Time Capsule II: AR Musical Tombstone
This week, I need to move forward from the last week’s rough idea and to figure out how I would make this time capsule both in physical and under the augmented reality effect in order to tell my stories of this special speaker for people in the future.
Time Capsule I(last week): https://medium.com/ideation-prototyping/time-capsule-i-476fe191394f
Inspired by the saying from our guest speaker — Kathleen Bryan, last week, which is “Pick the tool that best fits the task. Not the task that best fits the tool”, I started to think about the feeling and story I want to express through this time capsule to someone that never know me. I thought about AR(Augmented Reality) because I have made the project on this before, but can I only accomplish my work by AR?
My goal is to let my listeners immerse in the story and actually see what happened during my days, in order to share the same feeling, no matter sadness, happiness or sorrow, with me. Or, can I make a 3D holograms to bring the actual 3D life scenario in front of them?
I looked up the information on the internet and made a small prototype for my idea with simple tools of a phone, an acrylic plastic and a knife.
However, there are some challenges for this idea:
- It needs to display in a totally dark environment, which means it’s hard to combine with the paper background backwards
- For the animation played on the phone, it needs time to learn, but I only have one week for this
- The view is really small. If I want the animation in a certain size, then I need to make a really big acrylic plastic glass and also the same playback device
Considering all of these aspects, I thought back to my original idea since it could be more realistic and applicable. Then, the next question is how to create a better story on a physical object which combines with AR technology?
How it may look like?
I want to make a tombstone. One hundred years later, I will definitely be dead already and be buried under the ground. What I leave to the world is only a tombstone. My grandchildren or grand-grandchildren will come visit me with flowers. I hope, at that moment, I can introduce myself to them of who I am and what I come through, and also what is the history of our big family through hundreds of years.
For my time capsule, it will be a tombstone shape with my speaker inside. When people approach it, it can play those memorial songs from me and begin to tell my stories. In order to make the sound come out, I need holes from this physical tombstone. My original plan is to carve holes based on my cartoon portrait.
However, after I got all my model done and prepared to 3D print it in NYU Maker Space. Another challenge came. My model was too complicated that it took nearly 20 hour to print which was not under the school rules of machine use. Therefore, I adjusted my model to cut off some details and then slice it into three parts to print separately.
How it will tell my story?
Through AR on mobile, there will be a 3D scenario for my memory with these three background songs — <my love>by Westlife, <Stay with me> by Sam Smith and<Welcome to New York> by Taylor Swift, which represent my memorial bond with my family, my friends, and my own.
Models for family bond
five character models(my parents, my two elder sisters and me), a bench, two trees
Models for friend bond
a rotating rectangle, several character models(a bunch of friends)
Models for self bond
buildings and roads of New York city, life photos, Empire State building
Final display
The tombstone can be displayed at anywhere. If have any chance, it can also be real 1:1 tombstone that provides AR experience and music for coming visitors to tell each one’s own story in the grave.
What I have learned…
Though there are a lot of unexpected problems during the process, I finally made my AR musical tombstone. Since I have two weeks for this homework, I am more open to more options and think much deeper.
- Always think more ideas in the very beginning, at ideation part, and do not think about the viability first
- Pick the tool that best fits the task. Not the task that best fits the tool!
- Always prioritize the problems and fix them one by one
