This thesis presents the moral and ethical controversy surrounding the possibility of terraforming Mars and provides an overview of the 5 characteristics of Mars that can kill you – radiation, low atmospheric pressure, carbon dioxide, freezing temperatures, and dust – should man embark on the journey. It presents these issues in written form, by storyboard, extensive graphics, and in a WIKI.

Ethical Considerations: The thesis presents the three main threads of thought regarding terraforming – that we should because it is there and man – superior to all other forms of life – wants challenges; that we should not since we are not superior to other forms of life and have no right; and the middle position – that we should be able to terraform Mars only if we clean up our act on Earth first. This is the point of view taken by the author of the thesis.

5 Ways Mars Can Kill You: the essay portion of the thesis is an overview of the research regarding the main obstacles to terraforming Mars and potential solutions.

Storyboard: Depicts the ethical efforts one must achieve before traveling to Mars as well as the process of terraforming – all images in chronological order.

Graphics: A series of Illustrator/Photoshop graphics moves the reader through the problems we have here on Earth that must be solved before terraforming, the process of getting to Mars and the activities involved in making her inhabitable for man.

WIKI: The WIKI showcases thesis material in a more interactive manner. JavaScript animations run throughout the WIKI and the user is able to create posts within the website – which acts as a forum.

The purpose of this project is to understand how wearable technology can improve a person's practice of self-tracking, or monitoring one's data. Self-tracking is regularly recording information about one's different life patterns (such as diet, activities, or sleep). Some technology that helps users record personal data are seen today as devices (FitBit, Smart Watches) or as applications (MyFitnessPal). Data is collected for the user to observe certain habits that he/she would like to improve upon. Their personal data that is collected and this helps keep the person self-tracking. This data can be converted to show personal behavioral patterns which a person analyzes so that they can make changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle. People self-track in order to analyze their behavior patterns, so that they can make changes to those patterns that lead to a healthier lifestyle. However, some people are not motivated to continue self-tracking, or use their data to make positive behavioral changes. To better understand this problem, we are conducting four co-design sessions with four users who have shown varying levels of self-tracking. Sessions' activities included: storyboarding, reviewing existing user interfaces, generating feedback on prototypes and discussion into thoughts and feelings about the prototype and self-tracking in general. Current findings highlight the importance of customization and simplicity within the application. We are developing an Apple Watch prototype application for self-tracking that incorporates features tailored to those needs in order to better motivate users to track and improve their well-being. Our main goal is to gain a better understanding of our participants and their need and usage with self-tracking. More information can be found on our website at ani6gup.me/CareTrack.

Liminality is a story yet to be told in broad scale entertainment. While a story about a boy who sees ghosts may be a recurring theme in Hollywood, (Sixth Sense, anyone?), queerness, particularly asexuality, is practically non-existent, and narratives that feature the coming of age of a queer adolescent in a positive manner are even less present. Queerness, it seems, is more of a myth than ghosts and the supernatural to most media creators. This project seeks to combat this lack of representation. Liminality is a creative project working to normalize lesser known and underrepresented queer identities into mainstream media through the conceptualization of animated and comic web series. By doing so, this project demonstrates that entertainment can be used as a means of promoting acceptance and understanding of these identities. Our aim with this project is to develop an intriguing long-form story with realistic, relatable characters that exhibits the sociological themes we want to address. We intend this story to be an animated series that entices viewers of all ages, by which we mean that the story explores complex themes that would typically be limited to an older audience, yet are presented in a way that is still accessible to a younger audience. In the process of this project, we have drawn up concept art and storyboards, written character biographies and scripts, created sets and characters using 2D and 3D animation software, and begun setting up the infrastructure for the studio, Studio Skald, with which we may create this series.

This honors thesis project combines the research of regional marketing trends in international film posters and game packaging designs with a creative application of that research. The thesis consists of 4 main sections. The first section includes background research on film poster marketing design approaches and summary of international guidelines for game packaging standards. The second part contains an analysis of selected global film posters from all genres leading up to Disney/Pixar movies, and also a few popular video game packaging designs. The research is then be applied to 3 designs based on regional trends in the largest hubs of digital design in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Lastly, a survey will be conducted with international contacts to identify if the trends were correctly identified and which designs they personally preferred. The background research on video games includes 3 interviews. Diane Fornasier the current Vice President of Marketing at Immersive Play, and former VP of Marketing at Maximum Games, Sony and Sega talks about the evolution of packaging and packaging trends. Tom Kalinske, the former CEO of Mattel, Sega and Leapfrog details the emergence of the ESRB board in America and of the rating boards and guidelines from Asia, Europe. Al Nilsen, the former Director of Global Marketing at Sega explains international marketing and the character development of Sonic the Hedgehog. The case studies examine some film posters of all genres and some of the most successful international Pixar film posters to compare and contrast the different design elements in different regions, along with any outlying observations that cannot necessarily be allocated to a specific trend. The findings from the case studies are applied towards creating three film poster designs based on the most remarkable trends in the Americas, Europe and Asia that were observed. All of the film posters exhibit successful methods of engaging and appealing to their audiences based on cultural norms and values. Finding Dory, a film with a strong global appeal that showcases different regional design elements was a suitable option for the design concept. This will not only help understand the basic rules of international marketing when it comes to digital art, but it will also help us identify cultural norms and values that most of us might not be aware of when it comes to what can be publicized or not and what appeals to different target audiences.

Distant is a Game Design Document describing an original game by the same name. The game was designed around the principle of core aesthetics, where the user experience is defined first and then the game is built from that experience. Distant is an action-exploration game set on a huge megastructure floating in the atmosphere of Saturn. Players take on the role of HUE, an artificial intelligence trapped in the body of a maintenance robot, as he explores this strange world and uncovers its secrets. Using acrobatic movement abilities, players will solve puzzles, evade enemies, and explore the world from top to bottom. The world, known as the Strobilus Megastructure, is conical in shape, with living quarters and environmental system in the upper sections and factories and resource mining in the lower sections. The game world is split up into 10 major areas and countless minor and connecting areas. Special movement abilities like wall running and anti-gravity allow players to progress further down in the world. These abilities also allow players to solve more complicated puzzles, and to find more difficult to reach items. The story revolves around six artificial intelligences that were created to maintain the station. Many centuries ago, these AI helped humankind maintain their day-to-day lives and helped researchers working on new scientific breakthroughs. This led to the discovery of faster-than-light travel, and humanity left the station and our solar system to explore the cosmos. HUE, the AI in charge of human relations, fell into depression and shut down. Awakening several hundred years in the future, HUE sets out to find the other AI. Along the way he helps them reconnect and discovers the history and secrets of the station. Distant is intended for players looking for three things: A fantastic world full of discovery, a rich, character driven narrative, and challenging acrobatic gameplay. Players of any age or background are recommended to give it a try, but it will require investment and a willingness to improve. Distant is intended to change players, to force them to confront difficulty and different perspectives. Most games involve upgrading a character; Distant is a game that upgrades the player.

This paper outlines the development of a software application that explores the plausibility and potential of interacting with three-dimensional sound sources within a virtual environment. The intention of the software application is to allow a user to become engaged with a collection of sound sources that can be perceived both graphically and audibly within a spatial, three-dimensional context. The three-dimensional sound perception is driven primarily by a binaural implementation of a higher order ambisonics framework while graphics and other data are processed by openFrameworks, an interactive media framework for C++. Within the application, sound sources have been given behavioral functions such as flocking or orbit patterns, animating their positions within the environment. The author will summarize the design process and rationale for creating such a system and the chosen approach to implement the software application. The paper will also provide background approaches to spatial audio, gesture and virtual reality embodiment, and future possibilities for the existing project.

The objective of this creative project was to gain experience in digital modeling, animation, coding, shader development and implementation, model integration techniques, and application of gaming principles and design through developing a professional educational game. The team collaborated with Glendale Community College (GCC) to produce an interactive product intended to supplement educational instructions regarding nutrition. The educational game developed, "Nutribots" features the player acting as a nutrition based nanobot sent to the small intestine to help the body. Throughout the game the player will be asked nutrition based questions to test their knowledge of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. If the player is unable to answer the question, they must use game mechanics to progress and receive the information as a reward. The level is completed as soon as the question is answered correctly. If the player answers the questions incorrectly twenty times within the entirety of the game, the team loses faith in the player, and the player must reset from title screen. This is to limit guessing and to make sure the player retains the information through repetition once it is demonstrated that they do not know the answers. The team was split into two different groups for the development of this game. The first part of the team developed models, animations, and textures using Autodesk Maya 2016 and Marvelous Designer. The second part of the team developed code and shaders, and implemented products from the first team using Unity and Visual Studio. Once a prototype of the game was developed, it was show-cased amongst peers to gain feedback. Upon receiving feedback, the team implemented the desired changes accordingly. Development for this project began on November 2015 and ended on April 2017. Special thanks to Laura Avila Department Chair and Jennifer Nolz from Glendale Community College Technology and Consumer Sciences, Food and Nutrition Department.

This project seeks to improve the reading and writing skills of literacy-challenged adults, specifically in developing countries, by designing and developing an interactive tablet application for unschooled adults who are passionate about learning to read. Very often in developing countries, the success rates of the literacy courses are overwhelmingly low. Those who manage to gain some basic literacy skills, often relapse into illiteracy once their program has terminated. The proposed application aims to address this challenge by providing an easy-to-use media environment for independent literacy learning on a lightweight portable device. This also offers opportunity to learn at the time and place convenient to the user, which is additionally supported by motivating and engaging instruction. For this thesis, we focus on the design of the system and have developed a working prototype.

The purpose of this project is to artistically express that our perceptions of the visual world are interrupted due to the often overlooked blinking of our eyes. The project was guided by two questions: 1) How is blink rate related to thought and emotion? 2) How does the process of blinking provide context to our life experiences? To link these two concepts together, I constructed a creative editing device that uses a live video feed of the user's eye blinking to randomly launch pre-existing footage of the user's significant life events. The process of creating this project occurred in three distinct steps. In the first step, I recorded 30-second videos to be used as a demonstration when exhibiting the device. In the second step, I attached a camera to a head mount to output a real time video of my eye blinking. In the third step, I created a Max patch that used the video feed of my eye as a trigger to play my pre-recorded clips. The final result was an evocative non-linear narrative of past personal experiences, and the development of the narrative itself is similar to the way in which humans recall memories. The visuals of the blinking eye were placed adjacent to the pre-recorded footage in order to mimic the positioning of two eyes on a face; one side of the display shows my actual eye, and the other side signifies looking back on what my eye has seen. The intended effect was to generate an awareness of the breaks in our vision and how this influences our existence.