DECO2606 - Real Time Multimedia (Game, Installation)

About

Real Time Multimedia (DECO2606) is a course taught by Rob Saunders, which saw us bring interactive concepts to reality throughout a semester.

The course encouraged me to create a Casual Immersive Game, with the self-imposed purpose to explore the empaphatic connections between persons in a local game environment. Whether they be observers or participators, enemies or allies, there presides an unspoken, existential, connection between people within the same local atmosphere proximal to some activity.

A Casual Immersive Game

This casual immersive game is designed for play in social spaces. The simulations demonstrated here would be set up in an open public area, with one portion (the 3D Kinect view) being displayed as a large immersive (potentially panoramic) projection. Adjacent to this would be a multi-touch table which, like the kinect, can also promote collaborative gameplay.

These platforms can encourage strangers, both passer-bys and veterans, to mutually engage their environment in a casual immersive game.

Technical Tools

OSC Messages connected TUIO touch table (and iPad during development), and a Kinect-based wall-projection on four different screens with the aid of a Matrox-Triple-Head (unfortunately I don’t have a recording of the final setup). Java was used for the project, with the Processing library.

Process

The full un-edited process during this course is documented on an online journal.

Odd to think it’s been a semester since the concept of ‘Stomping Grounds‘ grabbed ahold of me. It’s fun to imagine the infinite paths this project could’ve taken, but I’m grateful for the steps taken along the way.

(‘Stomping Grounds’: the chosen core concept for the project of this course, inspired by casual local games and novel physical interactions. This was presented in week 1 of class. )

Throughout this course, I have maintained a wordpress blog documenting my progress. (Quite a rewarding commitment).

From first flight:

to Strings of Kinetic Ribbon:

testing out (UDP) communications:

and all the spaces:

and inspirations in between.

Culminating into a casual game.

DECO2606 Real Time Multimedia, taught by Rob Saunders, is an awesome class. Learnt a lot. One of a selection of projects I thought could be realistically extended after my degree concludes. Perhaps as a tablet game, or an avenue of research into collaborative interactions in social spaces.

I had the opportunity to experiment with OpenCV, Processing, Eclipse, Kinect, Projectors, handling multiple projected video feeds, user testing, and communicating across devices. It was also incredibly nice to have the freedom and facilities to explore a broad brief - an interesting change of pace that allowed for investigations into new aesthetics, algorithms, and interaction paradigms.

It was great to be surrounded by other classmates’ just as inspired - producing some pretty amazing work! Check them out: Kevin Chan, Sanjay Dutt, Kendrick Khoo, Stella Kim, Mark C Mitchell, Ashleigh Sutton, Garry Taulu, Spencer Walden, David Wallis, William Yong, Adam Younis, David Zheng, Tim Zapevalov.

Overall a very fun and enjoyable class.