Final Reflection

Chime Time was a fun project overall. The technical difficulties were a bit saddening, but the learning experience and the chance to make an original idea were well worth it. I hope to be able to expand upon the idea in the future and maybe be able to actually make something that older adults would really enjoy.

Research Paper

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B42TkTvSv6qmdE0wYlM2aW9GYkk/view?usp=sharing

Final Video

https://youtu.be/TobWdk5DyiA

Final concept drawing

Final build progress

Base build

Arduino Test

Chime Time

Concept Drawing to be posted tomorrow after Prototyping)

Concept Description:

Chimes hang at a low level for children and a high level for adults to touch. Upon touch, a sound is activated that harmonizes with a pipe touched on the opposite level. Children and Adults coordinate chimes in order to make matching sounds. 

Materials List:

Wind Chime Pipes, Arduino or MakeyMakey, conductive thin wire, base to hang pipes, speaker for sounds

SCHEDULE:

June 26 - Prototype Design, Finalize Design Concept & materials, get materials over the weekend

June 29 - Build Sound Chime, Begin Programming

June 30 - Continue Building, Continue Programming

July 1 -    Collect Sounds, Test Programming with Sounds

July 2 -    Finish, Finalize, and Test

Wind chime installations

Espanta Espiritos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJXQraKnnJI

MCM Wind Chime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx2dh0JWPz0

Similar wind chime techniques

http://collabcubed.com/2014/01/06/teamlab-homogenizing-transforming-world/

http://www.seeneon.com/projects/house-of-peroni/

Final mood board

https://drive.google.com/a/tamu.edu/file/d/0B4YUqZ0NqOiaajNyZk9lS3NiYWM/view?usp=sharing

Final Idea and grandparents inspiration

A PVC wind chime that lights up and plays early morning or night time sounds like birds chirping or crickets or cicadas and light rain.

The idea came from my memories I have of being out at my grandparents house. They have 2 acres of land and we would sit out on the front porch in the early mornings and listen to the birds chirping and feel the morning dew and hear all the other bugs and animals. So I want my project to evoke similar memories in others

Sketch 3

Sketch 3, aka the PATSTATION, is an apron with copper moustaches and LED's sewn into it with conductive thread and interfaced with an arduino mega. By continuously patting the left or right moustache the player can move left or right in the game, and by patting both at once the player can jump (or in the case of tetris, rotate).

It was a really fun project to make and we learned that getting a player to feel engaged in the action of a game using wearables is a difficult task and an art in and of itself. Great care and thought must be taken when designing an interactive game interface,

Sketch 3 pictures

Sketch 3 in action

Sketch 3 Final Arduino Code

#define ledPin 13 // LED connected to digital pin 13 #define ledPin2 12 #define buttonPin 2 // button on pin 2 #include <CapacitiveSensor.h> int value = LOW; // previous value of the LED int buttonState; // variable to store button state int lastButtonState; // variable to store last button state int blinking; // condition for blinking - timer is timing long interval = 10; // blink interval - change to suit long previousMillis = 0; // variable to store last time LED was updated long startTime ; // start time for stop watch long elapsedTime ; // elapsed time for stop watch int fractional; // variable used to store fractional part of time int isPatting=0; CapacitiveSensor cs_4_2 = CapacitiveSensor(4,2); // 10M resistor between pins 4 & 2, pin 2 is sensor pin, add a wire and or foil if desired CapacitiveSensor cs_4_6 = CapacitiveSensor(4,6); void setup() { cs_4_2.set_CS_AutocaL_Millis(0xFFFFFFFF); // turn off autocalibrate on channel 1 - just as an example cs_4_6.set_CS_AutocaL_Millis(0xFFFFFFFF); Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // sets the digital pin as output pinMode(ledPin2, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(buttonPin, HIGH); // turn on pullup resistors. Wire button so that press shorts pin to ground. } void loop() { int sensorValue = analogRead(A0); // check for button press long total1 = cs_4_2.capacitiveSensor(30); long total2 = cs_4_6.capacitiveSensor(30); if (total1>100 or total2>100){ buttonState=HIGH; } else if (total1<100 or total2<100){ buttonState=LOW; } if (buttonState == LOW && lastButtonState == HIGH && blinking == false){ // check for a high to low transition // if true then found a new button press while clock is not running - start the clock startTime = millis(); // store the start time blinking = true; // turn on blinking while timing delay(5); // short delay to debounce switch lastButtonState = buttonState; // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time } else if (buttonState == LOW && lastButtonState == HIGH && blinking == true){ // check for a high to low transition // if true then found a new button press while clock is running - stop the clock and report elapsedTime = millis() - startTime; // store elapsed time blinking = false; // turn off blinking, all done timing lastButtonState = buttonState; // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time } else{ lastButtonState = buttonState; // store buttonState in lastButtonState, to compare next time } if(total1>300 && total2>300){ Serial.println(1); delay(150); elapsedTime=0; } else if(elapsedTime<2000 && elapsedTime>0){ if(total1>300){ Serial.println(2); elapsedTime=0; } else if(total2>300){ Serial.println(0); elapsedTime=0; } } if ( (millis() - previousMillis > interval) ) { if (blinking == true){ previousMillis = millis(); // remember the last time we blinked the LED // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa. if (total1>300 && total2>300){ value = HIGH; digitalWrite(ledPin, value); digitalWrite(ledPin2, value); } else if (total1>300){ value = HIGH; digitalWrite(ledPin, value); } else if (total2>300){ value = HIGH; digitalWrite(ledPin2, value); } } else{ digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // turn off LED when not blinking digitalWrite(ledPin2, LOW); } } }

Movement-Based Game Guidelines Summary

20 year study conducted with 14 consultants who are developers of movement based games across the industry.

Ambiguity is ok: Don't be too strict with the controls. Players enjoy figuring out a messy system. Too strict is frustrating. 

- reward player for good movement with instantaneous feedback.
- ease the player into the movement. don't overload them.
- don't draw too much attention to the screen.

Be careful with fatigue. Don't fatigue the player unless it's intentional. 

- adding in physical risk can be entertaining but make sure the player is aware of the risky activity and make sure to keep their safety first.
- make sure to map the movements in a way that entices the player.
- if possible, help players identify movement rhythm and facilitate it.
- find unique ways for players to be able to express themselves while adding to the game.
- try to find ways to include multiplayer if you can.

Experts views:

- experts found some of the tips useful while other tips were found to be intuitive or 'already used'.

Arduino and physical computing

Sketch 2 final

This one was neat. Projection mapping is really cool and I learned how to make a relaxing environment without the use of nature. This projects focus was on finding unique ways to induce relaxation.

Sketch 2 Proposal and practice Projection Mapping with madmapper

Sketch 2 proposal:

the initial idea was to brainstorm things that were relaxing, and then discard the typical ideas and and come up with more unique ones. The central idea for our second sketch is REPETITION. So what kinds of repetitive things can we come up with that are atypical? 

We decided on ripples and pulses and digital sounds as opposed to natural ones. 

Now here is us messing with Mad Mapper:

Sketch 1 final

This is the πANO. When you step on the center ground pad, and then either step on another pad or touch someone who is stepping on another pad the computer will play preset sound loops that you can string together. This was a fun project. I learned a bit about makey makey's and circuitry and and also about how to make people interact with musical circles in a fun way.

Sketch 2 example ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrgWH1KUDt4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzM8Tf1Jt5I

Monday sketch 1 set up

Scratch demo

Sketch 1 proposal

Title:

πANO

Concept Description:

πANO is a circular keyboard with the ground key in the center and the other keys placed at different distances out from the center – as if in different “shells”.  As you move farther out from the center, the pitch of the keys goes up when you step on them.  This game should be played barefoot for best conductivity.  

One person might be able to play a few keys by themselves while staying grounded at center, but multiple people linked together are needed to play all of the keys.  The circular design represents unity between people and allows for ongoing and never-ending play as the players run around and around it.

Materials:

Physical:

poly spots OR non-slip mat with cardboard

aluminum foil

copper wire

string to mark off distances during set-up 

tape to go over cords/extensions/wires

masking tape to mark circles

glue gun

MaKey MaKey board and alligator clips

Digital:

scratch.mit.edu

tones from GarageBand

Space Design:

πANO will be set up in an indoor space (Studio A) and mapped out on the floor by measuring distances out from the center.  The aluminum-foil-covered poly spots will be placed for the central ground key and the other keys, and will be connected to the MaKey MaKey in the center by way of copper wire and alligator clips.  The wire will be taped down so that the participants won’t trip over it.  There will be room for spectators to the side of the circle of play, and they will be encouraged to become participants.

makey makey ideas

https://youtu.be/Ow7D7IJBRMk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwahJKgWojU

my idea is to make a makey makey twister board maze

Short Portfolio

Introduction

Hey i'm John Schmitz. Im a senior Visualization major from Rowlett, Tx. I enjoy games, rigging, programming, and music. I play guitar in my free time and just generally like to do various creative things to pass the time. I want to learn how to make apps and websites and videogames. I'm also interested in filmmaking and special effects.

I might also like to be a youtuber one day.