Spooky

Spooky is an attention-seeking creature that will throw a tantrum if no one is in front of them. This project was created for the Artifical Creatures course of the Creative Intelligence and Technology programme at Leiden Univeristy. If you are interested, there is a dedicated page and site for all sorts of creatures right here!

Hey everyone, meet Spooky. Spooky has some issues with separation anxiety so they are quite scared of being left alone. Please stick around, otherwise Spooky might act a bit embarrassingly. Please do not take it personally, they just cannot help themselves. But rest assured, if you give Spooky enough of your presence it might stay calm for a bit longer. Sorry for the trouble, good luck! -Dewi, Linthe and Boet

When Spooky sees or detects no one in front of them, they become emotional and throw a tantrum. A tantrum can be thrown in different ways, but Spooky tries to be as annoying as possible in this case. They will try to be as attention-grabbing as possible with movement, sounds, and lights. However, they will stop their tantrum and be happy if they detect someone in front of them. Their tantrum will cease and become quiet. This moment of silence between the user and Spooky allows them to connect. This is when the user interacts with Spooky and is pressured to stay with Spooky as long as possible unless Spooky throws a tantrum again. This explains the tantrum (red) and happy (green) state. The last state, the calm state (blue), occurs when you leave Spooky alone for long enough. However, the time for ‘long enough’ changes. If someone stays with Spooky (happy state) for a long time, they will feel better due to the companionship, which makes them tantrum for less long and reach the calm state quicker. Therefore, the user must balance the annoyance and relief they would feel with Spooky and ultimately decide how close they are to Spooky so they can choose if they would leave.