Persona Box

Physical Computing
Arduino / Unity
Fall 2021, New York.


Role:
Physical Computing, Unity Developer

Collaborator:
Jingjing Wu- Fabrication

OVERVIEW

Persona Box revolves around a young girl confined within a box, surrounded by distance receptors. As participants interact with these receptors from different sides, they encounter situations of closeness and distance, triggering varied responses from the avatar, influenced by her introverted, rebellious, and highly neurotic nature, leading to fluctuating interactions ranging from friendliness to hostility. Through gradual exploration, participants find the most suitable approach to engage with the avatar.

Furthermore, the project's potential extends to encompass diverse behavioral patterns representing various personalities, mental health conditions, and other characters, offering an opportunity for people to learn and refine their abilities to connect with different personalities and cultivate empathetic connections with others.

CONCEPT

We hope participants can find the most suitable approach to engage with the avatar through gradual exploration.

Additionally, the project aims to extends to encompass diverse behavioral patterns representing various personalities, mental health conditions, and other characters, offering an opportunity for people to learn and refine their abilities to connect with different personalities and foster empathetic connections with others.

RESEARCH AND PROCESS

The avatar in our story is a high-neurotic child, displaying a mix of eagerness to communicate with others and fear of getting too close. Upon people's entry, it will approach them, saying hello, and then exhibit shyness, happiness, and excitement. However, if someone gets closer, it becomes nervous and anxious, moving away and turning its back. When people try to control it, it rebels and acts in the opposite manner. Here is the logic for when a single sensor data is received while the character is in the center position:


The front sensor serves as a prerequisite for activating the other sensors. When people approach the avatar at the right distance, it automatically performs a series of actions such as walking up, greeting, being shy, and expressing happiness. However, if people try to control it by approaching the other position receptors, it will respond by walking left or right, crouching, or jumping up.

When two or three receptors on the left, right, and top receive information simultaneously, the avatar will look around to indicate confusion. When people get closer or attempt to control it, the character becomes nervous, unhappy, and walks backward while turning around. Only when people move away from the box, the avatar returns to the center and waits for the next player.

The aim of this interaction is for players to discover that the best way to keep the character happy is to maintain a certain distance from it and refrain from trying to control its actions.


We made a Pepper’s Ghost box using laser cutting, placing an iPad on top. To achieve the illusion, we used an acrylic board to reflect the image and bring the holographic effect to life.