For the midterm project, I decided to continue the journey of the Thesis project, which is finding my identity and communicating it with audiences through understanding and sympathizing with the project’s narrative. Consequently, I have decided to create a Magic Mirror, which shows the illusion of transforming people into a flower form based on my aspect of human life. I insist our life is like a seasonal cycle, and we are a tree which blooms our unique flower. Our life cannot always be joyful; the heartbreaking moments will repeatedly come even though we are overcoming ongoing hardships. However, we should not give up; instead, we must go forward because of that moment of happiness when we bloom the flower, even though it may not be eternally alive. If we continue our journey by using this happen moment as a driving force to go through the harsh winter in the self-centred state patiently, there will be a friend, family, or acquaintance who will support and agree with our actions and journey. It is interdependency, and this is how we should live our life. This interaction needs a healthy power dynamic through effective back-and-forth communication.
Based on this narrative structure, I wanted to help societies wear a positive lens through that the present self is beautiful, like a flower, through art. Furthermore, I tried to cause their curiosity for them to think about the intention of creating a connection between the flower and themselves. This activity will help them to leave a comment with their interpretation while they are flashing back to the achieving moment when they bloomed their potential. I hope this becomes a positive influence on their becoming journey.
Design Process: MDA Framework
Aesthetic goal: Expression and Sensation
Theme: Growth
Message: Our current moment of life through the historical journey of hardworking is valuable and beautiful, and we all will have a moment of blooming potential as we live forward.
Dynamic One:
Magic Mirror View
This is the screen you will see when Magic Mirror is not active. It creates a magical mood by distorting your looks like a colourful fog.
Mechanic: On the shader coding, use the “snoise” function to create a magical illusion of the mirror view of the camera. The cam view will distort and not repeatedly distort so that they can see themselves on the screen, which will give them the idea it is a mirror with some magical movement.
Dynamic Two:
The Overlapping Illusion of the Author’s Transformation into a Camellia Tree
Mechanic: Through the coding, I have created an interaction where the png image can overlap the current view by using the mix function by reading the mouse position to control the picture’s transparency.
Dynamic Three:
Texturing Mirror View on the Flower Form
Mechanic: When the user clicks the mouse, it will transform into this view where they can apply themselves to the flower for back-and-forth communication. The “If function” needs to use on both javascript and vertex files to upload the object file and apply the camera screen on the top of the form like a texturing job. I did not add any effect because people need to see their faces clearly, which overlaps the form.
Click Here to Watch the Presentation Video of the Final Work
I added the physically crafted box to cover the computer screen and glued the hand-made mirror frame so that audiences can have an immersive experience where they can think that they are looking at the magic mirror. However, they still need to control the work dynamics with the laptop’s touchpad, so there are more possibilities that I can still develop the project further. For example, if I used the mouse position and clicking as a mechanic, input actions for output, I think for the next project, I can think of using a depth camera which can read users’ movements or positions to come up with the various dynamic so that I can exclude computer control for fully immersed experiences.