codewordsRMIT
code~words week 7.
Paper Prototype
In class in week 6 we went through what a paper prototype is and how we’ll be using it for our major project. We were asked to create a simple paper prototype of a arcade game, which allows us to understand its basic funtions. With my group I made a prototype for Tetris, creating the basic shapes and layout of the game.
Major Assignment Paper Prototype
My idea for my major assignment is to seperate my text into its individual words and randomise their location on the canvas but have them each connected with a line in order to create a “web” of lines around the canvas. I would either load in the words one by one which would make it easier to read or have them all load in at the start. I aim to have these individual words floating around the canvas bouncing off of the walls. This “web” is in reference to the “new webs of potential interaction between atomized individuals” created in the age of information”. This visual web of lines also is in reference to the World Wide Web, a new technology that has lead to the compression of space and time as mentioned by Nicola Green.
In reference to literature, the layout of the typography challenges our usual way of reading (left to right) and makes us rely on the connecting line to give a meaning to the words. I intend to have a feature that will allow the user to click and drag the words around the canvas to form their own webs.
To make it a bit more interesting and challenging I also have the idea to place them in a 3D space and rotate around the words. In this version they would not move.
For the prototype I cut out individual words which I placed randomly on the page, then with pen I connected them in order to create a readable sentence. At the bottom of the canvas I have three buttons that will: go to the previous phrase, pause the animation, and go to the next phrase. The text will be split into smaller phrases because it would be too difficult to read all the words at once. In the second versions I have each word connected to multiple words instead of just one, this the sentence line in bold.
Following a similar idea, this version connects the words through a lined web. This version however will remain static with each word placed along the perimeter of a square. For this each word cannot be placed next to the next or previous word in the sentence or else the line will not be visiable. It would also include the buttons of the previous prototypes. The words would either load one at a time accompanied by a sound or all at once. In order to incorporate a 3D aspect to this version the words once loaded in the square shape could randomise their locations of the z axis, then would rotate around revealing the space between words.
Pseudocode
In the second half of the class in week 6 we learnt about pseudocode and how we will use it for our major project. Pseudocode is an informal high-level description of a computer program or algorithm. It is written in symbolic code which must be translated into a programming language before it can be executed. Using this method we were made to describe an activity we might do everyday, I wrote instuctions on how to cook a hashbrown.
START
IF burner is off
THEN turn burner on and place pan on burner
IF pan is hot
THEN pour oil in pan
IF oil is hot
THEN place hash-brown in pan
WHILE hash-brown in pan
CHECK if underneath is cooked
FLIP
WHILE hash-brown in pan
CHECK if top is cooked
ENDIF
For my main assignment I have also written some basic pseudocode.
START
PLAY music
DISPLAY words randomly on canvas
CONNECT words in sentence order
WHILE word inside canvas
move around
IF word hits wall or ceiling
THEN bounce word back
IF word is dragged
THEN play sound
THEN move around word depending of mouse X and Y
FUNCTION pause
IF pause button pressed
THEN pause animation
FUNCTION next
IF next button is pressed
THEN display next sentence
FUNCTION previous
IF previous button is pressed
THEN display previous sentence
ENDIF
Here’s a more refined pseudo code. I’ve come up with another idea to add a slider which compresses or expands the words outwards, this connects with the texts main theme of the compression of time and space. This concept is more interactive, with the camera being controlled through the mouse. Google Slides