Reading Reflection:
After reading some of the articles provided in the class, I have gained new insights and understanding of the virtual self and other. Among all the topics, I am most interested in how the senses are simulated and how to shape self and others in the virtual world. When we started to use screens and VR glasses to build virtual worlds, in the vast majority of cases we could only simulate the senses of sight and hearing. Haptic simulation is gradually being developed, but it is still a challenge. The senses of smell and taste are very difficult to simulate in the current technological context. In terms of the virtual self and other in the virtual world, each person’s image of himself in the virtual world and the perspective of others are all distinctive and reflective of a person’s personality traits and habits. Sometimes, people may be better able to understand a person’s inner world through the virtual world. Because in the real world, it is often difficult to change our appearance, but in the virtual world, we can customize our image according to our own preferences.
Case Study:
Old Friend is a VR music video created by the artist Tyler Hurd. “This animated psychedelic dance party digs deep to pull out as much nonsensical joy as possible from the viewer with a barrage of bright colors, fun interactions, and happy bouncy characters having the best time.”
Conceptual Development:
I found two inspirations for this project: one is Tilt Brush by Google, another one is a mobile game called Snake Off.
Tilt Brush is an application that can allow users to paint in a 3D space using a VR glasses. In Tilt Brush, users can create 3D objects and even a 3D world through painting. This also allows painters and other amateurs to create new forms of art.
Snake Off is a mobile game that is originated from the classic game Snake. Instead of going only four directions, Snake Off allows users to freely control the direction of the snake’s movement. By blocking other snakes’ paths, users can eat other snakes, become longer and occupy more space on the screen. The snakes in the Snake Off also have different colors, which makes the visualization more attractive and entertaining.
For my own project, I would combine these two inspirations. Every user would be in a shape of a cube, with one side of a pixelated face and others in the color of gray. Users get to draw with the gray color in this 3D space. However, if they want to have new colors to draw, they need to merge with other cubes, lay the color eggs, eat those eggs, and draw in the color of the eggs. The initial color will always be gray, but when users merge with others, a new color will be randomly generated. This interaction not only allows users to have their own virtual image in this 3D virtual world, but also gives users a chance for cooperative creation.
References:
http://tylerhurd.com/projects/oldfriend/
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/snake-off/id1152952778#?platform=ipad