Theme:
Tinkering
I tinkered my way through solving challenging and technical solution and concept creation collaborating with Phoebe and Rachel.
We at the end created a multiplayer game using VR and controller,
Context :
• A Study in Play, Pleasure and Interaction by DesignBrigid Costello1and Ernest Edmonds2 Highlights on the context of play and games as bodies of social interaction.
<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/velyc12xzkg7l1l/AAAH31I09sTr3dTYG1MhOMqKa/A-Study-in-Play-Pleasure-and-Interaction-Design.pdf?dl=0>
• Article by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang talks on tinkering as a method to discover new possibilities and ideas, way to learn and create ideas highlighting on the importance of the same to engage and come up with new possibilities.
<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/velyc12xzkg7l1l/AABt6pJ5MnyS0VccKV0bNgTHa?dl=0&preview=tinkering_alex_pang.pdf > a small extract from this very interesting read :
To tinker is humanWhat is tinkering? Discovering that certain snack tins can be usedto make an antenna that extends the range of your wi-fi network,using electric toothbrush motors to power small robots, building ahigh-altitude balloon that takes video of the edge of space, are allexamples of tinkering. It is technical work and a cultural attitude.Tinkering is customizing software and stuff; making new combinationsof things that work better than their parts; and discovering new capabilities in or uses for existing products. Despite itsfascination with things and bits, it is resolutely human-focused:you don’t make things ‘better’ in some dry technical sense, you make them work better for you. Tinkerers modify everything from cars,computers, and cellphones, to virtual worlds and computer code. Theyare driven by a desire to experiment, to make existing technologies more useful, and to customize them to better suit users’ needs ‘
• SPY is another interesting 2 player game where one player needs to find out which other character is another user trying to blend in between computer agents.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CjNgjMLY-I&t=1016s&fbclid=IwAR2DzI9t6dDnx9BcDaTBVEBTsgUFY_LVMusY5Gy5FlQexwJMI7YvQvLcMi4>
Method:
I decided to tinker with this board of Arduino controllers, and while doing the same engaging and tinkering through ideas in a group dynamic with Rachel and Phoebe to come up with interesting game ideas which gave us an open direction to explore and tinker towards.
Response: playing with number of ardruino modules to explore how we can incorprate that in some kind of game systems. At last we came up with idea to use joystick module to move an object(which will be created by phoebe) to move around in unity. Though after a few tries with unity and adruino we switched to remote 5 instead of ardruino because of time constraints . we didnt end up using ardruino but as said idea couldn’t have been developed if those ardruino modules were not present there to tinker idea through, also closely relating to words by Alex Pang in Context section, highlighting the approach of informal, disorganised, open to new ideas and a willingness to learn and fail.
The concept of this game is a player in VR is trying to get hold of a moving object but they dont know that the object is being controlled secretly by another player outside who can view the movements of VR player.