Weeks 6-15 - Final Project

Week 6 - Final Project (Research)

DevLog 6-3

Develop Your Final Project Concept

1. Share initial research links in-class and below

   https://criticalwebdesign.github.io/index/

   https://www.thegitcity.com/

2. Identify potential topics (2-3 sentences) ✏️

   I want to explore how digital spaces can recreate a real campus environment in a playful way, and what it means to “claim” and customize a space online. Inspired by Git City’s data-to-city metaphor, I want to build a Davidson dorm world where students claim rooms and decorate them, which raises questions about identity, visibility, and belonging in a shared digital space.

3. 1-2 related articles, with summaries ✏️

   Interactive room design as a tool for understanding form and style preferences

   This study used an online “virtual living room” furnishing task where participants decorated a room by choosing furniture items, then analyzed the patterns in what people selected. It supports the core premise of your project: room customization is a meaningful interaction by itself, and you can treat the room as a design sandbox that reveals preferences and helps people imagine a space before they live in it.

4. 3 links with summaries of inspiring / related projects ✏️

   The Git City

   Takes GitHub user data and turns them into buildings based on commit history. The more commits the larger the buildings. You can fly through the city and see other people’s buildings.

   Rec Room

   A spatial game where you can use VR or play regularly. You can customize your room and talk to other individuals. You can play mini games and things. I’m more interested in the social aspects and customization.

   Habbo

   Similarily, another game where every user has a room to customize. People can come in and out of your room to see how you customized it.

5. Identify new skills or technologies ✏️

   Three.js, WebGL, Databases (MongoDB)

6. Write a summary of your topic(s), research, and technology (3–4 sentences) ✏️

   This project investigates how virtual representations of real-world environments can influence identity, creativity, and community interaction. Research on adversarial design and digital third places suggests that playful spatial interfaces can provoke reflection and foster belonging without solving a traditional problem. The project that’s being proposed is a website where Davidson dorm buildings are visualized and students can claim and decorate rooms, using web graphics technologies and interactive design methods. The work engages communities such as college students and digital creators while exploring issues of privacy, ownership, and online self-representation through speculative and participatory design frameworks.

7. Share a random potential idea from an idea generator. ✏️

   A blockchain-powered board game app for bootstrappers

8. Share a random potential idea from an idea generator. ✏️

   A vertical SaaS for audio

9. Share a random potential idea from an idea generator. ✏️

   A user-owned mobile app marketplace

10. Share (2-3 sentences) concerns you have about the final project ✏️

    I am worried that my project idea may be too big to finish within a couple weeks. I might just have to stick to one building or even one floor. However, ideally, I could have as many buildings and rooms as possible so it can be used as a room planner platform for Davidson students. I am also worried that I will not be able to model the buildings or rooms accurately, in that case, I will make it more of a cartoon based or abstract models.