Uncategorized

 

 

 

The Maze Game

(Final Project Documentation)

Jeeho Kim

Professor Inmi Lee

 

 

 

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN

The concept of this project is a mini maze escape game using two analog sensors (rotating and slide potentiometers). This idea was inspired by my experience in the 10th recitation’s Etch-A-Sketch Task, where I found it awkward and challenging to draw by controlling the X and Y coordinates of a circle using two potentiometers. I realized that even a familiar activity could feel completely new with just a change in the controlling method. By combining this idea with entertainment, I anticipated it could approach users in an interesting and challenging way.

Additionally, the “Arduino Potentiometer Steering Wheel for Unity3D” by Gearspec demonstrated the potential for using a potentiometer to enhance the flexibility of an object’s movement. While exploring entertaining elements with the concept of controlling objects, I discovered that most maze games rely on keyboards or mice, which results in movements either overly intuitive or static. Therefore, I believe that by applying potentiometers as controllers to the concept of maze games, it would be possible to offer users a new gaming experience along with a higher level of freedom in movement.

This project was designed with a minimalistic aesthetic to maintain the concept of a mini-game. Several decisions were made to enhance interaction with the users. On the interface aspect, destinations are prominently marked in green, with arrows providing visual guidance along the path for users. In addition, upon the object reaching the destination, it automatically progresses to the next stage, allowing the user to naturally understand the mechanism of the game. On the exterior aspect, a steering wheel is provided, implying to users that they can control something in the game. The rotating and slide potentiometers are strategically positioned to facilitate the user’s intuitive understanding of how to manipulate the object.

The feedback received from the user testing session was as follows: Firstly, there were concerns about the instability of the sensors, especially the slide potentiometer. Secondly, participants felt that the game’s difficulty was high. Thirdly, there was a request for a timer at each stage. In response, complements were taken to increase the stability of the sensors by securing the wires connected to each sensor with tape and fixing them to the wall. Additionally, adjustments were made to decrease the game’s difficulty, allowing more users to easily enjoy it. However, regarding the request for timers, it was decided not to implement them to maintain the minimalistic design concept and considering a few tester’s feedback timers might induce haste. These adjustments made the stability of sensors and users feel less challenging than previous version.

 

 

 FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION

The final product ended up being quite different from the initial plan. Up until the final proposal submission, the plan was to use two rotating potentiometers as controllers, similar to an Etch-A-Sketch. However, after starting the production process, friends advised against using the two same sensors, as they found it not interesting and potentially confusing to users. Consequently, one of them was replaced with a slider, which made it visually easier to distinguish. This change provided intuitiveness. yet without inferring the game’s difficulty level.

There was a significant change in the collision-detecting system between the walls and the ball. In the early stage, I developed code to calculate the distance between the wall and the ball, triggering a collision when the distance fell below a certain range. Daniel and I invested a lot of time and mathematical calculations into creating this code. However, various issues kept arising. Collision detection occurred too frequently or unexpectedly, leading to inconsistencies. 

To address these issues, I asked Professor Gottfried. He introduced another method loadPixels( ) to display the background color (R, G, B) under the circle’s position on the processing monitor. Consequently, I changed the code to recognize collision when the G value was less than or equal to 254. With this new algorithm, I found a stable collision system, and the code became much more concise.

Despite implementing the collision system, there remained one more issue that needed to be addressed. Even after collisions occurred, leading to the appearance of the ‘Game Over’ page, users could still move the ball back into the maze, and the game would continue as if nothing had happened. To tackle this problem, I considered adding ‘int NUM_OF_VALUES_FROM_ARDUINO = 1’ to the code so that only the restart button could receive values, while the potentiometers could not. However, I couldn’t find a way to apply that one Arduino value only to the restart button. Additionally, I attempted to use the frameRate(0) or noLoop( ) to pause the game upon the collision, but this resulted in the entire screen freezing, preventing the game from refreshing even when buttons were pressed. And nothing changed even if I added frameRate(60) or Loop( ) in the code.

Unable to resolve this issue, users ignored the collision and continued playing the game. Therefore, I modified the code to automatically return to the starting page when a collision was detected, deleting the need for the ‘Game Over’ page and restart button. This change had a significantly positive impact, allowing users to focus more on the game without having to press the restart button each time they hit the wall, and it also reduced the complexity of the code. 

There were no challenges in the digital fabrication process, I measured the diameter of each sensor and created a diagram on the cuttle.xyz website for laser cutting holes to fit the sensors. However, when I decided to remove one button, the enclosure was already completed, resulting in the final product containing two buttons. And, for the steering wheel, I used a CAD file uploaded by LHB (@LHB_131438) on Printable, titled ‘Steering Wheel for CardBox Cars- TOY (Steering Wheel. stl)’. Using Tinkercad, I adjusted the size of this steering wheel to fit my enclosure and created a hole to fit the tip of the rotating potentiometer

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

The ultimate goal of this project was to provide users with a unique gaming experience through the use of a new controller. While this objective can generally be considered achieved a more objective evaluation from a diverse range of users is needed. I anticipate obtaining such evaluations in the IMA Show.

Through various observations of audience responses, including a user testing session, presentations, and beyond class, it was found that most users actively engaged in strategizing and seeking solutions to progress to the next stage as the level went up or as they attempted more time. This active participation and interaction align with the concept of interaction that I defined at the beginning of the semester. My definition of interaction was that “ interaction should provide users with meaningful experience and points of connection through responses, going beyond merely reacting to user input.” I consider this project to be a case that demonstrates how my definition of interaction can be realized in practice.

If I had more time, I would like to enhance the stability of the sensors and add more paths in each stage. An important lesson I learned from this project is not to fixate on just one solution during the problem-solving process but to consider various possibilities. When developing the collision system in the project, I focused only on the ‘distance ‘ and spent a lot of time on it, which caused me to miss opportunities to try developing other aspects of the project. However, the new approach using ‘color’ not only streamlined the code but also made me realize that sometimes the solution may be closer than I think. This experience will help me approach various problems with a broader perspective and consider multiple angles in the future.

Despite the slight instability of the sensors and the fact that it adds ideas to an existing game, this project holds significant value in that it enhances interaction as users progress through the game themselves. Furthermore, the project also shows the ability to evoke various emotions such as satisfaction, achievement, and even regret throughout the game playing. This project provides users with a new gaming experience and interaction, while also providing me valuable lessons for more developed approaches in future projects.

 

 DISASSEMBLY

Capstone students covered the solder area with a tent and were working on their capstone, so I took photos first without unsoldering the buttons.

I  unsoldered them the next day and returned them to the drawer.

 

 APPENDIX

Codes: (Link)

Photos: (Link)

Video: (IMG_0829)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Special thanks to those who helped me complete this project”

 

Midterm Project Documentation

Lizzard Sitter 9000,

Jeeho Kim,

Professor Inmi Lee.

 

 

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE

Throughout this semester, I’ve been gaining a deeper understanding of what “interaction” is. In particular, analyzing “The Art of Interactive Design” by Crawford, the reading at the beginning of the semester, and “Drumming MIDI Glove” and in-class practices such as “Spinning Bow Tie” (made with Eddy and Curran in our 4th recitation) brought me one step closer to answering the question of ‘What is interactive art.’ I believe that interactive artwork should convey not only simple responses to the user’s input but also meanings through the experience of the work. For example, the “Spinning Bow Tie”, a kinetic wearable where pressing a sensor causes the bow tie to spin, was designed to express the user’s emotions in a new way, however, we received feedback from classmates during the presentation that this new approach of saying hi could contribute to relieving nervousness when meeting a person for the first time. So, Eddy and I wanted to make something that users can find new meaning through the experience of our work, just like the “Spinning Bow Tie.” We got inspiration from Tamagochi. As the original Tamagotchi pets are shown only by pixels on a digital screen, we decided to make a realistic and tangible version of it. Our “Lizzard Sitter 9000” is intended to give users the feeling of actually raising a pet by having a physical form of it. We aimed to satisfy the needs of people who want to raise pets but are unable to do so due to their conditions (e.g. students living in dorms). At the same time, we wanted to emphasize how difficult and responsible it is to raise a pet in the real world. And, we chose our direction to entertaining so that users could more comfortably and easily understand our purpose of this project. 

 

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN

To visually communicate to users that our project has entertainment features, we chose the form of a gaming machine. Due to limited material resources for making a large-size gaming machine, we had no option but to use cardboard for construction. However, we believed that this unconventional material choice for the gaming machine, might make users feel more comfortable and allow users to participate in the game more easily. To make our lizard look more realistic, we printed skin patterns and pasted them on. We also placed grass and rocks around it. Additionally, to allow users to feel that they can interact with the lizard, we placed two controllers (sensors) at the front. These controllers (potentiometer and push-button) were selected to visually imply actions of washing and exercising the lizard. In the user testing session, it was suggested to consider choosing a different sensor for exercising as it did not visually imply the action of exercising. However, we believed that the push button was the most crucial element reminding the image of a gaming machine so we were concerned that replacing the button would also remove the visual representation of the entertainment function. Therefore, we decided to keep it as it was. Users need to keep sliding the potentiometer and press the button to prevent the “Wash Need Value” and “Play Need Value” of the lizard from falling to 0. If both values approach 100, the level goes up and the values decrease faster. There are a total of 3 levels in our project. Considering this game system, we expected that the front part where the sensors are positioned would have significant damage. Therefore, we built it with double-layered boxes. Finally, for visual emphasis on the sensors, we painted only the front part red.

 

 

FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION

The most important aspects of our production process were writing codes for the game operation and modifying visual elements for a smooth gaming experience for users. Eddy covered the overall code writing and modifications, while I focused on code review and the fabrication of the game machine. For instance, if Eddy wrote the codes to decrease the “Wash Need Value” over time, we tested it together to check if it worked properly, We, then, discussed any necessary changes or any additional elements for the next steps. And, Eddy made modifications to the code and I searched for codes for Eddy and made adjustments to the shape of the gaming machine. We repeated this process throughout the project. With this process, we were able to complete most of the steps as we intended. 

 

In the user testing, most of the feedback was related to the visual aspect. Through the feedback, we discovered that 1) the visual elements did not sufficiently explain how to start and operate the game, and 2) the game lacked a clear ending and became boring over time. These feedbacks were very helpful for the entertainment feature of our project. Through discussion with Eddy, we decided to add sounds and a level system. The sound played a role in indicating the start and end of the game, as well as signaling level-ups. Additionally, to clearly show the reason for the lizard’s movement, we added three LEDs (red, yellow, green) in front of each sensor to tell the status of each value. 

 

Lastly, we also discussed visual elements to ensure a smooth experience for users in the game. However, we ended up adding symbols such as a start button, arrow, and bubble would be the most effective and straightforward solution.

 

(Video Link)

 

CONCLUSIONS

We aimed for entertainment, and we saw that users enjoyed it while experiencing our project. However, some users expressed doubts about the purpose of this project or questioned the operation system of the game. Therefore, from my point of view of “interactive art”, I believe our project was 50% successful. Considering these user responses, I think additional elements are needed to more successfully convey our purposes and the meaning.

 As a result of our discussion, Eddy and I identified adding numeric indicators to display values and changing the positions of the sensors (As Prof. Gottfried’s suggestions) could lead to improvements in the future. We believe that these changes will help users understand the game’s system and discover hidden meanings.

Through this project, I’ve learned that, first, users often don’t follow what creators/ artists expect them to do. Second, the user’s background (such as major, age and gaming experience) makes huge differences in responses. Third, more user feedback leads to fairer growth of the work. I think this project was a practice for creating true interactive artwork in the future. If we accept more feedback next time, I believe we can create a more successful interactive work that appropriately combines the purpose of the creators with the feedback from users

 

DISASSEMBLY

 

APPENDIX

Codes