Subtitle: Demonstrating the fictional contrast between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
Elevator Pitch: Have you ever wondered what happens when you cross the equator? Look no further! With this interactive visual program you can get a glimpse into the experience.
Abstract:
Growing up in Ecuador there was always a sensation of mystery and amazement regarding the equatorial line passing through the capital (Quito) and whether or not there really was a difference between the North and the South. Visiting the monument numerous times allowed me to really indulge in the sights and play into my childhood fantasies. The stark contrast shown when crossing the equatorial line represents my visions of what I imagined would happen, on one side a normal representation of life on Earth and on the other, a fantastical world with giant dogs running around, huge flames dancing in the night sky, and so many other things. I chose to include a coded version of my dog Paxi in the fantastical side of the code because his appearance invokes the same feelings of wonder and mystery that looking at the monument did, wondering, “what is he thinking, how would he sound?” I also chose to include Paxi because of the origins of his name. His full name is Cotopaxi which is a mountain located on the outskirts of the city, so it was only be fitting to have included him!
Process: Design and Composition
Initially I was drawn to the idea of exporting an image into my program in order to direct my focus solely on the interactive aspects of the code but I realized that it would take away from the character of the program itself. Despite there being numerous moving parts to the project, I would argue that the most tedious part was coding the background monument itself. The monument is comprised of irregular shapes of sorts, so I was forced to meet the challenge of creating these unique shapes out of the shapes we had already learned to code. Another failed attempt was trying to use triangles of different colors, stacked one on top of the other as flames by using them alongside the noise function at a very small scale. This, however, did not create the visual I was envisioning in my head so I recruited one of my classmates Bisera to help me brainstorm ways to make the flames, actually look like flames. Thanks to her help I was able to do this by using circles instead of triangles and was able to create a visual almost exactly the same as the one I had in my head.
Process: Technical
The largest technical development issue that my project was faced with was that of slow or glitchy appearance once every aspect was implemented. I still was not able to figure out whether it is a mistake of sorts within my code or if it is simply my computer not being able to handle the number of commands being run. Going along with this, the largest compromise I had to make was definitely sacrificing the complexity of design for lack of knowledge. My proposal certainly had more complex aspects to it but because this was my first ever coding class, many of those had to have a damper put on them because despite the resources provided to us by the internet I was still not able to create them to their greatest and working potential. If I had the chance to do the project over I would definitely want to add more user interaction to keep people engaged as well providing some sort of context for my storyline. This project was based off something very niche and specific to me and my personal background so I think providing some sort of context could make the experience more enjoyable for the user as well.
Reflection and Future Development:
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this project and the freedom we had to take it in any direction we wanted. I would definitely agree with the fact that my proposal was a lot more complex than what my final project turned out to be like but despite this, I still really like what I was able to create. I think that the concept of my project was certainly one that could be developed into something interesting with lots of possibilities for interaction but for my project I definitely strayed away from that. I would say that the lack of interaction within my project is what I am most dissatisfied with, it seemed like everyone else’s projects had a lot more ways to interact so it felt as though mine was lacking in that department. I certainly agree with the feedback I received, specifically the one comment about not coding things the way we think we see them in our heads but rather how we actually see them when we’re standing right in front of something. I think that had I heard this before creating my code it would’ve had a lot more character and personality rather than some of the more basic and simple aspects it has now. For the future, if I get the opportunity to code more I would definitely consider adding more of the original and complex aspects I wanted to include from my proposal as well as giving it more character based off the comments I got from my classmates and critics.
