"How can we represent liminality in such a way that the participant understands they are experiencing a shift in the flow of time?"
Approach:
The initial approach for this project was for our group of people to create a VR-experience that encapsulated one of timelessness and placelessness. Our group composed of (Abby A, Leah C, Sara H., Taylor Olsen) proposal was about the participant that becomes an observer of the temporal and spatial displacement intrinsic to "liminal" spaces. We began with our basic layout of how we were going to approach the project as follows:
Choices Made: For Ideation, our group began with basic reference photography for the layout of our assets. Sara also contributed personal accounts of her more recent travel experiences.
*Left: Representation of Plato's allegory. Right: Original notes/sketch from Abby Ayers.*
We utilized Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" as a explanation to part of our reasoning behind the limited control in the final experience. How we broke down the image above is as follows (in relation to the original: [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave]).
Our Interpretation: The (Airport) represents the (Virtual) world for the (Player). The (delays) that prevent the (player) from leaving the (Airport) represent (timelessness), meaning the (Delays) are stopping them from (progressing towards their destination). The (disappearing/reappearing objects shown) in the (space) of the (airport) represent (temporal shifts), which is an illusion that the (players) see in the (airport). Actual: “The cave represents the superficial world for the prisoners. The chains that prevent the prisoners from leaving the cave represent ignorance, meaning the chains are stopping them from learning the truth. The shadows cast on the walls of the cave represent the superficial truth, which is an illusion that the prisoners see in the cave.”
Development:
Over the weeks we created assets for Ter(li)minal. As well as learning more about 3D modeling, it gave us a chance at understanding how to keep poly-count low enough for the experience to run on a mobile platform. Planes, people stand-in's, muffins, seating, etc. were all modeled and textured in Maya. While not all assets were fully realized, we considered having the spatial design and timelessness be the main focus of our prototype.
Final Outcome:
Our group completed about 85% of what we set out to accomplish. We had some issues with debugging the experience, as well as limited time-constraints creating all the background assets/textured FBXs that inhabited the scene. Below is a video of the final assets complied into the Unity package and played through a Google Daydream headset:
*A short demo of the "Ter-Li-Minal" experience created.*
-Taylor Olsen
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May 2020
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