Artist Influences
It is incredibly difficult to say what specific artist or technology influences my thesis, or my thesis direction. My influences are a combination of different things, and are driven by my excitement for how humans interact with digital mediums in the future. That being said, there are definitely some specific influences that impressed me to the point of pursuing this thesis topic.
This will focus mostly on influences pertaining directly to my thesis topic, but there are some other base influences. Smart devices have had a major impact on our consumer market, especially with the development of mobile applications, which is where Material Design flourishes. The physical devices that we interact with, whether they be computers, phones, tablets, kiosks, art exhibits, or transportation objects are all influences on me and my thesis. I hope that my research and work can promote more three dimensional interfaces with the use of the already successful guidelines from Material Design.
The first major influence is Google and their utilization of Material Design, which is quickly growing trend in application layout and design. Google has compiled a series of rules, explanations, and visuals that explain Material Design and its best uses.
In addition to Google's Material Design, another major influence comes from the video game industry, and their innovations with integrating interfaces into the characters and environments within the game itself. One game that has done this exceptionally well is Dead Space. By placing the health meter on the spine of the player's character and displaying in-game dialogue videos with a hologram projected from objects in the environment, Dead Space creates a unique experience that I personally found engaging. The inventory interface also projects from the player character's wrist, and the player is given the agency to rotate around the projection, which makes the interface feel like a solid object within the game space as opposed to the usual superficial interface that is simply used to manage options.
Current video game interfaces utilize a relevant space well, but are not necessarily three dimensional. Many game interfaces use efficient angles, lighting, and hovers to make the interface appear three dimensional. Tomb Raider is a game that does this exceptionally well, and is an influence from its use of a purposeful environment for the interfaces and thematic uses. These are the types of interfaces that I am hoping to enhance with Material Design in a three dimensional space.
My final influences come from the way we interact with objects in the world. There have been food-empty grocery stores that have utilized bar codes on walls to deliver groceries to their customers. Donation machines that allow the user to slice bread with their credit card to feed children in impoverished countries. These new methods of interaction forusers give me the drive and excitement to find new ways to allow users to interact with objects in both the physical world and digital space. Interactive installations and virtual reality devices are, in my opinion, the next step in user interaction on a mass scale. These forms of interaction can be enhanced by Material Design and 3D interface design for marketing, branding, and information delivery.