My initial concept for the final was a suicide simulation experience. I wanted to create a positive (if disconcerting) experience around assisted suicide.
I even gathered a chair for it. Unfortunately my nerve issues started to act up and it began to feel like too large of a project encompassing set design, a lot of writing, audiovisual production, on top of a lightweight PCOMP project. So it was just out of scope.
I waffled on projects after this and ultimately decided to piggyback off of the Unity Hypercinema final I was working on with Cindy Wang and our shared Diet Coke addiction.
The concept is to make a “game controller” out of Diet Coke that could control our Unity “cornell box” as well as a small secondary project I made “Diet Coke Game” in which a Diet Coke can rolls around a model of midtown NYC.
The idea was to make something very simple using the built in gyroscope of the Arduino Nano IOT 33, add one or more buttons, and I even looked into adding a joystick but cut that from the project.
First I needed to figure out how to mount buttons and shove the Arduino into a Diet Coke can. Turns out you can use a can opener to get the top of the can off very cleanly although mounting to the flimsy aluminum is more difficult.
I tried to make some kind of screw-mountable panel to attach and hold the button on the outside of the can and the switch & connections on the inside, which ultimately kind of worked, but not very well.
In the end, I got something roughly working—really it’s just a damn button from Week 1, lol.
https://open.spotify.com/track/6pWgRkpqVfxnj3WuIcJ7WP?si=5047db307f81448c
At this point, my life had fallen apart. I was starting to wonder why I’m at ITP, and if everybody at ITP hates me, or if I hate them, or I hate ITP. My reptilian brain took over and rendered me largely catatonic for a long period of time during which time and space came to a halt. I took up listening to the Interstellar soundtrack for comfort.
I had run out of time. it was now or never. The needs must’d and I began to assemble everything into the housing. It was working but the connections were ill made. I was Dr. Mann trying to force dock with the Endurance ship.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5Di0EOfzgABjIldD2GaMVm?si=9450fbb460a64ab6