Rapid Prototyping
Designer/Programmer/Engineer / Spring 2016
A project that was initiated in, and will be completed by, this final semester at Cornell, groups of three students must design and create an innovative prototype involving both hardware and software from scratch. Though the final, specific idea may change within the iterations produced over the next few months, our group is currently working on creating a machine that can make intricate latte art using foam, chocolate and caramel sauces, and espresso. Inputs from the user on a computer can be used to create designs directly onto the drink. This will require the design and creation of the machine itself, as well as the programming of a Photon micro-controller to help relay instructions. To learn more about the progress of this prototype, please fill out the form on the contact page.
GiveNext Project Consultant
Designer/Researcher/Marketing - Spring 2016
Though the exact details of this project cannot be revealed at this time, I am part of a graduate consulting group who's job is to investigate possible pathways for the UI and marketing components of this relatively new company to take. To do so, field research, interviews, and data analysis over the course of several months has already been initiated. Due to the nature of the non-disclosure agreement, please contact me for further details if permissible.
MMORPG Dungeon Innovations
Designer - Spring 2016
This is a project of self interest, as I am very involved with MMO's and their gaming communities. Starting with asking the player base what they would keep, discard, and add within current dungeon (5 player) settings, I brainstormed some possible plots, bosses, and fight mechanics that would embody what I heard from others. As a base, I took this project as if I were designing a level for World of Warcraft so that I would have enough conventions and necessary boundaries to create a plausible instance.
Discussions with players, as well as brainstorming offline, resulted in possibilities of players joining a pirate standoff, facing off against sin-themed bosses, and offering roleplay-esque interactions to make the instances more unique and tailored to the group. Though this is still a work in progress, some of the sketches below give an idea of th result of the user based inquiries and possible solutions. For example, this particular dungeon is filled with imps and powerful satyrs. In the beginning, the players must decide whether or not to free a particular imp from a cage. Normal RPG conventions often reward magnanimous behavior; however, continuously helping the imp in question will in fact make the dungeon increasingly difficult to beat, as the NPC's main interest is deceiving the players so that he may cause more mayhem. Benelovent behavior is not completely reprimanded though. If the dungeon can be successfully beaten while helping the imp, there will be an increase in loot drops and players gain more experience. The dungeon so far has at least three bosses, with more innovative mechanics and decision making shown below.
Workspace Redesign Using Field Research
Researcher/Designer - Fall 2015
The final assignment of a graduate level class involved the analysis of an existing area of work, such as a restaurant or a retail store, in order to determine major causes of inefficiency so as to suggest a model to improve the workplace structure. I decded to analyze the strucutre of Mann Library's main desk at Cornell University. Gathering data involved extensive field research of the actual space by observing employee and customer interactions, as well as uses of the technology available to the staff. Interviews with some customers and several of the student staff were also conducted to create a better picture of how the library desk functioned, and what would be the most useful change to the space for those using it.
After analysis of the qualitative data, the issue chosen to be resolved, which would maximize the efficiency of the workspace and employee satisfaction with the work environment, was how books were checked out and returned. One computer was delegated for returning books since software for logging books properly was not installed on any other machine. Furthermore, the program would not identify whether a returned book was on hold for the next user until a physical slip was printed out. Books were then placed on shelves until they could be properly put away; however, there was no way for the computer to update said location of the books. To increase the amount of employees who could perform book returns at once (which decreases frustration when large amounts are dropped off), and to streamline the process overall, a redesign of the physical workspace and the software was proposed. To help ensure the changes would endure, it was also suggested that workplace behaviors and culture should be more open to innovation.
Draco's Descendants
Game Designer / Spring 2014
Another video game created for my information science-related classes at Cornell, this game was a 2-dimensional racing game in which dragons flew through space, breathing fire at each other and trying to avoid obstacles. As the dragons were in space, flying by objects such as planets would be more difficult due to the gravitational pull that was implemented for each item according to its size and type. I was in charge of character and level design, as well as any written materials such as game manuals and promotional posters. The final product, which was produced in less than a semester, can be found here (click to visit).
Stop Motion Animation
Artist/Animator - Spring 2013
This was my first attempt at a stop motion animation that took no less than 900 photographs with much tweaking in between each. Though the increase in class work, research, and hours needed for my job has prevented me from doing more of these as of late, I enjoyed creating something that took such dedication and creativity. I created all of the characters by hand, and made sure each had moving joints if necessary to make the posing for each frame that much faster. The pictures below depict the characters in progress.
Once the characters were created, the background was set up and the painstaking process began! The final result can be seen below. Because of the limited resources available to me, I utilized the shifts in the frames and the changes in lighting to help enhance the unsettling atmosphere of the clip.
