ITP MAGIC BRICK BLOCK
This mysterious building block can assist players in mastering a wider range of software skills.
About
Project Team: Elaine Wang & Damon Chen
Instructor: Yonatan Rozin
Yesuel Song
Year: Spring 2024
Location: ITP NYU, NewYork City
Description
When it comes to mastering human-computer interaction and digital media, we're often tasked with learning a plethora of software and programming languages. In an ideal world, we'd be able to absorb all of this knowledge in one go, much like Mario gobbling up mushrooms.
Our project involves an interactive brick that utilizes Arduino, Node-RED, and MadMapper. Upon hitting the brick, the player will be bestowed with random skills that they can collect. It's an intriguing and delightfully fun game that seamlessly melds technology with entertainment.
Inspiration
Our project was inspired by Mario's question brick, which is well-known for its surprise element in the Mario games.
We aimed to create a similar interactive experience for our users, where they could engage with a mysterious device that randomly levels up software skills upon interaction.
Structure
We have a mechanism that consists of two gears, one circular and one vertical. The circular gear is designed to rotate and drive the vertical gear to raise and lower a box. The purpose of this setup is to imitate a person jumping up and hitting a box, similar to a training exercise. The mechanism is equipped with a sensor that triggers a motor to drive the gear movement, ensuring precise and accurate control over the box's movement.
By gamifying the design process and integrating real-world mechanics with software tools, increase user playful experience
Technical Description
To send data from wifi, we are working on a project that involves sending data from an Arduino device to Node-RED, a visual programming tool used for IoT applications. We plan to create a custom function in Node-RED that will receive the data from the Arduino and then connect it to MadMapper, a mapping software used for projecting visuals on physical objects. To achieve this, we will be utilizing the MIDI protocol to send the data from Node-RED to MadMapper. This will allow us to create a seamless integration between the Arduino, Node-RED, and MadMapper, enabling us to control the visual projections in real time.
User Scenario
When the player jumps underneath the brick, a time flight sensor will detect a distance of less than 50mm and the box will move up and down to simulate an impact. Corresponding patterns will then pop out of the box and wait for the player to collect.
How do we plan to develop this project in the future?
The future plan for the project is to introduce it in the market as a product, specifically, an interactive hanging lamp for homes. Moreover, varied patterns will be developed to meet the requirements of different users, enhancing the device's personalized service.