Works by Mashiyat Zaman

A summary of works I developed in Unity3D, listed in reverse chronological order. My approach is to emphasize simple, thoughtful interactions between subject and visitor, while pushing the boundaries of what I know and can do.

Oshi-Gokko

March – May 2023

In this two-player arcade game, play as either an up-and-coming celebrity going about his busy schedule, running between bookings, or as his number one biggest fan, in hot pursuit of photos of him for her burgeoning stan account. Developed as the final project for the graduate class New Arcade (Spring 2023), in collaboration with An-Kai Cheng, Kitty Guo, and Mathew Olson. Presented at Wonderville on May 6, and at the ITP/IMA Spring Show May 14-15.

GitHub - mashiyatz/WarioPartyOne: Repository for New Arcade 2023 final project with Kitty, Kai, Mat, and Mashi
Repository for New Arcade 2023 final project with Kitty, Kai, Mat, and Mashi - GitHub - mashiyatz/WarioPartyOne: Repository for New Arcade 2023 final project with Kitty, Kai, Mat, and Mashi

NPC Mashi

March 2023

Displayed by the front desk of NYU ITP and serving as both public self-mockery and a public service message, this simple interactive piece features myself as an NPC, working at a desk in a surprisingly honest simulation of the 4th floor of 370 Jay Street. Tap the NPC to hear a variety of quotes you might encounter as a student. Tap the question mark in the corner to see a frank message displayed to passersby.

GitHub - mashiyatz/NPCMashi: A public service message for students at 370 Jay St to go the f*ck home.
A public service message for students at 370 Jay St to go the f*ck home. - GitHub - mashiyatz/NPCMashi: A public service message for students at 370 Jay St to go the f*ck home.

untitled

February – March 2023

A metaphor for how a feeling transcends distance between loved ones living apart, presented as an arcade game where you race against the clock. Using an origami pen attached to a joystick embedded in a pop-up book, steer a paper plane across a vast landscape to find four landmarks. Submitted as a midterm project for the graduate class New Arcade (Spring 2023).

GitHub - mashiyatz/UntitledPaperPlaneGame: A feeling travels instantaneously, a message isn’t that much slower.
A feeling travels instantaneously, a message isn’t that much slower. - GitHub - mashiyatz/UntitledPaperPlaneGame: A feeling travels instantaneously, a message isn’t that much slower.

I Am A Cube: Unity Workshops For ITP

January 2023

A series of projects designed to teach peers at my graduate program the basics of C# scripting in Unity using limited assets. My hope is to encourage further use of the game engine in their artistic practice, and create a shared knowledge resource.

GitHub - mashiyatz/Unity3DStudyGroup
Contribute to mashiyatz/Unity3DStudyGroup development by creating an account on GitHub.

All code examples and documentation are written by me. This project began as a response to the limited class time first year graduate students had learning game engines. Many students attempted building interactions in their projects, but lacked a resource for learning how. My hope is to develop these projects into a set of labs and tutorials that can be accessed by the community at large.

Signal Malfunction

December 2022 – Present

Navigate through a symphony of half-complete thoughts in this audiovisual metaphor of the mind. Click on a figure for a better listen, and piece together the monologues of a young man. Started in collaboration with Juan-Carlo Gallego, Music Therapy at Molloy University.

GitHub - mashiyatz/SignalMalfunction: Experimenting with particle effects and interaction in Unity to explore internal monologues.
Experimenting with particle effects and interaction in Unity to explore internal monologues. - GitHub - mashiyatz/SignalMalfunction: Experimenting with particle effects and interaction in Unity to...

Spurred by the process of introspection allowed by This Reminded Me Of You, and inspired by the work of my peers at the ITP/IMA 2022 Winter Show, I am exploring the use of Unity's sound spectrum and particles effect tools in my storytelling.

PhiPhi's Quantum Tuna Cans

November – December 2022

Rotate a can of tuna to increase the odds of successfully feeding a hungry little cat, and learn a little bit about quantum mechanics along the way. Created with Yuke Ding as a final project for the graduate class Introduction to Physical Computing (Fall 2022), and presented at the ITP/IMA 2022 Winter Show.  

GitHub - mashiyatz/PhiPhi: Code and documentation for “PhiPhi’s Quantum Cans” by Yuke Ding and Mashi Zaman
Code and documentation for "PhiPhi's Quantum Cans" by Yuke Ding and Mashi Zaman - GitHub - mashiyatz/PhiPhi: Code and documentation for "PhiPhi's Quantum Cans" by Yuke ...

I scripted the Arduino and Unity3D code for this project, implementing serial communication between the Nano IoT 33 and Unity, which allowed us to use a rotary encoder (i.e., a button you can rotate) as a controller. The orientation of the encoder influenced the probability of a successful outcome, communicated by PhiPhi's expressions. Through playtesting, we iterated the UI to clarify directions more clearly, while offering a route for curious players to learn more about quantum physics.

This Reminded Me Of You

November – December 2022

Take a break in your living room filled with books we’ve lent you throughout years of friendship – use your mouse or scroll wheel to search the room, and click to read our letters to you. Created with Jo Suk for the graduate class Hypercinema (Fall 2022), and presented at the ITP/IMA 2022 Winter Show.  Playable on a desktop web browser.

GitHub - mashiyatz/ThisRemindedMeOfYou: Code and documentation for “This Reminded Me Of You” by Jo Suk and Mashi Zaman
Code and documentation for "This Reminded Me Of You" by Jo Suk and Mashi Zaman - GitHub - mashiyatz/ThisRemindedMeOfYou: Code and documentation for "This Reminded Me Of You" by ...

I designed the room, and scripted the interactions with the books strewn throughout. When clicked, a book slides into view while a handwritten note is shown and read aloud. We implemented periodic flickering of the clickable books and audiovisual feedback when the mouse hovers over them to prompt users towards the interaction, while preserving a relaxing, minimalist atmosphere.

Re:Earth AR Prototype

January – September 2022

Track local landmarks and visualize 3D models in your neighborhood using this AR companion to Re:Earth, a web-based GIS tool. Developed at Eukarya, a Japanese startup specializing in geospatial technologies.

I built this prototype with Unity's AR Foundation Framework, using a package for rendering objects in AR using GPS coordinates, and open source libraries for downloading 3D models from the web.  I developed the project over time to visualize different types of data available from Re:Earth, such as images and text descriptions. Read an introduction to the project here.

RPG Battle System

June 2022

A turn-based RPG battle engine I developed from scratch to practice and review state machines, class inheritance, and callbacks in C#. A project I hope to revisit in collaboration with other artists.

GitHub - mashiyatz/RPGBattler: Exploration of a turn-based RPG-inspired engine.
Exploration of a turn-based RPG-inspired engine. Contribute to mashiyatz/RPGBattler development by creating an account on GitHub.

Other Projects I Liked

Outside of Unity3D, I've had a chance to explore other tools and problem spaces, with particular emphasis on designing accessible experiences for people with blindness or low-vision. I share some of these experiences below for reference.

A Cane Attachment for a Guide Dog Harness

September – December 2022

In collaboration with the non-profit The Seeing Eye, we examined how the guide dog harness can be redesigned so that blind and low-vision users can carry and access their white ID canes more easily.

Envision – Developing Assistive Tech: Fall 22

Artistic Exploration Using Swell Form

October 2022

Tactile companions to visual media such as AR, animation, and image generation made using the swell form machine. Created with Lily Yu, Spencer Harris, and Lang Qin in assignments for the graduate course Hypercinema at ITP (Fall 2022).

Week 6: Our City in DALL-E
By Lang Qin, Mashiyat Zaman Creating Our City in DALL-EWe invited our classmates to take the following three steps: Choose a style of art or medium that you feel represents New York City best.Use DALL-E to generate a scene of the city anywhere on the canvas in the style
Week 10: Maslow and the Hierarchy
Above I’ve laid out a patterned key frame from each one of our four animations in our project, which I’ve tentatively named “Maslow and the Hierarchy”. Each key frame is used as the trigger for an animation, which I’ve also shared below. The first key frame shows five square layers

Skelly The Candy Keeper

October 2022

Press a button for access to a trove of snacks kept under watch by an excitable skeleton. Created with An-Kai Cheng as a midterm project for the graduate course Introduction to Physical Computing at ITP (Fall 2022).

GitHub - mashiyatz/pcomp-midterm: Arduino code for building a motor operated drawer with an undead doorman.
Arduino code for building a motor operated drawer with an undead doorman. - GitHub - mashiyatz/pcomp-midterm: Arduino code for building a motor operated drawer with an undead doorman.