Unity Particle set-up

The material for the star particle was imported as a texture and added to a new material with the shader: Particles/Alpha Blended. The color can be changed in the scene

The particle system is setup to have a longer life time and low amount of stars that will blink in and out. I plan on implemented multiple Sub Emitters that will have different alphas and colors and life spans.

The goal is to not have the background overwhelm the gaming experience.

Adobe Illustrator.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I created a star that would be used as a particle in the background. I began by placing the rulers at the center, creating a square, using the curve tool, and then rotating the square. I added a radial gradient from the center, added an outer-glow and an inner-glow.

I left the color neutral so that it can be changed in Unity based on the needs.

Idle screen creation

For the idle screen, we wanted it to look like the screen saver that bounces around the screen. First, using ViewportToWorldPoint, I found the right upper corner and lower left corner of the camera bounds so the particles could not leave the region. Using randomization and while the next wall was not the previous, the particle would pick a random wall and lerp to any point along that wall, over a period of time.

Implementation model & Mental model

Implementation model

The implementation model "describes the details of how an application is implemented in code". The book describes designing the product to reflect the implementation model is a poorly designed product, as the user does not need access to certain data or is not privy to the knowledge of computer language. The user is left confused and uncomfortable.

Mental model

The user is often unaware of the actual process of a program. For example, the user of the vacuum cleaner may think that when they plug in their cord, the electricity is continuous. When in reality, "there is a reversal of electrical potential 120 times per second. User does not need to be aware of that fact, only the power company.

About Face Book

This book is informative in a way that interests the user in the writing style. While a little repetitive, I found the book to cover some topics which I had previously learned, and some which I had not.

My favorite excerpt from the book is that programs are designed to be rude and talk like computers, which the user often can not understand. The design "ignores the users' need and desires".

It goes into detail about how the products often ask the user to break the workflow for tasks that shouldn't need another step. It offers the user a chance to trigger "dangerous commands". It gives the example of Dropbox, which placed the delete button between download and Rename buttons.

Sparkles the Game (Name pending)

Daryl suggested a simple example in the midst of over-complicated interactives being suggested. The user is responsible to move two sparklers on screen, using their hands. We decided the kinect will be the best to use for this interactive.

Example found online for how to have an object follow hand movements

While many of the suggestions for add-ons were very interesting and would capture attention, they were a bit out of scope. Keeping it simple and making it beautiful is the most important part of interactives, especially when the project has such a short life span.

Discovery & Research

When we started to look into different projects that had been created for different devices -- the Leap Motion, the Kinect, and others. Afterwards, we were expected to pick our first 4 week project. I suggested we do something like Kyoto, a simple looking interactive that captures the user's sense of discovery and wonder.

As someone who has worked with interactive, it is very different from regular games and most of the class tried suggesting projects which are more advanced than we can do in a few weeks, or at all. After the four weeks, the class will get a better idea of how long it will take to create a full project.