Difficulties with the final concept
Empathize, Define
After showcasing our concepts to our client we started narrowing down towards a final concept based on the received feedback and highlighting the key elements and guidelines of that the design should follow and include.
However, while the feedback that we got was quite positive, it wasn't very specific which in turn brought our concepting phase to a stalling point. The main issue that we had was that while the client liked different parts of each concept that we presented we couldn't really pin point which concept best fitted all their requirements and the nature of the project itself. Furthermore, each concept still remained quite open as to how the audience interacts with the installation, what story is being told/visualized, what does the set dressing/physical elements consist of, etc.
To answer these questions, I went back to researching digital interactive installations. Here is where I came across another issue. Most of the digital installations that I was able to find or that we found during our initial research and inspiration phase had different flaws or shortcomings which didn't allow the concept behind those installations to be used as inspiration or adapted to our project. In most cases, the installations had two major issues: they were suitable only for a small number of users at the same time and/or the user interactivity was very limited.
Furthermore, many of those installations fit more into an open art gallery/digital exhibition environment (see video below) whereas our concept leaned more towards a scenario based experience within a dedicated timeslot and clear start and finish where the audience would be engaged throughout the entire experience.
As a result, I stopped looking for different interactive installations and decided to backtrack a bit and look again at the initial project briefing and initial feedback. Here is where I found an important insight, the discussion questions that we're based on the R.U.R play.
Questions:
What is the value of human creativity? (What does it mean to be human?)
If work, no longer is an obstacle or a drain of human energy and resources what does a thorough realization of human potential / pursuit of happiness look like?
What are the consequences of assuming the role of “creator”?
Is it possible to effect large scale ideologic or utopian change without falling in to the trap of authoritarianism.
What would a world look like if machines took over the world?
Is there a difference between evolution and capitalism or is it impossible to make a difference between them?
Additional Brainstorming
Ideate, Prototype
With these questions in mind I decided to start another brainstorm session with other team and studio members in order to try to define a concept by using these question as a main element and matching with the previously defined key elements and guidelines.
As a result of the brainstorm, we managed to come up with a type of interactive play experience as a final concept which fit well in a theater environment and checked all the boxes that we established without having any flaws that we could find upon reflecting on it. We also defined a setting and plot for the play in order to give better context to the discussion questions and sketched out the possible set dressing layout and placement.
Furthermore, I created a interaction framework diagram so that we can have a better understanding of how the experience is meant to playout between the audience, installation and actors. This would also prove to be useful for communicating the interaction concept to our client and discussing the different moments of the play.
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