The project that I propose to complete is an interactive environment within a polyhedron. The user will be able to navigate around the inside of the shape to view it from many angles. Each inside face of the polyhedron will show either a different image or an image repeated on all faces of the shape. This image will be sourced from an image bank or an image/s that the user has sourced and uploaded. The space will act as a virtual art gallery and have the effect of a kaleidoscope. The system will have two programs, one to create the gallery and another to view it.

 

The client does not have access to a physical gallery so they have requested a virtual space to display images/artworks. They want the space to be interesting and they want the viewers to be able to interact with the space in order to view images from many angles, the lack of gravitational forces in a virtual environment allows for this.

 

The personnel involved in my system include the individual creating the gallery and their viewers. In the future, my program may be used by a variety of people. This may include artists or collectors that want to create an online gallery; they may not be able to afford an exhibition space or may not have been able to get their work exhibited in an existing gallery. Artists or photographers who want to reach a more widespread audience may want to use my program on a website, meaning that it can be accessed by an international audience. Individuals who want to present images or artworks in an interesting format may also use my program. The program could be used within schools to allow students to display their artwork. With the increasing amount of technology in the current global environment, developing a gallery in this format allows the majority of the worlds population to access new and emerging artists in a contemporary, technology based manner. The viewers of the system may include, art critics, individuals or groups interested in art, other artists, school students and gallery visitors.

 

The boundaries of my system are the computer and monitor it is run on, which users operate my system, where the system is run and for why it is run. The computer the program is run on depends on the computer, a basic computer will have a low resolution etc. and a more sophisticated computer will have a higher resolution enhancing the effectiveness of the system due to better graphics. The users may have a high level of skill or a low level of skill so this will become a boundary of the system. If the user has good design skills for instance the result of their gallery will be more professional. The system also relies on the environment it is run in e.g. if it is projected in a dark room or viewed from a computer screen it will create a different effect.

 

The functionality requirements for my system are the user interface and how individuals create the gallery i.e. upload photos/images and how they are displayed in terms of repetition or positioning. I want to have the first option as choosing the shape of the gallery, the next two options for the gallery user will be: display repeat image from one point to another or variety of images. If the user clicks display repeat image, they will be able to upload and select which images that will be repeated and select the points that they want the image to be displayed on i.e. the faces of the polyhedron will be numbered and the user will enter 1-4 to display their image on faces 1, 2, 3 & 4. The user will also be able to select display image on all faces. If the user selects variety of images then they can upload the amount of images according to the faces of the polyhedron and then either choose shuffle (program randomly puts images in positions) or they can specify the position for each individual image i.e. select face 1 and insert image from image bank. Once the user has completed the gallery they will be able to save the gallery onto their computer so that they can access it at a later time, edit it and display/view it.

 

Compatibility issues for my system are that the machine must be able to run Java and processing. They user must also be able to access a browser to download the program. Machine must be able to run Java or have a web GL enabled browser, this means it will not be able to be run on iPad’s and iPhone’s. This may impact the amount of viewers that access the artist’s gallery due to the vast quantity of people who use the apple products, iPhone’s and iPad’s.

                                         

The polyhedrons that I may use for my virtual gallery will be mostly comprised of quadrilaterals so that the images can be displayed clearly (least amount cut off), shapes will include the cube, the truncated cube, the elongated square bicupola and trapezoidal icositetrahedron. I will also investigate using more complex shapes if possible. The amount of images displayed will depend on the shapes sides and the users preferences so the largest amount of sides on a shape will be 30 (Rhombic Triacontahedron). The program will run most likely at 30 frames per second however the ideal would be for it to run at 60 frames per second, this also depends on the clients requirements and the format that it is displayed on i.e. a desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone or large projector screen. I am aiming for the resolution to be 50 pixels per cm and the size to be 22cm (width) x 12cm (height). To ensure usability of my system I will need to constantly gather feedback about the project, concerning size, readability and ease of navigation etc. so the resolution may need to be adjusted. A user will operate the system with the assistance of a mouse/track pad and a keyboard (arrow and number keys).

 

Possible shapes for gallery:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhombic Triacontahedron    Trapezoidal Icositetrahedron  Elongated square bicupola          Cuboctahedron                          Cube