Design Project II (Digital Media) MMD3053

Project Title:
Virtual Shadow Play

Project Main Idea / Concept:
- It is an interactive infotainment of the traditional Malay shadow puppet play, wayang kulit.
- The atmosphere, background, mood and aesthetic are all set according to the art and carvings, traditional Malay style with a modern touch.

Brief Description of Project:
- It is a 2 in 1 interactive project of information and entertainment. This project contains all the necessary information one needs to know about the ancient Malay shadow puppet like its history, the making of, the characters, the basic story of “Hikayat Seri Rama”, the musical instrument and many more.

- On the entertainment section, user will be able to experience playing the shadow puppet in real life. A multimodal installation with a virtual curtain and stage would be set up to really get the mood while being actively participant in the play.

Project Goal / Objectives:
- First main objective is to promote our rich culture that is thought to be one of the oldest theatre in the world which is now getting less popularity among our youth.

- To combine arts and multimedia technology yet preserving Malaysian culture and identity.
- To enhance knowledge and understanding among the younger generations about wayang kulit in a new interactive approach which is much easier for one to learn and enjoy both at the same time.

- Virtual Shadow Play project aims to provide a multimedia environment in which users can play the creative roles associated with producing and performing plays and stories in an improvisational ‘virtual’ wayang kulit play.

Target Audience:
- Teenagers aged 15-24.
- People who are interested and want to know more about the art and the play of wayang kulit.
Interactivity:
- User need only to sit in front of the projected screen and move their hands accordingly and a web camera would detect the movements. The user’s hand would act as the puppet’s controller.
- User navigates with the texts and icons on screen by using mouse and keyboard.
- Instructions and manual are included in the project.

Technical requirement:
- Knowledge of motion tracking using webcam, Lingo script, Macromedia Director MX, Macromedia Flash MX, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.

Project Output:
- The output will be projected on a screen and also a cd rom version.
- Minimum requirement of a pc to be able to run the games smoothly are as given below:

Pentium 111 733 MHz
256 MB RAM
Microsoft Windows XP

Expected Findings:
- User will be able to experience a new kind of information delivered in a new interactive method.
- By comparing virtual wayang kulit puppets and traditional wayang kulit puppets, user are able to participant actively in the story process and thus making them understand the story, the characters and the play much better.
- User also would be able to gain more valuable knowledge about the uniqueness of the ancient Malay shadow play of wayang kulit.