Figure 1. Intended layout
Figure 2. Example of drawing a star constellation
Description:
We all learnt about the Polaris in school and knew that Big Dipper is near from Small dipper, which includes Polaris. We might have even seen the star constellation that “corresponds” to our horoscope. But isn’t it silly how we only learn about the star constellations by the names and shapes that the first astrologists gave them? What if we could each draw and name our own constellation? How many different constellations can people see and create with the same sky and the same set of stars? These are the questions I wondered about when I was brainstorming ideas for the final project, which gave me inspiration to create skies full of stars, where people could be creative and make their own star constellation.
I will create a set of approximately hundred stars located on the screen, with different sizes. The audience can pick one of the stars and draw a line between that and another star. The code is built such that upon clicking on the last selected star, you can select another star and continue drawing the constellation to allow for greater imagination.
The audience will use a custom-made trackpad with a joystick and 3 buttons – start/select, undo, and finished, as well as a keyboard which will then be used to input the constellation’s name. Ideally, I expect to create a database with different star constellations and their names, but it depends on the progress of the project until the show.
List of parts I’ll need:
A joystick or two potentiometers, 3 buttons, a screen, and a keyboard. Additionally, a laser-cut box will be needed.
Topics to learn:
I need to learn how to create a database, and how to make sure that users can input their name and constellation name. Michael mentioned that the command is similar to print(), but I am yet to learn more about it.
I also need to update my knowledge on classes and objects to ensure that I can draw multiple lines (for now, it only works for 1 line at a time + 1 line that comes from moving mouse).
Most difficult parts:
- Currently trying to make multiple lines, instead of just 1 line at a time. It worked for only 5 dots that were manually typed, but doesn’t work when I try to make it into global commands without numbers.
- Making different screens for different stages of the game.
- Creating the database.