Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Urban Defender Conquers City


What have you done in the past 12 days?  Well this group in Zurich at the Zurich University of Arts, Departement of Interaction Design, created the Urban Defender as part of the Embodied Interaction Advanced HS 2009 in just 12 days.  The team members (Karmen Franinovic, Max Rheiner, Dondup Shelkar, Philipp Läubli, & Nino Cometti) lay out in great detail how they conceptualized the game, interaction, and physical components.  The goal of the game is simple: "try to conquer as many quarters as possible, reinforce these quarters and defend them against other players."

In the concept video (below), I like how the computer interface changes as the players race around the playing area and tag their zones.  It's quite possibly one of the first physically interactive, ubiquitous computing, applications  I've seen.  We have seen many mobile-based ubiquitous computing applications, but most of those have been location based and location recognition.  Using a ball to interact with the physical environment in a public space is pure brilliance.  In some ways it reminds me of the Japanese group that created Shoot-ball (anyone remember that?)  I would love to try this one out on our campus or in town.  Anyone up for a little UD?




And here is the rest of it.

Friday, November 6, 2009

WiiWaa(nt) Stuffed Animals



Sweedish game company Zoink Games posted a video for a puppet enhanced Wii game called WiiWaa.  Although it is uncertain when or if this game/peripheral/wiiware will come out, it looks to use a stuffed animal/puppet with a Wiimote placed inside of it. Then the child would shake and twist the animal to interact with the game features.  Interestingly, pulling on its' ears simulated a boomerang-type action - I'm not sure how the Wiimote would recognize that action.  I'm also curious to see the purpose of those little pins that the boy puts on to the front of his WiiWaa (and if the game recognizes them).


[Via Kotaku]

Skate & Shred in your living room



Instead of paying $100+ bucks for The Ride, or $500 for the iJoy board, why not try this $30 Wii peripheral to get active with all your older Shaun White, Tony Hawk and maybe even Whirl Tour. [Via Ubergizmo]

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