Final Project Proposal
Project Title: Who Paints More?
After doing some research and discussing our ideas, I and my partner Tawan decided to make a two-player interactive game called Who Paints More. I read the article by Ernest Edmonds and learned that Dynamic-Interactive (Varying) is the highest level of interactivity that the work is unpredictable and interactive, where the design will learn experience and adjust its output, which adds more random and interesting functions to the performance. (Ernest Edmonds, Art, Interaction and Engagement). Thus, in my final project, I want to include two players playing a game while using the computer as a medium to process the two players’ behaviors, together with randomness added to the project to create a “Dynamic-Interactive (Varying)” project. Thus, I came up with the game idea, in which two players will control the direction of a red brush and a blue brush respectively by using their body movement, and whoever paints his color more wins the game. This project aims at people who seek fun and randomness using physical movements creatively. Much fun will come into being, and the users will feel like playing the game again.
Specifically, the two players will use their hands/butts (we will choose which is better later) to control the direction of the two brushes on the screen. By asking my dear professor Rudi, we have decided to use the BNO055 absolute orientation sensor to code the input, and we would figure that out before 1st December. Then in the game, the two brushes will respectively move according to the player’s commanded direction on the screen and leave the pathway of its certain color. After 40 seconds, the movement of the brushes will stop and the system will calculate how much area each brush has left its colored pathway on the screen, and that of a bigger area will win the game. This, I think, can be accomplished by coding in the processing, and the Recitation 8 Project has given me some references about coding. I think we can finish it by 6th December. Finally, we will add some random buffs in the game, such as boosts in velocity, brush width, paint splashes, etc. We can finish it by 8th December.
Besides the aforementioned articles inspiring me, the definition of interactivity also strikes a chord with me considering our final project. My definition of interactivity was “a cyclical process in which two or more objects input, process, and output”. In my case, 3 objects are interacting with each other. Two players will see the current movement of the brushes and the situation of the game, and think about how to control the direction to maximize their painting or grab the buffs, thus outputting their body movement. The system will input the two player’s body movements, then process the movements of the brushes on the screen and add random buffs in the game, and eventually display the game situation and result to the players.
I think our game is unique in that we use our body to control the direction of the brushes, especially if we decide to use butts to control the direction, which hasn’t been done before in other games. Additionally, random buffs can be created in the game, making the game even more significant. If our project is successfully accomplished, then it will be a great lead to future VR games or something, using players’ butts to interact.
