Development of Idea

First things first. I am going to change the chestplate idea with the regulator in it to some other form that still controls its health and needs powering up to do so. What I don't like about the chestplate idea is that its quite similar to Iron Man and I want my idea to be something original not something out of a comic book just altered slightly so that instead of man its an animal. So I will get to work on designing that and put up another post soon.

In regards to the creature/animal, I was initially going to go with some sort of turtle but now I'm not so sure. Going to the Zoo today I got to see a lot of animals and how they react to things and how they express themselves as well as their emotions. While turtles are cool - saw them today swimming around just doing there thing, they aren't so much an animal that you can really feel something for from first glimpse unless you alter it and take a different approach by making the turtle into some sort of cartoon like turtle and sort of humanize it so it looks cute, however I am not so keen on this sort of idea. Todays visit to the zoo has made me realize I'd much prefer to keep it as somewhat realistic as I can so that whatever this creature or animal is, the audience can relate to it easy enough and I can create some sort of bond between them early on rather than having them try and understand what this fake creature is and what not.

The animal I am interested in looking at now is the Red Panda. I had a good watch of them today at the Zoo and what I liked is how they quite liked human attention. When I got to the enclosure it came running up, sort of like a bit of a greet. It's also small and fuzzy which is pretty much the equation for cute. So it would be a good fit to my project, likes and would want human attention and then when healthy they are quite interesting to watch, running around letting curiousity get the better of them. So that is where I am at now, I may look at making some sort of hybrid animal to make it a little more interesting but if I do this I don't want to go overboard. Minimal alterations and additions I think would be the best way to go so that I don't get an awkward or confused response.

Initial Sketches of Animals

Have been sketching out some ideas for animals that my character could be. Want to run with something an audience will find cute. With this in mind, been looking at a little bear and turtle. No idea why but these two just sort of came to mind. But yeah, here's a look at some sketches:





I seem to favor the turtle... :P

Beginning Concept

Right so it has been a couple of days since my last post and I think I have a good starting point for my project. I am going to play around with the emotion of compassion. My idea is to have some sort of animal familiar to people and one that you could find I don't know.. cute? or loveable? and that animal is damaged. It has a chestplate with a regulator in it and this when charged allows the animal to be OK, it can live. However when not charged, the animal then becomes lethargic, dropping to the floor and look as though he is dying. To involve the audience with this a-life character it will be on them to keep him alive. They will need to apply pressure to some sort of device which I will design later and this will bring the character to a state of well being. Obviously they will not want to stand there forever keeping this character alive, but can they let go and let the character suffer? How long might they stay for? How much compassion will they feel for the poor little guy?

I will now do some sketches of ideas for my animal. Post again soon!

Initial Thoughts

I like the idea of manipulating some sort of emotion to create my a-life project. From talking with other people in the class it seems the sort of darker emotions or feelings are quite popular, things such as fear or pain. I'd like to stay away from these darker ideas, but play off something that will enhance the relationship between the a-life creature and the user or audience. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this is to create something in which the audience can become attached to, something that perhaps they will melt over or feel sorry for. I'll keep thinking about this and next post I will have an idea to develop.

Project One: A-Life

Aim: To create an organism that will somehow be affected by chosen sensors.

Factors: Organism itself, enviornment it lives in.

Not quite sure what I am going to do for my project however after todays lesson I have a better understanding of what it is the arduino can do and the sensors that can be used along with it.

Quite like the idea of using photo sensors and pressure sensors. Will spend the next few days coming up with a solid idea. Stay tuned!