Project Demonstration

Since my last update, we have made many improvements. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6xSX_dw5tc&feature=player_embedded

The link above is an example of how users will interact with our project. We did many user testings and found that when the germs attach onto people, their first reaction is to try to brush it off as they get an uneasy feeling. The more they get used to it, users will start to play with it. Our main target audience would most likely for kids and educational purposes to raise awareness that even though you cannot see germs with the naked eye, they still exist. 

With Nuisance, we had to go through the labs taught in class, as well as Cycling 74 websites for Max Msp help. We played around with blob tracking using centroids and collision detection. We were thinking of incorporating color change and maybe sound, but with the given time we had, we were not capable of doing so.

We had several research precedents, one of which was the insect project shown in class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoV7tr0ZVE&feature=player_embedded

We looked at the inter-subjectivity between the objects and how users understand and interpret their relationship, as well as what aspects engages the two.

We also looked at the FIAT Interactive Installation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyZSpKfIEh8&feature=player_embedded

With this project, we looked into how people communicate with objects on the screen, the gestures they use, and how they would react with it. 

Nuisance Presentation
Nuisance Max Patch

Germs

So we finally confirmed our topic. Instead of post-it notes, we will be using germs. We want to do something more educational and raise awareness. As flu season is coming, we want to let people know that germs are everywhere. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, but it is so powerful that it can spread across the country and harm our bodies. Because we cannot see it with our naked eye, users will be able to see surrounding 'germs' on the screen, and realize how many and how it can be harmful to them.

Postits

We scratched our previous idea. Again. However, we have a new and innovative idea we hope that would much better. Our base concept is to have the user move across the screen, with post-it's attaching to the user. The post-it's represent everyday life. As our society has become so fast paced, people have more and more tasks to complete everyday. Post-its are mainly used to take down notes and tasks of what people have to do. With this idea, we want to use it as a metaphor and how we are embodied by many daily tasks.

Flow

Upon further research, we realized our 'Inner Beauty' idea was not working as well as we thought it would. It was a bit too difficult for what we know for Max, so we decided to change our topic. We will now have users to interact with the screen by waving their hands to the music notes. Certain areas of the screen will have different music notes, allow users to recreate music. In our meeting, we talked about having a famous Mozart piece. Using that piece, we will use the music notes that make up that piece and spread it all over the screen. If users play around with it long enough, they may recognize the familiarity of that song, and may want to recreate other songs.

Brainstorming Session

Idea 1 - Virtual Boxing 
People need to relieve stress. We want to find an interactive way for people to relieve stress. A virtual setting that allows people to use their body language to communicate with their inner feelings, would be an ideal responsive environment. At least two people would be participating, and color tags or something distinct would be used to for collision detection. Participants would 'fight' one another, and the more injured a participant is, the more they will be lagging; a way of showing their inner feelings.

Idea 2 - Inner Beauty

Celebrities in magazines is what the society looks up in for fashion, popular items, and even plastic surgery inspirations. Such influence in the real world have made the real meaning of beauty unclear. We want to bring out the inner beauty of people. Participants would pose in front of webcams, and the output would come out, changing the participants facial image, bringing out their inner beauty.

Idea 3 - Human Obstacles
We want to have an interactive collaboration that allows participants to use their bodies as obstacles. Something would be trying to get from one side to the other on screen, but participants will have to work together to deny that from happening. This also allows participants to play 'God', allowing them to have control of what is happening.