In the vein of table top interfaces with multitouch and gesture tracking, the trailer for the new game R.U.S.E. by Ubisoft is quite effective!
Showing posts with label game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game. Show all posts
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Multitouch for gaming
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The omelette of shame!
It is so good, this guy is so fun! Journalist Casey reports on MMO news including our WoW pod!! Watch the MMO report on g4tv
Friday, March 20, 2009
A video for the WOW Pod!
Here it is, the video about the WOW Pod, a collaboration Cati Vaucelle and Shada/Jahn that you can visit at MIT Museum from March-September 2009!
The WOW Pod is an immersive architectural solution for the advanced WOW (World of Warcraft) player that provides and anticipates all life needs. Inside, the gamer finds him/herself comfortable seated in front of the computer screen with easy-to-reach water, pre-packaged food, and a toilet conveniently placed underneath his/her custom-built throne.
When hungry, the gamer selects a food item (‘Crunchy Spider Surprise’, ‘Beer Basted Ribs’, etc.) and a seasoning pack. By scanning in the food items, the video game physically adjusts a hot plate to cook the item for the correct amount of time. The virtual character then jubilantly announces the status of the meal to both the gamer and the other individuals playing online: “Vorcon’s meal is about to be done!” “Better eat the ribs while they’re hot!” etc.
When the food is ready, the system automatically puts the character in AFK (‘Away From Keyboard’) mode to provide the gamer a moment to eat. When the player resumes playing, he/she might just discover his/her character’s behavior is affected by the food consumed in real life — sluggish from overeating or alternately exuberant and energetic.
The exterior of the WoW Pod mimics the look of authentic WOW architectural structures, whose swaths of flat, pixellated surfaces digitally recreate the built environment of an imagined past. But upon crossing the threshold and entering into the WOW Pod’s interior, the player finds the digitized look actually becomes the real life experience that World of Warcraft simulates.
WOW Pod web site
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Sunday, March 08, 2009
Souvenir from my exhibition in New York with Shada/Jahn
... people interacting FULLY with the WOW Pod at the Mixer event in New York. Project I am doing with Shada/Jahn! More about the project -> here <-
Visitors playing with WOW Pod
Inside the Pod
The WoW Pod is an immersive architectural space that provides and anticipates all life needs of the World of Warcraft player. Outfitted with toilet throne, hydration system, and meals at the ready, the WoW Pod makes daily human function possible without ever stepping away from the game. In addition, these tasty meals are cooked via a cookset that connects a hotplate to the computer, allowing the player to let their World of Warcraft avatar know when the meal is ready to eat.
The AFK cookset within the Pod is designed for the hungry role playing gamer who can connect her food items, e.g. Spicy Wolf Dumplings, to her online cooking habits. By scanning in the food items, the video game physically adjusts a hot plate to cook the item for the correct amount of time. The virtual character then jubilantly announces the status of the meal to both the gamer and the other individuals playing online: “O la la my roasted raptor is about to be done!” “Better eat the ribs while they’re hot!” etc. When the food is ready, the system automatically puts the character in AFK (‘Away From Keyboard’) mode to provide the gamer a moment to eat. When the player resumes playing, he/she might just discover his/her character’s behavior is affected by the food consumed in real life — sluggish from overeating or alternately exuberant and energetic.
Here is a short movie-clip that shows what can happen to your avatar when you eat in the Pod!
More photos on flickr!
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A Design for Extimacy and Fantasy-Fulfillment for the World of Warcraft Addict
April 13th 2009 I will give a talk and participate in a panel organized by Marisa Jahn at MIT Museum based on my idea of designing a WOW pod for addicted players! Design that we will have finished this week (more pictures soon...). It should be fun and y'aura du beau monde!
On the WOW Pod: A Design for Extimacy and Fantasy-Fulfillment for the World of Warcraft Addict.
A panel discussion about the inducement of pleasure, fantasy fulfillment, and the mediation of intimacy in a socially-networked gaming paradigm such as World of Warcraft (WOW). Participants include Raimundas Malauskas (curator, Artists Space, NY); Visiting Scientist Jean Baptiste LaBrune (Media Lab); Laura Knott (Associate Curator, MIT Museum); MIT Gambit Lab researcher (TBA), and co-artists Marisa Jahn, Steve Shada, and Cati Vaucelle.
Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure.............................................................................................
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Thursday, December 04, 2008
Art for the World of Warcraft
I used to play World of Warcraft, I like to have my digital body engaged in breaking down monsters. This can be translated in defining strategies to destroy unstoppable monsters! I reached level 70, raided a lot afterwards and then entirely stopped. In France, I used to play strategy games with 15 players in the same house, creating teams, ordering Pizza and getting tones of Soda. We started on Friday at the end of the afternoon and we stopped on Sunday night.
These past months I have rarely played any game, but I cherish these addictive gaming moments and decided to design an architectural object that criticizes the process of massive multiplayer gaming, designing a refuge with a survival kit integrated as well as doing something with the laptop that continuously burned my legs while playing! Also reflecting on the intense things that are happening on world of warcraft, such as the multiboxing setup!
Recently, I've been awarded a grant by the Council for the Arts at MIT 
The Pod resembles a mobile structure, however it works as a parasite. Connected to the home, it depends on it, it is stuck to it and uses it for survival. A nice metaphor for the teenager who is oblivious to his addiction and the effect it has on his family house! The AFK cookset benefits from a very annoying feature from the old MacBook Pro, that literally burns your laps while playing. The AFK cookset cooks your diner while raiding, it automatically alerts you and the raiders that you are AFK because your "eggs are ready"!
The AFK cookset
World of Warcraft is a massive online multi-player game that attracts millions of players including a large proportion of teenagers and children as young as 10 years old. A typical scenario for teenagers addicted to the game is to settle down in front of the monitor on Friday night and collapse on Sunday night. Sleep deprivation as well as high saturated fat diet is the pride of these players who barely do not take any break, and when they do they sign the typical “AFK” (“Away from Keyboard”) that pops up of top of their avatar. The average AFK is of two minutes, time to run to the fridge, to open a bag of potato chips, to replenish the glass of milk, or go to the bathroom. We are proposing a design noir aiming at representing the ideal setup for the player to spend more quality time online.
Can you imagine the toll that this extreme behaviour takes on the developing body, not to mention the amount of energy waste produced during such a 48-hour non-stop game? The addiction to World of Warcraft, you see, raises questions about the ecological and physio-morphological consequences of the computer game industry – but WOW players would refuse at any cost to reduce their addiction. Another solution must be considered…
The AFK Cookset harvests the heat produced from an ordinary laptop computer to cook meals. Before beginning a WOW session, the player places a shallow metal box beneath his/her laptop. The player pulls out a metal drawer that contains a tray with subdivisions. In one section, the player implaces powdered milk, powdered eggs, a dash of salt and pepper plus seasoning to taste. This protein-rich herb omelette will be cooked first because of the egg whites’ naturally low cooking temperature. In a second subdivision, the player implaces powdered tomato, water, and basil – a perfect second course tomato bisque to provide Vitamin C-rich soup to ward off scurvy. In the final section, the player implaces a frozen pizza. This pizza will be fully heated about the time the player (warrior) is ready for a third meal.
When each respective recipe is ready, the AFK Cookset WOW Plug-in automatically notifies the player that his/her meal is ready. A graphic, announcing, “Bob’s eggs are ready” is immediately visible to the other players on the “Raid Window.”
A first sketch!
The WOW pod
The WOW Pod is an immersive architectural solution for the advanced WOW player that provides and anticipates all life needs. Before entering the WOW Pod for a weekend-full of adventures, the player first stocks the pod: he/she refills the water bag that skins the architectural exterior and pipes liquids directly into the pod via a plastic tube that the player places adjacent his/her mouth. The WOW Pod holds and dispenses up to 3 cannisters of Pringles chips within easy reach of the desktop. The AFK Cookset and backup foodtrays (see description above) provides nutrients to nourish the hungry warrior. Inside, an array of monitors and computers allows the hard-core player to simultaneously control not one – but a whole assembly of players – with ergonomic ease. For instance, normally “multi-box systems” ask the player to use key commands and different mice to switch between players (warrior, magi, etc.). Involving all the latest features of an integrative computing sytem, WOW Pod allows the player to control the magi with his/her elbows, the dwarves with his/her feet pedals, the warrior with his/her hands. The player also has the control to re-program and re-designate the team of warriors according to his/her ergonomic preference.
The exterior of the WOW Pod is a customizable skin that allows the player to publicly demonstrate his/her guild association. Normally, guild affiliations are shown through “tabards”, or wearable insignias. WOW Pod now allows the player to demonstrate to those not online the richness of his/her online identity.
A first sketch
So far we have a lot of fun! I will update soon as we progress in the building of the two pieces. More soon ....
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Yard sale treasures
This summer is the perfect period for yard sales! I have a few secret collections that are building up! All of them related to my research of course. One of my recent find is this vintage electronic kit for children, "discover the magic and mystery of electronics in minutes". Working in a group that researches on a seamless and tangible relationship to digital information, I find this child's game particularly of interest.
Each block represents an electronic component. As the child assembles the blocks together, the child designs a circuit. All the pieces have a magnet underneath. They can be assembled on a metallic large plate, plate that works as the circuit ground. The game is about electronics, analog electronics, but the iteration process of electronics discovery is "tangible". The child can relate to the kit like a puzzle and by this is invited to experiment with each piece. Many authors have claimed that the understanding of electronics is hands-on. Making this process connected to the learning of electronic symbols + offering a puzzle based interaction to circuit design is very exciting! Now there is a consequence to the connection of the pieces, where the electronics knowledge starts and the children are empowered in the design, focusing essentially on their component and how they spatially fits. Later on they can move on to working directly with the components ...
I have a more recent version of an electronic kit that shows directly the components, not the symbols. The connection is made by inserting wires between each component. I much prefer the puzzle based approach that welcome easy improvisation and experimentation with circuit design.
Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Web 2.0 for the gambling community
My new summer game: the backgammon
Web 2.0 keeps surprising me: we share information, create content, collaborate through communities, social networking sites, wikis and blogs. This production of content, for the most part decentralized, strongly impact our economy. Each area of the web is growing, borrowing open-source tools and peer production of content.
One area that keeps massively imposing itself but misses the point and annoys internet users, is the online casino and game communities. Not only these sites do usually not offer anything interesting, except low quality games, but they do not make use of existing tools that could truly enhanced the “casino player” experience.
Yet, I found a complete platform for the online game and gamblers community. It works as an online gambling guide. It makes use of web 2.0 technologies and provides, for instance, weekly news and tips in rich video format along with interviews of specialists. The site uses algorithms that scan the web to find the highest jackpots. They offer a community based website that includes personal blogs of players, discussions, and sharing options. Not only the design is clean and inviting (you will not find banners with glitters that pops up every two seconds), but also the site is useful for anyone who wants to learn about games: it will lead the future (or current) players from the beginner to the pro difficulty level. It is a self contained environment for the gambler and the player. Even though I am not a gambler, I am a dedicated game player and my current summer game is the super fun Backgammon and the tips I read about it are really exciting!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Body Mnemonics
Media Lab just had an Open House and my adviser offered me to present in the auditorium my latest research! I was so thrilled. I also demoed Picture This! during the Open House.
I had fascinating discussions with sponsors, very engaging, challenging and all of it relevant to our common explorations for new interactions design with current technologies. Researching on gesture interfaces, and new meaning for gesture interaction, i.e gestures that have a meaning to retrieve or interact with data, I regularly refer to Body Mnemonics project by Jussi Angesleva, who was researcher with me at the mythical Media Lab Europe in Ireland.
I realized I never blogged about this work; it is a really cool project, and pioneer in its vision.
Body mnemonics is a meta tool for portable devices that enhances their usability, shifts the interaction to the periphery of our concentration and makes them more responsive to our cultural background on the basis of three principles: proprioceptic sense, body image, and the "method of loci" mnemonic device.
Joelle Bitton (also MLE ex-fellow) showing her data storage locations!
Using inertial sensing a portable device's movements in 3D space can be tracked, analysed and referenced to the posture of the user. This enables a user to store and access information on his or her own body space. For example, online banking information could be accessed by moving the device to your back pocket. Similarly, your music archive could be located at your ear.
More on the web site !
Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure.............................................................................................
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Intense things happening in World of Warcraft
Ok some intense things are happening in the virtual world. As if controlling a level 70 character was not enough trouble, these guys (and girls) control *five* 70 characters at the same time in 5 boxing setups on their own. An example:
I am speechless, all that stuff said about my little virtual identity expressed through physical means is a piece of coconut compared to the mental strength required to visually maintain and control 5 avatars running quests and killing bosses at the same time.
So if someone is up for running a 25 men dungeon on his own, there is still this possibility:
This raises interesting questions for the future of human computer interaction, because Blizzard allows you to run multiple copies of WoW on the same computer, we need special joysticks, probably new interfaces for elbows to control 2nd class characters, the feet to control the mages (they are our DPS after all they need sone action), and of course I would leave the hands for the tank warriors. Some speech recognition would be also of great help to switch stances.
A new class of displays and controllers is on the way. 
More online discussion about WoW and more discussion about multiboxing!
Posted by Cati Vaucelle
♥ Architectradure
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Playstation human sculptures
Sculpture in perforated steel with sections upholstered in felt
Designers came up with a landscape of concept furniture derived from the statue-like forms of people sitting, standing or leaning against walls engaged in playing the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The result is "sculptural and machine-like". Each piece contains a PSP unit and users are encouraged to step inside these structures to play, the idea being to create an individual gaming experience while allowing for interaction with other gamers in other pieces using the PSP’s wi-fi capabilities.
Inspired by gaming, after the Nintendo Wii, the Wii-fit is coming. Also check the new hypnotic video-ad for playstation!
Posted by Cati Vaucelle
♥ Architectradure
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