I loved that your project is one of the ones that really emphasizes user interaction, and I liked the conceptual idea behind the two components you showed in class. I think it can end up being a really fun but meaningful piece for an audience to play around with, and I can see a lot of potential!!
For the first part, you talked about having it be a critique of how schoolwork can be anxiety-inducing, which kind of stuck with me. I think I mentioned this in class too, but having the background be some kind of blank worksheet/problem set could be interesting, and as the reader plays around with it more, you could have the randomized drawings move faster or slower to represent how much anxiety is built up over time. For example, if the user hasn’t done anything in a while, the drawings could perhaps move faster and represent an increase in anxiety in starting the assignment or being stuck on a problem. Once the user starts drawing again, perhaps the speed could slow down to represent that the user has gotten over those obstacles and anxiety is now reduced. You could even have a looped “clock” counting to 11:59pm and increase anxiety as the deadline approaches. Just some ideas!
For your second component, I really liked your idea of having more of the image revealed when the audio plays certain words! It could become a good form of commentary on how our attitude and what we say in our own minds to ourselves can have a larger impact on the way we perceive the world and how much we are able to pay attention in the present.
Overall, super fascinating project, can’t wait to see how it develops!!
I think it’s awesome that you’re trying to convey a message about mental health with your project. As one’s mental health is truly only perceived and realized by oneself, visualizing one’s emotions or anxiety by giving them shape and form is really smart. I think the fact that your project is materializing these emotions immediately gives weight to the issue of mental health, proving that it is indeed real.
I think both Max components could be effective in conveying that message!
I found the second component of using an audio input that changes what images are revealed depending on keywords said by the user really interesting. This is a bit of an ambitious idea but I think you could possibly implement a sentiment analysis model or dictionary, which I believe gives words an emotion score. Words detected in the audio input could possibly change the saturation or brightness of the image displayed depending on its emotion score. For instance, if a word with a rather negative connotation like “pressure” is said by the user, the model outputs a low emotion score, and the saturation or brightness of the image displayed can be lowered as a result.
Great work so far! I’m looking forward to seeing your final project.
I love your project so far. When you said you wanted to make your drawing portion “grow upon itself” as a proxy for mental stress or mental health issues, I thought that was a perfect description and execution, as I think, often, one’s ability or desire to reach out for help with these challenges shrink in the face of the challenges growing larger, compounding again and again.
I think your project could go in interesting ways with regards to how you display these two different segments of your project. One thought I had is maybe you could have these two parts in the same frame somehow, so even if the drawing portion is getting more and more clogged and stress-inducing, when the user speaks, the video overpowers the drawing, providing some kind of relief or maybe distraction. However, take that with a grain of salt if that is not your vision, and also, it would probably be challenging technically within MAX based on what I’ve attempted with regards to image overlays.
Isabella Wang
Hey Noelle!
I loved that your project is one of the ones that really emphasizes user interaction, and I liked the conceptual idea behind the two components you showed in class. I think it can end up being a really fun but meaningful piece for an audience to play around with, and I can see a lot of potential!!
For the first part, you talked about having it be a critique of how schoolwork can be anxiety-inducing, which kind of stuck with me. I think I mentioned this in class too, but having the background be some kind of blank worksheet/problem set could be interesting, and as the reader plays around with it more, you could have the randomized drawings move faster or slower to represent how much anxiety is built up over time. For example, if the user hasn’t done anything in a while, the drawings could perhaps move faster and represent an increase in anxiety in starting the assignment or being stuck on a problem. Once the user starts drawing again, perhaps the speed could slow down to represent that the user has gotten over those obstacles and anxiety is now reduced. You could even have a looped “clock” counting to 11:59pm and increase anxiety as the deadline approaches. Just some ideas!
For your second component, I really liked your idea of having more of the image revealed when the audio plays certain words! It could become a good form of commentary on how our attitude and what we say in our own minds to ourselves can have a larger impact on the way we perceive the world and how much we are able to pay attention in the present.
Overall, super fascinating project, can’t wait to see how it develops!!
Yoo Bin Shin
Noelle,
I think it’s awesome that you’re trying to convey a message about mental health with your project. As one’s mental health is truly only perceived and realized by oneself, visualizing one’s emotions or anxiety by giving them shape and form is really smart. I think the fact that your project is materializing these emotions immediately gives weight to the issue of mental health, proving that it is indeed real.
I think both Max components could be effective in conveying that message!
I found the second component of using an audio input that changes what images are revealed depending on keywords said by the user really interesting. This is a bit of an ambitious idea but I think you could possibly implement a sentiment analysis model or dictionary, which I believe gives words an emotion score. Words detected in the audio input could possibly change the saturation or brightness of the image displayed depending on its emotion score. For instance, if a word with a rather negative connotation like “pressure” is said by the user, the model outputs a low emotion score, and the saturation or brightness of the image displayed can be lowered as a result.
Great work so far! I’m looking forward to seeing your final project.
Molly Honecker
NOELLE
Noelle,
I love your project so far. When you said you wanted to make your drawing portion “grow upon itself” as a proxy for mental stress or mental health issues, I thought that was a perfect description and execution, as I think, often, one’s ability or desire to reach out for help with these challenges shrink in the face of the challenges growing larger, compounding again and again.
I think your project could go in interesting ways with regards to how you display these two different segments of your project. One thought I had is maybe you could have these two parts in the same frame somehow, so even if the drawing portion is getting more and more clogged and stress-inducing, when the user speaks, the video overpowers the drawing, providing some kind of relief or maybe distraction. However, take that with a grain of salt if that is not your vision, and also, it would probably be challenging technically within MAX based on what I’ve attempted with regards to image overlays.
Great job and good luck with your project.
Molly H