Thursday, May 27, 2010
How we created "Waterfall Climber"
To make our concept a reality, we utilized several different techniques that each played a role in making our Physical game playable!
First of all we needed the Flash animation (linked on this site) to detect the mouse cursor and also to track and remove health accordingly with the movement of the climber.
We then made some basic infrared LED lights to be tracked by the WiiMote's infrared camera.
Components:
Hardrock's cooperation was also required as their establishment plays a crucial role in our game.
And there is also the software that we used to track the lights with the wiimote. We used Johnny Chung Lee's Wii Whiteboard program and Bluesoleil to be used in tandem with our Bluetooth-enabled laptop.
From there all we needed to do was run the Flash program through the projector onto a climbing wall, scaled properly and to attach the infrared lights to the climber after calibration. These must also be able to be seen by the wiimote.
First of all we needed the Flash animation (linked on this site) to detect the mouse cursor and also to track and remove health accordingly with the movement of the climber.
We then made some basic infrared LED lights to be tracked by the WiiMote's infrared camera.
Components:
- Infrared LEDs
- LED holders
- Basic 5mm (20 gauge) wire
- AAA Batteries
- AA Battery holders (for lack of variety)
- Soldering gun, w/ solder
Hardrock's cooperation was also required as their establishment plays a crucial role in our game.
And there is also the software that we used to track the lights with the wiimote. We used Johnny Chung Lee's Wii Whiteboard program and Bluesoleil to be used in tandem with our Bluetooth-enabled laptop.
From there all we needed to do was run the Flash program through the projector onto a climbing wall, scaled properly and to attach the infrared lights to the climber after calibration. These must also be able to be seen by the wiimote.
Feedback
Most if not all feedback on the game from people who tried was positive. The two key points most people made:
1 - With concentrating on looking out for the falling rocks, they forgot about the physical strain and focus more on moving. Most participants found that they felt the soreness of the task when the game was over and their feet were back on solid ground.
2 - They found that communication between the belayer and the climber was more important than normal rock climbing because sometimes the climber couldn't look up to keep an eye out for the falling rocks.
The slight problems pointed out:
1 - The projection was too faint due to the intense lighting of the venue, unfortunately turning down the lights was not an option because it may increase risk.
2 - Sometimes the rocks were 'unfair' with large lines that were almost impossible to avoid.
Very minor points though, overall very good. Some people didn't try, but approached us and asked about the game and seemed interested in how we implemented it as well which was very encouraging.
Highlight: A climbing team asked us if we were here every thursday with our game. Which was uplifting to say the least.
1 - With concentrating on looking out for the falling rocks, they forgot about the physical strain and focus more on moving. Most participants found that they felt the soreness of the task when the game was over and their feet were back on solid ground.
2 - They found that communication between the belayer and the climber was more important than normal rock climbing because sometimes the climber couldn't look up to keep an eye out for the falling rocks.
The slight problems pointed out:
1 - The projection was too faint due to the intense lighting of the venue, unfortunately turning down the lights was not an option because it may increase risk.
2 - Sometimes the rocks were 'unfair' with large lines that were almost impossible to avoid.
Very minor points though, overall very good. Some people didn't try, but approached us and asked about the game and seemed interested in how we implemented it as well which was very encouraging.
Highlight: A climbing team asked us if we were here every thursday with our game. Which was uplifting to say the least.
Big Thanks to Hardrock
Big thanks and love to the staff of hardrock, we know they went out of their way to get permission for us and it is much appreciated! Their friendly service made it all the more enjoyable to develop :)
Flash Animation
Courtesy of Tim, we have our Flash animation that we used to project onto the rock-climbing wall at Hardrock
LINK
LINK
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