Digital Media and Interaction Design

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Guest post: Adventures on the other side of the world by Logan Campbell

14 August 2024 /

Our post today is written by Logan Campbell, reflecting on his experience studying in Australia. The video shown here was made for a documentary class and explores the first few days abroad – as you can see from the images below, Logan quickly made friends and threw himself into enjoying his time away.

Studying abroad has been, without a doubt, the most exhilarating experience of my life! My semester at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, was a whirlwind adventure that led me to experience the whole weather spectrum spanning from February to June. I was welcomed by a scorching 45°C heat and left amid thunderstorms with temperatures dropping to the 10°Cs. This journey pushed me out of my comfort zone and led me to incredible experiences I never imagined. From snorkelling with whale sharks and giant turtles in the Indian Ocean to chasing kangaroos across a rural Australian farm, not to mention meeting Eric the pig! The friendships I forged during this time are now my second family and the connections I made will impact and undoubtedly benefit me now and in the future.

When I first saw Murdoch University on the list of exchange destinations, I hesitated. The thought of flying solo and leaving behind my friends and family was daunting, especially since I had never ventured outside Europe before. But I’m incredibly grateful I took the leap as if I had to do it all again, I would dive in headfirst without a second thought. This journey ignited a passion for travel, and now I have plans to explore Europe and North America after graduation next year. Studying abroad also opened my eyes to global career opportunities in my field, helping me envision and plan a future that extends far beyond the confines of university life.

To summarise, do it. Just, do it!

Thanks to Logan Campbell (BSc Digital Media and Interaction Design Global) for writing this piece and letting us share his media.  If you are a current student and fancy an adventure like this – have a chat with your programme leader. 

Featured Honours Project: Mindscape VR by Anna LLompart Reus

10 June 2024 /
 

For her honours project Anna Llompart Reus developed “Mindscape”,  a Virtual Reality game developed with Unreal Engine 5, featuring six different levels. Mindscape aims to boost mental wellbeing among university students by intertwining Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness in an immersive narrative. The project explores VR’s effectiveness compared to non-VR interventions, highlighting VR’s potential for enhanced immersion and interaction in mental health support.
 
Anna concluded that although further research is required to fully comprehend the impact of VR for wellbeing, her project indicated  a promising avenue for digital mental health interventions.
 
The images below show some of the detail of the project and you can see more of Anna’s work here – ArtStation – Anna Llompart
 
Anna’s poster describes the process she followed during the project.
The Main hub that allows users to choose their path through the game
Glowing objects highlight interactions
Soft lighting helps to create a calm atmosphere
A bright calm environment was created
The Apothercary
Again, lighting was key to creating the calming atmosphere
Interiors contain lots of areas for users to explore

This post is part of a series celebrating the work the year 4 students have created for their honours projects.  Thanks to Anna for allowing us to feature this work.

Featured Project: Goodnight Sara by Rebecca Allen

10 June 2024 /

Goodnight Sara is a short animation made by Rebecca Allen for her year 2 2D animation project.  In the film Sara discovers that being tired and stressed can lead to unexpected consequences.

Initial Character design for Sara

Initial Character design for Sara

Design for Sara’s bedroom

Rebecca created her characters and backgrounds in Procreate to give a hand-drawn feel before rigging and animating in After Effects.

You can see more of Rebecca’s work here – https://rebeccaallen0429.wixsite.com/rebecca-allen-media or on instagram @rebeccaallen.media

This work was created for the 2D animation module run by Fiona Stewart and Andrew McKelvey.  Thanks to Rebecca for allowing us to feature her work.

Students take part in Global Game Jam Edinburgh, featuring work by David Richards

5 February 2024 /
David created characters and landscape art for “Moonbear Typing”
David created characters and landscape art for “Moonbear Typing”

Several of our Digital Media and Interaction Design and Sound Design students took part in the Global Game Jam at Edinburgh Napier University in January 24.  David Richards (Year 4 Digital Media and Interaction Design ) used his  illustration skills to help bring two of the games created to life.   

He says “It was a brilliant experience! It was so refreshing being able to collaborate with other people with the same passion for video games.”  David collaborated on the two games seen here- creating characters and landscape art for “Moonbear Typing” and creating the title screen for “Ye Olde Funnybone”.

The title screen David made for the game “Ye Olde Funnybone”

You can see more of David’s work here –https://www.artstation.com/deerich98

The Game Jam games for Edinburgh are available here – https://itch.io/jam/edinburgh-ggj24-say-no-to-gai

Featured Honours Project: Suleyman the Magnificent by Johnny Viola

12 June 2023 /

For his honours project, Johnny Viola investigated the use of motion graphics to increase engagement with history.  The visuals used updated versions of  colours and styles found in paintings of the period, giving the animation a rich texture that adds to the storytelling.  Johnny also won a prize for this poster showcasing the work at the Honours poster day.

From sketch to final images

Visual Development – from sketch to final images

Poster explaining the background to the project

The poster explains the process Johnny followed to create the final motion graphic.

You can see more of Johnny’s work here –johnnyviola.com

This post is part of a series celebrating the work the year 4 students have created for their honours projects.  Thanks to Johnny for allowing us to feature this work.

Featured Honours Project: Sensory Soundscapes by Ellen Scott

12 June 2023 /

Sensory Soundscapes was created by Ellen Scott for her honours project and focussed on visualisation techniques within virtual reality (VR) experiences.  The project offers a unique, interactive and fully multisensory experience that transports participants through three musical environments.  Each environment explores a different musical genre and music visualisation technique that users experience in VR via the Oculus Quest 2 headset.  The clip above shows a walkthrough of the project, while the images below show some of the interiors created in Unreal Engine.

Different environments were created to represent the different soundscapes

3 different bar interiors were created – this one shows the Jazz bar

The Tiki bar

Poster explaining Ellen's project

Ellen’s poster explains the process followed to create the project.

You can see more of Ellen’s work here –https://ellenlarsonscott.wixsite.com/portfolio

This post is part of a series celebrating the work the year 4 students have created for their honours projects.  Thanks to Ellen for allowing us to feature this work.

Featured Honours Project: BeWell Mental Wellbeing App by Jonathan Wood

3 May 2023 /

BeWell is a mental well-being support and social app aimed at students.  Jonathan followed a User centred process, involving his target users throughout to ensure that the solution met their needs.  As well as a high-fidelity prototype suitable for user testing he created detailed brand guidelines and a design system to ensure consistency.  

Poster explaining the project process
Jonathan’s poster explains the process he followed to create his app

You can see more of Jonathan’s work here – https://www.behance.net/jonathan-wood

This post is part of a series celebrating the work the year 4 students have created for their honours projects.  Thanks to Jonathan for allowing us to feature this work.

Featured Honours Project : Investigating Affordable Animation Software by Ray Wyse

28 April 2023 /

For the honours project Ray investigated different free and low cost animation software, before creating an animatic; proving that you don’t need to spend a lot to get professional results.   The scene was created in 3d space using Blender, an open source software, with the 2d character drawings slotted in between the 3d models.  This allowed Ray to manipulate what the viewer would see in the final piece and create different camera angles and shot types.

Ray has already had some success with the project, winning “Best Poster” at the honours project showcase.

You can see more of Ray’s work here – https://raywyseart.wixsite.com/portfolio

An image of a room in a 3d modelling package

The 3D space before colour and filters are used to give the cartoon effect.

An image of a 3d room with a 2d character added within Blender

This image shows how the 2d characters can be placed within the 3d space

Ray's prize winning honours poster

Ray’s prize winning honours poster, which explains the process undertaken

This post is part of a series celebrating the work the year 4 students have created for their honours projects.  Thanks to Ray for allowing us to feature this work.

Image of Playful Instagram page

Playful Progress

21 February 2022 /

You can check out what our year 2 students have been making on the Playful Interaction instagram – https://www.instagram.com/playfulinteractionenu/

They are given a challenge each week to create a response to a “Playful Provocation” using the Arduinos and the skills they are learning  – can’t wait to see how they incorporate these into their final projects!

Thanks to Suzi Cathro and the student on the year 2 Playful Interaction module for sharing this work.

New Signs for Animation

29 October 2021 /

We are excited to share with you “New signs for animation”  a short animated film, created to raise awareness of the issue surrounding the availability of Animation/Games terminology for sign language users – both locally and abroad. The team, led by lecturer Jon Mortimer, consisted of two recent ENU graduates and four deaf artists, and was supported with funding from ENU’s Public engagement fund.  It helps  to highlight the struggle students from the deaf community encounter trying to pursue a career in the animation or games sectors, due to a gap in available language.

“New signs for animation”, has recently been nominated for awards and continues to be considered for film festivals around the world:

A worried looking student sits at a desk

A Still from the animation.

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