Research project
Came across these really cool new technology, does have its negative aspects but the concept is cool. Alot like minority report but with out the gloves, like the idea of the surface being transperent and as thin as glass but stills needs alot of work to be any where near as good as Jeff Hans Multi touch or Micorsofts Surface.
http://www.atracsys.com/_products/beMerlin.php
Fri 23rd Nov- Feedback
Today i tested my Specialist Project installation out on the 2nd years and some of the 3rd years to get some feedback. It was really successful as the project itself worked which was a relieve. The feedback was very helpful and will help me to make some positive changes. The users thought the audio was really good and that they linked with the items in the boxs really well. One thing i did find was that the instructions were not clear enough or people did not read them thoroughly as they did not do what the instructions said. So to make it clear i am going to make the sections more obvious by putting a line between box 1 and 2 and between box 4 and 5 so it shows the division of the sections more clearly. I might also seperate the instructions more so doing seperate instructions for each section. I might also record the instructions and try them in the audio as i asked if people would prefer the instructions to be audio and i got a mixed feedback so i might try and do both. so have written instructions and audio instructions. Some feedback was that the audio doesnt need to be so long, so with hole 6 i might take out all the screaming at the beginning and have it so they just find a way out.
Some of the reactions were great as some people physically reacted, one person jumped a mile and another leant forward and grabbed the table. But some people didnt really respond and i think this was mainly due to the atmosphere as i had to test it in the classroom when everyone was in there so i might make my changes and then do another test on other people. I think i also need to make the things in the boxes more grewsome so more geewy as these holes got the best reactions.
Wed 21st Nov- Setting up my box at Uni
Todays been quite a successful day so far as ive brought my box into uni and set it all up so now i should be able to finish making my box as i shouldnt have to move it. This means i can put my rocks in securely. After i finished setting up my box i have been editing more of my audio as i had some problems with them. Mostly i have been re-editing the beginning intro as when we recording one of the girls had a glass in her hard and her earrings were jangling against it and can be heard on the audio. This is very annoying as this was one of the best audios so ive had to try and cut out the jangles and edit it with another version but try and keep as much as i can from the good copy. Ive then been editing the ends of the audio as some of them end quite abruptly so ive been putting points in to make the audio get quiter slowly so its not as noticeable. Also on one of the clips i had left something on the time line at the end so it kept playing right to the end which would be annoying when using the box as you wouldnt be able to go onto the next clip straight away, you would have to wait till the end of the other one. So i had to go back and delete what was one the time line. I then rendered these out as aiff so they would work in Director. I then took these into Direstor so when i get hook up my webcam they will be in there ready. Now that ive set up my webcam i have a slight problem as my lead for my webcam is too short to reach my laptop as it is so high up. I tried an exstention lead before but it didnt work but i will have to try again or some how stand my laptop on something higher which is a bit of a pain.
What ive got left to do now is to attach the rope in one of the compartments, stack up my rocks and maybe glue them down. Figure out a way to attach my hand. I was thinking of putting rocks on the outside so it looked more like a cave but i will have to see if it looks good and if i get time.
Sun 18th Nov- Box making
Today i continued making my box and i thought i needed to cover the wholes up a bit so you couldnt see inside. I did this by cutting up some bin bags with slits in going different ways. This was very effective as when you put your hand in and out you cannot see in. I then went and collected some rocks from the beach in pouring rain, thats devotion hey!hehe. I then cleaned these rocks and put them in one of the last holes and stacked them up so it feels like your getting out. I then placed the fan at the top and it felt very effective that it was a breeze from outside.
I made two pieces of wood which i have attached to the sides of the box so i can secure a sheet at the front to make a screen so you cant see in to the box. I have made these detachable so its easy when moving the box around.
I now need to figure a way out how to attach the fan and hand which grabs you securely.I am also thinking about putting rocks on the outside of the box to make it look like a cave. I will do this using As Hard As Nails.
Thurs 15th Nov- Tutorial with Ant
Today i had a tutorial with Ant which was very successful as he thought my audio was really good but gave me some good points as he thinks i should take out my sweering as then i can show it to more people (young people) also he said the swearing did make him laugh a bit which isnt really what i was wanting to happen. So if i can get the actors again i will try to redo my audio as i also want to edit the script a bit more too.
Another good point Ant came up with was to try and introduce the instructions into the script so they would say something like ‘oh no weve got two tunnels but which one shall we choose?’. However after thinking about it i dont think the user would realise that unless it was really obvious so saying ‘pick from hole 2,3 or 4.’ This might not work as the user might have already put there hand in hole 2 but is then told to choose from it again. This could probably be done if i had the audio linked up with a system depending which order you put your hands in. So i think i will stick with the instructions being on a sheet or by audio.
I was thinking about redoing the audio to get a better quality but Ant said the quality was really good and said there was no point in redoing the audio. This is really good as i need to focus on the box to create the right environment. However if i get some spare time then i will try to redo the audio so then i can learn how to use the recording suites which will be helpful for my Final Major.
Today i also created the front piece of wood where you have to put your hands in the holes. I cut up the holes and then painted it black. Ive also realised that the user will be able to see over into the box so i am going to make a detachable screen like the webcam but rather then using wood i am going to use black material making moving my piece around alot easier.
Fri 16th Nov- Linking up my audio in Director
Today i set up my box with the web cam above it and started to link my work up in Director. Firstly i copied the code so i could have 6 audio channels, i then figured how to get the new co-ordinates. I did this by using the message window and typeing ‘put the mouseloc’ and then placing the mouse at the point where i wanted the co-ordinates i then hit return. I did this with all the points and then changed the code to the new points. I then tried it out but it didnt work and i couldnt work out how as in the message window it was saying play. i emailed Ant and he said to check the format of the movie types. Mine were avi so i need to change them to aiff. i did this and then my piece worked but i had another problem as my audio kept looping so i had to uncheck the audio loop. Getting this to work by myself boosted my confidence and made me feel more happy with my work.
I then headed to the butchers to see if i can get some more boned but unfortunately they didnt have any. However if i go back on tuesday he said he would be able to give me some which is good news. I also managed to pick up a fan after a long search which i will use in my last hole to make it feel like wind from outside.
Wed 14th Nov-Editing
Today has already been a horrible day as im editing audio so my computer needs alot of space for this but decides to tell me its got non so ive had to use an external hard drive which decided to get full. So now i am moving all my work off my hard drive to free up some space and actually start doing some work. So hopefully i will be able to get this sorted asap so i can get on and edit the audio. So frustrating!
Finally managed to sort out my computer and import some of the audio, ive had a play around with bits of it and managed to put an echo on the voices so it sounds like there in a cave a bit more. Ive also been looking for some royalty free sound effects of bones crunching as in one section of my piece people are going to fall onto some bones. Ive come across this website which can be found at this link
Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects Download the music and sound effects you need for your multimedia project today at Partners In Rhyme.
Its got some really good sound effects so hopefully i will be able to use these to make my piece more effective.
Mon 12th Nov- Research Project
This weekend has been very productive as ive managed to write about 3500 words of my research project. This included the intro, table of contents, section on touch regarding child developement, touch technologies, a brief history of products which use touch technology such as the elograph, Nintendo DS, interactive white boards, Wii, gesture gloves. I even managed to link in Feelies which related to computer games and to the book a read called Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I managed to neaten out all my work so far so theres not loads of notes and bits that need changing. So next i need to compare the positive and negative aspects of touch technology, discuss present technologies and the future of touch.
Im really glad i chose to do my essay on touch as i find the subject so interesting and enjoyable to research. Ive learnt so much so far which makes me feel really confident when discussing the subject.
Tues 13th Nov- Acting
Today i managed to gather up some of the actors from the acting course. i breifed them on what i wanted done and showed them the story lines and some clips from movies so they could get an idea of how they were ment to act. it seemed to go really well as they all seemed confident and followed what i wanted them to do. I hopefully will be able to add effects like echoing on in Final Cut. I will also add in ambient noises of the caves like water dripping and noises from there feet. In doing this it should hopefully bring it all together and make it sound realistic. So my next task is to capture it all in to Final Cut and start editing. I want to have something done by thurs so i can show Ant and he can give me his opinion. One thing i learnt with the audio is that you have to be aware of everything going on as the camera picks up on everything as one of the girls had a glass in her hand and her earrings kept tapping against them which ment i couldnt use those clips as you wouldnt hear the sounds of glass in a cave which is a real shame as it was one of the best vocally.
Things which are left to do are collect up some rocks to put inside my cave, glue them in. Attach the hand to the box so when people put there hand in it grabs them. I need to experiment a bit more with different gewy things i can put in the box. So hopefully my audio will be all sorted this week and i can focus on making the environments more real.
The latex head finally dried and feels really good, i also attached a pole to go over the box for the webcam to hang from. I made this detachable so its easy for moving around. So now i can place my camera above the box and set it up so when you put your hand in a box it triggers of the sounds.
Thurs 8th Nov-Tutorial with Bob
Today i had a tutorial with Bob which went really well as it made me feel more confident in my work. He seemed really interested in the area i am covering and very enthusiastic. We spoke about what i was going to write in each section which helped clear things up and will make it much easier to write my table of contents. Bob mentioned a few books worth looking at as i was worried about not having read enough books but he said to be honest most of my research will be done via the web as touch is such a new medium so there havent really been many books written on it. Now that i no im going the right way i can continue to do me research ito these areas and start to write more of it down.
