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elysian fields
- interactive installation
A
Stage one investigation into presence and intuitive interaction with
mixed reality environments
Creativity and Cognition Studios (CCS) UTS Sydney www.creativityandcognition.com
Brigid
Costello, Ian Gwilt, Andrew Martin, Dave Burraston
Research
question:
"What are the potentials for user presence and intuitive interaction
in mixed reality environments"?
Key
words:
Co-presence, perceptual user interface, generative audio-scapes, intuitive
/ gesture interaction, animated spaces, augmented reality.
The
concept:
The Elysian Fields interactive draws on the story of this mythical space
from Greek Mythology. Wondrous, sublime and peaceful, the Elysian Fields
are a place where virtuous people would go to in the afterlife. According
to Homer's Odyssey "a dwelling place of mortals made immortal through
the favor of the gods". (1)
Using the analogy of the Elysian Fields we intend to investigate the
relationship between physical spaces and computer mediated virtual environments
and begin to explore how the two spaces might inform each other to create
an enhanced or augmented user experience. We will be looking specifically
at issues of presence and interaction in mixed reality.
Description
of the installation:
Upon entering the darkened exhibition space the user is presented with
a back-projected data image of abstract grasses, covering the far wall.
The grasses are animated and appear to be swaying in a virtual breeze
– ambient sounds are playing in the background. Moving towards
the screen the user becomes aware that their physical action of walking
in the ‘real’ installation space is being translated into
the virtual ‘on-screen’ environment, through the animated
parting of the grasses and triggering of sound effects. As the user
moves around the grasses bend and part, slowly recovering their original
form as they move on. Like the phantasms of the mythological fields
the user can wander through the swaying grasses, leaving a tell-tale
path of their journey in both realities. (2)
The installation
piece begins to explore the possibilities for interaction between physical
and virtual spaces and the potential of co-presence, on a number of
hierarchical levels.
Level one:
Passive - observational interaction
The installation allows for a passive experience to be gained by simply
watching and listening to the animation and sound-scape of the virtual
environment.
Level two:
Ambient interaction (undirected)
The user can exert a level of control in the virtual space by walking
over the ‘touch-sensitive’ floor panels. The user is rewarded
with the results of their interaction manifest in the virtual space
– in this instance the grasses part to reveal the pathway taken
during the interaction. Additionally audio responses are triggered as
the user moves around.
Level three:
Goal orientated interaction
By introducing a further responsive event – triggered by certain
interactions and patterns of movement the users can be encouraged to
interact proactively with the piece, in a more structured manner leading
to the revealing of an additional level of experience and content.
Notes
1. http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/mythology/1deities/underworld/elysian.htm
(10/06/03)
2. Phantasm - apparently seen but having no physical reality; a phantom
or an apparition. Also called phantasma. 2. An illusory mental image.
Also called phantasma
PDF
of Elysian Fields proposal[25k]
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