DSDN 142: Ideas In Motion

So I guess it's time I started getting down and dirty with some ideas for this class. I've got lots of techniques I can use that I worked out in the holidays, so realistically I should be decently far ahead. Sadly I'm not, so it's time to step on the accelerator.

Some of the ideas that I have revolve around the concept of some sort of physics-related interaction. These could be a lot of fun, as the base physical laws that we know and live by could be warped and twisted to make the interaction more innovative.

The idea of playing with physics gave way however to the idea of appreciating something a little bit. We see plants around us all the time, and yet they grow too slowly to make us stop and appreciate that growth a little. We see the growth as a change from day to day. However, what if I accelerated said growth so it was visible, and then give the user the power to influence said growth.

I came up with the idea of a plant that shies away from the mouse, but still has this perpetual urge to grow upwards. You could influence how the plants growth progresses, and then potentially by clicking, you could influence where flowers were to grow along its length, thus having the ability to create your own plant on screen.

Making the user appreciate the slowness of growth would be crucial, but I have to make sure that the interaction isn't so slow that the user feels like that they could walk away. Another function that could be fun would be to allow the user to terminate the growth of a plant, which would generate a new growth!