Browsing by Author "Tania Allen"

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Brand New Skin
(05-2022) Barrett, Lucia; Tania Allen; Derek Ham
The duality between otherness and monstrosity forms the backbone of Brand New Skin, a conceptual computer role-playing game, or CRPG, centered on the experience of being a monster— a vampire. In its current form, this project is the beginning of a production bible for what will one day be a completed game. Vampires traditionally stand as symbols of power. Brand New Skin upends this trope— vampires are rewritten as symbols of intimacy; the game revolves around the process of engaging with humans and negotiating consent to feed, likening the act to real-world sexual encounters. It will follow the player’s journey of self discovery as they learn to navigate the monstrous nuances of a parallel society as a newly-turned vampire- a fledgling- named Marin, trapped within the confines of a sleepy seaside city shackled by superstition. Gothic conventions are dissected, scrutinized, presented to the player in the form of questions: internal monologues, character interactions, poking and prodding at the game’s environment. The player takes the reins to construct meaning, to understand, to forge an intimate, monstrous identity.
Centennial feminist Tarot
(2020) Caddick, Lauren; Tania Allen; Todd Berreth; Kathleen Rieder
How might a reimagined tarot experience connect feminist movements of the past and present in a way that supports and inspires future generations? The Centennial Feminist Tarot illuminates the parallel histories of the United States women’s suffrage movement and modern feminism in order to help Millennial women understand their place in the context of American history. The creation of this reimagined deck includes a new “Major Arcana”, a spread unique to the deck, biographical information, and interpretations for each card. Stereoscopic digital collages serve as trigger images for an augmented reality application that will allow users to navigate the historical and symbolic meanings of the commemorative cards.
FORGOTTEN CHINESE MYTHOLOGIES
(2020) Liao, Sha; Patrick Fitzgerald; Kathleen Rieder; Kirby Culbertson; Tania Allen
Mythology has played an integral part in almost every civilization throughout the world. Prehistoric cave paintings, etchings in stone, tombs, and monuments all suggest that, long before human beings set down their myths in words, they had already developed a belief structure. According to psychiatrist Carl Jung, “Myth is a necessary aspect of the human psyche which needs to find meaning and order in the world.” My project is to redesign and visualize text-based Chinese mythological characters into animated 3D models, in order to expose lesser known Chinese mythologies to young people. The goal of my project is to preserve and convey the story of the ancient myths in the hope to ignite young people’s curiosity and interest in myth and bring awareness and sustainability in forgotten mythologies. My project includes three components: translation of ancient mythologies, the re-imagination and visualization of mythological characters and an audience engagement platform. The first component of ancient mythologies contains the original text record of the character and its text translation for contemporary audiences. The second component of visualization contains character design, 3D modeling and an animation. I chose the animated 3D model as my medium because I believe it allows more interaction between the work and the audience. It can show different angles of the model by the audience's will. In the future application, these 3D models can be used in film, games and VR.
In Their Eyes
(2021) Fang, Chutong; Justin Johnson; Tania Allen; Chandra Cox
ABSTRACT Light pollution dramatically disrupts the natural day-light pattern and threatens wildlife’s survival. By creating an immersive and empathetic VR experience, In Their Eyes aims to provide people an empirical and more immediate experience of the negative impacts of light pollution in the animals’ eyes. Players will experience sea turtles’ sea-finding behavior by playing the role of a hatchling trying to find the sea under the effect of light pollution. Players will also be educated on how they can help in daily life. This project will provide a deeper awareness and understanding of the problem, thereby causing people to care more about the issue through this experience with the hope that resultant steps might be taken to prevent this damage from further continuing.
In Their Eyes
(2021) Fang, Chutong; Justin Johnson; Tania Allen; Chandra Cox
Light pollution dramatically disrupts the natural day-light pattern and threatens wildlife’s survival. By creating an immersive and empathetic VR experience, In Their Eyes aims to provide people an empirical and more immediate experience of the negative impacts of light pollution in the animals’ eyes. Players will experience sea turtles’ sea-finding behavior by playing the role of a hatchling trying to find the sea under the effect of light pollution. Players will also be educated on how they can help in daily life. This project will provide a deeper awareness and understanding of the problem, thereby causing people to care more about the issue through this experience with the hope that resultant steps might be taken to prevent this damage from further continuing.
Kid Gaia
(2021) Goyret, Fernando W.; Tania Allen; Justin Johnson; Patrick Fitzgerald
Kid Gaia is a narrative VR game that tells the story of a young hero, Kid, who must save his world from the evil corporation, Panorama, that is destroying it through its disregard of nature and the environment. In the game, the player embodies the spirit of Gaia who is the embodiment of mother nature. Using background theories and references of The Hero’s Journey, Archetypes and constructivism in its development, Kid Gaia presents an epic journey of reaching awareness of the elements that are fouling the environment, learning the ways to reduce the negative impact of daily human activities on our planet, and ultimately encouraging others to do the same. Kid Gaia uses storytelling as a main tenet for its immersive engagement, as the main characters talk to people and animals, solve puzzles and tasks and ultimately regenerate the environment. It explores the ways that VR can be used as a medium that can enhance empathy towards others and towards the environment, because of its immersive and interactive nature. And it explores the ways that game-play can use principles of constructivism and procedural rhetoric to persuade players of an alternate reality.
Kid Gaia: - An Environmental Awareness VR-based Video game
(2021) Goyret, Fernando William; Tania Allen; Justin Johnson; Patrick Fitzgerald,
Kid Gaia is a narrative VR game that tells the story of a young hero, Kid, who must save his world from the evil corporation, Panorama, that is destroying it through its disregard of nature and the environment. In the game, the player embodies the spirit of Gaia who is the embodiment of mother nature. Using background theories and references of The Hero’s Journey, Archetypes and constructivism in its development, Kid Gaia presents an epic journey of reaching awareness of the elements that are fouling the environment, learning the ways to reduce the negative impact of daily human activities on our planet, and ultimately encouraging others to do the same. Kid Gaia uses storytelling as a main tenet for its immersive engagement, as the main characters talk to people and animals, solve puzzles and tasks and ultimately regenerate the environment. It explores the ways that VR can be used as a medium that can enhance empathy towards others and towards the environment, because of its immersive and interactive nature. And it explores the ways that game-play can use principles of constructivism and procedural rhetoric to persuade players of an alternate reality.
Nice Folky Things
(05-2022) Sibiran, Gilberto; Tania Allen; Marc Russo; Lesley-Ann Noel
As a child of American immigrants, I often struggled with understanding my identity when it came to the lack of representation in the media that I consumed as a millennial second-generation Latin American. The stories that influenced the media and defined my generation lacked characters that looked like me and were largely inspired by stories from Western European and far removed from the stories that may have included people like me. By examining folk stories from countries of origin not often represented in mainstream American culture remediating them for a detached population - Nice Folky Things, explores the identity and culture of second-generation Americans through cross-cultural folk stories examination. This is an Auto-ethnographic study based on my own experiences as an American-born, second-generation Latin American who has, and still often feels, detached from my family’s heritage, and ostracized by my surrounding mainstream American Culture. Walking the line between contradiction, authenticity, and honoring heritage - this project is meant to be both an examination of my personal experiences, and authentic taste, as well as a larger examination of how media has, and can, re-shaped personal identity.
Operation ROBO
(05-2022) Edwards, Gabrielle; Chandra Cox; Patrick Fitzgerald; Tania Allen
Nowadays, companies are seeking workers that can accommodate brainstorming, analytical thinking, and creative collaboration. A good mix of education, exploration, creativity and academic development can be achieved by merging the arts and sciences through a concept called STEAM. The interactive digital learning experience called Operation Robo will help develop some of the best thinkers of our future generation by kindling both sides of the brain - the left (analytical thinking) and the right (imaginative thinking). Operation Robo immerses young people in a digital learning experience that allows them to program the functions of a robot in order to better comprehend programming logic. By combining the arts and sciences, a good blend of instruction, discovery, creativity, and academic progress can be attained. We can cultivate some of our next generation's brightest thinkers by igniting both sides of the brain - the left (analytical thinking) and the right (creative thinking) - through Operation Robo (imaginative thinking). The user will be led through various activities that will help them understand various levels of programming logic. Each level will include an exercise that the user must complete before moving on to the next, in accordance with Kolb's experiential learning theory. In this case, art is about employing creativity and imagination to boost the development of STEM's vital abilities, as well as flexibility, adaptability, productivity, responsibility, and invention - all of which are required skills for a successful career in any sector.
Other as Spectacle: Women, Queerness, and the Male Gaze
(05-2020) Fisher, Sara; Todd Berreth; Pat Fitzgerald; Tania Allen
This project, Other as Spectacle, aims to create an interactive installation that explores what it is like to be othered by the male gaze, and through the experience establish a new understanding in the viewer the harm the male gaze has on women and queer individuals. The theme of the work surrounds the concept of a masquerade—the user steps in front of an interactive projection and finds themselves in the role of the ‘outsider.’ The viewer will face their own reflection in a mirror, and witness as their image is distorted—their reflection on the screen slowly morphing into the figure of a monster as the characters on the screen gawk at them.
Reorganizing Narratives: increasing accessibility to comic book literature
(2021) Campbell-Barner, Alec; Marc Russo; Tania Allen; Patrick Fitzgerald
CAMPBELL-BARNER, ALEC, Reorganizing Narratives: Increasing Accessibility To Comic Book Literature. (Under the direction of Professor Marc Russo). Within the medium of sequential art there are numerous unique categories, genres, formats, and styles. One of the oldest formats within the medium is traditional serialized comic books. These periodical magazines have been in circulation since the late 1930’s. My research outlines the artistic, literary, and historical value within the medium of comic books to highlight the significance of my thesis project. Over time the reading format for the medium of periodical comic books has evolved extensively and created a unique type of reader. Now, as the medium charges into a competitive and digitized future, evolving the reading format will become a necessity. My thesis argument proposes ideas on how the reading format of comic books can or should evolve to better support readers and researchers. My thesis argument proposes that the current reading format of comic books lacks accessibility and legibility and a digital resource for better understanding the medium is needed. The conceptual design that I have created could work as a digital literary resource to support readers, researchers, and educators with engaging with the medium. I discuss ways to enhance the reading format by designing digital contextual reading guides. This project design is a proof of concept and is influenced by numerous precedents. This thesis involves the investigation and creation of a platform design intended to improve the overall accessibility of the comic book reading format.
SIDEREAL
(05-2022) Rigall, Jeff; Kate Greder; Justin Johnson; Tania Allen; Lee Cherry
This project aims to answer the question: How can the medium of video games leverage visual storytelling to communicate hard to grasp but existentially important questions related to the nature of the self and the divide between synthetic and organic consciousness? SIDEREAL, a 3D first-person narrative immersive experience, aims to provoke intellectual engagement with multiple ideas surrounding the personhood of artificial intelligence. This product is packaged within a format and duration that is easily accessible and encourages reflection. This paper consists of the design influences, theory, background research, documentation of process, and product development of SIDEREAL: an immersive experience exploring how the medium of video games can communicate hard to grasp, but existentially important and personal ideas pertaining to the self through the lens of the speculative future consciousness of artificial intelligence struggling to process the best answer to an ethical thought experiment: the Trolley Problem.
The Language of Memory
(12-2021) Ortiz, Cassandra; Dr. Derek Ham; Tania Allen; Kathleen Rieder
Cultural erasure is the gradual removal of various traditions and customs from society. One of the unfortunate casualties of this erasure is of language, in particular Indigenous languages. Of all the languages that exist throughout the world today, the vast majority are those of the Indigenous peoples. Many of them have withstood the test of time, and continue to live on through war and migration — representing one of the few remaining familial links that some of us have to our ancestry. Mixtec, an Indigenous language that originates from the southern region of what is now considered Mexico, is my family’s heritage language. As they migrated out of their small community in Oaxaca, Mexico, the dominant language (Spanish) gradually took over, resulting in less frequent use of Mixtec. Such factors have led to its inevitable erasure within my immediate family, as Mixtec only resurfaces when speaking to my grandfather in Mexico over the phone. The Language of Memory is a virtual, interactive storytelling piece that brings attention to the complexities of reconnecting with a lost heritage and culture. This experience takes the visitor through audio accounts from Indigenous members of the Mexican Diaspora who are on the brink of forgetting their Indigenous language, Mixtec. My intention for this project is to resonate and connect with others with similar experiences, and encourage them to reach out to their elders and each other to learn and share their family stories, songs, and rituals.
The Naturalist’s Challenge:
(05-2022) Willett, Erin; Tania Allen; J. Mark Scearce; Justin Johnson; Jay Levine
How might an interactive web experience educate participants to climate change solutions related to food, agriculture, and land use while instilling them with a level of personal agency to make a difference? The Naturalist’s Challenge, an online game application, educates participants to sustainable habits related to diet and consumption while giving structure to enable successful integration of new habits into the player’s everyday life. It leverages the innate sociability of games to create a community that expands the positive environmental impact and spreads through social networking to help combat the climate crisis. Unlike others of its kind, The Naturalist’s Challenge, directly approaches issues within our global food system to educate users about things that can be done at an individual level to help reverse global warming. A key aspect of the project is that it aims to inspire, create agency, and bring hope. Its key precedents are carbon tracking apps, behavioral modification apps, and cooperative simulation games. Climate change is an ever-impending issue that our world is in the midst of grappling with. The International Panel on Climate Change, who documents the progress of global warming, just released a report that we have entered into ‘Code Red for Humanity’. However, when talking about climate change, many people feel hopeless that any individual action can make a difference. The good news is that things can still change and understanding the options is the first step. The food, agriculture, and land use sector contributes a whopping 24% of all greenhouse gas emissions. This is an area where individuals can make the most difference. The Naturalist’s Challenge targets this sector and related consumer habits and combines it with the theories of learning through play and behavior modification through gamification to create an engaging, educational structure for individual and community change.
The Social Design Toolkit
(2021) Pinkston, Russel P.; Traci Rider; Lesley-Ann Noel; Christian Doll; Tania Allen
Designers are instigators of change, and the decisions they make can impact people’s lives in unexpected ways. The ideology behind social design is that designers have a social responsibility to create positive change by prioritizing people in their decisions. However, the commercialization of design practice often puts several degrees of separation between the people who design products, the people who make them, and the people who consume them, leading to design which elevates the designer’s process above people’s needs. There are several human-centered methodologies in existence across a range of disciplines (from cultural anthropology to design thinking), but these usually operate independently of one another, and each has its own unique constraints. The Social Design Toolkit offers a hybrid workflow called participatory design thinking that provides opportunities for these methodologies to overlap, placing human experience at the core of every design decision. Herbert Simon defines design as “courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones” (Simon 111), and social design is a holistic way of embracing cultural difference and reducing the social gap between the creators of culture and those who experience that culture. It is through this that we make design accessible and strengthen its output for everyone.
The Social Design Toolkit
(2021) Pinkston, Russell Paul; Tania Allen; Christian Doll; Lesley-Ann Noel; Traci Rider
Designers are instigators of change, and the decisions they make can impact people’s lives in unexpected ways. The ideology behind social design is that designers have a social responsibility to create positive change by prioritizing people in their decisions. However, the commercialization of design practice often puts several degrees of separation between the people who design products, the people who make them, and the people who consume them, leading to design which elevates the designer’s process above people’s needs. There are several human-centered methodologies in existence across a range of disciplines (from cultural anthropology to design thinking), but these usually operate independently of one another, and each has its own unique constraints. The Social Design Toolkit offers a hybrid workflow called participatory design thinking that provides opportunities for these methodologies to overlap, placing human experience at the core of every design decision. Herbert Simon defines design as “courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones” (Simon 111), and social design is a holistic way of embracing cultural difference and reducing the social gap between the creators of culture and those who experience that culture. It is through this that we make design accessible and strengthen its output for everyone.
TouchTap
(18-08-2020) Van de Zande, Tyson; Tania Allen; Adam Rogers; Todd Berreth; Kathleen Rieder
TouchTap proposes an interaction model and fabrication mindset for an accessible and low-cost computer interface. The interaction model is transferable to a range of situations, and it may be built using DIY processes or professional fabrication techniques. This thesis focuses on applying the interaction model to a wearable–a bag strap– within the context of bicycling. The interaction model starts as a basic navigation, forward, backward, and selection. The model balances simplicity, intuition, and freedom of control. The contributions of TouchTap can be split into three sections: an interaction design model, a scenario, and a prototype. The first contribution is an interaction design model that can be applied to wearables. The interaction model allows a user to control basic navigation features on their phone or computer by Tapping, Holding & Swiping. The second contribution, the scenario, is an application of the interaction design model to biking. The third contribution of this thesis is a prototype that demonstrates a sustainable mindset for material implementation for the interaction model, within context of the scenario. This thesis implements frameworks from Activity Theory (AT), combined with Human Centered Design (HCD), and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The process of this thesis starts with research and a re-framing of Activity Theory. HCD and HCI frameworks, tools, and methods tie into the AT tools to create a cohesive, ergonomic, and designed transferable interaction model. The goal of this thesis is to propose the beginning of a widely-accessible interaction model for designers, artists, and the community.