Meditation
A meditative experience between physical and virtual spaces
Meditation is an experience of a forever developing world without the possibility to quit, pause, or restart. Only the handpan drum controller deteriorates with each iteration.
Each player builds upon the composition of the ones past, even without ever meeting them. The world grows collectively, accumulating the traces of every person who has passed through it.
Players navigate by tilting the drum back and forth and gazing left and right. Hitting the dents on the drum with your fingers populates the world with game elements, with each dent playing a different musical note.
The controller is a stainless steel handpan drum fitted with copper contact stickers on each tonal dent. An Arduino board reads each strike and translates it into in-game events and sound. The physicality of the instrument is central to the experience -its weight, resonance, and deterioration over time are part of the piece.
The virtual world is built in Unity and rendered in real time. Its terrain, flora, and atmosphere respond to the controller input, expanding and evolving with each session. No two players encounter the same world.
Shown at the UCLA Design Media Arts Undergraduate Exhibition. The controller was presented on a pedestal, inviting visitors to sit with the drum and play. The screen behind them showed the world they were building in real time.
