Final Review info

OK folks, so its finally that time …

We will be reviewing in our studio tommorrow beginning at 3:30.  This means we must make the space conducive for such a thing, therefore I would ask that you are all in studio by 2 or 2:30 so that we can sweep all of the ellingson studio crap onto their side, and rearrange the desks for a review.

we will have at least one new juror in addition to Rick Kintigh, two if 2nd year grading doesn’t prohibit prof. Klymson from joining us.  Please be prepared to comprehensively present your work in the studio, starting with the initial experiments/research, through design development.

I am sure you have all been notified at least once already, but the class evaluations are open.  The administration is really pushing for better rate of completion this year and I am sure will be looking more seriously at the results.  Please take the time before studio to complete your evaluations.  If you havent completed them prior to class I will ask that you complete them before you leave, as there is no reason not to.

thanks, good luck getting things wrapped up, see you tommorrow.

Review Today at 3:00

Please be printed, files on jump drive, etc.. and ready to go at 3:00. Due to schedule change all rooms were unavailable so we will bring our projector for you to use, with your computer or mine, most likely in the studio.

review postponed till friday

due to guest critic schedule conflicts the review will be moved to friday.  Please, if you haven’t slept, get a bit of rest before class.  Please everyone come to class.  This is an opportunity for everyone to finish there work sufficiently … not a breather.

Studio Schedule Update

OK so after a mind numbing password reset experience … I am back up and running on the blog?????? and I wanted to formalize the gameplan for the rest of the semester.

Key Dates – see below for description
Friday March 13th – Group Review
Wednesday April 1st – Review w/ Guests
Friday April 17th – Group Review
Friday May 8th – Final Review w/ Guests
Friday May 15th – Open House

iterative design round II
Group presentation Friday March 13th ( I will be on a review during the first part of the studio) We have room 9 in the GRC reserved from 3:00 to 6:00, please have your materials printed or uploaded and be ready to start promptly at 3:30

iterative design round III
Final review of the iterative design phase. Wednesday April 1st.  Up until this point the bulk of your work should be representational as opposed to prototypical.  The primary objective is to coaelsce all of you materials, research, investigation, etc into a thorough proposal of which documents the different versions and proposes a single design direction to pursue for the remainder of the semester.  I will be inviting a couple guests to this review.

working prototypes
We will have a group review of working prototypes for the key elements of your projects on Friday April 17th .  This would include any interactive elements, computer controlled systems, procedural media, etc.  This does not mean that the system looks good, only that it works good.  This is perhaps the most important deadline that we will have this semester, as it will be the make-it/break-it in terms of having the ability to put out a fully functional and elegantly designed product for the end of the semester.

final review
Friday May 8th, location TBD (with guests) – at this review we should see final working prototypes/media with a sufficient amount of documentation to understand the lineage of the projects.  With open house around the corner It is more important to me that your “built” work perform effectively than to be elegantly documented, however you should be able to “pin-up” significant documentation to essentially have a blind critique.

Open House
All work that is of a substantial quality (which should be everyone) will be displayed at open house.  I would like to have the final product and significant prototypes on display as well all students should be prepare a few 11×17 boards that document the research/design/prototyping as well a general description of the final product.  My suggestion would be that you use the final review as a rough draft for this documentation.

Organic Motion

The company Organic Motion boasts having the technology that makes motion capture through markers pale in comparison. You’ve probably seen behind-the-scene clips of movies where an actor is dressed in a suit covered in “ping-pong balls” to record their movements for an animation/special effect. Well, Organic Motion gets rid of the special suit and all the technical staff that comes with it. It’s technology uses video cameras to track your motion and produces a real time 3d figure that matches your movements quite accurately. Organic Motion is also looking for this product to be available not just to the entertainment industry, but to the average consumer. Right now there are many video cameras needed to produce results, however with our ever advancing technology it could be reduced to two or three. Exciting.

GameAir by GravitX

GravitX is an Israeli based company focused on Exergaming. They are developing a system called GameAir that requires the player to use the motion of their whole body in a unique way to play the game. It will be almost a literal translation of what the player is doing: he walks, the game character walks, he runs, the game character runs, he jumps, the game character jumps. At the moment it could be a bit more responsive, but imagine how much it will intensify your game session. You are well on your way to “becoming” your favorite game icon. Game on Link!

Detecting Motion

If you have ever had the pleasure of playing a Nintendo Wii then you know how much fun it is to use the motion sensing controller. Whether you’re slaughtering your friends in boxing or improving your bowling score, it adds an extra sense of accomplishment to perform the action in real time and have it translate to your character on screen (not to mention you get quite a workout). Well, there is another controller that goes beyond the capabilities of the Wii Mote. From the creators of Sixense Entertainment [website] comes the TrueMotion game controller [technical description]. “Sixense’s patented TrueMotion game controller delivers absolute 3D position and orientation information,” which gives the user a more “true” to life like interaction. It is also more accurate in the fact that it can sense slight movements, enabling you engage in more intricate gameplay.

Although, not nearly as sophisticated as the TrueMotion controller, JoySlippers are cool devices that make you think twice about your mouse. Instead of using your hand, the input comes from your feet and the best part is you can Do-It-Yourself! JoySlippers are made with different types of thread, neoprene, pressure sensors, telephone wire, etc. and is connected to the arduino. Not exactly items you would have laying around, but if you’re into technical stuff and physical interactivity, then it makes a good weekend project (if you’re like me it would probably take a week… or two).

Not the Only One!

Although, implementing the idea of making exercise more enjoyable is new to me, there are many persons who make it a part of their life’s work. Meet Professor Stephen Yang, he is an assistant professor at SUNY Cortland who researches the various technologies that combine electronic gaming and exercise. He maintains a blog, Exergame Lab @ SUNY Cortland documenting devices he has investigated. There are many interesting things like Zyked, an online and mobile tool that is used to keep track of your physical activity. The more you perform increases your achievements and skill level. It also encourages social networking. Another example is the Tamagotchi-like pet that you keep alive by being active. In that particular blog post, there is mention of the Games for Health Conference which is having their fifth annual session in June, 2009 in Boston. They are dedicated to the use and development of games for improving health care.

Ever wonder what a gym that integrated game technologies would look like? The University of South Florida’s Research Lab XRKade has a preview (video below) and pictures. The devices in the video can be found on the iTECH Fitness website. To me the site is a little frustrating. I don’t think they always give you enough information, but the products are interesting.

Results in Lights

The next sketch problem I will tackle involves taking input from using some device, whether it be a sensor or button, to trigger some type of light response. To encourage physical activity: there could be different light sequences based on the force or type of action performed, or actions could increase in difficulty with the aim to turn a light on, or the user could work to match a certain rhythm in a light sequence (much like Dance Dance Revolution). However, the first step for me is finding an example that is appropriate which uses light and the arduino. The chosen tutorial is taken from Hobby Robotics. It uses the arduino, a relay, and an extension cord, among other things, to control your everyday light bulb.

It is a great tutorial, but I modified it slightly to use a push button as the input to control the light bulb turning off and on, as opposed to the space bar. Next, I wanted to explore the user having more influence. Depending on how long the user held down the button, would result in a certain light sequence. This brought in the issue of keeping track of time. It was worked out to an extent in code. The next challenge was having the length of time the button was held down influence the speed in which the light flickers. Below is a video of the result along with the code. The speed of the flicker increases as the time the button is pressed increases.

/*Lightbulb Flicker – Sketch Problem 2

authors: Professor Thomas Kearns, Shavanna Pinder (student)
Digital Thesis Studio
Illinois Institute of Technology
created February 18, 2009
*/
int ledPin = 3; // choose the pin for the lightbulb
int inPin = 2;   // choose the input pin (for a pushbutton)
int count = 500;
long storeTime;
boolean prevButton;
boolean curButton;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // declare lightbulb as output
pinMode(inPin, INPUT);    // declare pushbutton as input
}

void loop(){
curButton = digitalRead(inPin);
if(curButton == 0){
prevButton = curButton;
count–;
} else if(prevButton == 0 && curButton == 1){
prevButton = curButton;
count = 500;
}

if(count < 100){
storeTime = count;
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
delay(storeTime);
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
delay(storeTime);
}

}

Exergame Fitness

There are companies out there actively thinking of new ways to encourage exercise, especially with technologies available to us expanding each day. This company, Exergame Fitness located in Palatine, IL, has focused on “bringing exercise and gaming together” selling products that challenge the traditional workout. They provide planning and installation, program design and product training, along with many other types of support. There are a few of their products that I find particularly interesting, especially in relation to my project:

Introducing, Lightspace: The Lightspace® Corporation created interactive display technologies that fuse light, sound, and physical activity into a unique dynamic experience. I am especially drawn to the Lightspace Play Wall. It is a pressure sensitive wall system where the participants follow and activate different points on the surface. Geared for users of all ages, skill levels vary, and the system has the capacity to store many more games than the six that are provided. Another pro is the allowance for simultaneous play.

Another product that peaked my interest is the MX10 Workout Master by Motivatrix. It is similar to the Dance Dance Revolution systems available to most gaming consoles, however the Motivatrix can detect intricate footwork and arm movements. It also has internet capabilities so you can compete against others in different locations.

The third product I like is the Jump2it GameMat Trampoline. It is a good example of adding one simple thing to revitalize the use of another device that you already own. The Jump2it GameMat consist of a clockwork of numbers and math symbols designed to help children improve their math skills. It is attached to your already existing trampoline. In my opinion, one component that could improve the system is adding sound, some program that could call out different equations and also keep score, so that another person does not necessarily have to be there to issue math challenges. Although without this feature, it does encourage more family involvement.