The biggest inspiration for my personal project proposal is David Attenborough's documentary series, Our Planet. This series celebrates the beauty of nature that still exists in our world while bringing attention to the danger these biomes face, some of which include deforestation, melting ice caps, overfishing, plastic pollution, etc.
My research will result in an interactive installation inspired by the Our Planet documentary series, designed to spark imagination and environmental awareness in children through digitally scanned natural artifacts. I will use Polycam to 3D scan a collection of natural objects representing six threatened biomes: Frozen Worlds, Jungles, Forests, Grasslands, Fresh Water, and Coastal Seas. In case I cannot find objects to 3D scan myself, I will look at online resources like sketchfab to get the scans I need. The scanned models will be cleaned up and optimized in Blender, then imported directly into TouchDesigner as 3D geometry. Using MediaPipe hand-tracking, people will be able to gesture toward each object, causing it to awaken with light, color, and particle effects, suggesting the life and fragility of the world it represents. The installation frames each object as a fragment of a disappearing biome, using interaction as a metaphor for the human role in protecting or neglecting nature. The final work will be presented as a digital cabinet of curiosities, inviting children and their families to explore, imagine, and connect emotionally with threatened ecosystems.
This video is a full demo of what the final experience looks like. This interactive experience begins with a menu screen that welcomes you and gives you directions on how to navigate through this project. As you do the gestures, different biomes appear and animate on screen.
I have also recorded videos of myself explaining this project on Loom. They can be accessed here: