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.
