Conceptual Origins
I began this project by brainstorming and reflecting
on what digital worlds I have belonged to throughout
my life. I found that much of the worlds I enjoyed
spending time in throughout my childhood had to do
with personalizing avatars, competing with friends,
and playing any kind of internet game
One kind of the place I would always spend hours on when
I was younger were those websites that had an array of
games like chess, sudoko, crosswords, and word searches.
Using that as my base, I began to brainstorm a way to
novelize those games and include an avatar.
Process
- I began the process by trying to think of a simple
way to connect two interactors through a work search
game. A simple competition seemed too basic, so after
doing some research, I found that the Apple iMessage
application used Game Pigeon as a way to allow two
people to play a continuoues game. - Instead of having my avatar be an anonymous organizer
like the Game Pigeon, I thought it would be better to
have it be a downloaded extension of iMessage that the
user could directly "chat" with. - Going back to the actual concept, I thought it could be
fun to allow the users to create their own wordseaches
and use them as ways to send secret or encrypted messages. - My first prototype of the complete concept only included
one side of the conversation and was just a simple message
between two co-workers. - After a class critique, I began to develop the idea in terms
of what the possibilites could be and if I could use the idea
within a more fun environment.
Conclusion
Overall, I really enjoyed how this project allowed us flexibility
in creating a digital platform. I liked how successful my project
was in being personalized to my past digital worlds and it is a
platform that I would use if it was available. The most difficult
part of this project was just coordinating and editing the texting
exchange into a video. I don't think I am completely finished with
this project as I would like to expand on the different situations
the avatar can be used in and delve a little deeper in designing the
execution of everything.