Movement Meditation Room Cycle 2
Posted: November 24, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Cycle 2 of this project was to layer the projections onto the mapping of each location in the room. I started with the backgrounds which would fade in and out as the user moved around the room. A gentle view of leaves would greet them upon entering and when they were meditating, and when they walked to the center of the room it shifted to a soft mossy ground. This was pretty easy because I already had triggers built for each location so all I had to do was connect the intensity of the backgrounds to a listener that was used for each location. The multiblockers were added so that it wouldn’t keep triggering itself when the user stayed in the location, they are timed for the duration of the sound that occurs at each place.
The part that was more complicated was what I wanted for the experience in the center. I wanted the use to be able to see themselves as a “body of water” and to be able to interact with visual elements on the projection that made them open up. I wanted an experience that was exciting, imaginative, open-ended, and fun so that the user would be inspired to move their body and be brought into the moment exploring the possibilities of the room at this location. My lab day with Oded in the Motion Lab is where I got all of the tools for this part of the project.
I rigged up a second depth sensor so that the user could turn toward the projection and still interact with it, then I created an alpha mask out of that sensor data which allowed me to fill the user’s body outline with a video of moving water. I then created an “aura” of glowing orange light around the person and two glowing globes of light that tracked their hand movements. The colors change based on the z-axis of the hands so there’s a little bit to explore there. All of these fade in using the same trigger for when the user enters the center location of the room.
I am really proud of all of this! It took me a long time to get all of the kinks out and it all runs really smoothly. Watching Erin (my roommate) go through it I really felt like it was landing exactly how I wanted it to.
Next steps from here mean primarily developing a guide for the user. It could be something written on the door or possibly an audio guide that would happen while the user walks through the room. I also want to figure out how to attach a contact mic to the system so that the user might be able to hear their own heartbeat during the experience.
Here is a link to watch my roommate go through the room: https://osu.box.com/s/hzz8lp5s97qw5q47ar32cgblh5hus8rs
Here is the sound file for the meditation in case you want to do it on your own: