Phil Olarte | NYU 2024
There’s something magical about wireless connections—they turn the invisible into the tangible, bridging gaps and bringing ideas to life across space. Wireless communication is the unsung hero of our modern life connecting devices, people and experiences in ways that feel almost like magic.
That’s the heart of my project and what I will share with you here. This is documentation of my project journey in building
The project is an invitation to connect, to create, and to collaborate—whether you’re side by side or separated by oceans. This project celebrates the magic of art and technology working together to bring people closer, no matter how far apart they are - wireless communication and AI makes this experience possible.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCk0W-RvGDt/
warning: excitement coming. Disney drone show (RF mesh?) over New York City.
First I focused on the world I wanted to build to play in. I chose Unity for its ability to deliver more detailed and complex visuals element. To give a sense of wonder, mystery and collaboration - I took inspiration from Disney’s Encanto and placed my game within that world. I made a somewhat familiar landscape with global volume post-processing to give it an Encanto feel, added natural textures and meshes from the Unity asset library, generated magical appearing butterfly using Meshy.ai, a visual theme to the Encanto world. I brought the mariposas to life with animations in Blender and Perlin noise code to improve the natural movements of the butterflies.
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Slfn--5sv64JlkrcZ9SZ8VF178HFeXGX/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Slfn--5sv64JlkrcZ9SZ8VF178HFeXGX/view?usp=sharing)
(3D asset generated by AI models are getting really good.)
https://www.meshy.ai/3d-models/beautiful-gold-emitting-butterfly-v2-0193b711-3566-7c92-94b8-f034ee6d3f21
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_eFOt24r1FJC9-zm5BD_aE8BEvKCcjCd/view?usp=drive_link](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_eFOt24r1FJC9-zm5BD_aE8BEvKCcjCd/view?usp=drive_link)
The game world
At the heart of today’s “magical” experiences are wireless communication protocols like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, OSC, cellular networks, and applications of NFC chips and RF (drone light shows!). These technologies seamlessly connect our devices, making everyday interactions feel intuitive and almost invisible.
The next element of this project was choosing a way to wirelessly communicate with Unity. I utilized MQTT, a lightweight messaging protocol, and a MQTT receiver code to send data from my custom controllers to the Unity environment. MQTT stood out for its simplicity, its existing infrastructure through Shiftr.io, and its ability to enable fast, global communication. With MQTT, a virtual wall became a shared canvas, capable of being painted on by anyone, from anywhere in the world.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FuAtbjoA5VSFdx3_YLdLxUo2RzOxIsWz/view?usp=sharing
My project data moving along MQTT data network (shiftr.io)
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCqe06gtBxPUq9WzKOXRsWrxZSJkjR5q/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCqe06gtBxPUq9WzKOXRsWrxZSJkjR5q/view?usp=sharing)
Demo: MQTT data integration operating in unity
MQTTnet as plugin for Unity https://github.com/dotnet/MQTTnet
code for MQTT receiver: https://github.com/founderphil/artwall/blob/main/Assets/Scripts/MqttReceiver.cs