The House of Baskerville
The House of Baskerville is an augmented reality (AR) book that engages the reader with the elements of design in an unconventional and off-beat way using characters from the Baskerville family whose attitudes belie aspects of each element of design. For example, Linus the patriarch, is compelled by his character to love order and eschew chaos. For linus, the line delineates the order and predictability of the made world from the abyss. Each character, is driven to express their own unqiue qualities in ways that open the door to the revelation that their powers, in their own right are limited and that only when brought into a complementary relation with the powers of the other characters are their powers enhanced and amplified.
The book was conceived as a class project as part of the Professor Jim Kinney's Knowledge Design 1&2 Labs. The project started in September 2014 with workshops on developing the concept and deciding on Aurasma as the delivery platform for the AR experience. Character descriptions and the basic narrative structure were co-developed and the script was written by Professor Kinney. Storyboarding was supplied by Christina DaCruz and Character designs were visualized by Samantha Pitcher. The design, layout and typography of the printed book iwas skillfully executed by Jasmine Scott.
The pages within the printed book contains key images that trigger multi-media animations by Julia Finlay, Will Sawada and professor Jim Kinney that include voice overs courtesy of Linda Ballantyne (the voice of Sailor Moon!), original music scores by Andrew Wright and Will Sawada. Printingof the book was made possible by a generous donation from retired professor K.K. Puri who wanted to share with the world his undying love for the world of paper and print in a more contemporary context.
Below are a series of stills and video that document the creation of the characters and the multi-media segments that are delivered to the reader by scanning the printed page using a smart phone or tablet running the Aurasma App.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the work that we have done and look forward to hearing your comments.
The powerful House of Baskerville once ruled the world of design. It's shining star is in peril of crashing from the heavens as their storied family fades from the limelight into the twilight of obscurity.
The venerable House of Baskerville is in its twilight. Ravaged by titanic egos and bitter infighting, the house falls into decline. This traditional storybook is brought to life using Augmented Reality to deliver a character rich tale that takes one on an unconventional journey into the world of design. Each Character within the story personifies one of the elements of design.
Meet the Baskervilles in the parlour of their crumbling mansion.
From Left to Right they are: Val (Value), twin sister to her boisterous sister Spectra; Skye (Space) the surly, self-absorbed teen; Grampa Harry (Texture) the "Hands On" protester; Baby Pauli (Shape) who is hungry for discovering new dimensions; Linus (Line) the straight and narrow father; Forma (Form) the patient and loving matriarch and Spectra (Hue) Val's very enegetic and outgoing other half.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 01: Something is eating at the core of the venerable House of Baskerville.
For the final version of our animations we were fortunate enough to have Voice Actress Linda Ballantyne volunteer her talents for the project.
For the past 20 years, Linda has worked professionally on stage, screen and television, and has been heard in hundreds of radio and television commercials worldwide. Her extensive animation career consists of a wide variety of characters including series leads in: Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon/Serena), George of the Jungle (Magnolia), Little Charmers (Ogre Sue), Mia and Me (Queen Mayla), My Big Big Friend (Lilly’s Mom), The Avengers (Wasp), Toot and Puddle (Tulip), Will and Dewitt (Shelley), Disney’s Yin Yang Yo (Saranoia, Ella Mental, Smoke and more), Gerald McBoing Boing (Gerald’s Mom), Meteor (Sinker), Cyberchase (Wicked), Mischief City (Mrs. Adams), Corduroy (Moppy’s Mom), Timothy Goes to School (Fritz’s Mom), Air Master (Kaori Sakiyama), Bakugan (Kazarina), Beywheelz (Leader B/Lucy), and Animal Shelf (Getup), as well as various characters in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, The Doodlebops, Totally Spies, 6Teen, Time Warp Trio, Carl Squared, Bob and Margaret, Girl Stuff Boy Stuff, George Shrinks, etc. She has also voiced characters in the feature films Disney’s Lucky Ducks (Reporter), Care Bear’s Journey to Joke-A-Lot (Champ Bear), Care Bear’s Big Wish Movie (Champ Bear) and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (Percy).
You can follow Linda on Twitter @LABallantyne
For the past 20 years, Linda has worked professionally on stage, screen and television, and has been heard in hundreds of radio and television commercials worldwide. Her extensive animation career consists of a wide variety of characters including series leads in: Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon/Serena), George of the Jungle (Magnolia), Little Charmers (Ogre Sue), Mia and Me (Queen Mayla), My Big Big Friend (Lilly’s Mom), The Avengers (Wasp), Toot and Puddle (Tulip), Will and Dewitt (Shelley), Disney’s Yin Yang Yo (Saranoia, Ella Mental, Smoke and more), Gerald McBoing Boing (Gerald’s Mom), Meteor (Sinker), Cyberchase (Wicked), Mischief City (Mrs. Adams), Corduroy (Moppy’s Mom), Timothy Goes to School (Fritz’s Mom), Air Master (Kaori Sakiyama), Bakugan (Kazarina), Beywheelz (Leader B/Lucy), and Animal Shelf (Getup), as well as various characters in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, The Doodlebops, Totally Spies, 6Teen, Time Warp Trio, Carl Squared, Bob and Margaret, Girl Stuff Boy Stuff, George Shrinks, etc. She has also voiced characters in the feature films Disney’s Lucky Ducks (Reporter), Care Bear’s Journey to Joke-A-Lot (Champ Bear), Care Bear’s Big Wish Movie (Champ Bear) and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (Percy).
You can follow Linda on Twitter @LABallantyne
This was a prototype version using the voice of Jim Kinney as the Narrator.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 02: The family members vent.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 03: Val is the first to bid farewell.
Val, the level-headed twin of her sister Spectra was tired of being the peacemaker in the family and was the first to leave.
In this scene Val wanders from dusk until dawn in search of solace until she finds herself wanting for a little splash of colour and her loud twin Spectra.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 04: Spectra paints the town.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 06: Linus loses control.
Scene 06 introduces the Father, Linus, who is obsessed with order and control. For him, the line is the measure of all things—an unequivocal dividing line that keeps things safe and contained.
Scene 06 TRIGGER IMAGE: This is the image in the printed book that triggers the animated scene below.
Final version used a different soundtrack that moved away from the gravitas of the prototype (below) toward playful dysfunction. Voice over courtesy of Linda Ballantyne.
This prototype version was voiced by Jim Kinney.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 07: Pauli enters another dimension.
Little Pauli, representing the design element of shape, is frustrated by the limitations of his world. Skye, Pauli's teenage brother, helps to expand his little sibling's mind and world by introducing him to a new dimension.
HOUSE OF BASKERVILLE Scene 08: Skye explores the world of opposites.
Consumed with ego and adolescent angst, Skye, representing the design element space, struggles to find and assert himself in the world only to find that too much of a good thing (himself) ultimately leads to a profound emptiness and loneliness.