University of Lisbon | Faculty of Fine Arts | PhD in Fine-Arts of Lisbon - Multimedia specialization
Sea Grains
Place of identity and memory immersed
in sensorial interactive experiences
AQUAPLAY
WATER POLLUTION AT PLAY
WATER POLLUTION AT PLAY
artist residence
Between 25 and 26 March 2017 at the Surfing Clube de Portugal, in São Pedro do Estoril, the artistic mini-resdence promoted by ARTiVIS took place to start the interactive installation "AquaPlay - how much time do we have?". In the opportunity, a team of different areas (Visual Arts, Desing, Marine Biology, Computer Science, Scenography) was formed that continue to collaborate with the project.
Overview
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AquaPlay is an experimental collaborative installation created in the scope of the Multimedia PhD research in the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon.
The installation aims to present the problem of marine garbage and its consequences through the narrative of a game. Marine garbage is placed as a semantic object capable of crossing boundaries and revealing pertinent issues for awareness in our daily routine, such as plastics pollution in the ocean and beaches.
Prototype realized during the artistic residence
Collection of plastic with marine biology Ana Pêgo from the project Plasticus Maritimus - PT
Interaction and Immersion
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AquaPlay is an artistic experience that proposes a game-like interactive environment as a form of immersion and interaction to approach a contemporary subject. Through the challenge of the game, the user is summoned to participate in the narrative – the garbage immersed in sea water composes the new scenario emphasizing possible relationships and practices with the environment.
According to a prototype tested at the Lisbon Fine Arts Gallery - SynaísThesis
Reference
The interactive installation is based on a very popular toy during the 80's in Brazil, which consists of a small transparent container, filled with water and sealed on the top. At its base, buttons trigger a hydraulic mechanism in order to accomplish the task of the game.
(Below models used as base)
base model used in the first prototype; and acrylic pieces with fragments of garbage collected on the beach
User Experience and the the Game
AquaPlay invites the user / player to interact with the proposed scenario of marine organisms, where corals,
fish, turtles and birds immersed in garbage are contaminated by plastic waste that interferes in the development of this environment, causing severe mutations.
Final model in development at Projectllab of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon
In the throes of images, sound, light and graphics, the
player is part of the game by pressing the button that triggers the water stream from inside the container,
which sends the garbage fragments to several directions.
The player has then the objective of capturing the marine
litter in target baskets representing different ecological
niches. When a garbage fragment reaches a target, the
user receives visual and audio feedback through an
animation that reflects the effects of the accumulation of marine litter in this ecological niche.
After some time without interaction, the targets release
the trash that then falls and the installation returns to
its initial state.
Discussion ande partial conclusion
In the usability phase, our objective will be to observe the functionalities by user interaction with the game according to the marine niches and also to question: the creative
and aesthetic process; their concepts and methods;
the objectives and consequences.
In this sense, the work here described is especially
pertinent in the creative process development and
the methodology used, emphasizing the collaborative
and multidisciplinary work, as well as bringing to surface a problematic context that can and should be discussed at different levels of knowledge.
Test conducted with the presence of the teacher Mónica Mendes
AquaPlay does not have the pretension to get objective environmental awareness, but to provide an environment capable of provoking reflection beyond the tasks assigned by the game, that is to allow the users to perceive
their behaviour in an in-depth way through his own interactive experience.