Customisable Interface Experiment

One other side-idea which I did have was to create customisable display fronts for games. For example the gamer would be able to choose where things were positioned on screen, such as the health bar, ammo, time etc. Also they would have the ability to adjust the colour should they wish.

To experiment what this would look like I took a screen grab from Grand Theft Auto and played around with it in Adobe Photoshop.

Current Update of Final Show

My current idea for the final show is to have a mini flash webcam game projected onto the wall/ceiling via a mirror which the audience could play. This would give an example of motion detection which is currently still emerging in online mini games.

Further Results

One useful feature of WindowsXP is the ability for the user to rotate what’s being shown on screen. This could be useful to me in my final show as I potentially could project what ever is on the screen onto a series of mirrors which in turn can rotate and then be shown on the wall.

Research Results Summery

On Tuesday 17th I went into town and brought two mirrors which I could play around with trying to reflect a light across the room, in an attempt to simulate a projector being reflected onto the wall.

From this experiment I discovered that the best way of doing this with the mirrors I had was in a completely dark room, also I feel that much larger, plain/flat mirrors would be more suitable to reflect a projection should I use it in the show.

Below you can see how I have setup my experiment model of a parxinoscope in 3D studio max. The middle column has had the ‘Raytrace’ material added to it so that it will reflect the objects spinning around it, giving the effect of movement.



From doing this experiment I found that it worked much better with the camera spinning around the centre column as opposed to the outer objects spinning around. In real life the camera (human eyes) would remain still as they turn the objects giving the effect of animation.

On to the Pier

Today I started looking at reflections in 3D Studio Max and looked into seeing if I could create a Parxinoscope, (a mirrored version of the old Zoetrope).

To do some research into how games are setup for public viewing, how sound is used, the use of reflections and extra peripherals in games. I travelled down to Brighton Pier to look at how the arcade room is set up.

Finally as a group we went to have a look at a possible location for the final show; this allowed us to get a feel for the room, and the space potentially available to us.

After Easter

After my talk with Gary on Monday 16th April the following areas came up which could be of intrest to research into.

• Reflex cameras, non reflex cameras
• Get some mirrors and play around with reflecting lights / leaser beams
• Look at rotation of the PC screen, and look into possibly reflecting a projection of it. (Ctrl, Alt and arrow keys)

Further things to look at:
Tim Head – Taite Brition
Station House Opera Group

Useful Sites:
http://www.unmuseum.org/exreflec.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/see_things_fs.shtml
http://laser.narr.as/

Brighton Library

To carry out further research I went down to Brighton library to see what I could find out about mirrors, and how they are used in projections.

The following book shows how mirrors were used in traditional films such as Superman (1978) or King Kong (1933). The film makers then used a combination of mirrors to project a image behind a onscreen character to make it look like he is flying.

Book:
Readers Digest, How Is It Done?, Chapter – Just For Fun, Page – 406

Ideas from group chat on 28th March

Before the end of term we had a group chat, where everyone gave feedback on each others projects.

During my presentation the following points came up which could be areas to look at over the following weeks.

Use mirrors to project / angle light onto a sensor which in turn affects things onscreen.

Idea from John, to use mirrors in a game where you have to move them around so you can light up the path you are travelling along.

Use pressure sensors to turn on/off display elements in a game. Eg squeeze a little ball whilst playing gta and the map will appear. Custom made sensors which come with the game, for example Fifa would come with a little squeezy football which allows you to show information when pressed etc.

Using a projector you could project onto mirrors which in turn beams the image onto the floor / wall / water etc.

Do a google search for ‘webcam input for flash’ for tutorials in creating interactive flash movies.