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Sarah Brown

I'm a Researcher

I'm a UX / UI Designer

I'm an Artist

Sarah Brown Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown

I'm a Researcher

I'm a UX / UI Designer

I'm an Artist

Ph.D. Candidate in Human-Centered Computing at the University of Florida and founder of the ARDIN (Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narrative) Graduate Research Committee.

Interactive Prototypes and Animation

RGB Figures – A series of turntables of a simple 3D figure in a variety of poses. By rendering out a red, green, and blue version of each frame, they were composited in such a way that offsets each of the additive color system channels for a colorful effect. I was responsible for the modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, and compositing. 
Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Nuke. Fall 2016.
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For What We Are

For What We Are was my undergraduate thesis project exploring how interactive storytelling can use perspective to shape an audience’s understanding of characters and their relationships. Inspired by the animated short Blind Vaysha—in which a young girl sees the past through one eye and the future through the other—the project asks what happens when a divided perception becomes an interactive mechanic rather than something audiences simply observe.

The audience takes on the role of a young teenager who sees the world as it appears through one eye and the truth behind people through the other. By switching between these perspectives, players uncover differences between how characters present themselves and who they are beneath the surface. The narrative uses this mechanic to explore themes of trust, authenticity, and the tension between appearance and reality.

The original prototype was a fully interactive web-based story scene and is no longer active. The interactive example below demonstrates the prototype’s central mechanic, allowing viewers to switch between the protagonist’s two perspectives. The two women depicted in the scene appear differently through each eye, visually representing the ways they conceal parts of themselves from a society they do not trust. Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, threejs WebGL library. Summer 2017.

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Realities Within

Realities Within is an interactive 3D comic that follows a young girl who finds the courage to speak out against a dystopian society, inspiring others to do the same. The project explores how 3D environments and interactive presentation can extend the visual language of comics, allowing audiences to experience a sequential narrative through spatially constructed scenes.

The project uses a low-poly visual style that complements its science-fiction setting while keeping the 3D experience lightweight and efficient. Characters and scenes were modeled and staged in Autodesk Maya and presented interactively using the Sketchfab 3D Model Viewer. My contributions included:

  • Original concept and story
  • Human character modeling and rigging
  • Character posing for approximately half of the scenes
  • Posing and lighting for the selected scenes shown below

The environmental assets, robot model, and textures were created by other members of the project team. The images below highlight several scenes for which I was responsible for character posing and lighting, in addition to my broader role developing the story and creating and rigging the human character models.
Sketchfab 3D Model Viewer, Autodesk Maya. Spring 2017.

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