ALT.CTRL
Experimental Game Interfaces Workshop
Workshop description
Game controllers for digital games have been reduced down to ergonomic but very limited devices in capturing various human gestures let alone recognising object-based tangible interaction methods. Let’s get back to the early years of curious contraptions and precarious prototypes on human-computer interaction, with the latest software and hardware tools for holistic DIY interaction design.
Emphasis of the workshop is on the experimental physical controllers, how to use various sensors for gesture and object detection, how to process the input data and send it to computer and most importantly, how these unconventional interaction paradigms change game design process. The methodology follows learning-by-doing and co-learning practicies. We split in teams with minimum three participants in each and try to scatter existing skills in different teams. Existing working groups with game design ideas can be taking in to account.
The control prototypes will be platform agnostic - it will be up to participants on what platform they choose to use their new controllers on. This workshop does not teach how to develop games on platforms like Unity3D or Unreal Engine 4. However, we will provide one sandbox scene for both platforms ready to capture the controller data and guide game design process in general.
The learning outcomes of the workshop gives the participants required skills and knowledge for game design with self-made experimental game controllers, building prototypes of these controllers, programming the middleware with Arduino-based microcontrollers and formatting the data suitable for serial input on PC game engines.
- Tuomo Tammenpää / funi.fi / hardware, building things
- Daniel Blackburn / startle.fi / software, game design
Schedule
Day 1
- introductions, team check, schedule tweak
- presentation on haptic & tangible interactions with computers
- Making DIY switches
- lunch
- Arduino code intro, digital read
- Sensor experiments
Day 2
- Ideation recap & insipirational examples
- prototyping in SincoLab
- lunch
- testing and debugging in #2066
- unity work starts
Day 3
- Game ideas check, rules of play as design tool
- prototyping in SincoLab
- lunch
- testing and debugging in #2066
Day 4 (holiday, optional)
- buffer day for the hack heros
Day 5
- setup demos
- presentations / gaming
- lunch
- feedback discussion and pointers for next steps
Technology available for participants
Arduino
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Products/Compare
- older models quite fine for our purposes
- interfacing with Unity via serial
Button / DIY Button
Variable resistors, the POT & LDR
Cheap (short-range) infrared proximity sensor
http://www.bajdi.com/analogread-from-a-tcrt5000-sensor/
Piezo Knock sensor
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Knock
ADXL335 Accelerometer
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ADXL3xx https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9269
Bareconductive touch kit / touch breakout board
https://www.bareconductive.com/make/
- touch breakout board
- conductive paint
Workshop kits
http://medialappi.net/lab/equipment/ (some parts from lab resources)
- Arduino (most models fine: Duemillanove, Uno, Leonardo …)
- breadboard
- set of jumper wires
- 10KΩ resistors
- 1KΩ resistors
- 200Ω resistors
Resources
DIY sensor resources
Conductive yarn http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=3175
DIY (optical) bend sensor http://www.instructables.com/id/Optical-Flex-Sensor/
DIY (resistive) bend sensor http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Ridiculously-Cheap-Analog-Pressure-S/
Alt.Control examples
Tim Hunkin, the master of electromechanical interfaces and outputs http://timhunkin.com
PainStation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bm7fLcj5UI
Line Wobbler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwTzxkWDwq8
GDC's Alt.ctrl 2018 listing http://www.gdconf.com/news/games-youll-play-gdc-2018s-alt-ctrl-gdc-showcase/
Article about GDC’s alternative game controllers https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/23/17154570/alt-ctrl-gdc-alternative-video-game-controller-showcase-2018
Parts & materials resources
Materials: Scavenge & upcycle, don't buy: trash, skips, fleemarkets, cutting-service leftovers (ask)
Components: https://mandu.fi/ https://www.partco.fi http://www.spelektroniikka.fi http://www.kouluelektroniikka.fi/ https://www.yeint.fi/ http://www.bebek.fi/
https://aliexpress.com/ https://www.ebay.co.uk/ https://fi.rsdelivers.com https://www.mouser.fi/ https://www.digikey.fi/
https://shop.pimoroni.com/ https://www.seeedstudio.io
Components & quality guides: https://learn.adafruit.com/ https://learn.sparkfun.com/