The Monster that We Made

The Monster that We Made

An interactive physical installation

The Problem

One of the main contributors of plastic pollution is single-use plastic. Plastic lasts for eons yet it is discarded after just a single use. Recycling is a solution to this problem. Sadly many of us regard it as troublesome since we fail to see the impact single-use plastic has on our environment.

The Idea

‘The Monster that We Made’ is an interactive physical installation designed for kids as an early intervention. It makes visible and tangible our common ways of dealing with plastics. By providing kids with a bird-eye view and control of the plastic ecosystem, they are able to observe immediate impacts of their actions. The content also provided a lively interpretation of plastic pollution as a form of monster to create memorable communications.

Technology and Applications

The installation utilised two projectors. One being used for projection- mapping on a physical city model. Kids are known to be very receptive to tactile stimuli, hence the city model provides an interaction interface on that level. The other projector was utilised for portability and scalability of the dynamic content. 

Different colour schemes and dynamic representation on the Plastic Monster are used to communicate the difference of inputs by the user. The striking colour and layers of animations are to attract the attention of the younger audiences.

The game come with three endings based on the inputs by the user. The content and writing are aimed to be easy to understand while the tone are aimed to be hopeful and positive regardless of the choices made.

Resources such as laser cutting machine and 3D printing machine are utilised to realise the initial 3D models created in Cinema 4D with height of children and arm reach into design consideration. As this is an installation utilising two projectors, multiple mock ups and testing has been conducted,  in order to create seamless connections between two screens and a unique immersive experience.

Custom made buttons which aimed to be strong and lasting, easy to press and responsive to encourage younger audiences to be daring to interact with the installation. These buttons are able to react in real time through integration of softwares between Arduino and Unity 3D.

Limitations:

Due to restrictions, the target audiences of the project which is children between 7 to 12 years old are unable to took part in the user testing phase.