Patatap is described as a “portable animation and sound kit” that exists on the web and lets you simply press keys on your keyboard to make music. Each key has a distinct sound and a visual that goes along with it. When I watched the video, I was drawn to the visuals and the idea that I could make music by simply pressing a few buttons on my keyboard. I wanted to play around with Patatap, and did just that after I watched the video. What Patatap does well is that it is very simple and easy to play around with. You can simply press buttons to see their effects and make beats by pressing keys. However, it is not quite intuitive and it is not easy to make a piece that sounds pleasing to the ears unless you spend a lot of time with Patatap, and it is difficult to keep the user engaged with Patatap for a while. I will have to admit that after playing around with Patatap for a minute, I was not sure which direction go in. However, Patatap remains a project that captures the user’s attention and encourages experimentation with it.
Connected Worlds is an interactive ecosystem that allows you to perform certain motions and use certain objects to interact with the environment and its surroundings. You control the flow of water as well as the overall health of the ecosystem in your interactions. I was interested in this project because the actions of the audience had consequences and the audience had to work together to achieve a common goal. The project easily draws an audience to it and encourages people to play around with what they can see in the environment. Because the project caters to a specific audience, children, it is a bit limiting in what it shows and presents. Also, the project is only available at a certain location and can’t easily be replicated elsewhere. This may be seen as negative as you must be physically present to experience the project and interact with it. There are many other projects that focus on actions leading to consequences, such as video games. A point I will make sure to focus on in my own project is whether or not I want to make it easily accessible or reproducible so others can experience it in other locations, and not have to physically be present at one place.
You can upload files of up to 20MB using this form.