http://www.flashandmath.com/index.html
This website has some really useful tutorials for using Flash AS3
http://www.flashandmath.com/basic/mousedraw/index.html
http://www.flashandmath.com/basic/colors/index.html
These two in particular will come in useful for Camilla and I when writing the script for our interactive kiosk.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
SPP2 Lecture with Simon Perkins
The lecture yesterday was really interesting. Simon was talking about how each new technology used is expected to make the product more realist. When people see graphics on games and films now they always expect it to be as real to life as possible. When you start to think about it you have to ask, "why?" Why does everything have to be realistic? We expect actors to make us believe their story and we slate them when they don't, when all the time we know they are just acting so why do we expect them to be able to make us believe they are a different person. We expect computer graphics in films to be realistic when most of the time the graphics are creating fictional characters and situations so how can it be realistic. This lecture really got me thinking, why are we trying so desperately to incorporate fictional and virtual reality into 'real world reality' in as believable a way as possible. When people view graphics they know all the time that the graphics are fictional and have been created by a computer, but for some reason they want the graphics to look 'real'. Why?
Tutorial Feedback & Project Update
In our tutorial yesterday with Roma, Camilla and I discussed our idea for our interactive kiosk. We got some useful feedback from our tutor group and have adjusted our idea slightly. We have decided to limit the number of phidgets and animations in our kiosk, by doing this we will be able to make a each animation more interactive and therefore make a more successful and appealing kiosk.
We are planning to use 3 or 4 phidgets in our interactive kiosk. A joystick which we will hopefully be able to make into a simple drawing tool for the user so they can create their own image over the animations they have activated using the other sensors. We are not sure how feasible this idea is and need to carry out further research to find out if it is possible and also how complex it would be to create. A vibration sensor will activate an animation on the screen which will vibrate and move around with more velocity the more the sensor is made to vibrate, again this is an idea that we need to look into further as we do not know if we have the knowledge in actionscript to make it happen. The third sensor will be a slider which when activated will change the background colour from light to dark.
When all the sensors are activated the user will have interesting visuals to view which they have helped to create by using the joystick to create their own image over the background shade they have chosen and the animation they have activated.
If all goes well and the kiosk works with these phidgets and effects we would like to add one last phidget. This would be a touch button which would take a snapshot of the image the user has created. When this kiosk is in place in an art gallery cafe or bar the user would be able to print this snapshot image to postcard or business card size. They would collect this card from the bar for a small fee. On one side of the card would be the image and on the other would be some basic information for the gallery such as gallery name, address, phone number and website address. This would work well as advertising for the gallery and with a small charge for the printoff the gallery can also make a small profit.
We are planning to use 3 or 4 phidgets in our interactive kiosk. A joystick which we will hopefully be able to make into a simple drawing tool for the user so they can create their own image over the animations they have activated using the other sensors. We are not sure how feasible this idea is and need to carry out further research to find out if it is possible and also how complex it would be to create. A vibration sensor will activate an animation on the screen which will vibrate and move around with more velocity the more the sensor is made to vibrate, again this is an idea that we need to look into further as we do not know if we have the knowledge in actionscript to make it happen. The third sensor will be a slider which when activated will change the background colour from light to dark.
When all the sensors are activated the user will have interesting visuals to view which they have helped to create by using the joystick to create their own image over the background shade they have chosen and the animation they have activated.
If all goes well and the kiosk works with these phidgets and effects we would like to add one last phidget. This would be a touch button which would take a snapshot of the image the user has created. When this kiosk is in place in an art gallery cafe or bar the user would be able to print this snapshot image to postcard or business card size. They would collect this card from the bar for a small fee. On one side of the card would be the image and on the other would be some basic information for the gallery such as gallery name, address, phone number and website address. This would work well as advertising for the gallery and with a small charge for the printoff the gallery can also make a small profit.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Short Animation
View my SWF file
or go to http://www.swfup.com/file/131000
This is a short animation I have worked on which would appear in response to a phidget on our interactive kiosk. It is like the previous post but I have expanded on it to make it more intereseting.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Idea
Today Camilla and I had a mass brainstorming session over giant mugs of tea. After sitting in silence for a while with no inspiration we finally came up with the idea. We decided the industry sector we wanted to design for would be cultural/entertainment more specifically, art galleries. We want to create something for an art gallery's cafe or bar rather that in the exhibits. Cafes are usually quite bland, although they make the effort with avant-garde furniture the overall effect is often clinical and unwelcoming.
Our idea is to create something innovative, creative and most importantly entertaining to be set in these cafes. We want to use a range of phidgets in our design including touch sensors, vibration sensors, sliders, a joystick and a light sensor. The idea is to have a screen mounted in a table with the phidgets lined up below the screen. Each phidget will create a different effect of moving images on the screen, by playing around with the phidgets and using them in different orders the animation on the screen will change as the different images overlap.
We will create the animations and the links to the phidgets using actionscript 3.0 in Flash. As neither Camilla or myself are experts in using actionscript this idea will work quite well, it gives us the flexibility we need if we come across problems with actionscript. We will start by creating very simple animations in Flash which will allow us to start on the scripting quickly, as we become more confident with the actionscript we can expand our animations to become more complex. By doing the project this way we are giving ourselves the freedom to leave the animations simple if our scripting work causes us problems.
Our idea is to create something innovative, creative and most importantly entertaining to be set in these cafes. We want to use a range of phidgets in our design including touch sensors, vibration sensors, sliders, a joystick and a light sensor. The idea is to have a screen mounted in a table with the phidgets lined up below the screen. Each phidget will create a different effect of moving images on the screen, by playing around with the phidgets and using them in different orders the animation on the screen will change as the different images overlap.
We will create the animations and the links to the phidgets using actionscript 3.0 in Flash. As neither Camilla or myself are experts in using actionscript this idea will work quite well, it gives us the flexibility we need if we come across problems with actionscript. We will start by creating very simple animations in Flash which will allow us to start on the scripting quickly, as we become more confident with the actionscript we can expand our animations to become more complex. By doing the project this way we are giving ourselves the freedom to leave the animations simple if our scripting work causes us problems.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Cloverfield Advertising Campaign
This teaser poster was released before the film had a title, another version was accidentally leaked saying monstrous. With this poster no one knew what it was for, why it was appearing everywhere, or what it was all about.
When this poster was released people knew it was a film being advertised and the name was Cloverfield, but that was about it. This teaser campaign intriqued people and when the film finally came out everyone was desperate to see it to see what all the hype was about. I went to see this film yesterday and unfortunately I was very disappointed. The 'hand-cam' filming didn't really bother me because I soon got used to it and it was a lot less irritating than when the Blair Witch Project did the same thing. The storyline was pretty much non-existent, there was no ending. The most annoying thing in the film though was the unbelievable acting, and I don't mean unbelievable in a good way.
I think this is film is like marmite, you either love it or hate it, i loved the advertising campaign but hated the film.
Interactive Advertising
www.nike.com
The nike website has great interactivity, you can customize the sportswear, get inspired by other people's choices and create your own personalised look. I had fun on this website and if I had the money i certainly would have been tempted to buy the outfits I had created.
www.miniusa.com
The mini website has games the user can play, it's great way to get people talking about the brand of mini which in turn gets people taking about the cars. The games are just a bit of fun and don't really need to be on the website but it adds a different interactive side to the website ad keeps the user interested. These games could be played on a big screen at a launch of a new car as part of an advertising campaign.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Videos of Interactive Kiosks
Outdoor Interactive Kiosk
DEMO of APRIL KIOSK Edition - Effects of Smoking
kiosk system "head over heels"
Videos found at www.YouTube.com search Interactive Kiosk
DEMO of APRIL KIOSK Edition - Effects of Smoking
kiosk system "head over heels"
Videos found at www.YouTube.com search Interactive Kiosk
Interactive Kiosks cont.
These are just a few examples of interactive kiosks that have been personalised and altered to fit their purpose in the chosen area of interactivity.
http://www.scream.co.uk/information-kiosks.htm
Interactive kiosks are used for many different purposes, including advertising, information, and art work. A kiosk can be a good way to get people involved with a product or a piece of art as the user is in control of whether they use the kiosk, want to use it for, and what information they take away from the kiosk.
These kiosks are far more commonly seen nowadays from supermarkets and shopping centres, to art galleries and launch parties for products. Many kiosks are not interactive but are just screens which are used to display information, but even these are an effective and innovative way of advertising in shop windows. An example of these advertising screens can be seen in any woolworths store where they have many screen displaying JML adverts to explain and demonstrate the use of a variety of products. These screens attract customers to stop and watch which makes them slightly interactive as the consumer feels they have been told about the product fully which, in turn, helps them make an informed decision on whether to purchase or not.
Interactive kiosks
Touch4 is a UK company that designs, manufactures and builds interactive. These kiosks can be used for many purposes and a popular use is information kiosks in shopping centres.
Here is an example of a typical basic interactive kiosk with an attached keyboard, at the website below you can view more and see the specifications of each model.
http://www.touch4.com/kiosks_touch_screens/index.html
Here is an example of a typical basic interactive kiosk with an attached keyboard, at the website below you can view more and see the specifications of each model.
http://www.touch4.com/kiosks_touch_screens/index.html
Monday, January 28, 2008
View From The Top Photography Exhibition
"People you know, Places you go"
The project in the View From the Top Gallery was funded by the Making Waves organisation that consists of people with a range of experiences of mental distress. Through the members and their experiences, the organisation aims to transform mental health services and develop new and innovative ways of supporting people through mental distress. Not only does the organisation provide service evaluation of mental health services but they also provide research, education and training.
The Mind Frames project is part of a research project exploring what interaction individuals have who live in residential settings have with their local communities. The participants were encouraged to look at different ways of portraying places and people, using photographs to tell a story. The participants used digital, film or even disposable cameras to portray their version of the story.
http://www.viewfromthetop.co.uk/
http://viewforthcomingevents.blogspot.com/
http://www.photovoice.org/
http://www.makingwaves.org/index.html
The project in the View From the Top Gallery was funded by the Making Waves organisation that consists of people with a range of experiences of mental distress. Through the members and their experiences, the organisation aims to transform mental health services and develop new and innovative ways of supporting people through mental distress. Not only does the organisation provide service evaluation of mental health services but they also provide research, education and training.
The Mind Frames project is part of a research project exploring what interaction individuals have who live in residential settings have with their local communities. The participants were encouraged to look at different ways of portraying places and people, using photographs to tell a story. The participants used digital, film or even disposable cameras to portray their version of the story.
http://www.viewfromthetop.co.uk/
http://viewforthcomingevents.blogspot.com/
http://www.photovoice.org/
http://www.makingwaves.org/index.html
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Interactive Floor and Interactive Wall @ Innovation Expo 05
I like these examples of interactivity, i think the wall is really innovative how it reacts to the shadow of a persons movement.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Interactive Elements
Choose a site and review and write down the interactive elements. Think about how you would create an interactive device to be used in a room for launch of the site. Make a paper prototype.
www.comcastic.com
Interactive puppet. The user can control the movements of a puppet of their choice, they can also record a voice for it. Really nice and simple interface, easy to use, good character animation, impressive 3D modelling.
To make this physically interactive we would have the puppet on a large screen. We would then attach sensors to each part of a persons body and then whenevr they moved the puppet on the screen would do the same.
This would be the image on a large screen in front of the user.
This would be the a person using the interactive game. The purple dots represent where the sensors would go on the person's body. In reality less sensors may be more appropriate just to cut the time it would take to get ready to play the game.
www.miniusa.com/roofstudio/index.jsp
Two of the best games I have ever played on the internet...well in the past week. The jumping game is danerously addictive once you get the jumps right.
The racing game was quite hard to keep on track, although I did like the way it was made to look like google earth. The traffic lights are just as annoying as lights in real life.
To make this in a physical form it would be quite simple just to have a remote control car racing around a track. Although there is probably some alternative answer that will come to me.
www.perplexity.com
Nice website, although after being on it I still have no idea what is going on.
www.nike.com/jumpman23
This made me feel sick.
geoterra.ecomagination.com/indexFlash.html
hmmmm... quite ladidaa and brightly coloured.
Useful website www.interactivearchitecture.org
www.comcastic.com
Interactive puppet. The user can control the movements of a puppet of their choice, they can also record a voice for it. Really nice and simple interface, easy to use, good character animation, impressive 3D modelling.
To make this physically interactive we would have the puppet on a large screen. We would then attach sensors to each part of a persons body and then whenevr they moved the puppet on the screen would do the same.
This would be the image on a large screen in front of the user.
This would be the a person using the interactive game. The purple dots represent where the sensors would go on the person's body. In reality less sensors may be more appropriate just to cut the time it would take to get ready to play the game.
www.miniusa.com/roofstudio/index.jsp
Two of the best games I have ever played on the internet...well in the past week. The jumping game is danerously addictive once you get the jumps right.
The racing game was quite hard to keep on track, although I did like the way it was made to look like google earth. The traffic lights are just as annoying as lights in real life.
To make this in a physical form it would be quite simple just to have a remote control car racing around a track. Although there is probably some alternative answer that will come to me.
www.perplexity.com
Nice website, although after being on it I still have no idea what is going on.
www.nike.com/jumpman23
This made me feel sick.
geoterra.ecomagination.com/indexFlash.html
hmmmm... quite ladidaa and brightly coloured.
Useful website www.interactivearchitecture.org
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