Steppo
A step in the right direction
Idea/problem/context
In the world we presently live in , computers have become an integral part of our body, behaviors and means of interaction between adults and children. Today's children's means of communication and interaction are based on SMS's/ICQ/IM and others.
We wanted to create other means of interactive communications and interaction between children, one that will not be done from a chair.
STEPPO is a controller that will enrich the children's gameplay by adding a physical layer of interaction and will address the children's need to fun, meet other children and generate challenges and competitiveness that are so important for them.
The Steppo controller is expandable and has many options of shapes and uses.It can be used anywhere in a radius of 50m without any limitations.
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What it is
The proposed STEPPO is a controller that consists of "pillows" in various colors that are synchronized with the computer via wireless conection. These "pillows" can be used anywhere, in any order, stepped on, squeezed, jumped etc. in any means that can be inputed as the rules of the game in the computer.
How it works
The "pillow" are made of wood and foam with 2 microswitches hidden in them. when the microswitches are pressed, the pillow sends a signal to a receiver which is connected to a computer through a controller. a VB.NET program translates the incoming signal to the desired action or keypress.
Whack - A - Fly
As part of this course, we developed a game to demonstrate
the Steppo concept
The game Whack A Fly is a spin on the regular Hit 'em up game. Whenever a fly is over a Pillow or any other drawn object, you have to press the pillow with matching color hit it. The challenge and the purpose of the game is to identify the relation between the "digital game" (computer) and arranging pillows in the physical domain. The pillows should be arranged in a way that it will match (from all aspects as color , size, shape etc.) to reflect the description in the digital game.
You can download and play the game using the keys 1 - 6 in this order:
1 - Deep blue ,2 - Purple, 3 - Yellow, 4 - Light blue, 5 - Orange and 6 as Green.
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| Here you can see 2 of the game stages | ||
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| Everytime a fly passes on a pillow or any object matching the color of the pillows, the player has to press it. | ||
Steppo KeyMapper utility
To make the Steppo universal we have written a VB.NET software to "translate" the pressing of a pillow to the desired key. Through a hot - key the software pops up and allows the user to determine the desired key to a specific button. The user has full control over which pillow represents which button including the F1-12 and windows keys.
These pictues were taken in the course final presentation in the Garage Geeks' garage. Lots of people came to try out the game and enjoyed the fast-paced physical nature of it.
Value/potential
Similar to the currently available Wii games, the Steppo can create an interactive game environment for children and it will enable a global open platform with no restriction to any specific format of any given game.The controller can be redesigned to any form, shape and color with no limitations so it could be combined with many available games and toys.
Here you can see a movie of a kid playing with the Steppo controller.
Credits
Steppo by Daniil Kondratyev, Tamar Raviv and Shahar Zrihen was developed as a final project of the Interaction Design Hands On Course at the Holon Institute Of Technology , 2007. With the course advisors: Zvika Netter and Michal Rinott.
Special thanks to Einav Nachum, Edo & Ofri Livny and Shir Meir for all their help.
Contact
We are interested in taking this project
further, both in terms of product development and exhibition. Please feel free
to contact us if you would like to find out more about the project: andrakondra@gmail.com ,
tamaraviv@gmail.com, shaharzrihen@gmail.com
Links
Steppo Flickr Photo Set
IDHO Flickr Photo Set
The Steppo Game (Flash)
Shahar's Site