Though essential technical implementations that the audience is unlikely to have a directly awareness of will consume the bulk of the remaining development time for Follow Your Heart!, some feedback would be appreciated here so that I will be able to judiciously tailor some interface aspects in the coming week:
1. Private or public? Should the participant’s space be closed to the gaze and judgment of spectators while interacting with Follow Your Heart!? I believe limiting the space of experience just to the single participant and their light/heart-avatar will lessen the participant’s inhibitions, increase their willingness to relate to their biofeedback as though it were a separate entity, and make the dark room into an introverted psychological space conducive to self-reflection. If I exhibited outdoors at night, this privacy would not be possible. To maintain a position within the social chasm that separates DDR from labyrinth meditation, would this be okay for my project?
2. Unpredictable or premeditated? Thus far, I have designed my light movement grid for quasi-random isometric motion: each pulse-step either in-line with or 60 degrees to the left or right of the previous step, with equally distributed weighting (1 in 3 chance). There is special behavior around the perimeter to confine the movement area. It has been my hope in working with this design in the limited space available to me, I can maximize the illusion of a space without boundaries (thereby minimizing the participant’s consciousness of anything but the light and it’s movement), and keep the participant on their toes, while not disorienting them. But what about setting an obviously predetermined path? What might be the benefits to using some sort of labyrinthine coil or phases of motion behavior (e.g. zig zags followed by figure eights followed by a cardioid track…)? Consider discrete motion as well: what if the light played keep-away, pulsing in one spot at a room corner, then jumping directly to another corner once the participant nears it?
3. Motivation. To make the participant follow the light, I just plan to provide explicit and simple direction via the project title and possibly a large sign exterior to the room that pictorially equates a heart shape to a circle of light. While I don’t see any fault with delivering unambiguous instruction in three words— “follow the light”— I’m also aware that doing so frames Follow Your Heart! as a kinetic game (also, being outfitted with the polar chest strap before entering a dark room is reminiscent of, say, laser tag). Any thoughts or suggestions about whether providing instructions would detract artistically from my project?
4. Initiation and Termination. How should I start the participant's following the light without it being too abrupt? I feel like I should somehow “introduce” the light to the participant before I have them follow it, but how? The end will be triggered when the participant’s heart rate plateaus/decreases (and possibly this in combination with a near-zero accelerometer reading): I would like the light to return to the participant and orbit them while they catch their breath and reflect, then it could guide them back to the exit. Are there any suggestions for an alternate ending? Would something else be more effective?
Thanks for taking the time to read though these! I look forward to your responses.
3 comments:
i kinda like just the words "follow the light". i think if i entered the exhibit, and was told to just follow the light, and then it started moving, it'd be cool. but just in case, u may need some signal/further direction after initial light movement b/c they may not continue to follow the light. I also think that participants would be less inhibited if they were by themselves. But this exhibit would be, for me, more fun to exhibit with a friend, therefore there probably should be some choice in the matter. maybe not a fully open exhibit but something ppl could experience in small groups. I agree that the light should be introduced... perhaps program it to start slowly, and then speed up and jump around later. I think the keep-away is good, however that could get frustrating after awhile. hope this helps, i'm kinda functioning at 10% brain power due to extreme fatigue. sorry!
Wow Kjell, I feel like I just took the fucking WASL or something. But here we are. Your project seems really difficult and epic! Kudos on how much work you've gotten done so far, I'm impressed.
Good question with the privacy. I think that your project is a very simple, subdued one. Something like DDR is loud, fun, and engaging, and is great for group interaction. But from my perception of what your project is going to be like--a sort of meditative experience--I think it would be very anticlimactic for the viewers to see what happens with the piece, and then interacting with it themselves--because they would have already seen exactly how it works.
I think a mixture of predictable and unpredictable motion would be best. The user needs some sort of rhythm to get moving and motivated, but if it's too predictable they'll just feel like they're on a stairmaster.
I don't have a good idea for you right now but it seems very important to me tha there needs to be some sort of interesting ending, or important moments in the progress of the piece--whether they are presented through sound, or visuals, or whatever.
best of luck
First, this is difficult, because I understand not wanting people to be distracted, but at the same time I think there is something to be gained by allowing others to watch someone follow their own heart. Perhaps it would allow them to contrast different journeys.
Second, unpredictable I think is better. Maybe you could have a general over-arching control of the movement, the ramping up of speed or something, but I think having different paths within the room could tie well with question 1.
Third, I don't think it would detract, I think it would be worse to have someone confused and not participating, then to have those simple directions.
Fourth, perhaps you could stop and start with specific motion, stop the pulsing, have the thing move in a straight line, or have it gradually fade out.
Good Luck Kjell
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