Expressive motion is a Canada NSERC-CC funded project in collaboration with Lyn Bartrym and Thecla Shiphorst at Simon Fraser University. This project focuses on the development and identification of expressive dimensions of motion, specifically to understand how expressive parameters of motion evoke specific emotions or convey information. David is particularly interested in dimensions that contribute to visual attention breakdowns in interactive 3D environments.
Social Signaling in Virtual Worlds (Second Life)
Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly popular with many different worlds delivering social experiences for their participants. There are now around hundreds of virtual worlds occupying the virtual social space, each with a special set of affordances for social and play mechanics. This project is part of a bigger multi-million dollar project called VERUS (Virtual Environment and Real User Studies), funded by the IARPA, US government agency. The VERUS project aims to investigate the relation between user backgrounds and real world behaviors as factors affecting or predicting their virtual worlds' behavior. The social signaling aspect of this project aims to investigate the relationship between users' background and real world behavior and Social Signaling patterns, such as signals of power, agreement, or turn-taking gestures, exhibited within the virtual worlds. This project is in collaboration with SRI at Menlo Park, USA, Jennifer Jenson at York University, Canada, and Suzanne de Castel, Education School, Simon Fraser University.
Assassin’s Creed II – A Cultural Read II
The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of background and culture on play styles and behaviors within a
sandbox video game, like Assassin’s Creed II. We apply the previous design patterns in our analysis of over 40 participants playing the same level.
Design Patterns and Analysis to Guide Player Movement in 21 3D Games
This paper investigates the differences between 3D level design in 21 popular games. We have developed a framework for analysis based on level design patterns extracted from level designers and game play sessions. The patterns include Path Movement (PM), Environment Resistance (ER), Pursue AI (PAI), Path Target (PT), Collection (Col) and Vulnerability (V).We then use these patterns to analyze play sessions of each game. Results of this analysis reveal the composition of pushing and pulling players through levels. We discuss our results in terms of three play styles and their usage tied to mixed goals, combat, and environmental resistance. Such analysis uncovers similarities and differences in terms of level design within different game play styles.
Virtual Heritage Museum
The goal of the Roedde House project is to immerse new and curious gaming audiences into the intimate stories surrounding a photorealistic visit to a local Vancouver’s heritage site. Using first-person gaming technologies, the gameplay focus is primarily on exploration and uncovering the mystery of the house. Fragments of story are randomly triggered by moving around the environment, making every telling unique. In addition to a new form Family Entertainment, this project also serves a tourism marketing purpose to attract new audiences to Canada’s cultural heritage landmarks.
Co-operative Game Design
Cooperative design has been an integral part of many games since their inception. With the success of games like Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2008) and Left4dead (Valve, 2008), many video game designers and producers are currently exploring the addition of cooperative patterns within their games. Unfortunately, very little research investigated cooperative patterns or methods to evaluate their effectiveness within games. In this project, we aim to develop a set of cooperative patterns that extends previous work. In addition, we will devise a study to investigated connections between cooperative performance metrics as part of a framework for analysis and evaluation of cooperative games. This project is Bardia Aghebeigi's Master's thesis. See the Gloabal TV News Coverage here (.MOV or WMV))
Boidz: An ALife Augmented Reality Ambient Visualization
Boidz is an ambient visualization populated by autonomous a-life flocking agents situated in a 3D augmented reality environment. The project intent is to study how emergent agent behavior can become expressive and aesthetic aids in understanding the visualization. A prototype visualization was developed and exhibited in the space testing these claims and preliminary user responses have been collected. The current prototype has been implemented in less than 3 months and uses image based modeling in MAYA, the Microsoft XNAgame development engine, Sharpsteer: a steering behavior library and population data collected offline.
EMIIE Lab Content Creation and Infrastructure Management
I am assisting in the EMIIE Lab content integration and development for many research trajectories including my own. We are using Microsoft XNA. The current repository contains architectural elements, landscaping & terrain, and characters meshes + rigging. Currently it contains a medieval village, rustic interior, and hilltop castle, mountainous topography, and foliage. Additionally multiple animated characters, men, women, and children will populate this environment.
Our Team used the LeBlanc's MDA framework throughout the prototyping and playtesting development. We chose simple mechanics for our game and focused on the 3 main actors: Player, AI, and Stage. The goal is always the same – strategically deflect the AI into the holes and move on to the next level. But beware--- your life is limited! From the simple rules used, we explored interesting play strategies and came up with level designs that would exploit these strategies. We kept true to the original space idea and chose to depict our characters as aliens, large eyeballs, purple monsters, birds that don’t fly, and a mystery character that looks like a sea urchin (again with eyeballs). Watch the youtube video here.
Spatial Learning within a 3D game using Processing
A digital prototype using the Processing programming language where the goal is to address Spatial Learning within a 3D game. The core aspects addressed through code are camera control, object selection, object manipulation, and object behavior. The resulting prototype can be evaluated from a user-centric point of view using methodology from the MDA Framework: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. Your goal as a player is to interact with the objects in the 3D environment. The colorful objects are attracted to you and will follow your movements – but don’t let them get too close or damage occurs (flashing pink background) . The primary way to interact is by changing your position and clicking on colors (Firing) using the keyboard and mouse controllers. Through this pursuit, I am better familiarized with basic organizational structures essential in game programming and for future investigation in game engine architectures.
PROFESSIONAL WORK________________________________________________
Vatican Memorial
The producers at CBS wanted to realistically and virtually reconstruct the spaces and activities during the funeral ceremonies of Pope John Paul II and the selection of his successor. The reason for this particular approach was because broadcast media was prevented from physically entering sacred spaces during this time and also to spatially map the sequence of events.
This daunting task involved modeling and texturing the monumental St. Peter's Basilica interiors and exteriors, St. Peters Square, and the Sistine Chapel from dozens of reference materials. Although much of it could be reused there were still numerous custom (iconic) objects such as the enormous Baldachin and obelisk in the square. The project took 1-2 months to complete with the last minute help from the CBS visualization department.
The Breakers Palm Beach Virtual Tour
Senior Project Manager and Panorama Photogrpaher in rich media experience of a world-renowned resort. The 560-room, Italian Renaissance-style hotel and 140 acres of oceanfront property can be viewed over the Internet. This allowed a completely new visual means for us to present the architectural splendor, size and scope of the property and its prized oceanfront location. We built a large set of visual “walkthrough” experiences that with the aid of a navigable map of the property enable our guests to tour areas such as accommodations, beach and pools, golf courses, dining, shopping, recreational activities, and meeting space. The unique capability to connect nearly 500 different points throughout the resort gives our clients a true feeling for exactly what they will encounter when they arrive at The Breakers Palm Beach. Now visitors can visually experience (in movie-like fashion) every corner of the resort and grounds, then proceed to book vacations and meetings directly from http://thebreakers.supertour.com . SuperTour’s HyperMedia Content Platform built each visual experience to increase buyer confidence and online conversion by providing consumers, meeting planners, travel agents and investors a significantly more informative, engaging and memorable tool. Users of HyperMedia content, such as meeting planners, are now able to fully experience and appreciate a property or destination via the web before planning an onsite visit.
Memory Stair
The 1930's style living and dining room "memory experience" was produced for the PhD research of Jacquelyn Morie at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. Link to Jacki's work. The 1930's room is but one of a sequence of memories to be experienced by participants. Hundreds of textures were extracted from vintage photographs, antique catalogues, and the actual objects themselves to produce the furnishings. Lighting fixtures, wallpaper, tiles, and the overall aged surface finish were all taken into consideration for the look and feel of the 2 rooms.
Memory Stairs was modeled entirely in MAYA using the fewest polygons for real-time simulations.
Oosterhuis_Lenard, Mondrian Monment
The Mondrian Monument gets the meaning of a public dance floor. Standing on the glass surface above the sucking function of the warp speed you seem to float, one gets automatically the tendency to dance. We consider to reinforce the effect by placing loudspeakers in the grass, the whispering of sound playing a different boogie woogie’s tune generated by the computer, triggered by movement-sensors. We purpose to call the monument Winterswijk Boogie Woogie.
DIGITAL DESIGN / ART WORK____________________________________________
Interactive Carpenter Center
The Virtual Interactive Carpenter Center, received the Harvard GSD 2004 Digital Design Prize. The project is a 3D photo-realistic reconstruction of the architectural landmark with the intent to visually experience expressive features of the building, specifically movement through space. This project is constructed in Maya, a modeling package, from hundreds of image texture maps of the building and surrounding context. The final model is brought into a real-time simulation where behaviors enhance users’ non-linear experience.
Algotecture
This is my final animation for the course sculpting motion where algorithmic forms are created using mel scripts. Simple trigonometric functions are used to create lines and planes that bend & curve over time. After much iteration, these shapes are then composited into an experience where one slowly moves inside the central "temple" space. Along the way new realms are revealed that refine the notion of space essentially created out of numeric codes.
3D Extrusion
This project was a Semifinalist in the 2002 FEIDAD (Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design) and published in Developing Digital Architecture, an international design competition. This project uses 2D montage art containing geometric shapes and details that imply depth. An exercise of extruding faces.
Design Patterns and Analysis to Guide Player Movement in 21 3D Games
