DSDN112 Intro to Interaction Design: July 2011

Thursday, 28 July 2011

The Bead Maze

This ^^ is interesting - I remembered these little beauties from my childhood while experimenting with possible structures of my interactive object. Thinking about the mobius strip, I was playing with possible designs for a continuous loop of narrative, so tripping the user of the object into a sort of complex mindgame as to where the story begins and ends... This bending and twisting of wire which I was contemplating structuring my object with reminded me of these bead mazes that I played with as a child... and young teen... In discussion with my tutor, we considered how the very shape of the wire almost acts as the narrative - the smooth loopy curved green wire (gentle, relaxed) versus the straight, sharply curved orange wire (decisive, strict). I thought this was a good thing to consider in terms of structure.

Monday, 25 July 2011

Proposal - DSDN112 Part A Hand In

Storytelling, Retold

I plan to create an extraordinary tactile experience for the user of my interactive object that will see them follow a carefully structured series of textures through a narrative journey, much like a musical symphony moves one through an [audial] narrative journey. The best way to illustrate this experience would be by the term ‘narrative curve’ – the classic pattern of a story. First, there is the introduction of characters, followed by the introduction of conflict, building, climax, and resolution of conflict and finally the conclusion. I will use this as a template and have different textures to represent different parts of the ‘story’ (ie. smooth for the introduction vs rough, grating texture for the very peak of story). This journey will take place blindfolded so that the user participates purely through touch and gets a much richer experience by isolating this one sense. The textures will be laid out and attached in an easily followed path on a relatively large board – the challenge is not for the user to follow the path (this should be relatively easy), but to interpret a story from the textures. This will be exciting for the user as it revolutionizes the world of storytelling and puts it in a novel, exciting new light.

Storyboard - DSDN112 Part A Hand In

Friday, 22 July 2011

The Narrative Curve

Could this possibly be the answer I have been looking for in terms of an application for my contrasting textures? Similar to the 'Yellow Brick Road' concept, the narrative curve* could be symbolically represented in terms of a textural symphony - the user follows a path of textures, each one representing a part of the narrative curve. For example, the introduction to the 'story' has a smooth texture, representing calm and peace, as opposed to a texture beginning to get more and more rough as the conflict begins to arise. I think this idea has potential :)

*The Narrative Curve

1. Introduce the situation

2. Introduce the characters

3. Describe conflict

4. Develop conflict

5. Resolve conflict

The diagram above illustrates a classic narrative curve. The narrative peaks after the beginning in order to engage the audiences interest and entice them to watch through to the end. Showing your audience a glimpse of what happens at the end often does this. The curve then drops slightly as important information about the character is given. The conflict is then introduced which helps to re-build the narrative curve towards the climax of the story, the peak of the curve. The story and its conflict are then resolved and the tension subsides at the end. The ending in a classic narrative is designed to resolve the tensions created during the story and to give full closure (a conclusive ending).
http://videoeditinglearn.com/video/?p=47