Initial Stage: Begining

Today our group knitted(Jacob) some sensors out of conductive yarn. Then we manage to get the senor to work to go right and left. We also gathered all our materials today and learn saunding. Next is to fix the program, stitch the knits onto the socks and more testing.

Concept: TImeline

Concept: Research

Jacket uses

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/machina/midi-controller-jacket-v01/description

Sound uses: with the Arduino

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Open-Source-Mood-Light/step5/The-sensors-sound-tap-and-light/

Light sensing LEDs

http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Sensing-LEDs/

Sound sensors in Arudino

http://arduinobasics.blogspot.com/2013/05/sound-sensor.html
A bit hard to emulate since this also requires a device that cost about 100 to use. It is simple not feasible or within any budget.

Pressure Sensitivity?
Yes the Arduino has pressure sensitivity. As shown in the tutorial in class, where we adjust the analog and the light from the blinking thing was brighter the closer you were to it. It adjusted accordingly when you move farther away from it.

Wireless?
Unless you buy/make a wireless Inventor shield(which is a hassle) or Arduino wireless Shield that communicates with Zigbee.

 Concept:

Our controller is going to be used with an old version of super mario. To make the experience more performative and engaging we are going to distribute the control of mario to two players. One player will control left and right movement, while the other player will control jumping and the shooting of fireballs. This setup will force cooperation and communication between players in a game which typically can be successfully controlled by one player. At certain points throughout a level the players will be prompted and the controls will swap, this will keep the players on their toes while also increasing the amount of cooperation necessary.

Participants will be wearing 80’s workout clothing, the hope is that the inherent goofy nature of the clothing will encourage users to more expressive with their actions and movements. The costume will include a headband, jacket, single glove, and knee pads.

Sensors will be inserted into the knee pads and glove. The knee pads will have bend or pressure sensors that react to the bending of the knees, this will control walking and jumping. The glove will also have a bend or pressure sensor that reacts to the closing of the fist, this will activate the launching of a fireball. The jacket will function as the hub of the costume, all wires will flow to the jacket and then be wirelessly transmitted to the computer. The headband will be used to give feedback to the player in real time, this will be done through small headphones or speakers.

Reading Summaries

Envisioning the Future of Wearable Play

There are two problems with interactive gaming, and it's not the technology. Rather it is the design use that is lacking. The first problem is that most of the games designed with interactive technology mostly work well for mini games which is just lacking in terms of taking full advantage of the technology. The second is that we need to come up with new concepts on interactive uses. The article provides three solution to the problem. It proposes usages of props, equipment or clothing to be used with gaming. The clothing concept is an interesting one because it would make the player feel like they've become the character as clothing defines a lot about a person. Another proposal they offered to solve the problem was to use the whole body as a switch for the controller. Many of the concepts the article offered as a solution often uses theatrics and psychology.

Movement Guidelines


The article is a guideline when thinking of creating games that involve movement, that have been examined and refined by 14 experts. The process to design button game design and interactive movement games are vastly different and it's important for game designers to know that. The guideline aims to be in the middle between broad and specific after many iterations from experts. In general simple gestures are better to communicate to the technology and games that respond to a player's movement gives a positive experience. Designers should focus on the body while keeping in mind the player's fatigue and safety hazards. A lot of the guideline's rule could be broken or interpreted in a lot of ways, and that the researchers want to publish the guideline after a few more iterations.

Cool Technology

Stanford Emotional Detecter Controller
This is a cool device attached to an Xbox controller where it measures how the player is feeling with from sensing their physiological status and adjusting the gameplay as needed to the person's psyche.

Playstation VR

Announced just recently at TGS 2015, the Playstation VR immerses players into the game's world by putting on a Headgear and then feel like their actually in the game by viewing in first person and enjoying the game's graphics not on a TV screen but right in front of you. Giving gaming users a new sense of immersive experience.

Wearable ArmBand Controller

Again this was shown in class, but I still think it's pretty cool. Being able to just wear this and work technology without having to move around much. It could be useful for people that are like disabled or people that can't move around much.

Edit: Just notes to myself on some ideas

Mario-> Gestures

Singing Idea? -wear scarves
-Sing Low/High Oooohh to go L/R
-Sudden octave AH to Jump
-Slur Ooooh....AH to Fireball

Swimming gestures: armband/gloves?
-Freestyle/Backstroke to go L/R
-Breaststroke up to Jump
-Butterfly to Fireball

Hand Gestures-Gloves
-Clap in quater notes to run, clap 2x as fast to go left
-Snap to Jump
-Rub hands to Fireball

Tuesday of Presentation

So on Tuesday we presented our Dream Pillow to the class. It was a success, the buttons work with the embroidery and conductive thread! Though the touchboard was put outside of the pillows because there was some trouble hiding it in the pillow sheets. Other than that, it turned out great!

Slidshow Presentation & all materials gathered

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pxIHw7IARShzun3R9VPxqSyer1sZvwx7MQwIe14A980/edit?usp=sharing

Our presentation is ready. Now all we have to do is demo it after we stitch the buttons and stuff on it.

Update on the Dream Pillow

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3FJJj4UAuHVYmc5dGFMOWJCRDA

New link to our concept of the Dream Pillow after we met up on Tuesday. I added the MP3 tracks onto our SD card, only missing one cause it was too big(The sleep ambient music) but Josh said he will take care of it. He is also brining in the buttons, Valerie is going to be stitching the conductive thread and the symbols for it on the pillow, I will bring the pillows(again), and the pillow case.

Exercise 1

Title of the project: Pillow Relaxer(Name subject to change)
Concept Description: the concept is to relief stress by relaxing the user with music when they sleep on the pillow. There will be about 2-4 pillows and each uses different sounds to stimulate the mind. 
Concept Drawing
Materials: Wires, pillows, fabric(cotton), touchboard, music(sound)
Space or Wearable Design: Able to sleep on it

Notes: Track000-Rain

Track001-Wave

Track002-Rainforest

Track003-Music

Portfolio Post

Portfolio Slideshow link
Now I did have it as a PDF file but I have no idea how to upload the file onto Blogger, so I'll just show a link to the google drive link. IF anyone knows how, please let me know.

About Me

Hello I am Wenny Ngo. I am a senior at A&M University majoring in the Visualization undergrad program. Originally I was a Biochemistry major but I switched in the summer before my Sophmore year. I have had experience with digital art for a while, messed around in a lot of programs too. So I've used Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Corel Painter 12, Paint Tool Sai, Clip Studio Paint, FireAlpaca, and Painter Pro. Most of this resulted in me switching from a PC to a Mac, and Sai's pressure point on my tablet wasn't compatible. So for a long time I was just looking for something that could work as a substitute for Sai, and I found my love with Clip Studio later.

For my 3D skills, I am most certainly lacking in that department. I only know how to use Maya, but even then I don't know how to model much. I've made like simple objects, and a Snake for a class but I still need to work on my skill set. Also I really suck at programming, unless it's like HTML or CSS which I don't really consider as programming since it's more visual based than algorithmic based.

Some side stuff I like I guess. I am a huge anime, and JRPG(Japanese Role Playing Game) fan. I haven't had time to watch some anime these past few months, but a few of my favorites are Steins:Gate, Madoka Magica, Attack on Titan, and Pandora Hearts. Favorite games are mainly from Final Fantasy, Tales of series, and Persona. When I'm not doing nerdy stuff I am surfing the net, baking, reading or looking up gameplay videos from Splatoon.

FYI, I am part Chinese and Vietnamese, but was raised and born in the US so my English is pretty good.