Post 10 - Software research

Here is some information about a couple of the suggested game engine and software packages for both augmented reality and behaviour / game physics.

This is a link to a Virtools PDF, giving an overview of what the software has to offer.

I was particularly interesting in the following extract:

"Developers drag and drop behaviours in an intuitive Graphical User Interface to
create complex applications with the high-quality graphics and interactivity found in
top-selling games. For high-end developers, the Software Development Kit (SDK)
and the Virtools Scripting Language (VSL) available with Virtools 4 lets them create
custom behaviours"

Virtools 4. 'Comprehensive Life Platform for Creating Highly Interactive 3D Applications'

This sounds like it would help if the product was to be put into a game engine in order to make it into a tumbling tower artifact.

Here was also another interesting PDF on Virtools entitled: '3DVIA Virtools for Xbox 360'

This looks really good and would help if the product went down the game root, as it shows that you can create a simple game, then export so that it can be played on an XBox 360 console. I think that this makes it very appealing. This sounds as if we could make a game suitable for XBox Live Arcade; again, sounds very exciting.

From this, I then found a YouTube video entitled: 'Virtools Nextgen Solutions'. This demonstrates what could be achieved from using the XBox Export function. It seems to be a promotional video, with some high end rendering. Although this seems very complex compared to our tumbling tower idea, the notion that you can create a virtual world, then simply code it for an XBox 360 interface is very appealing. If not for this project, then certainly as a kind of virtual, interactive portfolio of work.

This information has been sent to the other team mates via Facebook.

PDF Virtools web link: http://www.virtools.com/solutions/products/pdfs/suite_4/ds_virtools40_eng.pdf

PDF Virtools XBox 360 link: http://www.3ds.com/fileadmin/PRODUCTS/3DVIA/3DVIAVirtools/Resources/datasheets/ds_XBOX_3DVIA_EE_LR.pdf

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxDxmF7Mj5c

Post 09 - Meeting with Nick Cope

The group took part in a meeting with Nick Cope and discussed the idea of incorporating an 'augmented reality' end product. We discussed the possibilities and the various details, such as the use of markers and pre-exisitng sequences of code. The software applications Virtools  and ARTools were shown to the group as a demonstration of what could be achieved.


This idea is a very interesting one and the meeting with Nick was some what reassuring. There was mention of using Virtools to either make augmented reality, or even the previous game idea. We later on discussed what we should continue doing. We acknowledged that it was important to continue with research into these software packages as well as their capabilities. We also delegated a couple of shapes each to mock up using 3Ds max. Jon was tasked with a making a pillar, Chris with a triangular shape and I with an arch. We will work on these and come up with a model, plus a variant, in order to get a couple of designs from each shape.

Post 08 - Feedback

We have received out group feedback and as we had suspected, it was not good. We got a grade D. The positive points were that we had used Prezi software as first mentioned in the research practice module, and the inclusion of some renders of 3D concept shapes. However, the group lacked energy and enthusiasm, the concept was unclear and the timescale lacked sufficient detail. The feedback also mentioned that we need to think of the output for these models, namely a virtual one and to be more ambitious. We left the session with some ideas as to how to improve our presentation for next time.

Me and Jon had a meeting with Brian Larkman after the session (unfortunately Chris was ill and unable to attend) We discussed the possibility of incorporating an augmented reality output. The idea would be that we would still create architectural shapes in 3Ds Max but then get a series of real world building blocks (such as early learning center) and and markers to each piece. Then, by using several software applications and a web camera, the system would pick up these makers and display our models over the pieces. This would mean that the issues of stone not being a sufficient medium wouldn't matter as they would be virtual. On screen they would be our models, in similar shapes to that of the real world pieces, allowing for physical interaction. 

However, the main concerns I have are as follows:

-None of the group know anything about creating an augmented reality

-After some initial research, it appears that it takes several programs, experience of coding / scripting as well as knowledge of at least one game engine technology.

-The pieces that would have markers on them would be built and stacked, but the web camera would need to see the marker in order to project our model onto it, so there are issues of markers.

We both decided that it sounds like an interesting idea and that we should be ambitious, so Brain Larkman suggested to schedule a meeting with Nick Cope, who has some experience and interest in this field. If it does seem unrealistic, we may fall back to the 'Tumbling Activity' idea.

You Tube Link for initial research: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU6PcBS1pWw

Post 07 - Post Week Four Pitch

Wednesday the 20th of October was the Product Pitch. The group gave the pitch for the '3D Activity and Design Project'. Despite preparing for the pitch, the group suffered from what can be best described as 'the jitters', which had an adverse effect on the pitch. The product was received with negative feedback and essentially rejected. The fundamental issue, which became apparent was the end product result and the feasibility of creating it out of stone (despite the product being a design piece). The product is a design and does not a physical product. Possible alternative paths for the product were discussed, such as creating an interactive 'tumbling tower' activity. This would mean that the building pieces would still need to be created, but then some how imported into a game engine. Then, pre-constructing a structure, or set of structures and making it so that any piece of the building could be moved, making it tumble. It resembles a sort of 'Jenga'TM Activity, but in a 3D space. 

This would mean that the majority of the research we have conducted will still be valid (anything regarding buildings and shapes) and is not a total loss. Adding back the game element allows for some investigating into this area, such as which game engine to use and how to create the new proposal. 

As mentioned in an earlier blog, the product proposal was emailed to Richard Stevens as we wanted to gain clarification as to whether it would be ok to make a product, which resulted in a plan. The reply was that it was ok for it to be a plan. Had we of been told that a plan was not a suitable product, I feel that we could of used the time more productively. Never the less, we are going to use the feedback we received during the pitch and create a 'Tumbling Tower' activity, inspired by Brian Larkman with his 'Jenga like' input.

We had a brief meeting after the pitch and decided that this would be a wise move. The next stage will be to wait for the feedback from the X-Stream website and go from their. A working title for the new product is the '3D Tumbling Activity'.

Post 06 - Presentation discussion

Over the weekend (15th-16th October), we all made our presentations. After some issues with sending them via email (files too big), Jon sent me his Prezi file via my online storage space Mediafire.com. for me to see. Chris also sent me a link to his. They were both good and had plenty of visual information in them. We had a brief facebook discussion on what each other were going to say such as keys points that needed to be mentioned during the various slides. The work was essentially done, with a couple of minor tweaks needed. I completed my introductory Prezi file Saturday night and sent a link out to both Jon and Chris.

Prezi Link: http://prezi.com/p6zqjjeoorog/collaborative-practice-wk-4-product-pitch/

Post 05 - Pitch preperation

Since the last post, we have had several discussions and meetings, taking place between the 13th and 14th of October. We discussed our initial tasks and looked at what information we had gathered. I showed my photographs of the buildings, as well as the museum activities. Jon had looked at other buildings in the UK and examples of Portland Stone sculptures. Jon had looked into some of the considerations and issues we may come up against.

From looking and using the presentation software PreziTM, I suggested that we all sign up and learn it, so we can use it for our presentation. We decided that we would tackle the presentation in sections. 

I will introduce the product, the rationale behind it, purpose and appeal. Chris would focus of the initial research routes, as well as similar products in the market. Jon will tackle concept pieces with a lean towards early considerations and issues. We worked out that they need to be about 2 and a half - 3 minutes long. This will allow plenty of time to delivery our presentation and to answer any questions.

We left happy with this decision and set out to work on each of our presentations. The next time everyone will be able to meet up is Wednesday morning (Pitch day) so we have arranged to meet up a couple of hours before hand to prepare. In the evening, we all looked at Prezi, and agreed on a common theme, which would be dark blue.

Post 04 - City in Images

After a visit to the various museums and art galleries (11.10.10), I was inspired by the building activity I saw earlier that day. It was agreed in the last meeting we had that I would also take images of the two main buildings in town, which have used Portland stone. I went to both the Town Hall and Civic Hall in Leeds city centre. I took a variety of images, looking particularly at the distinctive geometric architectural shapes, such as triangles, columns and the most apparent details. The reason for this is so that we as a group can analyse the separate shapes which make up these buildings with a view to construct shapes and concept designs for our product pitch. On top of this, I went to The Light Shopping centre as this is a much more contemporary structure, which has also used Portland stone in its construction. However, The Light has used it as cladding (decoration) in a small quantity, mixed with red brick. Plus, where there is what appears to be detail, it is a mere imitation and based loosely on building such as the Civic and Town Hall. This exercise was very valuable and I believe it will provide a great deal of information to work from.

So up to now, it has been established that not only are there similar products to what we propose to design, but also that they are in every case in the same context and are aimed to educate and inform. It is our objective to aim for a similar outcome, to be inspired by these products, but with a twist as they will be designed to be made out of Portland stone and set in the Tout Quarry. To tie it in with the 2012 Olympics, this activity can be placed either a short distance from the Weymouth Harbour,or in the Tout Quarry, along with other activities and sculptures. The advantage this product could have is that it is essentially a sculpture, which can be altered and changed.

More images of the Light , the Civic and Town Hall can be found here:

Civic Hall - http://picasaweb.google.com/RobertDyke1985/CivicHallMilleniumSquare

Town Hall - http://picasaweb.google.com/RobertDyke1985/TownHallLeeds

The Light - http://picasaweb.google.com/RobertDyke1985/TheLightLeeds#

Post 03 - Henry Moore & City Museum Visit

Since the last update, I have visited the Kirkstall Abbey Visitor’s Centre, as well as the Henry Moore Institute and the Leeds City Museum. I have also taken photographs of the Civic and Town Hall, in Leeds.

Kirkstall Abbey was unfortunately closed when I went, but I had more luck in the city. At the time was a shame as I have been before and know they have an educational activity, which allows visitors to try and reconstruct an arch from replica blocks, made from wood (similar concept to our design product). This may be updated with images if I am able to arrange another visit.

Henry Moore / Art Gallery

This gave me an insight into how various sculptures and pieces of art are displayed and their typical surroundings. However, although the visit was an interesting one, the art was either behind glass cases, or accompanied with many ‘do not touch’ signs. The idea behind our product is that it would be effectively an activity, which could be played with and used to create your own structures. It could be suggested that the structure and shapes people would create from these building blocks could be considered as interactive art. Therefore, I believe that the Henry Moore Institute and Art Gallery visit was useful in showing us how conventional art and sculptures are displayed. Due to the nature of the artefacts in the art gallery, I was unable to take ant photos. Also, the vast space some of the sculptures were taking up suggested to me that our product (hypothetically if commissioned and made out of Portland stone) would be most suitable as an activity, or display in the Tout Quarry (vast surroundings); maintaining the concept of keeping it close to its origins.

Leeds City Museum

On the top floor they have a display, which ideally showcases a similar product to the one we are proposing to design. The top floor is dedicated to ancient history, including building structures. Many of Leeds building, which uses Portland Stone, are constructed using Greek / Roman and Egyptian influences, as are many other structures throughout the UK. Included in this section was a scale model of a Roman structure, made out of cork. Next to this was an activity based on building your own temple. The information next to the activity showed a diagram, suggesting that you may reconstruct an ancient building, or make one of your own.

I believe that this is source of research is of great importance, as it shows a similar product, being used in a similar context. Its purpose is to educate, inform, as well as offering a hands on activity. It seems to appeal to a wide demographic, from children to adults. The wall, where this activity is, is covered in information about the local buildings, which continues the learning process and may be something to consider when creating our design product.

In addition to this activity, they also have a similar one about building a Roman Fort. However, the pieces were made out of rubber and there were fewer pieces. Plus there was a blueprint on the activity table, which you had to follow. This is another example of a similar product, and it was also informative, but it didn’t provide the level of freedom we wish to allow when designing our product.

Pictures of the Leeds Museum activity can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/RobertDyke1985/CityMuseum#



Post 02 - Brief Meeting 1

On the 7th of October 2010, myself, Chris and Jon had a brief meeting about the proposed project idea. We all agreed that it has scope and interests us. The main interest for me is the design of the individual items. The rationale and context of such a project was also mentioned and decided that hypothetically if commissioned to be made from actual Portland Stone, it could be an installation in the Tout Quarry: Portland with each piece having a significant shape. It was also suggested that the user or interaction with such building blocks could result in visitors making their own interpretation of Portland Art and Sculpture, thus making it potentially educational, but also an activity for a wide demographic.

At the end of the meeting, some tasks were delegated amongst the group. By the 13th of October, I am aiming to visit at take notes on both the Kirkstall Abbey Visitor's Centre in addition to the Henry Moor Institute and the Leeds City Museum.

Chris was set the task of looking into additional examples of museum installation and to explore methods of showcasing. Chris also suggested looking into similar products, such as the Early Learning Centre building block activities.

Jon has been tasked with looking into which buildings, (both in Leeds and other areas) that have used Portland Stone, as well as beginning to research various shapes and designs of such structures.

We are going to have a meeting, on Wednesday the 13th of October to discuss our findings. Plans for constructing the Pitch (due on the 20th of October) will also be discussed next week. The pitch should consist of information such as the rationale, context of the proposed product as well as the demographic, followed by examples of similar products. This will potentially be presented using the Open Source software, Prezzi.


Location source websites

Kirkstall Abbey: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/

Henry Moore: http://www.henry-moore.org/hmf/about-us

Leeds City Museum: http://www.leedsmuseum.co.uk/tour/

Post 01 - Initial product blog enrty

This is the first of many blogs, aimed at recording the research and development of the MSc Collaborative Practice Module. It will include updates of what the group is up to, rationale behind key research paths and any discussions, meetings and decisions made.So far, we have made a group and consists of the following people:

Robert Dyke (me)
Chris Deakin
Jonathan Wong

We are currently known as Group 7: with the project title '3D Puzzle Game'. We met up at 11am on 6/10/10 and agreed that the product must be suitable to both our combined skill sets, as well as the brief. However, the emphasis on this was that a good, solid and thorougher level of relevant research around the subject would be beneficial and help progress the project. After the Collaborative Practice module was over, we had a second meeting, with more ideas being suggested. After a brief discussion with Richard Stevens, it was apparent that a slight tweak, or change must be made to the project. We then decided as a group on a different project (this still needs to be updated of X-Stream). The new project idea is as follows:  

The development and design for a prototype 3D building type installation. The simple based geometric shapes (similar to early learning centre style shapes) designed with a view that the they can be used or commissioned to be made out of Portland Stone.

The idea is that it will be a design of the blocks and shapes (we will aim to texture using limestone / Portland stone textures either captured or created from scratch), which will be based on elements of architecture from buildings, built from Portland Stone (Civic Hall, St Paul's Cathedral etc).

I think that this could be an interesting approach to the brief with plenty of research opportunities. The only concern expressed is that the final product will be a 'plan', or design, and not the physical product since as Mr Stevens mentioned, "we cannot sculpt with stone". But at every step, including modeling the pieces, we would take into consideration the point of view of the sculptor and what level of detail should be adopted. So with that respect, I think the final design can be shown, presented through an animated 360 of the individual pieces, a brief animation of examples of structures and shapes that can be made using these pieces and rendered images of these pieces. There was also some talk of utilising the 3D printer located in the other Leeds Met campus to showcase examples of the shapes but that is currently subject to feasibility

(Extract from an email conversation between myself and Richard Stevens)

I received a reply from Mr Stevens saying that it sounds interesting and that its ok for the final piece to be a 3D plan; but highlighted issues such as our level of architectural knowledge, as well as the context of the product.

I believe that these can be solved with some good research and development. These blogs will be updated with our activities related to the project, with links to sources of information and other media based inserts.

Since then, I briefly looked at some basic information regarding the Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust, as well as the Weymouth 2012 Olympic sailing event preparations.

Initial Source links
Portland Quarry: http://www.learningstone.org/index.php/General/background.html
Weymouth Sailing Event: http://www.london2012.com/games/venues/weymouth-and-portland.php