ODDLY is a piece of tech-jewellery that uses people’s natural inclination to fidget and play with jewellery. The data from the user’s movement and interaction with a bangle or other piece of jewellery is connected to a program that translates it into a visual experience.
A procedurally growing environment can be explored and manipulated with the real life physical object, creating a unique and intriguing experience.
TIME June - July 2022 (3 weeks)
TOOLS UE5, PS, Maya
TEAM Finja Koehn
Florian Felix Giese
Julian Nowak
Laurence Gilbertz
Luane Kort
Luna Mertz-Figueroa
TASKS Game Design, Jewellery design
3D,Project Management
Florian Felix Giese
Julian Nowak
Laurence Gilbertz
Luane Kort
Luna Mertz-Figueroa
TASKS Game Design, Jewellery design
3D,Project Management
COACHES Prof. Susanne Brandhorst
Prof. Thomas Bremer
Prof. Thomas Bremer
CONTEXT HTW Berlin Game Design
3 week experimental game jam
JEWELLERY DESIGN
The jewellery design is based on the senor technology and functionality we wanted to incorperate while trying to keep it minimalist and appealing.
FEATURES
Fidgeting being our main focus for the design, the following interactions have already been implemented:
– The bangle can be squeezed thanks to the gap and the malleability of the metal letting the plants grow in the application.
– Rotating the pearls around the bangle is a very satisfying movement, simulating the most typical kind of fidgeting users do with watches and bracelets. This feature has not been connected to the application yet due to a missing sensor.
– Shaking the bangle occurs naturally while wearing the piece of jewellery. It triggers a real time particle effect in the application giving the user a possibility to interact with the environment in a fun and playful way.
presentation at the "Hive Five 2022" game design semester exhibition at DE:HIVE, HTW Berlin
ENVIRONMENT
The environment serves both as a canvas for the growing plants and as a link to the physical piece of jewellery.
Contrasting the organic shapes of the plants, the environment is minimalistic and geometric, creating an atmosphere that feels secluded and mysterious. The users should feel like they get an exclusive insight into a world that is only accessible to them.
PLANTS
We opted for a hand-painted artstyle and reduced color palette. The simplified assets can be recognized even on smaller screens. The textures each consist of only 2 colors, which can be adjusted in the engine, making quick adjustments to the color scheme possible. Emissive elements give the environment a whimsical vibe, especially in gloomy light settings.
MULTIPLAYER & ACHIEVEMENTS
To emphasize the emotional value of jewellery, ODDLY could be expanded into a multiplayer experience. Users can gift each other the bangle, feed data into the same application and grow their garden together.
Color coded plants could showcase which user grew which plant, and real time interactions could be seen by other users on the screen connecting them even when they are physically apart.
Different types of plants being available in different parts of the world could encourage people to travel or connect with communities abroad. Achievements or hidden plants and visual effects could further the explorative character of the application and help with replayabilty and user engagement.
MOBILE
Currently, the performance of our application is not yet at a level that would be suitable for mobile devices. Due to the procedural growth and the various effects, the application is very performance intensive. In principle, however, it would be interesting to adapt the application for mobile devices and possibly enable exports for social media channels.
DATA
Fidgeting is currently the main focus of the collected data. However, data such as weather, step count, heartbeat or GPS date could flow into the application and influence additional things. The lighting conditions are currently still generated automatically, but could also be controlled by the real weather data, making the experience even more immersive and unique.
