Sketch 1: Contours / Fills

Image: Still image from playtesting YMOC Sketch 1: Contours

Sketch Description

Contours/Fills is a two-person sketch. Each person is represented with their webcam and their pose keypoints from PoseNet. The two webcam images are placed next to each other on an html5 canvas. Each person’s webcam image shows on half of the canvas with one-third of each canvas overlapping at the center of the screen.

Contour shapes are created for each person using the PoseNet keypoint data. Each person can move around freely on their side of the canvas. Both people can move through the shared space at the center of the canvas. They are restricted from moving on the space of the canvas reserved for the other person. If the two people’s keypoints are touching in the shared space, their contour shapes are combined into one shape.

By default the experience shows both webcam images and contours fills. There is an option to toggle the video on/off.

Playtesting

Image: Still image from playtesting with Nuntinee. We are both in the shared space of the canvas. I’m on the left. My body has moved into the space where Nun’s camera is and is hidden behind Nun. Because our bodies are overlapping our shapes have combined into one.  

I playtested the sketch with Nuntinee. We spent approximately five minutes on the site together. She’s located in Brooklyn, NY, and I’m in Burlington, VT. We both experienced little to no visible latency. She was using a MacBook Pro/Chrome. I was using an MSI gaming PC/Chrome. Here are some notes from Nun’s feedback:

• It was an interesting experience to be in the shared space at the center of the canvas.
• It was especially interesting when we were able to cross into each others’ spaces. It would be nice if there were more shared space in the experience.
• The combining of our images was interesting and encouraged interaction.
• The video setup makes each person want to mirror what the other person is doing.
• The experience felt more free/creative with the camera turned off.

Image: Still image from playtesting with Nuntinee. We are both in the shared space of the canvas and have turned the webcam view off. Our bodies are in the same space and overlapping so our shapes have combined into one.  

Some ideas for future sketches:

• Try giving more space for the people to overlap—maybe half of canvas.
• Try creating a sketch with just the partner’s video visible and the user’s contour visible.

Up Next

Next week I will work on creating a sketch that relies heavily on sound rather than visuals.