Author: jl9549

Before creating our game, my partner and I were aware that when we were presenting our project we had very little time to explain what our project was about. We knew that a lot of people would not know what The Labyrinth was and our goal was to teach them. Therefore from the beginning, we knew we wanted to include an intro video showing the actual myth itself, and along with with it an instruction page on how to play the game. Our intention was to create a DDR machine that would be used to control the characters. We decided to use buttons and the heart rate sensor for our game. At first, we thought about using pressure sensors instead of buttons, but then we realized if our intention was just to sense that the player wanted to go in a particular direction, buttons would not only be easier but more practical. The heart rate sensor was something we had in mind because we wanted to mimic in a maze where someone’s heart rate would be high due to confusion, fear, and adrenaline.

DDR machines are very technologically advanced and in order to provide a clean simple design that is shown in arcades is very expensive. We had to improvise with less knowledge and fewer resources. We knew the placement of the Arduino would be important because if we had placed in the wrong the wiring would be all over the place. In the end, we realized we had to use longer wires to connect the two DDR machines and could not avoid the wire mess. We could only make it not affect the interaction and make it look somewhat organized. User testing was super useful in not only seeing how people interacted with our project but also in observing how people reacted to the information presented to them. Was our intro video informative enough? Were our instructions for the games clear? With all this information, we ended up adding more educational aspects to our game and labeled the DDR pads for their respective directions, for example, we added U, D, L, and R (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT). I believe this advice we got definitely improved our project and made it easier for others to try it.

Our goal was to create an interactive project that would teach people about the story of The Labyrinth. I believe we definitely created something interactive because it not only was it a two-player game, but each player also had to interact with a physical DDR that would control their character in-game. Ultimately, I believed we did succeed because people who tried our game told us that they had fun, and afterward they would ask more questions about The Labyrinth. Giving them more information about this awesome myth and introducing them into other stories was definitely a highlight during the IMA show. One problem we had was that our DDR was a wired mess, and I would love to improve this if we had more time. Looking at our DDR machines, it looked like a prototype, but we really had no easy way to contain the wires. We tried putting a box to hit the wires, but then sometimes the wires would get unplugged from the Arduino or breadboard and that would just be a huge hassle to remove the box. If we had more time I would have loved to create a DDR machine that used fewer wires and maybe even add more mechanics to our game, for example, a good idea someone gave us was an option for randomized mazes. Every time our code failed, wires fell out, or designs didn’t work, all these times taught us that there is a better way to do things. The code, wires, design, and everything can always be improved to be made simpler and more appealing. The fact that our idea became a reality makes me proud that we accomplished that. After a whole a semester of Interaction Lab, I have learned that the question of “Who cares” does not really matter. If you truly believe in your project, then that means that you care and that is what matters. What matters is what you learn from creating your project and the final product represents that you have gone through a journey of learning and ended with success. To end, I believe one of the most important lessons I have learned from the Interaction Lab is that people will always be there to help you. The number of hours the IMA fellows and instructors spent just helping people was just amazing. They never judged the problem you were having, whether it be to helping a student build a simple LED circuit to coding a system of gravity, they were always helpful. This class was awesome and it has taught me you should not care too much when others don’t care, and of course, I now know the definition of interaction!

DEMO

PHOTOS

MEDIA USED IN PROJECT

CODE

My partner, Jennifer Cheung, and I went to two different workshops. She went to Object-Oriented Programming with Tristian, while I learned Media Manipulation with Leon. This workshop was very informational on how to manipulate photos and videos and for my exercise, I decided to create a collision between two objects.  I did this by detecting the colors, so for example, if my red object touches a blue object the code tells it to move away. My final project is a maze so learning this will be very important in my final project.

Below I show what the collision looks like. There are still a few problems like the object does not collide from the other side, and that it moves up when you push into it. These are things that will be figured out for our final project.

Code:

This recitation was relatively simple because we had already done something similar during class. Using the example we had already I just replaced some parts of the code and got this project to work as it is. After reading the reading from this week, it really surprised me how far we had come with computer vision. I take for granted all the technology we have assessable like face detection and Snap Chat filters. About a decade ago all of this technology was just being created by people at the top of computer software, and now any kid with a phone has access to it. Take, for example, the smile detector from this week’s reading, the technology involved with that is used to be very complicated, but as we refined it now with enough time a high schooler could use processing to detect that. My levels of expertise are not that high, so I went for a more simple altercation with my project. With my project, I focused on directing the user’s attention. Where I moved the photo using the potentiometers that would be where the focus of attention from user would be. I also included a larger Orca at the end to show how you could also incorporate different photos on the same background. So you could show someone a beautiful landscape at first, but at any time you could change to the great seas with a monster orca staring at you. All in all, this week’s reading was interesting and really makes me happy to live in a time where the complicated applications of the past are now commonplace.

Schematic

CODE:

For your blog post, post about the three projects that you critiqued. Please summarize what each project is, and what you and your other group members’ feedback was for improving each project. What did you think was interesting about these projects’ concepts? How do you think that their projects are creating –or could create– a meaningful experience that significantly fosters the exploration of how we interact with technology?
Did you discover something new, similar or different from your group members about what they think interaction is? How is this new, similar or different from what you stated before in your definition of interaction? Explain.

All of the projects I reviewed were all interesting in their own ways, and all were inspired by something that already exists. The heart rate monitor can be used for real-life applications, like health; while the Vroom project can be the first step to combatting our addiction to technology; and finally, the Tip Tap Snap reinvent ways we play rhythm games. These projects have reaffirmed my definition of interaction, take for example the heart rate monitor. The interaction between human and machine is just as real as the interactions between humans. I always thought interaction was not limited to living beings, so it is reassuring someone else shares this view. Interaction is a truly difficult word to completely pin-down, but it is nice to see my basic definition is shared with others.

From your notes, write down any feedback that you received.
According to your group members, what was the most and least successful part of your proposal—Do you agree or disagree with this? Explain.
How will this feedback influence your project?
How do you think you can make improvements to your proposal based on the feedback you might have received so far?
In the event that you are not making any changes, please explain why you won’t be incorporating the feedback?

One of the best critiques I got was to add more story to my project. Mythology is something I take for granted because I have been reading since I was little, but some people have never been exposed to these rich stories. Therefore, it is up to my partner and me to convey these stories to anyone who tests our project. We want people to have fun but also come away learning something from our project. With the educational aspect in mind, my partner and I have been looking into educational games and how they convey fun and education to aid us with our project. One positive comment I got was that our proposal of a maze sounded fun at the very least. Difficult mazes are inherently fun to navigate and conquer so as long as my partner and I make a challenging maze people can at least enjoy it. Of course, we would also like to incorporate the education of myths, but before that, we must make sure our project is interactive and engaging.
Overall, this recitation was useful for feedback as we were able to question our audience before we created our project.

Sources:
Heart Rate Monitor- Bing Chen
Vroom! – Kathy Song
Tip Tap Snap – Jullie

Greek Mythology includes some of the richest stories in the world, filled to the brim with epic tales composed of valiant heroes, evil monsters, and immortal gods. With this in mind, it comes to no one’s surprise that centuries later we are still reading and analyzing these epic stories. Our project takes inspiration from Greek Mythology and aims to recreate the infamous Labyrinth maze from the great tale of Theseus. In creating our Labyrinth, we plan to stay true to the original by making sure it invokes the same fear for those who enter the maze, and of course, there will also be the mythical Minotaur. Our goal is to engage an audience that enjoys obstacle games by using an interactive game two-player game where we combine both education of Mythology and entertainment.

The Labyrinth is famously known for its vastness, deliberately confusing design, and the Minotaur. Our maze will adhere to the original structure of a large square shaped confusing contraption with numerous dead ends. It will be a two player game where one player, the runner, begins in the middle of the maze, with the intent to escape, and the other player as the Minotaur which intents to capture the runner. Before the players are dropped into the maze, there will be a minigame to determine the speed of the characters. This minigame will use a heart rate sensor and depending on how high each player’s heart rate gets it determines the base speed of their respective characters. After the minigame, the runner will have a grace period to explore the maze, and after that grace period has ended the Minotaur will be unleashed. Once again, the goal of the runner is to escape, while the Minotaur’s goal is to catch the runner. Currently, we are finishing up our design of the maze, and after that, we will begin coding the maze. The mini game’s code will follow, and then the joysticks, which will be used to control the characters, will be coded. Afterward, we will do a test run making sure everything works and depending on the outcome we are thinking of adding special powers. Maybe some abilities for each character like a quick sprint option, or teleportation for the Minotaur.

Mythology has always been something I have been interested in, and I hope our project can share my interest. I hope to introduce the rich stories of mythology to those who try our game and maybe inspire them to further explore Greek myths. Through my preparatory research and analysis impacts, I have realized that my project must foremost be fun. I believe this project aligns with my definition of interaction because if executed properly, people will be want to try our project again, whether that be to try a different character or escape faster. Our project must be engaging and interactive for the players for the whole duration, hence the mini-game in the beginning and then the maze. I have also learned from my past projects, multiplayer breeds a much richer game in terms of replayability. Games are inherently competitive therefore we decided, instead of a leaderboard with high scores, direct competition between two players is much more engaging. Also from the research of projects, we have learned how to present and incorporate ideas of the Labyrinth much better. The name is simple and obvious, and the design of the game is natural; when dropped in the middle of a maze who would not want to escape? I believe the uniqueness of our project will come from the maze itself. We will create a vast maze where every corridor and dead-ends are carefully planned, and the huge efforts we have put forth will be obvious. When I was younger, reading epics and learning about the obstacles of these brave heroes filled me with happiness. I would get lost learning about Theseus’s battles, or Odysseus’s arduous travels on the high seas. I truly hope I can inspire more people to read myths because these stories truly encapsulate the best of human creativity. Maybe, if this project is successful we could continue making other interactive recreations of mythological destinations. We could explore the deadly seas filled with Sirens and the monstrous Scylla, or maybe the majestic land of the gods, Olympus. Our options are as vast as the Labyrinth we hope to create.