Almost American, 2020.Built using Unity and C#.In collaboration with Sue Roh.Almost American is a two-channel live simulation that visualizes the magnitude of the rising number of hate crimes committed against Asian Americans since the COVID-19 outbreak. It utilizes real-time stories reported to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and is populated with paper figures programmed with varying degrees of aggression. When figures of different groups cross paths during their procedurally generated walking paths, the collision results in either a neutral or a negative encounter. One of the victim’s limbs falls and a story appears on the ground, which gradually fades away but leaves an imprint that permanently disrupts the landscape. The stories accumulate as the simulation runs until all of the figures are fully dismembered.
Below is part of the simulation. Typically, the full simulation runs for about 1.5 to 2 hours. A live simulation was streamed via Twitch during the ITP Spring Show 2020.