Matt Johannesen – Final Documentation

For the final presentation on Monday, I focused on getting all my light box layers created and bound in paper I had laser cut during the week. I initially intended for the paper to hold moving parts in place, but they were also useful for keeping magnets in line with each layer – so I ended up cutting paper binding for all the layers.

Putting this all together was a challenge, with so many delicate parts that did not seem keen on staying in place – but I was happy with the final product.


Images

Here you can see all the layers I made for this iteration, with imagery from the game INSIDE. First are the dynamic layers, with parts you can move by hand – clockwise from top left: lamp (slides), boy running (slides), boy swinging (rotates), boy being tossed by mind-controlled workers (slides, and has orange tissue paper for the glowing mind-control helmet):

And the static layers, with no moving parts – clockwise from top left: ladder/scaffolding, jet-propelled crate on a rail, paper background for diffusing light (placed at back), console (yellow tissue paper attached for screen glow):

And lastly, here are a few sample configurations of the layers. Even though different layers are used in each, they all seem to fit together well and form believable scenes from the game:


Takeaways

Overall, this was a very interesting experiment and experience for me. As much as I’ve enjoyed laser cutting while at WPI, this was my first time actually assembling pieces together, and mixing laser cut pieces with other materials. I have a newfound appreciation for the wide variety of other non-wood supplies that can go into a project like this – and if I were to do this again, I would take more care to really think through how all the pieces will come together.

Another lesson I can take away from this was the challenge of scale. I sought to make something where users could select from a variety of slides, not just the 6 to 8 slides I’d made for the final showcase – but I didn’t realize until I started making these slides that each one takes a substantial amount of effort and time: from drawing it out, to cutting, compare to other slides and redesigning, and cutting again. This is a lot of work for one person to do, especially since I didn’t have a concrete idea of what the subject would be until later in the process.

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