Night Blooms - A multisensory interactive installation
“Night Blooms” uses night-blooming flowers as the primary key visual in encouraging people to embrace human darkness. The night-blooming flowers serve as a potent metaphor, representing a personal journey toward self-discovery and realization amidst times of darkness.
During the initial prototype stage, the water lilies successfully bloomed and gathered around the user, while the water ripples dynamically responded to the user's movements. However, the overall visual aesthetics of the project did not meet the desired standards. Therefore, the subsequent prototype will prioritize the design iteration process to achieve a higher-quality outcome, focusing on enhancing the visual appeal of the installation.
During the initial prototype stage, the flowers appeared more like 2D vectors despite being three-dimensional models. To overcome this limitation, I gained proficiency in UV mapping techniques in Blender, which enabled me to elevate the visual quality of the 3D flowers. Throughout the iterative process, I diligently modified the emission map and base textures using Photoshop, effectively applying them to the flower petals. I conducted several experiments, exploring different textures and emission maps to achieve the desired effect. Unfortunately, Blender's inability to export the files to Unity posed a challenge. As a result, I have recreated the same outcome within Unity by employing a similar approach.
I have explored multiple techniques in order to achieve an aesthetically pleasing water ripples effect. The process of creating these ripples has proven to be the most challenging aspect. Nonetheless, I have successfully adjusted the shaders in Unity and resolved any issues by carefully analyzing the behavior of the nodes within the Unity shader. From a procedural standpoint, it is evident that the end result has transformed from nothingness into something visually captivating and appealing.
Initially, the light installation design involved a flower-blooming mechanism that utilized motors to physically open and close the flowers. I meticulously fabricated various components required for this mechanism to function. The first stage of prototyping proved successful, demonstrating the operational nature of the mechanism. However, during the final setup, I made the decision not to include the mechanism due to certain limitations that arose when integrating an ultrasonic sensor for interactive purposes.
The fabrication process of the light installation encompasses several key steps, including wire soldering, Arduino computing, connector wiring, 3D printing, and flower fabrications. The components employed in this project consist of Arduino Nano, WS2812B LEDs, ultrasonic sensor, wires, connectors, and 5V power supply. The video above shows part of the production day for the project.
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