meets other characters that are in the movie and there are different missions that she has to complete in order to go through the next scene. This game is similar to what we want to make because of the interactiveness of the game. Just like this video, we want the user to be able to control the character and get to an end goal by achieving different items or missions, or interacting with other characters. I really admire the visuals and the different interesting interactions that are included in the game that go very well with the theme of the actual movie.

Another source of inspiration for our project is the dinosaur game on Google Chrome when there is no internet connection. For this game, the movement of the dinosaur is similar to what we want the movement of our character in our game to be. This game is similar to the Spirited Away game above in that their concepts are similar where the character is moved by the user and have to avoid obstacles to get to the end goal. However, the dinosaur game and the Spirited Away game are different in that the Spirited Away one has more components to it, as the dinosaur one is just jumping over cacti. We want to combine the interaction that is included in these games to create our game for our final project.

hyt-Looking-Outward-12: Project Inspiration

Neko Atsume

For my project inspiration, I found a widely-popular phone app developed by Hit-Point Co., Ltd three years ago (2014), which is named “Neko Atsume”, meaning literally cat garden in Japanese. In this kitten-collecting simulation game, you could buy different types of toys to place in your backyard, and it would attract random cats showing up at your house and play with your collection of toys, and then as gratitude they would leave you collection momentos, or silver/gold fish as a “currency” in this game. I think one of the critiques I have for the app is that it has a rather slow-paced, low-commitment kind of game to play, but I think it creates a sense of calmness and happiness that corresponds with the game developer’s initial idea. I think this model could be helpful to incorporate within my final project; the layout and illustration is quite simple yet effective, as many users become fans for these cuteness-overload cats.

An expanded (3-screen) view of the backyard!

INKS

Another source of inspiration is also a mobile-platform game called Inks, developed by State of Play starting in 2008. It is a creative application that intermixes the art of splash painting with the classic pinball machine. I think the graphics are especially aesthetically beautiful in terms of the colors and motions, and I’d hope to somehow reference this method into my interactive mini-game. The only concern / improvement I can think of is the repetitiveness may not seem too appealing for the wider audience, but I personally have enjoyed this game a lot, both functionally and aesthetically.

[Caption: Three different stages of the pinball game. The idea is that you need to splatter all the shapes (point the balls to all possible directions) to pass through the level. ]

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Generative Typography by Q

Typographic music by Dina Silanteva

Both projects are an exploration of generative typography. Typographic music is similar to one of the approaches in the final project. Several modules create one letter. Also, Generative typography by Q could be a good inspiration source for the final project. There is a lot of generative type exploration included in his work. In comparison to ‘Generative Typography’ and ‘Typographic Music’, ‘Generative Typography’ has more variety of type exploration which is visually inspiring. Also, ‘Typographic Music’ has much clearer parameters for each visual element than ‘Generative Typography’. I admire both projects because they have very interesting visualizations of data and generative type with an algorithm.

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Scott Snibbe’s Gravilux (1997) and Memo Akten’s My Secret Heart (2008) and ofxMSAFluid (2009) are two interactive works that I find interesting for my final project. Snibbe’s project is a lot older so it doesn’t have as much fancy coded graphic work, but I like the way the particles/objects move once triggered by the pen/mouse. It doesn’t just directly follow the pen through the shortest path possible, but also scatters and moves around. It’s not a simplistic, super straightforward movement based on the distance formula.

I also like Akten’s work because of the different ways he shows movement of particles: different sized circles, different thicknesses of lines, different colours of lines as well as something that looks almost like iron filings within a magnetic field. His work focuses not only on the movements of the particles/objects but also of the aesthetics and what art is formed after the particles/objects are triggered to move.

Below is Scott Snibbe’s Gravilux (1997)

Below is Memo Akten’s My Secret Heart (2008)

Below is Memo Akten’s ofxMSAFluid (2009)

danakim-LookingOutwards-12

For my final project I want to take one of my past studio projects and make an interactive, axonometric diagram. I wanted to add environmental analysis diagrams as well that would take the informative aspect of the diagrams a step further.

Monument Valley; Ustwo; 2014

Monument Valley is a mobile game that was created by digital design studio Ustwo. The puzzle game is an exploration through fantastical architecture and “impossible” geometry. Besides it overly-stunning visuals, it is praised for its use of optical illusions to create a stimulating gaming experience. It was created using Unity. I feel that it is a good reference and organizational method for how I would like users to navigate through my studio project.

The PLUS1 Poly-nuclear Program is an interactive APP created by Sub-Labs for the 10th Shanghai Biennale mobile unit. The app is used to transform photos into 3D scenes using algorithms. These scenes that are created become interactive fantasy worlds. Users can create an infinite number of these worlds. The app collects data such as time, weather, and location to further transform these worlds. I want to apply the same process they applied for creating the 3D scenes to recreate my environmental analysis diagrams.

PLUS1; Sub-Labs; 2015

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The World’s Greatest Bar Chat by Roz Dimon

http://www.rozdimon.com/digital-paintings?lightbox=i218wx

Kisses, Kisses by Yael Kanarek

http://www.yaelkanarek.com/netart/kisses-kisses-2016

Both of the pieces are a form of digital paintings or visual generations. What I admire about them is the interactive input in creating a cohesive piece. I am not aware of the algorithms used or the input audience members were allowed to share in forming the interaction, but a subject I think was overlooked was the physicality of these pieces and their linkage to audience members. I think if the interaction was an important part, the documentation of the interaction is also pivotal in display, otherwise it seems like another painting.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BAR CHART

<em>Kisses Kisses, 2017</em>