Page 40 - Fister jr., Iztok, and Andrej Brodnik (eds.). StuCoSReC. Proceedings of the 2015 2nd Student Computer Science Research Conference. Koper: University of Primorska Press, 2015
P. 40
ure 1: House and windmill representing two writers along with quote on the top.
years between 1790 and 1914 - how they referenced or quo- right. A mini map on the left side of the screen shows
ted each other in letters that they wrote to their friends or where the player is (the blue square on the mini map in
to other writers, in newspaper articles or in books. Because Figure 3) and where houses are (the yellow and red circles).
of the limited time for realization of the project, only a few The quote, the instructions and the position of the indica-
writers and connections between them were used. tors on the mini map are changed when a new connection is
discovered, showing the position of the new house.
The visual representation of the connections between Dutch
women writers has been created as a 3D computer “game” The reading of quotes is temporal and corresponds to the
with the help of the Unity3D game engine. This gaming user’s movement through 3D space. The quote is shown on
engine has been chosen because it is easy to use and one can the screen for as long as the user takes to walk to the next
very quickly create landscape and logic behind it. However, house. The map of the connections between the writers is
in our project the gaming experience is reduced to walking not disclosed in the form of a diagram, instead it shows al-
in space, finding the objects and reading the quotations (Fi- ways just the two writers connected by the quote that is
gure 1), and of course the contemplation of the connections being read at this moment. The map is revealed temporally
thus represented. In this 3D space there are two types of and dependent on the user’s reading. In this way the con-
interactive objects: the writers are represented by the hou- templation of the text is put in the foreground. If the entire
ses, if they had mentioned other writers in their work, or by network of connections would be shown and all the quotes
windmills (Figure 2), if they have only been mentioned by would be present in the space at the same time, the spatial
others. relations between them would have to be determined in a
completely different way, so that they would carry meaning.
The user discovers the connections between the women wri-
ters by traveling between the houses. As he/she approaches The landscape of this game has been designed to look like
a house so that he/she is close enough to it, the quote by this a typical Dutch landscape with water channels, bridges and
writer (that is the one represented by the house), in which boats. Houses and windmills that represent Dutch women
she mentioned another writer, is shown on the upper side of writers have also been chosen for this reason, so that a homo-
the screen. There are only two writers (houses) shown in this genous image of the landscape is achieved. House and wind-
virtual world at the same time – the one that has referenced mill models had been taken from website http://tf3dm.com/
the other and the one that has been referenced. When a (uploaded by user “3dregenerator”), other objects, which
writer that has no connections (has not mentioned another appear in landscape, are part of the standard assets in Unity3D
writer) is visited, the player moves back to a previous one development program. To use this objects one can simply
that has another connection (Figure 3) and only then the apply them by "painting" them on the landscape. The hei-
new connection to a new writer is shown. The connections ght map for landscape has been created in Adobe Photoshop
and the successive appearance of the houses and windmills as a gray scale image and later applied to this virtual world.
are ordered by the length of the continuous path that con- For illumination of the landscape, directional light has been
nects the writers by their references, that means that the used, placed above the landscape.
chain of connections that connects the most writers that
had mentioned others is shown first. 2.3 Technical aspect of the project
There are also instructions at the bottom of the screen for As mentioned earlier, Unity3D gaming engine has been used
easier traveling and navigation. The instruction about which for realization of this project. This engine uses scripts for
house or windmill should be visited next appears on the manipulation with game objects which can be written in
JavaScript or C# programming languages.
StuCoSReC Proceedings of the 2015 2nd Student Computer Science Research Conference 40
Ljubljana, Slovenia, 6 October
years between 1790 and 1914 - how they referenced or quo- right. A mini map on the left side of the screen shows
ted each other in letters that they wrote to their friends or where the player is (the blue square on the mini map in
to other writers, in newspaper articles or in books. Because Figure 3) and where houses are (the yellow and red circles).
of the limited time for realization of the project, only a few The quote, the instructions and the position of the indica-
writers and connections between them were used. tors on the mini map are changed when a new connection is
discovered, showing the position of the new house.
The visual representation of the connections between Dutch
women writers has been created as a 3D computer “game” The reading of quotes is temporal and corresponds to the
with the help of the Unity3D game engine. This gaming user’s movement through 3D space. The quote is shown on
engine has been chosen because it is easy to use and one can the screen for as long as the user takes to walk to the next
very quickly create landscape and logic behind it. However, house. The map of the connections between the writers is
in our project the gaming experience is reduced to walking not disclosed in the form of a diagram, instead it shows al-
in space, finding the objects and reading the quotations (Fi- ways just the two writers connected by the quote that is
gure 1), and of course the contemplation of the connections being read at this moment. The map is revealed temporally
thus represented. In this 3D space there are two types of and dependent on the user’s reading. In this way the con-
interactive objects: the writers are represented by the hou- templation of the text is put in the foreground. If the entire
ses, if they had mentioned other writers in their work, or by network of connections would be shown and all the quotes
windmills (Figure 2), if they have only been mentioned by would be present in the space at the same time, the spatial
others. relations between them would have to be determined in a
completely different way, so that they would carry meaning.
The user discovers the connections between the women wri-
ters by traveling between the houses. As he/she approaches The landscape of this game has been designed to look like
a house so that he/she is close enough to it, the quote by this a typical Dutch landscape with water channels, bridges and
writer (that is the one represented by the house), in which boats. Houses and windmills that represent Dutch women
she mentioned another writer, is shown on the upper side of writers have also been chosen for this reason, so that a homo-
the screen. There are only two writers (houses) shown in this genous image of the landscape is achieved. House and wind-
virtual world at the same time – the one that has referenced mill models had been taken from website http://tf3dm.com/
the other and the one that has been referenced. When a (uploaded by user “3dregenerator”), other objects, which
writer that has no connections (has not mentioned another appear in landscape, are part of the standard assets in Unity3D
writer) is visited, the player moves back to a previous one development program. To use this objects one can simply
that has another connection (Figure 3) and only then the apply them by "painting" them on the landscape. The hei-
new connection to a new writer is shown. The connections ght map for landscape has been created in Adobe Photoshop
and the successive appearance of the houses and windmills as a gray scale image and later applied to this virtual world.
are ordered by the length of the continuous path that con- For illumination of the landscape, directional light has been
nects the writers by their references, that means that the used, placed above the landscape.
chain of connections that connects the most writers that
had mentioned others is shown first. 2.3 Technical aspect of the project
There are also instructions at the bottom of the screen for As mentioned earlier, Unity3D gaming engine has been used
easier traveling and navigation. The instruction about which for realization of this project. This engine uses scripts for
house or windmill should be visited next appears on the manipulation with game objects which can be written in
JavaScript or C# programming languages.
StuCoSReC Proceedings of the 2015 2nd Student Computer Science Research Conference 40
Ljubljana, Slovenia, 6 October
