My project explores the effects of human development on bird populations. By using a cyclical stage I have the opportunity to showcase the gradual encroachment of urbanization and consumption in a way that very closely resembles our real impact, simply on a faster timeline.
The project is an interactive augmented reality game that follows a bird through urbanization and human encroachment. The user will control the bird in a side-scroller fashion with the goal of keeping the character within the safe zone – under the clouds and over the tree line. Should the bird touch one of these barriers above or below, the game is over. With each revolution the terrain will gradually transform from forested to urban and continue to encroach on the bird’s safe flight zone, essentially taking the player through incremental levels of difficulty. My inspiration for this game is flappy bird, with representations of human encroachment taking the place of pipes as the obstacles. Also unlike flappy bird there is no way to win – after an (as yet undetermined) number of revolutions, the player simply has nowhere to go.
To achieve this illusion the entire transformation will need to be recorded; this image sequence will be used as the background for the game. The spool will be played in it’s original, forested state, so the obstructions appearing during gameplay will only be appearing in the augmented version, and will be in stark contrast the natural environment of the physical spool, the human untouched environment, pre-human interacion.
Style & Medium
To utilize the blend of physical construction and digital augmentation, all of my assets will be made physically. To achieve this within a reasonable timeline I will model several variations of each object (trees, buildings, planes, etc) and utilize the papercura deconstruction software and the laser cutter to create the models for the environment. I will also create the bird physically and photograph it in many positions on a green screen, which I will then string together to create the flight cycle. This way both the physical and augmented environments will appear integrated.
To achieve all of the asset creation while leaving enough time to work on the game creation, I will use a low-poly style that will aid in construction speed. Color and texture application is yet to be determined.
Mood board
Precedents & Research
https://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-human-activities-that-threaten-birds.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talk-bird-migration/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150107140758.htm
https://www.birdlife.org.au/conservation/science/threats-to-birds
Concept sketches
