This week we prepared for our ¼ Presentations at the ETC. This means that the faculty come around the project rooms in groups, we give a quick overview of where we are at in our project so they can provide feedback, direction or insight into something we may have overlooked.
For our project, with a deliverable and a deadline, we cannot stop our design progress in this critical phase of our development – so it definitely added to our workload this week. It was, however, fruitful in that it illuminated areas of focus moving forward that may save us time. Especially in regards to playtesting, content creation and character development.
With Tom arriving last week, we had the chance to dismantle him and look at his existing mechanisms. This was important for Alex in reverse engineering him, to come up with a suitable design for the future automation that will fit within his existing “skin.”
We have also been considering design choices for Tom in terms of his character and show elements moving forward. This includes looking at ways the volunteer at Give Kids The World will ultimately control Tom and interact with the audience. It is important for us to consider that the operator will often have little to no formal training in puppeteering (or even on how to operate Tom), so making the interface intuitive for a naïve guest to learn how to sufficiently control within 5 minutes of training is essential.
As we look at technology that the operator will be using to interface with Tom, we are keeping that in mind as well as considering how they will be signaling what content Tom is animating. We want to make sure Give Kids The World has versatility for the animatronic in the future, while balancing his long term maintenance, use and consistent character representation.