Dave Spector
The Floating Funhouse
The Floating Funhouse is a fully interactive 3D experience built within the masssively multi-user platform Second Life, complete with games, illusions, and Soviet circus acts!
davespectoronline.com/funhouse
This is a fully interactive massively multi-user "virtual installation" built using the 3D modelling, audio streaming, and scripting functions of Second Life.
The first floor contains four main attractions: Musical Snowballs, The Transportholes, the Virtual Instruments Room, and Slooshee The Great (see descriptions below). It also houses a number of curios, such as a vintage Turkish fortune teller machine and the only living цилиндр in captivity, imported from Ukraine .
The second floor houses two main attractions: Human Pinball and The Gates of Confusion.
The outside of the building is modeled after St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
While the main goal of the project is simply to provide a fun immersive experience, a great deal of attention was put into sound design. While my experiences exploring the user generated world of Second Life revealed a visually impressive environment, the 3D sound space enabled by the software went largely ignored by the content creators. My goal is to call attention to the important role sound plays in creating an immersive experience. All of the exhibits in the Funhouse include a sound design, some simply to enhance the experience, others central to the success of the piece.
MUSICAL SNOWBALLS
A snow covered landscape contains 8 spherical shapes that make the gentle sounds of harp strings being plucked when they collide with each other. Each sphere has its own note, and the user can push the balls into one another, creating a small melody.
THE TRANSPORTHOLES
Small circular windows reveal an unrivaled viewing experience: dynamic dioramas depicting various exotic nature scenes such as an eagle soaring through the trees or an undersea adventure. Think Natural History Museum, but moving.
THE NEW INSTRUMENTS ROOM
A collection of unconventional music making gadets.
SLOOSHEE THE GREAT
This is a four minute show featuring three tricks performed by St. Petersburg's famed acrobat Slooshee the Great. Visually, this is a very simple 3-D animated show set in a miniature arena, starring a timid yellow ball named Slooshee. The soundtrack provides the richer experience; we hear a crowd of thousands cheering and laughing, entertained by a Russian ringmaster and a small orchestra.
HUMAN PINBALL
Imagine being inside a pinball machine. Duck!
GATES OF CONFUSION
This is essentially a maze. The user is spatially disoriented upon entering an all black room. A series of colored door frames (gates) appear to hang in space. Due to an optical illusion, the gates appear to change position depending on where the user is standing. The only constant in the room is the various ambient sounds. The user must listen carefully to find their way out.
Kids of all ages, audiophiles, and homesick Russians.
One or more people sitting at the computer wearing headphones and laughing. There could theoretically be multiple stations since Second Life is a massively multi-user environment.
Created in Second Life, running on a Macintosh. PC compatible as well, though not tested.
Second Life is an incredibly unstable working environment with a ton of potential as a communications system. And it can be fun too.
Actually, this was a really great learning experience. I didn\'t have much background in 3D or programming (hardly any whatsoever) so this was a good introduction. It was also a great way to integrate all kinds of things I am familiar with--photoshop, animation, music, sound design, screenwriting, and elementary Russian.
The first floor contains four main attractions: Musical Snowballs, The Transportholes, the Virtual Instruments Room, and Slooshee The Great (see descriptions below). It also houses a number of curios, such as a vintage Turkish fortune teller machine and the only living цилиндр in captivity, imported from Ukraine .
The second floor houses two main attractions: Human Pinball and The Gates of Confusion.
The outside of the building is modeled after St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
While the main goal of the project is simply to provide a fun immersive experience, a great deal of attention was put into sound design. While my experiences exploring the user generated world of Second Life revealed a visually impressive environment, the 3D sound space enabled by the software went largely ignored by the content creators. My goal is to call attention to the important role sound plays in creating an immersive experience. All of the exhibits in the Funhouse include a sound design, some simply to enhance the experience, others central to the success of the piece.
MUSICAL SNOWBALLS
A snow covered landscape contains 8 spherical shapes that make the gentle sounds of harp strings being plucked when they collide with each other. Each sphere has its own note, and the user can push the balls into one another, creating a small melody.
THE TRANSPORTHOLES
Small circular windows reveal an unrivaled viewing experience: dynamic dioramas depicting various exotic nature scenes such as an eagle soaring through the trees or an undersea adventure. Think Natural History Museum, but moving.
THE NEW INSTRUMENTS ROOM
A collection of unconventional music making gadets.
SLOOSHEE THE GREAT
This is a four minute show featuring three tricks performed by St. Petersburg's famed acrobat Slooshee the Great. Visually, this is a very simple 3-D animated show set in a miniature arena, starring a timid yellow ball named Slooshee. The soundtrack provides the richer experience; we hear a crowd of thousands cheering and laughing, entertained by a Russian ringmaster and a small orchestra.
HUMAN PINBALL
Imagine being inside a pinball machine. Duck!
GATES OF CONFUSION
This is essentially a maze. The user is spatially disoriented upon entering an all black room. A series of colored door frames (gates) appear to hang in space. Due to an optical illusion, the gates appear to change position depending on where the user is standing. The only constant in the room is the various ambient sounds. The user must listen carefully to find their way out.
Kids of all ages, audiophiles, and homesick Russians.
One or more people sitting at the computer wearing headphones and laughing. There could theoretically be multiple stations since Second Life is a massively multi-user environment.
Created in Second Life, running on a Macintosh. PC compatible as well, though not tested.
Second Life is an incredibly unstable working environment with a ton of potential as a communications system. And it can be fun too.
Actually, this was a really great learning experience. I didn\'t have much background in 3D or programming (hardly any whatsoever) so this was a good introduction. It was also a great way to integrate all kinds of things I am familiar with--photoshop, animation, music, sound design, screenwriting, and elementary Russian.