Winchester 1866
Hi Res
PolyCount
Software
- Adobe Photoshop
- Allegorithmic Substance Painter
- Autodesk Maya
- Blender
Category: Portfolio
Thesis I – Project Blog 7
In Procedural modeling class, we ran into issues with assigning materials in UE4. I created a quick image that should help:
I also noticed with auto seams, it can be buggy. I used it a bunch of times because I could not find a way to cut uv seams proceduraly without using the SOP. Sometimes UE4 would crash because of the complexity of the mesh and I had to tweak the settings a bit to avoid this issue.
In studio, I worked on finalizing the code for A.I. responder. Nothing to complex but it is exciting to see the character interacting with us during testing.
Defense 4: Technopomorphism/Technomorpism
As we know what anthropomorphize and the reason why humans tend to use it, there is another term worth noting – technopomorphism. Originally coined as mechanomorphism by Linnda R. Caporael, (Lum) Technopomorphism/technomorphism is the tendency to project technological characteristics to humans. (Hurley) This term has rarely been fully researched but as it relates to anthropomorphism, it has been indirectly studied. (Lum) Earlier in this paper I talked about the use of anthropomorphic terms, Technopomorphism is also used to describe and communicate human traits that we are uncertain of. A great example from Denis Hurley is the description of the “thought process like cogs in a machine or someone’s capacity for work may be described with bandwidth.” (Hurley) Unknowingly this term has been used in scientific studies to explain our bodily functions, but it can be used in other communities. In 3D animation, humanoid skeletons are reduced to nodes that are used to control and animation characters. Designing A.I., like in my project, we must transcode human social interactions or expressions and make algorithms to mimic and respond to the input. These are just a handful of examples that are technopomorphic. I believe we anthropomorphize and technopomoprhize for the same reason. That reason is to help us predict and comprehend the unknown. The only difference is in which direction the projection is going too.
Works Cited
Hurley, Denis. “Technical & Human Problems With Anthropomorphism & Technopomorphism.” 25 March 2017. <https://medium.com/emergent-future/technical-human-problems-with-anthropomorphism-technopomorphism-13c50e5e3f36>.
Lum, Heather Christina. “ARE WE BECOMING SUPERHUMAN CYBORGS?” 2011. <http://www.personal.psu.edu/hcl11/blogs/lum_597blog/Lum_Heather_C_201108_PhD.pdf>.
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #11
This week, I have been working on more shapes of the head for my 3d digital art course and my thesis. This character will be fully sculpted so I am trying to find a shape I like. As of now, I am leanings towards the second head. (longer skull, and droopy chin) I do like the fourth one day as well but I believe it is too close to Picard from Star Trek. Nevertheless, I will find the shape and go along with it to finish the project.
Thats the Spot!
Thats the Spot!
Hardware Components Used
- 1 Green LED
- 2 Yellow LED
- 3 330 Ω Resistors
- 2 10k Resistors
- 1 Servo Motor
- Arduino Uno Board
- Breadboard
- 5-volt power
- Soft Potentiometer
- Flex sensor
- Cardboard
- Ducktape
- Piezo Buzzer
- 14 wires
Concept
Description:
That’s the Spot! is an interactive game where the interactor controls a servo motor with a soft potentiometer. The motor head collides and bends a flex sensor. As the flex sensor bends, the LEDs will light up from yellow to green. If the interactor discovers the “spot” and holds the position, the piezo buzzer will play a jingle. After the interaction, the system resets and a new spot is selected for a different experience.
As they interact, the interactor should feel determined. They should feel the struggle to find the correct spot to complete the sequence. The personal value of the piece was the challenge of the flex sensor and the board design. Since the breadboard is small, I struggled to create a smooth interaction between the servo and flex sensor. Besides the design, the flex sensor sensitivity is short. I mapped and constrained the values for the interaction to work correctly.
Possible idea for the structure:
I envision this piece as being contained within an acrylic structure with one side being brass. The side of brass would be the interface with the soft pot and LEDs connected too. The rest of the piece would be a clear shell which will allow the interactor to view all the working parts interacting with itself. The style would be a mix of steampunk and sciFi.
To fill the negative space within the shell, there would be a mess of colorful wires. Example: 
Scifi Decal Panels – Substance
SciFi Decal Panels Substance
Software
- Allegorithmic Substance Designer
- Unity Engine
Substance Graph
Features
Description:
SciFi Decal Panels is a procedural material created in Substance Designer. With so many features, the material can be used in numerous applications and environments such as space stations/ships, futuristic environments, Decals for ceilings, floors, or walls, etc. The texture is using PBR metalness/roughness workflow and was created with realism in mind.
The goal of the project was to create a “kit” that could be used to help designers speed up detailing a environment with a many different panel decals in a instant. As well as exploring and understanding the use of procedural kits using Substance Designer.
Spotter #7
Spotter #7
Hardware Components Used
- 1 Photo-resistor
- 2 Green LEDs
- 1 Cardboard cutout
- 2 330Ω Resistors
- 1 10k Resistor
- 1 Servo Motor
- Arduino Uno Board
- Breadboard
- 5-volt power
- 11 wires
- Light
Concept
Description:
Spotter#7 is a little cardboard robot endlessly sweeps 180 looking for a friend. When it finds a friend, it stops and blinks to show that it has spotted the person. If the person moves away fast, it will continue with its path and keep sweeping. If the person remains for longer time and then moves, the robot will shake back and forth in disapproval. After the reaction, it will begin sweeping endlessly to find a friend.
The emotional response expected from this piece is compassion towards the little robot. The personal value of the piece was the challenge of designing the interaction. Originally, it was designed to use a temperature sensor to detect the interaction. Plans changed when the only sensor I had was damaged and I had to rework the piece. I decided to swap out the sensor for a photo-resistor. Even with the redesign, the piece is enjoyable.
Other Technical Information:
This interactive piece is using a servo and a photo-resistor. It requires a spotlight to light the “friend”. Since the lighting is important with this piece, the photo-resistor can be set for either, back lit or front lit, to make it work correctly. The servo motor has a sweep from 0 to 180. The speed of the sweep is randomized after every completed rotation to break up the repetitions of the piece.
Floating Pyramid
Floating pyramid
Description
Floating pyramid is an acrylic pyramid filled with magnetic fluid and water that is attached to a stand. The pyramid’s rotation can be manipulated 360 degrees by the user. Within the pyramid contains magnetic fluid called ‘ferrofluid’ and water (or some type of liquid that allows the ferrofluid flow freely). To control the ferrofluid, there are 6 electro-magnets that the viewer can stick on the pyramid. The power of the magnets can be individually controlled using 6 potentiometers.
Everyone is an artist and the goal of the piece is to allow the viewer to create their own unique art piece by using the pyramid and the use of the shadows created by the fluid.
Inspirational Images/Components used in my Design
https://i2.wp.com/ae01.alicdn.com/kf/UT8b72EXWJbXXagOFbXQ/Free-Shipping-Ferrofluid-A-Bottle-Magnetic-Liquid-Neodymium-Magnet-Office-Toys-Science-Decompression-Novelty-Creative-Toys.jpg https://images.vat19.com/covers/large/ferrofluid-in-a-bottle-display.jpg https://sc02.alicdn.com/kf/HTB15ukkLXXXXXXWaXXXq6xXFXXXY/china-supplier-new-style-wholesale-acrylic-plexiglass.jpg_350x350.jpg
Sketch
Components Needed
- Ferrofluid
- Acrylic container aka the pyramid
- Spotlight
- Potentiometers
- Electro-Magnets
- Arduino board
- Metal/Plastic structural pieces
Simon Says…PhotoResistor
Simon Says … Photo-resistor
Hardware Components Used
- 1 Photo-resistor
- 1 RGB LED
- 1 Yellow LED
- 4 330 Ω Resistors
- 2 10k Resistors
- 1 Switch
- 10 Wires
- Arduino Uno Board
- 1 Breadboard
- 5 volt power
Concept
Description:
Simon says…Photo-resistor is an interactive game using a photo-resistor as the main input for the experience. As the user presses the button, the game begins. The RGB turns white and begins the blue blinking a randomized sequence. The number of blinks is the required number of times the user needs to flash a light towards the photo-resistor to win the game. During the “input” phase, the RGB led light blinks RED and GREEN indicating the time left. If the player fails to complete the sequence, the RGB LED will turn RED indicating they failed. If the player completes the sequence, the RGB LED will turn GREEN indicating they have won. After the complete phase, either win or lose, the game will reset and idle until the button is pushed to start again.
As this piece resembles a game, the emotional response would be excitement, panic, and joy. The personal value of the piece was the challenge of coding and using a photo-resistor. As it was the first time I would have worked with one, I ran into some issues with calibration. Ultimately, I believe this piece was sacksful. It allowed me to push myself and try something different that was out of my comfort-zone.
