For the final project of my master's degree, we were given the freedom to do anything at all as long as it involved some kind of digital media. My group and I created what we called the 'Interactive Digital Aquarium' - an exhibit that showcased motion-reactive 3D models of imaginary sea creatures, displayed in glass jars in a Pepper's Ghost-style illusion.
HTML/CSS/Javascript/UI Design
I created a simple social media application called Fame by Frame, for a programming course. The website was made using EJS, CSS, Javascript and MySQL. I followed the MVC model of organisation. The code is available in my GitHub.
Users were able to create a new account using their email ID, and login to their account later using the same email. Once logged in, users could see images posted by other users. They could also create their own posts, with a caption and alt text, which they could view either in their feed or in their profile.
3D Modelling using Blender
During the second month, we moved into production:
✽ Building and animating the sea creatures in TouchDesigner, Blender, and 3DS Max
✽ Experimenting with Pepper’s Ghost setups
✽ Procuring jars and transparent film and assembling the physical illusion system
This phase was highly iterative, requiring constant adjustments to both the digital and physical components.
Month 3
By month three, most of the modeling and animation was complete, so we shifted our focus to the installation. We set up our exhibit in the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, testing lighting, jar placement, and sensor accuracy.
We also composed original background music using Ableton and an M-Audio Oxygen 25 MIDI keyboard to create a more immersive experience (click on the Soundcloud link to listen!).
This remains one of the most enjoyable and creatively fulfilling projects I’ve ever worked on.
Learning tools like TouchDesigner and Ableton under tight time constraints was challenging but incredibly rewarding. More importantly, the project pushed us to combine art, interaction, and physical installation in a way that made full use of the resources available to us.