CULMINATING EXPERIENCE

Translating Sustainable Values:
An exploration in interdisciplinary immersive art and digital media
Prepared for: The School of Sustainability at Arizona State University
Prepared by: Brittany Nixon
March 23, 2017

CULMINATING EXPERIENCE - BRITTANY NIXON

ABSTRACT
The composition of this project can be described as half responsive digital media composition and half
social experiment. It is built for the seven-screen display of the Decision Theater and utilizes a combination of
digital media and creative software tools along with sensor technology to create a media environment that
responds to real time physical feedback from participants. The experience uses different desired interactions or
“levels” to examine the tension between Shalom Schwartz’ three sets of bipolar cultural values represented in his
theory on cultural value orientation. Cultural values are significant drivers of human behavior that change
throughout time, however rarely does society name and define these dominant forces outright. This project aims to
expose people to consider these forces through interactive discovery and game play. The installation’s primary
user input is based on movement and physical interaction and includes visual rewards for desired forms of
cooperative engagement. Sustainability science and research often cites education and communication initiatives
as the next actionable steps towards a sustainable solution. Art and design are two fields that are uniquely suited
for completing this next step, because both of them regularly examine, critique, create, and comment as a part of
shaping culture and encourage reflexive thinking about our norms and values. The design process included
interdisciplinary engagement, which is detailed alongside project outcomes, theoretical ties to sustainability,
symbolic representations, and observations of user experiences. It may be considered a pilot test of the potential
for creative and interactive digital art platforms to allow for the exploration of cultural values and connections to
sustainability. This ability to reflect and consider the assumptions that may be engrained within cultural value
orientation is fundamentally important to the wider recognition of the cultural shifts needed to create a sustainable
future.

CULMINATING EXPERIENCE - BRITTANY NIXON

TRANSLATING SUSTAINABLE VALUES:

1

Abstract

2

Introduction

4

Background and Context

5

Project Approach

6

Findings

12

Conclusions and Future Direction

13

Appendix

15

Acknowledgements

21

References

21

INTRODUCTION
Project Team Members
Dallas Nichols - Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Master’s student
Minsoo Kang - Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Master’s student
Brittany Nixon - School of Sustainability, Master’s student

Purpose
The purpose of this project was to engage an interdisciplinary group of students in the development of an
experimental media installation that can engage a wider audience in reflexive thinking about sustainability.

Goals
1) Collaborate and communicate effectively within in an inter???
2) Observe for emergence of cooperative behavior and/or change agency.

Foundational Questions of this Exploration
• How do cultures demonstrate or reflect their values visually?
• In what ways can the underlying drivers of sustainability problems be gamified or visualized?

Key Interest for Design
• How can technology be used to drive interpersonal interaction and cooperation?
• How does experimenting with real-time audio/visual manipulation effect user engagement?
• What types of interactions seems to hold user attention most?

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
Context
The Decision Theater at ASU is a technology driven space oriented around the idea of streamlining data
visualization for complex decision making. The room itself is a perfect circle and its’ 7 displays are oriented to
encompass half of the room. It is a tool that has been used to test the complex systems and futures thinking skills
of city water management teams, to model implications of state budget decisions and is pending application to
numerous other scenarios that can be adapted to the complex systems framework it is based on. It is one part of
what is known as the Decision Network which per the description on their website, “provides the latest expertise in
collaborative, computing and display technologies for data visualization, modeling, and simulation.” It has a sister
site located in Washington D.C. and demonstrates a clear capacity for specific application in addressing some of
the unique challenges of approaching sustainability problem solving by creating opportunity for increased
engagement with complex systems thinking through visual representations and gamification. Currently, however
the decision theater utilizes very limited engagement interfaces with the user. The system is controlled through the
input of one individual and a conventional mouse or keyboard. They are keen on exploring the potential for
increased user engagement and unconventional applications of the system.
The project team came together in response to this experimental interest as part of an interdisciplinary
workshop course about communicating science through digital media design. The course was tasked with the
creation of a creative application using the interface of the theater to communicate about a research topic with
very few constraints. The initial project interest formed around creating an immersive and responsive digital media
environment to communicate about sustainability and happiness within the theater. This focus serves two primary
functions, it expands upon the capacity of the existing system for a significantly broader range of user input by
testing the input from a physically responsive interface, and allows an opportunity to explore creative and
participative methods for communicating about sustainability. Microsoft Xbox Kinect sensors are the primary
hardware element deployed in the creation of this responsive system and data streams from these sensors is
processed utilizing creative software and custom programming as needed.

Stakeholders
The Decision Theater
Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts Faculty - Jake Pinholster and Boyd Branch
School of Sustainability Faculty - Scott Cloutier

Support and Institutions
The Aktipis Lab at ASU - Pamela Winfrey and Athena Aktipis

PROJECT APPROACH
During the initiation phase of the project, the IDEO field guide for Human Centered design was used as a
map for guiding the design process. The process begins with framing the design challenge as a question and then
returning to reframe that question after analyzing the desired outcomes, potential ideas or solutions, existing
capacity, and identifiable constraints. The built-in feedback loops of this process were well suited for use in this
project because it helped to facilitate the interdisciplinary learning process. It was very important during the initial
stages of design and throughout development that the project team members were able to exchange information
and expertise in order to build a foundation for collaborative learning. A common language had to be developed so
that the project team could establish the appropriate goals and make sure that the elements of design were
conceptually in agreement. This is probably the most difficult aspect of working in a group with diverse
backgrounds and experience. Each team member has existing ideas of the subject matter and personal
development goals which may or may not conflict with the overall project goals. Addressing assumptions, sharing
research from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, and interpersonal conversation were all key actions taken to
solidify team cohesion and create a sense of common understanding.
The group decided to focus on a design challenge of engaging users with an installation that encourages
reflexive thinking about values and sustainability in a real-time reactive environment after engaging in group and
class discussions about art, sustainability, and science communication case studies. In order to address this
challenge the team would rely upon creative media software tools that team members Dallas Nichols and Minsoo
Kang were familiar with and also explore experimental territory with the use of Microsoft Xbox Kinect sensors. At
this point, members of the group proposed potential project concepts which were then followed by group
discussion and research if needed. After that, if the idea or concept was still interesting and applicable to the
design challenge, prototyping and testing took place where the group sought feedback from mentors and peers
before returning to compare the interaction built with the original design challenge. This process was repeated
several times throughout the project’s development because the design challenge itself turned out to be very
difficult to realize. The group was interested in telling a sustainability story without leaning on the typical
environmental imagery but visualizing a value or social pressure that drives a behavior is much more difficult than it
seems despite the universal recognition of values and value systems. The project team wanted to continue to work
at this challenge though because they felt there was a danger in misrepresenting sustainability with a narrow
environmentally based scope. Messages of sustainability as an environmentally based science are abundant and
tend to lack representation of important social justice and equity issues. This led the team down the path of initially
designing for desired forms of user interaction before placing those interactions within an overarching framework.
The venue itself was the best place to begin thinking about what types of interactions could be created, for
example how the media could prompt conversation, physical movement, physical interaction, etc. The project
team had to have a good understanding of the capacity of the space beyond the computer systems including,
measurements of the physical space itself, the dimensions of the room, permanence of fixtures, lighting, sound,

shape of the room, and other potential variables or capacity for interaction. During this phase of the design it was
also important to understand the available data streams from the Kinect sensors, their reliability, potential
limitations, as well as to physically map the tracking range within the theater since the users themselves would be
the primary input interface in the installation.
The interactions desired by the project team centered around ideas of cooperation and collaborative
discovery. The orientation of the screens facing towards the center of the room encourages the natural orientation
of each individual to be outward facing from the center of the room. It became a priority to play with this
relationship and consider methods to use the constraints of the display technology and visuals to drive interaction
between the people in physical proximity of one another rather than directing their focus solely outwards as
individuals and towards the displays. The ultimate goal is to alter the typical relationship between viewer and art
form by allowing mediation of the display by the viewers themselves and adding an additional social and
cooperative element where the visual reward is greater following a cooperative effort or understanding of the visual
challenge presented.
The next step was feasibility tests of the initially proposed designs. The main challenge tackled in this
stage was finding the best way to reliably track a participant moving in the space. Two different open source, or
free online available programs, were explored in this phase, tsps.org and openPtrack, alongside using the data
directly from the Kinect sensor in creative media program Max MSP. The first feasibility test included a basic
interaction that tracked users physical position in the room relative to the sensor and responded by changing the
color displayed on screen proportionately on the red-green scale. So as a participant moved around the room and
changed their distance from the sensor the color displayed on the monitors would adjust in accordance. Auditory
cues were also tested in this stage. For the first auditory test, a single tone was used when a user entered the
space and an additional displeasing tone when a second user was detected. If the two users came within close
proximity of one another the two tones would harmonize. The success of these feasibility tests allowed the group
to begin proposing more complex or specific interactions in order to to trigger visual responses. The tracking
systems proved to be time consuming to research, install, and test so this was completed alongside
additional research for visual representations and unifying theoretical elements. In the future, or for a a system that
is going to be handling a high volume of users, openPtrack seems to be the best option because of its’ reliability in
tracing the position of multiple users in large spaces. Unfortunately, the project team discovered this platform too
late to become familiar enough to design the installation using it but it is a potential future area of exploration.
While installing these systems and creating prototypes the project team consulted with School of
Sustainability faculty, Scott Cloutier, for his perspective on sustainability and happiness in addition to feedback on
initial design decisions and completed additional research for visual representations and unifying theoretical
elements. Following the meeting with Professor Cloutier, the project team also sought guidance from the Aktipis
Lab at ASU, led by Dr. Athena Aktipis an assistant professor in the psychology department whose research
includes theories about cooperation, conflict, and social behavior. Representatives from the lab were also invited to
participate in the first user feedback testing sessions. The project team felt that the lab test users might represent
a unique “cooperation expert” sample that may help the team refine the experience and assess knowledge or

understanding gaps by providing more valuable feedback than a new user might at this stage in the design
process.
After determining functional limitations of the room/system and understanding the available physical user
inputs, the project team took time to revisit the search for a theoretical or philosophical narrative to bind the
desired interactions together and frame the installation as a whole. It was relatively easy to come up with ways for
users to interact with the system as individuals and in cooperative groups but more challenging to find a powerful
storyline or narrative to encourage the type of reflexive thinking included in the design challenge. It was most
important that the physical movement and responsiveness of the system resonate with a deeper philosophical
message rather than act as a simple interactive experience to avoid superficial novelty. At the same time it was
equally important to the team to avoid a feeling of didactic instruction. This made it difficult to find a unifying visual
concept that included all the complex interactions between the natural and social world for a general audience.
After exposure to Shalom Schwartz’s cultural value orientation theory the project team conceptualized a visual
framework for an exploration of sustainability and values. The emphasis on values was important because of their
strong correlation to behavior and emerged later in the design process of this project after beginning with research
relating sustainability and happiness.
Zidanšek 2007 work examining sustainable development and happiness recognized the relationship
between sustainability, happiness, and expression of values by linking increased alignment with post materialistic
values and increased happiness inherently assuming environmental benefits are also included in this shift away
from prioritization of materialism (Zidanšek, 2007). Schwartz’s 2006 theory recognizes these shared expressions or
cultural ideals as representative of a larger shared value within a culture. To unpack that a little bit further,
happiness in this scenario is defined as relative life satisfaction, maximization of which is often guided by the
dominant societal values of the time. For example, the current dominating values in the United States emphasize
consumerism and materialism, which ultimately create a narrow set of pathways for achieving for achieving
satisfaction and at present come at high costs to the environment. However, values and value systems are not
stagnant. They shift and change throughout time and circumstance. This malleability and sense of general
“invisibility” in society makes them an enticing topic to engage a general audience with, especially because a shift
in alignment of cultural ideals to focus more on post-materialistic values such as relationships could bring about
significant behavioral change and more positive sustainability outcomes.
The experience ultimately layered multiple interactions to create a space where users can freely come and
go while interacting and discovering media responses that examine the tension between Schwartz’ three sets of
bipolar cultural values which will be explained in further detail in the following section (Schwartz, 2006). Challenges
encountered throughout the development process were a major factor in the ultimate implementation of the
installation, as the project team initially preferred a more progressive “level based” or story-like format because it
seemed more conducive to learning outcomes. The biggest challenges encountered included unexpected
restrictions with usage of the space. The project team had very limited time to test and develop in the venue and
were given limited access to the actual computing power located at the theater. This resulted in the majority of
development taking place off-site and lengthy calibration sessions when it came time to test within the venue itself.

It also hindered discovery of additional variables for manipulation and exploration like the pre-existing in-room
camera system. The iterative design process allowed these challenges to be adapted to and addressed on the fly
and the interactions are modular enough that a story structure can continue to be developed and eventually
implemented if desired.

Schwartz’ Values and Sustainability
Schwartz cultural value theory includes seven different dimensions: harmony, embeddedness, intellectual
autonomy, affective autonomy, hierarchy, mastery, and egalitarianism. He orients these values visually in a circle 1
where adjacent values are compatible and those at a distance are incompatible (Schwartz, 2006). This project
aims to offer an opportunity for cooperative engagement and discovery of these cultural values, especially those in
opposition of one another. The project team felt comfortable in using this theory as a universal framework because
of its’ diverse sampling during the collection of data. The survey has had respondents from cultural groups on
every inhabited continent, anonymously, in their native language (Schwartz, 2005).
1)

Autonomy vs. Embeddedness
The tension between autonomy and embeddedness is layered into the interaction by the implementation

of the digital responses in parallel. The center display featured the Master vs. Harmony interaction, which was
flanked on either side by the egalitarianism vs. hierarchy interaction. The outer four displays featured a framedifference effect that was meant to both hint at the responsiveness of the room and funnel the users attention
towards the center three displays. This arrangement made participants the controller of multiple aspect of the
visualization and auditory feedback without identifying which aspect or what type of movement initiates the
response. It also let them progress from interactions with no real control to very specific user control which is
representative of bringing knowledge to action. As an autonomous individual, one could discover the controls
hidden within the room through their own curiosity or affective pleasure seeking response, but they must eventually
embed themselves into some type of social grouping to unlock all of the responses. In terms of sustainability it is
intended to represent the tension between autonomy and embeddedness as experienced throughout everyday
life. Individuals in society are often conflicted between their own autonomy and embeddedness within a social
group or status.
2) Egalitarianism vs. Hierarchy
According to Schwartz theory egalitarianism and hierarchy share the same express purpose to preserve
the integrity of social fabric through the promotion of responsible behavior, he claims they differ in whether the
motivation for that behavior is directed from within an individual by voluntary choice, or by adherence to ascribed
rules in a desire to conform (2006). Hierarchies often establish imbalances of power and uneven distribution of
resources. The tension between egalitarianism and hierarchy is especially interesting to understand when

1

See appendix: Schwertz 7 Dimensions of Cultural Value Orientation

examining concepts or ideas used to create sustainable behavior change. Behavior change is the holy grail of
many sustainability related programs which may be obtained by voluntary choice or the enactment of rule or policy
changes, therefore it is important for users in this level to understand how their interactions do or do not support
the hierarchies created in the visual environment and how imbalances of power can create imbalances in results/
resources. Users can explore this concept in the installation through both audio and visual feedback. Volume of a
Robert Kennedy speech2 about why GDP fails as a measurement, recorded in 1968, is controlled by individual
user position in the room, where the volume is increased as users decrease their distance from the sensor and
represents the motivation to change behavior through hierarchy. The corresponding visual displayed pixelated
footage from this speech composited with Kinect camera data from the room and as distance between two users
decreased the pixels grew in size until the image became clear as they stood side by side.
3) Harmony vs. Mastery
The value of harmony is categorized by Schwartz as an expression of lack of desire to control, change, or
manipulate the environment and an emphasis on appreciating and establishing a place in the natural processes of
the environment as it is. On the other end of the spectrum, mastery is expressed as a desire to control or
manipulate the environment to attain a desired goal or outcome. In initial design for this level users were
represented as small shapes that reveal an “image beneath the image” in what can be described as a flashlight or
spotlight type reveal effect. The effect was functional but when implemented on the seven large format screens of
the theater the processing speed was significantly slowed due to the drastic change in resolution between the
venue and the monitors that the project was being developed on. Towards the end of development Dallas Nichols,
decided to try using a different system to increase processing speed. The resulting interaction became a game
where a participants hand position was tracked throughout the room and matched to the position of a colored ball
on the screen. There were matching colored rings on the screen that would increase the size of the ball and
relocate each time a user passed their ball over it. Once a ball accumulated too much size it would eventually
trigger a reset and they all would return to original size. This is symbolic of the inherent drive for competition in
mastery based cultures, despite the obvious negative outcome of eventually dominating the field of play so fully
that you prevent collaboration all together. The idea of lack of desire to control is explored when users choose to
either collaborate with one another to discover what is causing the size change of the ball or to disengage with the
game when their piece becomes to large. However, it is also noted later in the findings, there was no user that
displayed this type of disengagement behavior. Harmony and mastery are readily linked to sustainability challenges
and outcomes related to environmental conservation and resource use because mastery forces like competition
typically drive rates of consumption that exceed rates of regeneration of resources and promote individual
attainment of wealth.

Sustainability Competencies
2

See appendix for full text of speech excerpt

The project team drew inspiration for the interactions and responsiveness of the project design from the four
sustainability competencies in the following ways:
Systems thinking and Interconnectedness
The choice to use the room and participants themselves for the input or decision making rather than using an
independent interface was important for emphasizing interconnectedness. In this setting, every movement of each
individual has an effect on the room and that effect is displayed across all seven monitors. Users can see the
immediate effect of their actions on themselves and those around them. This is symbolic of the way we as
individuals make decisions every day that create effects both seen and unseen in the environment and those
around us. In Frisk and Larson’s description of the four sustainability competencies it was noted that, “In order to
bring about behavioral change among students and society, people must learn to analyze the consequences of
their actions, both intended and unintended, while recognizing the tradeoffs now and into the future (2011).” The
installation allows exploration of these ideas by giving participants the opportunity to change position at will to
explore and discover the responses to their actions. The display also presents them with both a team and
individual score, without context, so users must choose for themselves whether to set individual or cooperative
goals.
Futures thinking
Futures thinking can be considered an underlying motive for the project itself, but more importantly, to engage
futures thinking, people must first think that a future is possible. In order for sustainable behavior changes to occur,
especially in the western world, there needs to be a cultural value paradigm shift to support it. The audio playback
engages futures thinking by encouraging users to envision the U.S. with a set of values that includes
measurements beyond gross domestic product.
Stakeholder engagement/ Group collaboration
The installation is designed as a cooperative experience but the level of cooperation is dependent upon the user
group. During initial test the properties of a level seemed to be discovered and explored by individual participants
first before evolving into a group experience as they learn. The motivation to make this installation a cooperative
experience was encouraged by a study cited by Frisk & Larson, that was completed by Segalas et al. This
particular study found that more community-focused, group-oriented activities resulted in higher cognitive learning
and more dynamic interactions than individual approaches. Segalas et al. (2010). This is especially important when
it comes to sustainability problem solving as wicked problems often require sophisticated levels of collaboration.
Engaging people in a group setting and collaborative decision making by utilizing the room as the interface also
has larger potential functional usages in the Decision Theater venue as well. In this project, there were already

stakeholders from psychology, sustainability, and art, but there is also potential to increase the involvement in the
design of interactive media about sustainability to other specialty areas too.
Action orientation and change agent skills
From the beginning the team was interested in finding ways to use this technology driven theater to drive
interpersonal interactions and group collaboration in the physical space. Action is incorporated in a very literal
sense in this piece because users have to move or create the action in order to play or reveal anything about the
properties of the installation. There is also opportunity in this installation/experiment for the emergence of a change
agent. As participants discover the rules or responses of the room they make seek to create those scenarios or to
disrupt them. This is an interesting social behavior to witness and consider its’ implications for global sustainability
overall as per Frisk and Larson, “Sustainability cannot be achieved by simply relying on state intervention,
legislation, or new technologies; it requires that people actively participate in decision making, problem solving,
and sustainable change (2011).” The sharing of the responsive space by participants will ideally encourage
communicative and/or cooperative behavior.

FINDINGS
There were only four novel users in attendance for the final implementation test but the project group was
still able to glean useful feedback from these interactions. Participant attention was immediately drawn to the ball
and ring/ mastery vs. harmony game and remained there for the majority of their engaged time because they were
able to immediately recognize the responsiveness of the ball to their hand. The most interesting interactions with
this portion of the game were when one of the project group members were able to “play along” and act as a
guide or curator of the experience, this seemed to enhance the connections made between the subject matter
and the installation. This was especially true with the audio and pixelated visual interaction. It was noted in
instructor feedback however, that the layered interaction lacked some of the compelling narrative and validation of
the initial story based design. Engaging users in an open interaction also allows for them to leave the experience at
will without any real data pertaining to the user’s learning or progression whereas a level based format may allow
for more inference or understanding of learning outcomes. The user sample obtained, although small, represented
a diverse age range, which made it promising to see active physical engagement across a wide range of users,
but more concrete visual ties to sustainability are needed in order to make the interaction more effective. A short
introductory animation was used to prime users for the engagement, but a future adjustment would include
extending visual ties to sustainability into the shapes and targets used in the ball and ring game and building a
mechanism for transitions in order to use more of a story based format.

User feedback during testing
See table in appendix

Examples of user interaction

Pictured above: Users interact with level 1, master vs. harmony prototype. Change in depth of right hand from
sensor position rotates shape to reveal hidden shapes masked below image. Up to 5 users in this prototype
(testing maximum user capability and shape masking effect)
Pictured below: Example images from open source software tracking platforms. (tsps.cc and openptrack.org)
These explorations would not be possible without free access to these platforms. Ultimately, neither were utilized in
the final installation but they were invaluable for use during rapid testing and prototyping.

CONCLUSIONS AND
FUTURE DIRECTION
The exploration of sustainable solutions requires the unbridled ideation of alternative futures that question
the values that have created the current reality. Emphasis on a reflexive understanding both as individuals and
societies within our larger global context has become increasingly important. Artists and designers are uniquely
capable in helping to bridge this reflexive knowledge gap between sustainability knowledge and behavior through

their ability to provoke or create interactions. One of the most influential passages for supporting this idea is by
Hans Dieleman in his article titled ,“Sustainability, Art, and Reflexivity” where he says,
“We should realize that sustainability is not only about the economic world system,
wasteful technologies or unsustainable practices as such. It is at the same time about
the symbolic meaning we give to unsustainable systems, technologies, products and
practices on the one hand, and possible sustainable alternatives on the other hand.”
Artists and designers regularly converse in the language of symbolic meaning or aesthetic reflexivity which per
Dieleman is categorized by the use of symbols, signs, and allegories, in place of scientific analysis and theory
(2008). However, there is a growing niche somewhere in the middle, deemed art science communication, that
explores both spectrums of inquiry using a combination of creative process and scientific process with various
levels of data interpretation and/or collection involved throughout the process or within the final outcome. These
creative explorations contain the capacity to become a way to engage or create an impact with a wider audience
or inspire new threads of scientific inquiry. This type of inquiry is especially important for sustainability because it
seeks to illuminate philosophical connections to the representation of science beyond a representation of data.
The challenges of this intersection lie in its’ evaluation. Projects in this realm can differ greatly in terms of
how much artistic license is granted and the abstract versus actual representation of data makes them difficult to
assess by either individual community. Impact can also be equally difficult to quantify with many of these
installations. This difficulty to assess by any individual field and variety of potential processes included lends
support to the importance of increased interdisciplinary engagement which is also emphasized as a key feature in
creating sustainable solutions.
The use of motion tracking for real time engagement with art is still relatively new, with the increased
capabilities and affordability of sensor technology, like the Kinect, and the increasing availability of open source
tools for the processing of this data, this is just the beginning of potential creative applications for this system or
similar configurations. The development approach of this project was timely and effective, although limited by a
school semester schedule and lack of budget. A more robust processing system could have been built which
would have enabled the usage of more advanced open source tracking systems and the potential for more
sophisticated graphics. Usage of these more advanced systems would allow for greater scalability and adaptability
of the installation for a wider variety of spaces, hence the categorization of this project as a pilot/prototype
deployment.

APPENDIX
Schwartz 7 Dimensions of Cultural Value Orientations

Notes from Stakeholder Interview
Pamela Winfrey - Aktipis Lab
- From a user’s perspective what is encouraging them to cooperate? What is the reward for cooperation?
- Think about using a prompt to initiate the interaction or using prompts to move between scenes (levels)
- Prompts of some type can help create the initiative to make a decision
- Can you access the lighting or sound in the room with the displays as well?
- Think about using other variable as layers within the experience and creating layers of meaning
- What about haptic feedback
- What do you want them to know about themselves or each other when they leave the experience?

User

Feedback

Actions taken

Boyd Branch (m1)

- Interesting choice of
- make list of all possible
interactive variables to
physical gestures/user
manipulate
inputs
- Are you going to
provide instruction?
- Check out resource:
Theater Games for
Non-actors for potential
inspiration

- continued research and
gathering visual inspiration

Boyd Branch (m2)

- How do you plan on
engaging stakeholders for
feedback

- the lab hosted a
seminar on cooperation
and conflict and lead
The Human Generosity
Project
- interview scheduled

Boyd Branch (m3)

- Refine functionality of
- limit users to stable
multi-user play
maximum (3)
- Think about transitions - create storyline for level/
between levels
experience cohesion
- When and how are they
making connections/
refer to reading from
class about group-team
flow experiences and
cooperative gaming

- this also came up in our
meeting with Aktipis lab
when discussing when/
how to use prompts to
encourage the user to
choose to do or not to do
something

Jake Pinholster (m2)

- Good interactions but
missing a through line
to tie it all together
- find ways to revisit or
reinforce the theoretical
through the visual

- Continued theory and
visual research

- attend workshops and
discussions
- brainstorm/test various
thematic ties

Marcus (level 1)

- audios cues for shape
drops
- attach shape to a point
that is not as easy to
rotate
- the one tetris piece
made you want more
tetris shapes or to fit
them together

- audio will be added in
later versions
- test shape attachment
to head/COM/other
- Hide combined shapes
(+ cooperative scoring)

- level 2 supports audio
functionality, so it is a
feasible variable to test
- attempt to build scoring
multipliers based on
cooperative
engagement so the
user may independently
choose to maximize
individual or group
score

- contacted Aktipis lab
and created list of
potential users to recruit
for feedback

Results/Support

User

Feedback

Actions taken

Results/Support

Lauren (level 1)

- shapes are always
- not a feasible change
there, pick up and
with current design/
move
sensors
- 3D shapes
- experiment with
- select a difference body
shaping and/or drop in
part might change the
or fit in type effect
interference
- test shape attachment
to head/COM/other

- the shapes appear
when they sense a
person walk into the
space and become
actively attached to
selected focal point (this
functionality would be
too time intensive to fit
project timeline)

Elora (level 1)

- difficult to tell when the
shape is lined up
- needs more visual role

- experiment with shaping
and and/or drop in or fit
type effect

- Unity (software program)
should make this possible

Ian (level 1)

- break up the
interference issue by
assigning spaces to
move
- wants shapes to be
collaborative puzzle
- revealing piece by piece
of underlying image,
reward for collaboration
- what are the divergent
paths between the
individual (mastery) and
the group (harmony)

- will need to explore
- not enough sensor
ability to confine to
hardware available for
single display space
this functionality
- hide combined shapes - attempt to build scoring
(+ cooperative scoring)
multipliers based on
- experiment with reveal
cooperative
of entire image based
engagement so the
on a cooperative format
user may independently
- scoring pathways
choose to maximize
individual or group
score

Robert F. Kennedy How GDP failed
University of Kansas, March 18, 1968
Even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another
greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all.
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered
personal excellence and community values in the mere
accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product,
now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross
National Product - if we judge the United States of America by
that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and
cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of
carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the
people who break them. It counts the destruction of the
redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars
for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts
Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs
which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health
of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of
their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or
the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public
debate or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our
wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our
devotion to our country, it measures everything in short,
except that which makes life worthwhile.
And it can tell us everything about America except why we are
proud that we are Americans.
If this is true here at home, so it is true elsewhere in
world.

Introductory animation

Sample of installation interaction

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Project team members (Minsoo Kang and Dallas Nichols) - For trusting me and each other to be patient
during the process and allowing our concept to freely evolve as we tested numerous
ideas and system boundaries.
The Aktipis Lab - For creating space for engaging discussion and asking important questions during our
design meeting, in addition to both the willingness to user test and offer critical feedback.
Boyd Branch - For priceless opportunities in creative development and career development as well as
critical feedback and project guidance.
Jake Pinholster - For always asking the most excellent questions and intuitive instruction as well as critical
feedback and project guidance.
Kijana Gaines - For patience and overall endurance as emotional crutch.
Bria Woodyard - For contributions to my sanity and maintenance of my overall mental health and well
being.
Andrea Levy - For sparks of inspiration with divine timing and gracious editing.
Scott Cloutier - For believing in unicorns.

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Journal of Sustainability Education, 2(March), 1-20.
Schwartz, S. H. (2006). A theory of cultural value orientations: Explication and applications. Comparative sociology,
5(2), 137-182.
Schwartz, S. H., & Rubel, T. (2005). Sex differences in value priorities: cross-cultural and multimethod studies.
Journal of personality and social psychology, 89(6), 1010.
Zidanšek, A. (2007). Sustainable development and happiness in nations. Energy, 32(6), 891-897.