Floating Keys
This project’s idea originated from our usage of the infrared distance sensor for the midterm project and me practicing the piano five hours ago. We wanted to create a piano-like object that when you put your hand above a sensor it plays a note, and there will be multiple sensors for multiple notes across this “keyboard”. Furthermore, there will be a game on the laptop screen (run by processing) for the player to follow along and play notes to famous pop melodies. The player must place their hand above each sensor according to the computer to win the game, and there will also be a mode to free play the notes. Research wise, we thought of games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band (Figure 1), where you had to play the instrument along with the notes, but we wanted to make it more fun and futuristic to put your hand above the notes instead of touching them. The game is meant for people who have little experience in piano, play the notes in a game-style to make it more enjoyable and less tedious. However, I think it will be fun for everyone – even those who have lots of experience on the piano.
Figure 1 (37 second mark):
Simple Gamebox
For the Simple Gamebox, we intended for a user to have a gaming experience (like an Xbox) on their computers using just a joystick and the enter button. However, we want the games and controls to be very simple and require less memory and Frames Per Second than Xbox games. The thinking and research process started off with the idea of just having a modified Space Invaders related game (Figure 2). However, we wanted the user to have more options, like Tic Tac Toe and many other games, being all at the control of a joystick. Our main inspiration was the Xbox App on Windows PCs where you could connect a controller and play. We believe the challenge we want to address is that many computers cannot process Xbox games and enjoy using the controller, therefore they resort to online flash games and others. We want to allow them to have a controller experience without the requirement of a computer that provides a high FPS in games.
Figure 2:
The Maze Race (With a 4D Audience Experience!)
For The Maze Race, the main components are two robots (or objects), controlled by keys on the keyboard. This is a two-player game, and both players can see the robot move in a 2D maze on the screen. All of this, however, will be in real life facing a different direction for the audience to watch; so there will be a 3D maze with two actual robots being controlled. Every time a button is pressed on the keyboard, the robot moves accordingly. Our two inspirations from this project proposal were the games Temple Run (Figure 3), and the movie The Maze Runner. We wanted to create a competitive environment that incorporates the core competencies of the movie and the game. We also wanted this to be interactive with the audience in that they can see who is winning in the diagram. The targetted audience for this project is just two players to challenge each other in a race and an actualy audience watching the game take place in a real model. We want the players and the audience to experience this game at the same time, doing different tasks.
Figure 3: