DSDN 142 Mouse Toy

"Interaction is a two-way conversation between oneself and the interactive media". It was our task to provide a charming and witty conversation partner. In this project we explored the difference between interaction and control and how this makes an interactive experience enjoyable. We created environments that invited the user in and provided a set of rules and characters, then left them to experiment. To achieve this true "interaction" the environment had to become alive on its own and the user becomes a guest, not a manipulator.

DSDN 142 Interim Submission

Today's interim gave me the opportunity to present my work to the class as well as my Tutor and Angela at the same time and receive feedback. What my submission contained was a display of my Fireworks code, the incomplete Fireflies code that used 'jars' and my most recent adaptation of the Firefly code. My goals are to have an interactive environment that has a collection of Fireflies whose behaviour is influenced by the presence of the mouse. As shown in earlier posts, my inspiration came firstly from fireworks then I moved onto fireflies. My code doesn't fully represent fireflies however, as they do not emit a constant glow. In truth they are a type of beetle and only release brief burst of light where my fireflies are like glowing flies.

They functions are that when the big bug (cursor) moves close to the other flies they are repelled by it. By holding the left mouse we can increase the radius of repulsion. The right mouse, although incomplete at the point of submission, was meant to call out to the fireflies, causing them to orbit the cursor.
The code I needed to fix was covered by this storyboard I submitted;

Based on feedback my direction needs to change. I still need to fix the square repulsion issue but the second button function is just that; a button. It is control, not interaction. Do this, get that. Instead I need something that pay attention to the way the user uses the mouse. During the presentation I kept referring to the big bug as "Mama Firefly" but the other fireflies behaviour towards it contradicted its title. Steven suggested that it's more likely that they would try and cling to her like needy children rather than fleeing. I fear this would bring my code too close to the interaction a classmate is doing for 'catching stars'. Angela got more of a predatory impression of the big bug, which is the direction I am thinking of taking it in. A good start would be to give it a more aggressive colour tone (RED!) and maybe have it eat the smaller fireflies it manages to catch. The adjustable repulsion can be replaced with a set value that maybe increases as the predator eats more and more fireflies? The mood of the environment could change too. Perhaps a visible background could darken with the death of each firefly and the colours get more blue as the predator gets redder. Lots to do...