GMU:Introduction: Performance Platform/Joanna Bou Fadel

Concept:

In the field of psychology, a lot of research has been done in the area of social media; especially, how being “liked” on social media platforms affects individuals. A quote from an article on the New Statesman caught my attention:

“Likes are always an indicator of social standing, at my age,” says an anonymous 17-year-old survey respondent. “As someone who gets anxious and occasionally struggles with self-esteem, the amount of Likes on my posts can be both hugely uplifting or depressing.” ("Social Media Likes" on The New Statesman)

Therefore, in this project, I wanted to create a virtual representation of the above. Using the tracking system, I wanted to create a particle system that could either be attracted by individuals, or repel from them.

First steps:

This project was originally based on the code of the particles already existing in the OpenFrameworks library: the particles could either be attracted to the point where the mouse exists on the screen, or repel from it.

In order to translate this later to the skeleton using the tracking system, we had to change the code and be able to create several points of attraction or repulsion on one line.

First of all, we had to assign two points, then, using the formula of the Pythagorean Theorem, calculate the distance between them. Afterwards, on this line, we added several points. The number of points on the line would increase or decrease according to the distance between the two points. The points would later represent the skeleton from the tracking system.

File:Video-1.mp4

Second of all, we created several lines, each holding many points of attraction/repulsion.

File:Video-2.mp4

Finally, I replaced the particles with three images of the reactions of the Facebook platform: the like, the love, and the wow buttons.

File:Video-3.mp4

File:Video-4.mp4

Implemented with the tracking system, the results could be seen in the video below. When we run the program, originally, the particles are attracted to the skeleton. Pressing “2” on the keyboard will change the mode and will make the particles repel from the skeleton. In the video, it is demonstrated how the particles follow the skeleton in the first place; then, after pressing the “2” on the keyboard (around the second 16), the particles repel from the skeleton.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed in the creation of this project: the supervisors Johannes and Jörg, and my classmates Xaomei and Sandra.