https://youtu.be/JoAYcsuWRWI
Theme - BODY
For this week I created an automata - an interactive toy and a controlled mechanism, which demonstrates unrealistic, exaggerated, dynamic character poses. The character on the images is being in the state of complete relaxation, he dances, flies, frees his mind and body so much that his poses go beyond reality. Eventually we see not how he actually looks but how he feels himself while moving. The character is very passionate about his dance so no longer he controls his body and perceives his movements in the prism of consciousness and flight of fantasy.
In the modern world there are not much chances to relax mind and body, to dance without controlling ourselves. So I wanted to show a character who did it and calls all people to “FREE THEIR BODY” and dance with him.
This device not only an automata, it is also a game in which user should try to repeat those poses or movements and try to make it as close as possible to the picture. The user rotate the automata with music and they should stop along with the sound. The arrow at the bottom indicates the pose which the player should attempt to repeat.
Method
The device which I created called “automata”, it comes alive as you rotate a single handle. It creates an illusion of moving image. However, my drawings are very different to each other so they look more like key frames. I didn’t want to concentrate on slight changes of one movement, thats why I chose this approach.
Firstly, I started with cam - spinning element that you turn with the handle. The element which sits horizontally is moving according to the cam and its called cam follower. The cam follower transmits its motion to the elements on top of the box to animate the sculpture.
Secondly, I put sticks into cams measuring 60 degrees from one to another. Then, I put both cams on a skewer sticks inside the frame and made them interact with each other producing a movement of the main central stick.
Context
My response is linked to the theories from the book “Embodied Interaction in Play: Body-Based and Natural Interaction in Games” by Ralf Donler.
This chapter aims at informing game developers by bridging concepts between gameplay and different interaction paradigms that incorporate and focus on the human body (i.e., body-based, natural, and tangible interaction). It highlights the challenges, potentials and pitfalls of physical interactions and discusses the role of the human mind-body relation as a fundamental concept for serious game interaction design.
The human body and its senses are a natural means of interaction, as humans reason and form consciousness based on their bodily experiences and physical surroundings. Embodied interaction also emphasizes the meaning of the human body, as people interact with their surrounding social and physical world through their bodies.
Reflection
While creating this artwork I was thinking about the theory of “embodied condition”, according to which sensory and motor systems are seen as fundamentally integrated with cognitive processing. And in my opinion “Free your body” game may also be seen as a therapeutical, helping with mental and cognitive issues. As the human body is a crucial factor in how we perceive ourselves and surroundings to learn and reason, body-based interaction can be a valuable source when dealing with mental and cognitive issues in rehab and therapy. This results in a potentially better awareness of the player’s own body and its capabilities. Furthermore, such interactions also present an opportunity to regain a sense of the impact of peoples’ actions.