I worked with Thumbpin for this project. To view our project, follow the link provided.
Author: Toad2
Toad2 – ARSketch
- “Your Friends are Always with You”
Allows the user to bring their stuffed animals everywhere they go. I imagine this program could be used by a parent who has a child who wants to bring their stuffed animals with them, but can’t. So through this program, the parent could console a child by showing the child that their stuffed animals are with them and are having fun at school with them. When a person looks through the phone, they could see stuffed animals walking behind them or playing/dancing. The stuffed animal models and animations could come from free models or I could try to scan in my stuffed animals into the project.
2. “How Big is Whale”
Whales are so large that its difficult for a human to conceptualize. By placing a whale into reality, I could show how dreadfully large whales are.
2b. “How Big are Pokemon”
The size of pokemon in Pokemon Go are not accurate at all to the size of pokemon in games. Showing the true size of a pokemon could be interesting to see and further bring the world of pokemon to life. The size of some pokemon are so oddly large, I think by showing the size, I could also demonstrate the implied danger of the pokemon world. This project would probably include whatever free pokemon assets I can find.
toad2 – justALine
Toad2 – LookingOutwards05
This is a VR experience in which viewers can experience what its like to be inside Modigliani’s 1919 studio at the Tate. I was really impressed by the amount of historical accuracy this project tried to achieve. For example they tried to get the exact texture of his actual paintings, so they had someone do forensic analysis to determine the exact type of paint was used and to get the correct topography on the painting based upon the way the canvas was stretched. I also think using the concept of VR to help understand the past or another person’s though process is really interesting. When I watched the video, I felt like I could understand why he made his color choices.
Toad2-LookingOutwards04
Blackberry Winter (2019) by Christian Mil Loclair is a project that generates human poses based upon human poses to show motion. This project really interests me because of the human yet unhuman quality of the images. I really love how the shiny ceramic contortions loosely form a human figure and how upon first glance, it’s hard to tell what the shapes are, but if you spend a second to observe what the figures represent, you can pick out a human shape. Additionally, I like how the shattered/hollow nature of the figure’s limbs further highlights how ephemeral movement is and creates a feeling of one motion blending into the next.
Toad2-facereadings
ClearViewAI really stood out to me since its a technology than can be so easily abused. The unpreparedness of its CEO also made me really concerned since this technology seems extremely dangerous in the hands of the wrong people. This particular point also really emphasizes the importance ethnical computing.
Algorithmic bias also really stood to me and to me highlights the quick need for diversity in the technology we develop.
Toad2-Pix2Pix
This was really fun to play around with and trying to create an output different from what the program was trying to process.
Toad2 – Mask
Bee-Headed
I made this mask solely to make a pun.
Toad2 – SoliSandbox
Shy Beetles
This project is about allowing the user to feel the joy of turning over a stone and watching beetles scuttle about about. The beetles should react similar to how real beetles would react by running to shadows when the rock is moved, run away from user’s hand when they move in. Additionally, when there is no presence the beetles will explore their environment but then go back to hiding under a rock when user is close to the device again.
For this project, I wanted to instill a feeling of joy from seeing the beetles, so I focused upon creating realistic but cute bug like movements. However, since the beetles are so detailed it was difficult to create a compelling environment for the beetles to inhabit. In this project, I learned how to determine if a point was inside a n-sided polygon but the algorithm was too inefficient to be used in real time as well as create compelling generative creatures. Hopefully, this project brings other people the same joy I feel from seeing beetles crawl.
Toad2 – soli-checkin
Concept: Allow the user to experience the joy of turning over rocks and finding beetles in a garden and watching them scuttle to a nearby shadow (the user’s hand or back under the rock they came from).
Reach In – beetles scuttle to the user’s hand shadow location, Reach In Too Fast – beetles scatter off screen (think they’re being crushed), No Presence – beetles wander idly across the screen, Swipe – roll rock to according to direction
In progress: Turning the rock over, implementing way to show multiple species of the same beetle, allowing the beetles to hide under the rock instead of the user’s hand, connect it to Soli
Future: Improving beetle physical and movement details, adding more details to environment, adding trail of mud where the rock used to be?