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Chunkey: Interactive Game (2021)
First Americans Museum

Type: Interactive Installation
Role: 3D Artist

Scope: Modeling / LookDev / Rigging / Animation /

            Real-Time Visualization

Chunkey is a Gesture-driven museum interactive project that translates a traditional Indigenous field game into a short, replayable gallery experience. The piece emphasizes projection-first clarity and real-time visual storytelling, so visitors can quickly understand motion, timing, and outcomes through readable forms and restrained visual noise.

Cultural & Historical Background

Chunkey is framed within museum interpretation of Indigenous sports and games—practices that encode skill, social life, and community knowledge. The installation introduces historical references briefly, then shifts the focus to embodied understanding through play and observation.

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Reference about landscape and game

Design Goals

  • Prioritize projection-first readability across varied viewing distances

  • Maintain tight pacing for short, repeatable sessions

  • Support both solo and shared participation with clear on-screen guidance

  • Keep state changes visually obvious (attract / tutorial / match)

  • Ensure exhibit robustness for continuous public use

Experience Specs

  • Format: Wall projection interactive installation

  • Sensing: Kinect camera tracking (floor-marked play zone)

  • Players: 1–2 (solo players compete against an AI opponent)

  • Session Length: ~4 minutes

  • Modes: Regular / Accessible (wheelchair-friendly option)

Gameplay & Visitor Experience

The interactive version keeps the basic logic of Chunkey—reading motion, predicting outcomes, and reacting under time pressure—while translating it into a format suitable for a museum floor. Visitors watch a stone roll across a stylized field and are invited to respond at the right moment to influence the outcome. The pacing is tuned for short, repeatable sessions: a single round is easy to grasp, but mastering the timing takes a few attempts, encouraging replay and experimentation.

Gesture-driven Interactive Gameplay

Video from Youtube channel Look Who's Blogging

Visual System & Look Development

The visual system is built for large-scale projection: clean value separation, controlled contrast, and simplified surface detail so key motion remains legible at a glance. Materials and lighting are calibrated to reduce specular blowout and to preserve consistent readability under different ambient conditions.

Archaeological and graphic references inform motif language and pattern density, but the final look prioritizes clarity over ornament. The result aims to feel contemporary and stylized while remaining respectful to the cultural sources it draws from.

Tranditional & Tron style environment

Character & Asset Development

Focused on bringing the playable world to production quality for a real-time, exhibition environment:

  • Character rigging and animation tuned for gesture-driven actions (roll / throw / run).

  • Look development and material calibration for projection readability and consistent lighting.

  • Prop and environment assets optimized for stable performance and clear silhouettes.

  • Real-time integration support to ensure animations, timing, and camera framing read cleanly during gameplay.

3D Chunkey Asset

Rig-ready assets

Installation Context

The project is delivered as a real-time Unity installation for gallery display. System integration and interaction logic are handled collaboratively; the 3D visual contribution centers on look development, asset readiness, animation polish, and real-time presentation so the work remains stable, readable, and exhibit-ready on museum hardware.

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