Cozy = ?
For the prototype this week, our group brainstormed on different interpretations of our capstone project. We came up with five alternatives to our current project name which is Cozy Corner.
Cozy: marked by or providing contentment or comfort
Corner: the angular part or space between meeting lines, edges, or borders near the vertex of the angle
From the definition of the two words, we split it into five: Calm, Ease, Comfort, Restful, Snug. Then, we also thought of alternative forms our project could take. Below is the mindmap that explains compact definitions.
| Name | Concept |
|---|---|
| Mindfulness Pod | A tent, enclosed space where people can meditate, or just relax themselves |
| Social Campfire/Lantern | Sit down, chat with others, and marshmallows + hot chocolate, indoors? Where do I sign up? |
| ”Smart” Buddy Wall | A friendly surface (maybe with a companion) that breaks study blocks with prompts given by you |
| Spatial Mood Translator | Feeling something? Let the room know and reflect how you feel! |
| Interactive Ideation & Muse Board | Supposedly intelligent mindmapper for your ideas and emotions |
Manifesting Words
On my side of things, I wanted to step away from the physical realm this week and explore the digital world. Through tutorials, I learned instancing in TouchDesigner, which combined with particle systems, allowed me to come up with a manipulable low polygon wave simulation.
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How the simulation works is first it takes a
noisewith a time modifier as a base input. Then, it’s composed withRamp(s), which are constant signals in a certain direction: vertical, horizontal, radial, and circular. -
Next, a
gridsurface ischoppedinto smaller triangles (polygons) and smoothed out. Then, this surface is composited with the ramped noise from earlier which makes the instanced polygons to move based on the noise’s movements. -
Last, I added camera controls to create a scene and the result is rendered above.
Orienting Our Final Stop
The bread and butter for this week is not the prototype but rather the discussion that is happening in the background between our group members. After the presentation by previous alumni, one thought crossed my mind:
Since this project is going to be a marathon, what motivation keeps us going amidst all the hustle and bustle of our campus life?
Ever since coming into NYUAD, which back then felt like a dream, and to some this place feels like heaven. But after four years of tempering, I began to be cautious of my complacency and notice the “off” feeling generated by the space that occupies this campus.
To further elaborate, the way that the campus space is designed encourages all communities to interact, engage, and bump into each other (learn more about the architect here). While this (arguably) creates a close-knit vibe, having been exposed to this phenomenon everyday eventually tires everyone out.
Second, I noticed that there’s a lack of places to truly chill down on campus apart from (maybe) our dorm rooms, which at times could be chaotic. By a place to chill down, is as I define: a place where you are encouraged to NOT be productive at all, little to no social interaction, and just be there for ourselves to think about the present rather than the future or the past.
With this capstone, I would like to challenge (and perhaps) address this notion by accommodating cozy spaces for everyone. Essentially, after having so much productivity, it’s time to chill, sit back, and relax. So yeah, this is the oomph that will keep me going to materialize this project and bring it to reality from dreams.