Braxton Collier

National Cowgirls Museum Immersive Room

This interactive experience is installed at the National Cowgirl Museum in Forth Worth, Texas. It consists of a large (10' x 18') projection wall, together with a 65'' interactive touch table. Visitors interact with the exhibit by designing personalized cowgirl-themed objects on the table, utilizing design motifs taken from real objects in the museum's collection. Simultaneously, the projection displays stylized versions of these motifs that animate and update dynamically in response to users' design choices.

Roles: Software Design

Tech: Unity

This was a complex project with multiple interacting pieces, which had to be developed with input from designers, software developers, producers, and the clients. My role was to create the software for the projection wall. This required close collaboration with the developer of the table application, as well as with the design team.

.I also worked with the project managers to explain technical issues and help with planning and scoping.

A key challenge was to deal with the hundreds of design permutations for each object: how to represent these on the projection and how to transition them in response to user input. We decided on a wave-like motion for updating the projection. This allowed for a fluid and organic response to user input while also helping the experience feel alive. This wave motion is repurposed for the final phase of the experience after a visitor has finished designing their item, adding additional dramatic flair to the 'reveal'.

Development was an iterative process, involving a lot of feedback from the client as well as user-testing. Special attention was paid to usability issues, as well as the relationship between the table experience and the wall. We took advantage of opportunities to test the application with a wide range of people with different levels of experience.