Playable Memories: Exploring the Possibilities
of Mixed Reality Gaming with Bosco’s 4th of July.
4th of July Video
Through this collaboration for Snap Spectacles with multidisciplinary
creative
Bosco I wanted to explore the possibilities of immersive AR gaming.
Recently, I’ve been fascinated by the growth of the gaming industry, and apparently I’m not the only one. Industries as disparate as music, banking, and cancer research have all begun to take notice of the value immersive gaming experiences in their fields.
With this in mind, I wanted to explore this collaboration with Spectacles 3, the latest AR eyewear wearable from Snapchat, as an opportunity to think about how immersive gaming could shape the way we navigate personal relationsihps and individual identity.
The central concept for the video presents a “Second Life” gaming system being played by a personalized avatar. This avatar, switching between the points of view of our two main protaganists, Corey & MELO-X, journeys through the highs and lows of a budding relationship. Is the avatar using the exprience as practice? Is this a new form of immersive therapy? Time travel? Or maybe it’s just fun and games, with our protaganists as a kind of “virtual pet” for the avatar. Whatever the case, we press play to continue...
4th of July Behind the Scenes
In addition to art directing the video, an editorial shoot, and character design, I stepped into the role of the avatar, working with digital artist Nick Keays on the expressions and final design. I also developed the visual design of the “in-game” graphics and UI. The final video uses 30+ AR lenses and filters made by Snapchat and a list of talented Lens Studio creators. For a final output, I wanted to further connect the digital and physical aspects of the project, working with Fusion Lab LA to create 3D printed models of the main characters, which were then hand-painted. I’d like to imagine a set of figurines, each complete with their own AR experiences and downloadable digital assets. The project in totality was a great case study for circular design that connects global digital creation with local additive manufacturing.
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Sources
Design Global, Manufacture Local: A New Industrial Revolution?
Beth Daley, The Conversation, 2017
Distributed Design Wants To Localize Production
October 2019 by Ewen Chardronnet
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Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology
National Institute of Higher Studies, P2P Foundation, Realengracht 196, 1013AV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Self Simulation Hypothesis of Quantum Mechanics
Klee Irwin, Marcelo Amaral and David Chester
Quantum Gravity Research, Los Angeles, CA
Simulacra and Simulations
Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings
Stanford University Press, 1988
Time Collapse in Social Media
Petter Bae Brandtzaeg, Marika Lüders
SINTEF & University of Oslo, Norway
The Computational Theory of Mind
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Physicists Provide Support for Retrocausal Quantum Theory,
In Which the Future Influences the Past
by Lisa Zyga , Phys.org