joshua kery

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    Design a Mission Patch

    Dynamic Background Removal Interactive

    A child drawing at a table. Behind them is a mobile kiosk with a touch screen featuring the Moonshot: Design a Mission Patch software.
    A visitor using the Design a Mission Patch interactive at the Moonshot Museum.

    WHAT

    Museum Interactive

    WHEN

    October 2022

    MY ROLE

    Prototyped Background Removal
    Developed Visitor-Ready Software

    TOOLS

    Python
    Unity
    OpenCV

    OVERVIEW

    Sharing Hand-Drawn Designs

    Visitors create the visual identity for their moon mission by drawing their own mission patch, "scanning" it into the software, and previewing it on a mural of a colonized lunar landscape.

    Experience Mockup

    VISITOR EXPERIENCE

    All visitors draw at a moveable table before inputting their images into the software.

    Visitors sit around drawing table at Moonshot Museum. Among them is an instructor speaking with three small children drawing.
    Drawing Area. Photo courtesy of Luci Creative.
    Image of scanning screen from interactive.
    Image of scanning screen from interactive.
    Scanning Screen



    Like the other Moonshot Museum interactives, this one features two visitor modes:

    1. Mission - designed for school groups to break out into small teams, and
    2. Space Now - an ambient experience for the museum's daily visitor flow.

    Image of welcome screen from interactive.
    Image of welcome screen from interactive.
    This welcome screen introduces the interactive to small teams in 'Mission' mode.
    Image of ending screen from interactive.
    Image of ending screen from interactive.
    This conclusion screen points teams to the next interactive in the Moonshot experience.



    In addition to sharing badge drawings, "Mission" teams also choose a legendary historical or mythological figure as the namesake for their moon base via a selection of brand key words.

    Image of word picker screen from interactive.
    Image of word picker screen from interactive.
    Word Picker Screen
    Image of name result screen from interactive.
    Image of name result screen from interactive.
    Name Result Screen

    TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS

    Background removal prototype and calibration

    I developed in Python an initial prototype as a proof of concept for the automatic background removal this experience.

    Image of prototype comparing the background removal results of three different algorithms.
    Image of prototype comparing the background removal results of three different algorithms.
    Background removal algorithm comparison
    Image of prototype station camera rig, with a raised table at the foot of a small tripod holding up a webcam and selfie light ring, with Moonshot software running on a display behind the rig, and the drawing on the station's table clearly visible on the screen.
    Prototyping setup at my desk: A camera on a tripod with a light ring helped me achieve an optimal set of lighting conditions for contrast between drawings and paper when performing automatic background removal.

    Image of prototype station looking down through selfie light ring to drawing on table below..
    Overhead view of the prototyping setup.
    Image of prototype station from afar, with both a laptop and a secondary display visible and running the Moonshot software. The camera rig sits in between the two displays on the desk.
    View of my full desk with the software running, including a copy of the server software to help simulate the entire experience.

    Background removal prototype demo.
    Background removal prototype demo



    The interactive features a debug menu used for calibrating the image scanning after changes in lighting.

    Debug Menu for calibrating the interactive's image scanning.
    Background removal prototype demo



    Networked experience across five interactives

    This interactive is networked to the other four Moonshot activities in order to sync the activity timers and pass teams' results back to the experience's server.

    Network diagram showing five interactives connected to a server.
    Moonshot network illustration calling out the three interactives I developed: Space Debates (top), Lunar Lost and Found (center), and Design a Mission Patch (bottom). Server by Chunk Icons from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)

    I developed Space Debates, Design a Mission Patch, and Lunar Lost and Found as clients for this server.

    Joshua Kery

    Experience Designer

    Interdisciplinary Artist

    Contact Me: