Project Overview
Odyssey is an interactive children's exhibit that encourages the exploration of nature. Our team's goal was to create an immersive experience that combats screen-time overuse and activates curiosity and appreciation of our world by using technology in an unconventional way. We were interested in the biomes of the world, so we chose this theme to build our exhibit on.
After extensively researching our potential users and technology, we created elements of the exhibit to best encompass childrens' most common learning styles. Kids can turn the globe to change the environment on the screen, activate the screen through motion, or read the educational posters located near the screen.
The exhibit was showcased at the Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley on November 17, 2023. Complete research and description of Odyssey can be found in the link to our project website below.
My Roles
- User Research: Creating a survey for children and conducting research at a local library to get responses
- Technology Research: Exploring various methods and devices to help us execute our idea, developed plans for physical components, and researched Touchdesigner to best implement it
- Interactive Functionality: Built the Touchdesigner file inside which the exhibit was able to take sound, visual, and data inputs, connected various components into the file to allow it to perform in real time
- Illustration: Created two of the biome backgrounds, as well as designed the main description poster and other assets
- Physical Computing: Assisted with the globe and Arduino sensor assembly, troubleshooted code misreadings, and engineered globe and sensor attachment
Process Video
My goal with the process video was to provide background as to why we chose our target audience and project outcomes, how we conducted our research, and demonstrate what the finished looked like in action. I also wanted to explain the behind-the-scenes work that I did with Touchdesigner and the interactive functionality - as it is not immediately visible when interacting with Odyssey in person - to inspire more appreciation for the depth of work my team put into this project.
Touchdesigner Experience
Working within Touchdesigner software was a new experience for my team and I, but after learning about its functionality, it seemed like the best choice for creating Odyssey. While I am far from versed in the software, I gained valuable practice researching the node-based system, using trial-and-error to find a system that worked for us, and organizing our data in a way that my whole team could understand my workflow.
Illustration Work
After working together with other teammate to develop Odyssey's style and color guide for the illustrations, I created our introduction page, globe icon, and other background illustrations for the project. My motive for the "About Odyssey" poster was to draw in the viewer and to explain to them Odyssey's background research as well as how to interact with it. It was important to us that viewers who came into contact with the project (older children and accompanying parents of younger children) had the opportunity to know our motives and research behind Odyssey. The poster is inviting and has visually similar style to the other educational posters for consistency and and cohesiveness with the whole exhibit.
I really enjoyed creating the globe icon, as it was a fun challenge to try to incorporate small portions of all the biome illustrations into one small illustration. I wanted it to serve as a wordless logo that communicated childlike playfulness and colorful exploration as well as support Odyssey's visual identity wherever we used it.
