I thought chatbots were pretty old and outdated until I *met* Mitsuku last semester as part of another IM class. It was really interesting that this chatbot was in a human form. The homepage states that she’s a “four-time winner of the Loebner Prize turing test, so I gave her a try – or rather, a lot of tries because she actually turned out to be interesting!
Mitsuku’s answers may not always be fitting, but she has a lot of different answers on stock. I find it interesting that this chatbot almost gives an impression of a real person, which makes the conversation more exciting and interesting, regardless of whether the whole content makes sense or not. It’s interesting because you wouldn’t expect such complicated, sophisticated answers from the computer that just isn’t human.
I read a paper a while back that talks about how believable these chatbots have become. Some people have actually started treating these chatbots as their real counselors because of certain traits that they possess. For example, chatbots often repeat some phrases of the sentence that you write, which is what counselors and psychologists often do to turn the conversation’s focus back to the patient/speaker. The preset algorithm makes these chatbots particularly successful in giving the impression that they possess human qualities. I find this human-machine interaction very fascinating and see a lot of potential in developing this field.
I was thinking of making an enchanted forest virtual reality, but my data got deleted due to an unexpected computer reboot and I saw some of the presentations of projects in class. I was thinking on what virtual reality to create since there already was an enchanted forest, and I have came up with a lovely idea to make a beautiful sunset valley. Inspiration for this was a very well-known game “Legends of Zelda: Breath of the wild”. Here are some screenshots from the game:
So I have used some asset from the asset store to get the terrain modifier tool and used a preset terrain. I’ve added some textures and meshes to make it look like a forest valley in the mountain area, to make it look like in the game.
Pearl Patrick Osborn’s Oscar nominated 360 view short film that tells the story of a young girl, her father, and their love of music, the two of them connected by a song. The viewer witnesses the story unfold across the years and seasons from the passenger seat of the car that the two protagonists travel around in.
The film
begins as an older Pearl finds her father’s old car in a scrapyard, she plays a
cassette recording of her father’s song, bringing back memories. The film is a
montage of scenes spanning from the girl’s childhood to young adulthood, how
her love for music, and the friends she makes it with, develops as she finally
makes it in the music world. Yet it primarily revolves around her warm and sometimes
rocky relationship with her father over time, around the symbols of the song
and the car, the space that the film takes place in.
The style consists of simple, not too detailed, 3D models with cel shading that gives them an almost 2D effect. What really makes the style, however is the atmospheric lighting that creates different moods as well as different times and places. The constant changes in lighting signal the change of scene. There is always a focal point to the action in the scene which the film effectively guides the eye of the viewer to the right spot. One of the moments that works best is where the kids run out into the sea, lit up by the headlights of the car.
What I love
most about the film is that it makes use of the idea of how a space can contain
memories. The choice of car, a contained space that moves around, revealing the
space outside is particularly interesting. The use of VR, instead of telling
the story through curated shots, works to make the viewer feel like an
outsider, given an intimate glimpse into the lives of these two people. It also
gives the viewer an association of themselves with the space of the car, like they
are seeing the story unfold from its perspective.
Though it
makes a great 360 view video, it is difficult to watch through a headset. The
scene transitions between scenes happen rapidly and the car constantly switches
from moving to stationary, making it a slightly nauseating experience.
“People think there’s one reality, but there’s loads of em all snaking off like roots, and what we do on one path affects what happens on other paths. Time is a construct.”
Bandersnatch is a 2018 Netflix sci fi/ horror film that is a part of the fantastic Black Mirror series. Though it is a film it is also a choose your own adventure game. You, the viewer, make certain decisions for Stefan, the protagonist, starting with what kind of cereal he should have for breakfast.
Stefan is a young game developer from the 80s, creating a choose your own adventure based video game himself that he has titled ‘Bandersnatch’ after the book it was based on. Colin, another game developer and a hero of Stefan’s reveals to him that his own life is like a choose your own adventure game, his fate decided by the smallest of decisions.
What makes the interaction in Bandersnatch so brilliant is that it is entirely self aware. You, the viewer on Netflix is a part of the story as the one who is pulling the strings on the protagonist. As Stefan ruminates on Colin’s words, he becomes aware of you, the viewer’s presence and role in his fate as he realizes he no longer has control over his decisions. This is most convincing in the moment in which he actively resists the decision picked by the viewer. The moment of resistance to it draws attention to the own player’s agency, something that we tend to take for granted when playing games.
Bandersnatch’s drawing of the viewer’s agency as the player into the narrative is one of the most effective breaks of the fourth wall I have experienced.
“There’s a cosmic flowchart that dictates where you can and where you can’t go. I’ve given you the knowledge, I’ve set you free.”
The game One Night Ultimate Werewolf has its players bluffing and lying in order to win ( sort of like mafia).
At the
beginning of the game each player is given a card. One or more players are
werewolves and the rest are villagers. Each villager has an action that they
perform during the ‘night’.
As soon as
each player knows what they are, all players must close their eyes, only
opening them to perform an action as instructed by the voice on the
accompanying app during the ‘night’. Cards are stolen, swapped and spied on and
when every action has been performed all the players ‘wake up’.
Now the real game begins. The players have 5 minutes to figure out who the werewolves among them are in order to vote on who to ‘kill’. The main interaction consists of discussion amongst the players as to who is trustworthy and whose story checks out. This stage can get pretty raucous and tense. But you never really know anyone’s true identity until after the voting and the cards are revealed.
Five whole minutes of the game are spent with the players talking it out. What I love about this game is how it has everyone in suspicion of each other which underlies the whole process of the interactions between them. Players band together, try to decide who to trust, bluff (double bluff and triple bluff), test other players to see if their story checks out, trick each other into revealing important information, look for inconsistencies in each other’s stories, double cross each other etc. Not everyone is who they claim to be and you decide who you can trust.
I really like the interaction between a cat-lover (human) and a cat because when such a person sees a cat, a giant smile instantaneously appears on the person’s face regardless of how the person has been feeling. The cat-lover goes up to the cat and begins patting the cat. Depending on how amiable the cat is, the cat either lets the person pat him/her or simply run away. I’ve seen my cat-lover friends talk to cats as if they are talking to a baby. They would talk nicely in a very high-pitched voice and place their face close to the cat. Although I do like cats, I am not a fan of petting wild cats, and so watching the cat-lovers interact in a way they do with the cats are amusing.
I used the Google Cardboard to view a VR 360 short movie called “Asteroids!” by baobab. In this short movie, the user is virtually placed in the center of a spaceship and depending on the view, the user can see the outside (space) from the large window, or the user can see the interior of the spaceship. There is a storyline within this six-minute clip, which starts off with a peaceful scene, and then the characters face an emergency situation, one of the characters (the mom?) faces death but regains life, and the family is back to their happy norm.
The crucial difference of this 360 video from any other one-side video is that the user is the one who chooses which part of the scene he/she decides to watch. For example, when five dirt pieces hit the window of the spaceship, it was up to the user (in this case, myself) to turn around and see what had hit the window. What I mean by this is that when I was watching this scene, I was looking at the interaction of the three characters facing the interior of the ship. Suddenly, I heard a sound of something hitting the window, and so I turned around with my VR headset and saw that five pieces of green dirt had hit the window. In a sense, I turned around instantaneously when I head that sound out of curiosity, but some user may not even bother turning around, which would mean that that user will not witness that five green dirt on the window.
At times when I was watching this video, I was lost as to where the action was taking place. For example, there would be an action taking place at a certain location and then it would jump to a different location. Those times, I had to do a 360 turn around to figure out where the next scene was taking place. I was watching this video in my room on my bed and so it was easy for me to do a 360-degree turn. However, if I had been watching this video in a smaller and limited space, my actions would have been different. Therefore, I realized that I must secure a free 360-degree space before watching or doing any 360 VR or AR experience.
One of the few first-person-shooter games that I truly enjoyed and thought was brilliantly made is “Borderlands 2.” The bold-line-style artwork, huge collection of different forageable loot, and funny collection of quests makes the game endlessly enjoyable to play but what makes the game truly beautiful are the characters. The first NPC you interact with in the game is this robot named CL4P-TP, or Claptrap for convenience. The robot is, as the name ironically implies, overly enthusiastic and an endless talker. Claptrap has this iconic post-apocalyptic WALL-E similarity to it which just adds to the story and the artwork in general.
What makes the robot a true artwork
is its personality. Constantly spewing comedy and dark satire makes it
absolutely not seem robotic at all. The voice is kind of artificial but what is
be said really give Claptrap the personality of a real character, truly an
ideal NPC. The first interaction with the player is right after waking up in
game. The player doesn’t really know what to do and just explores the frozen
wasteland surroundings a bit, just to find this chatterbox robot come up to
them. Instantly chatting and cracking jokes about be lonely and being a dysfunctional
robot, immediately snaps the player into the present. Without any prior
background, the player is placed into a comfortable scenario where they are
being guided to the right location and helped with instructions.
Usually the initial instructional segments of games are blatantly
obvious and boring. They are usually filled with simple tutorials and tasks
that the player probably already knows. This tutorial is completely different,
the player doesn’t even realize that they are being taught the controls and
rules of the game because the hilarious robot is talking the entire time.
Making jokes about the surroundings and about the player’s actions, being
incredibly self-deprecating about being a lonely robot, talking about its
intent to join the resistance so that it can get back at the villain who stopped
its production line (making it lonely because it now has not friends). The
chit-chat that seems totally nonsensical and like blabber actually turns out to
be incredibly informative about the game’s storyline and background.
The NPC immediately, without question, states itself as the player’s friend and helper. Additionally Claptrap talks about itself and its history of creation. Topics that are obviously only possible for a non-human being but at the same time feels oddly personal. Claptrap helps, chats, cracks jokes, instructs, his informative, and has a personality which all do not match to its flimsy little robotic body. The character continues to stay by the player’s side for most of the game but the first interaction is what really gives a connection and convinces the player that there is a deep storyline within the game.
When I first started brainstorming I had one goal set in mind. Creating a space that is peaceful, and has the ability to make others feel peaceful. There were several elements, but one of the main element was color.
The following colors were the colors I wanted to use in my space:
When I was using glitch before there was a project that I have created and wanted to have a related new project
This is the image of the former project
While the former work consisted of one object, I wanted my first project to consist of different spheres. I wanted each spheres to represent source of life. My first planning of the project was to keep the basic form of the egg with the plant growing from it. However I also wanted to show the never-ending sky. These were some elements that I was planning on adding:
One egg shaped object with a tree growing out of it
To spheres with tree
Human figures floating around the spheres
Cloud
Bubbles
I also wanted the space to almost be dreamy. I didn’t want the space to look too real. I wanted the viewer to be confused and think about what exactly is happening in the scene. To do that I have decided to get rid of gravity. Because we are so used to gravity, I believed, getting rid of it would make the space more dreamy. Also I wanted to implement of idea of being able to exist in different dimension.
This was my initial sketch of the project:
However, as I started building the models there was some modifications made. I wanted to change the spheres to cubes instead. When I used the spheres it almost looked 2-Dimensional. Also I wanted the use to see the 3-dimensional objects. So instead I created a cube with two open sides. The open sides would show what is inside the cube. I wanted those cubes to almost look like small houses, or small show rooms. It was going to be a showroom of life.
I also tried putting human figures into my space, and found it hard to find a human asset that suited with the atmosphere and the color scheme. Instead, I found animal asset and used three different animals. I used three different animal models: Pig, Sheep, Cow. These animals are the most common animals that we can see. They are not exactly pets, but us humankind would not have been able to do a lot of things without them. I have placed these animals in different cubes. But I wanted these animals to not be placed comfortably, so I have chose to have them stuck in between walls.
To make the bubbles, I found a bubble asset that came with animation and the texture. However, I ended up creating the bubbles myself and only using the texture. The biggest reason why I decided not to use the animation in the asset was because the bubbles would pop. In a space without gravity, the bubbles were not supposed to pop.
I also added trees to the cubes. They grow different directions. Which, I believe, emphasizes the disarray of the space. The space looked like world had an explosion and all these elements just started flying around.
It is very difficult for me to focus, especially when I’m trying to sleep. Listening to music certainly helps block out darting thoughts, but I wanted to create a visual space that I could focus on before going to bed. Thus, I wanted this space to be peaceful, minimalist, and beautiful.
Inspired by the place I grew up in, I wanted to create some sort of dream forest that felt very natural even if it had some mystical elements. To me, a forest environment conveys solitude, peace, and has no extraneous elements that could be a distraction, helping the viewer to be more immersed in the environment. One of my favorite things is looking up at trees and seeing the criss-crossed layers of branches against the sky. Thus, I was particularly excited to create a forest in VR because the viewer would be able to look across the forest, but also up at the tree branches. Thus, I began by creating the forest using a mixture of free tree assets. I ended up removing the leaves of the trees because though they contributed to a feeling of peace, the leaves went against the meditative aesthetic I was trying to convey. Perhaps because the leaves prevented the extent to which the viewer could see in every direction which I felt was a crucial element to creating a sense of reflection. The most challenging part of creating the forest was determining the optimal density of the trees. Too little and the environment felt unnatural and bare. Too much and the viewer could not see into the distance. Something I didn’t take into account was how much space the viewer needed, so I originally placed the player camera in the center of the forest, not changing anything for the viewer. This made the environment feel chaotic and cluttered, which was the opposite of what I aimed for. I ended up creating a clearing in the trees in the space around the player camera so that the environment felt more personalized to the viewer and that they’d have more room to breathe.
Once the basic form was created, I could focus on the little details that would create the identity of dream-like peace. I began with changing the skybox to put in a night sky. I felt that a darker environment would be more dream-like and conducive to using the environment before sleeping. However, the dark skies with the barren trees gave the ambience of something dark and sinister rather than calming and beautiful. Thus, I knew I needed to add some elements that would make it dream-like, conveying the sense of being in an alternate reality rather than just any forest at night. I added blue fog which added a tinge of magic, but also aerial perspective for the trees in the distance. I added a moonray which gave the forest a white glow that made it feel more peaceful. I played around with several elements like a pond, mushrooms, mist, swaying flowers, flying birds, but ended up choosing floating orbs of light and a gentle wave. I wanted something with soft, regular motion like breathing or rocking a baby to sleep. I chose to create a wave that flowed through the entire forest because of the sense of peace it gave me and the supernatural ambience it added. I played around with the wave so that it would barely be there and then appear when fading in. For the orbs of light, I created a particle system and adjusted its properties so that the orbs would be a rose gold color to balance the cool tones of the forest. Additionally, I changed the size of the particles and the radius of the system so that the orbs would float up from the whole forest which the viewer could see if they looked upwards. I wanted the orbs of light to balance the darkness of the forest and to be something calming that also invited a sense of awe. Finally, I added soft music with the sounds of waves to reiterate the peacefulness of the environment.
I am quite happy with the results, though a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get it to work with the Google Cardboard. For some reason, every time I would build the project with the Google VR Player prefab, my computer would crash and Unity would automatically quit. I did get it to build successfully once, but in the build version I couldn’t seem to move which was surprising because it worked perfectly fine when running it in Unity. But, I suppose this is okay as I have plenty of time to figure out how to make it work. I actually pulled the environment open once last night when I was feeling stressed and it did calm me down a bit, though that could merely be a placebo effect as a result of my bias towards my personal environment. It would be nice to play test it and see how others respond to the environment and adjust my design from there. One thing I want to play around with is creating a script that changes the skybox depending on the time of the day for the viewer. This is something I want to play around with rather than definitively do because I’m not sure how the barren trees would look during the day. Overall, I’m happy that I got better at ambient lighting and creating particle systems in Unity which will very helpful for future projects. One thing I learned through this project is how much these little details contribute to the identity of the environment. I originally intended to create a dark forest like the Forbidden Forest in Harry Potter and ended up with a dream-like identity just through a few simple elements.
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