Swell is an interactive digital exhibit inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. Built with Unity, the user controls a first person player through a space filled with abstract 3D objects and projected images and videos. The objects inflate and deflate based on the player’s proximity to them. The projected images and videos are either inspired by the nature of social distancing or constructed in Processing with COVID-19 data from The COVID Tracking Project. By giving the viewer control of their path through the exhibit and having objects respond to them, the experience touches on the conflicting emotions around choosing to physically distance ourselves from others. Swell was made by Najla Bulous, Tim Creasman, Katie Rant, Omar Samara, and Nick Teeter. This project is a collaboration between NC State’s CSC 495: Special Topics in Visual Narrative and ADN 560:Visual Narrative Studio classes, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Empty gallery model of CAM Raleigh was provided for us to work in. Light Projectors and first person player are added to the scene.

Unity does not read animations created directly in Blender. To solve this, the model animation was exported as an .MDD file. The .MDD file was re-imported into Blender, over a duplicate copy that contained zero animation frames. Through this process, I was able to extract each frame of the original animation frames by creating a series of blend shapes attached to the duplicate model. After importing the new model into Unity as a .Blend file, the frames in the inspector are triggered to play with c# scripting based on the players’ proximity.

Training| First time using Blender for Modeling and Materials — Training | First time using Blender for modeling and materials

Blender animation used as texture in final experience

Render cloth simulation with pressure changes in Blender

Processing files visualizing data from the COVID-19 tracking project.

Scripting the animations from Blender to Unity was a process went through many trial and error phases. First animation working in unity scene.

Vinyl decal added to the floor abstracts the interaction the player will experience in the room. This graphic Added dimensional to the scene by interacting with the projector lights.

Materials were applied in Unity on cloth objects. Lighting ridges were placed for optimal color mixing.

Generated poster design by exporting pngs generated by after effect transformations. Still images layered in Photoshop.