Pixelsumo wrote about Sketch & Share today.
“Pixelsumo is a site devoted to sonic art, audiovisual fusion, physical interaction, open source technologies, hacking video game culture, responsive environments & installations.“
Archive for the 'Toy Design' Category
The Sketch & Share prototype is now built, tested and reprogrammed with better light control and fun sounds. We gave a final presentation for Mattel (PDF) | (Keynote) on Monday. The computer version was coded in Processing and the two communicate over the Internet using a Lantronix WiPort (visible in the guts of the toy below). Here is the PIC code that runs the prototype’s microcontroller, and the Sketch & Share code for Processing.
How it looks on the inside:
Our User-centered Design class ideas for toy designs have been revised. Here’s a website with more information about the project. The links along the right side show our research, ideas and some user scenarios, including terrific artwork by Carlos Borges, my project partner.
We’ve put together a Processing program to simulate the user interaction for the Tap ‘n Tell game. The code currently needs to run on a local computer, inside Processing.
Here’s a system diagram for the Tap ‘n Tell toy we’re creating for your Toy Design Workshop project. There will be at least two of these toys, linked together directly, or via through a base station. Click on the image above to marvel at the diagram properly.
I spent this evening reading up on the two Easy Radio ER400TRS-02 Transceivers that arrived in the mail from England this week. Our plan is to use these in a networked toy to create a direct wireless link between two similar toys, or between one toy and a base station that can carry its signal over the Internet. The data sheet was full of good surprises. The transceivers are expected to run on +5.0 Volts and offer full Hardware Handshaking (CTS, RTS) functions which will allow for better control of communications with the buffer-less PIC microcontrollers. There is also a “Busy Output” and “Host Ready Input” pin (DTE, DTR) that will prevent lost messages in cases where either the transceiver or the microcontroller is powering up or coming out of sleep mode. Finally, the Easy Radios use very little power if they are not communicating, unlike the power-hungry WiPort, so there can be plenty of play time between battery changes.
From my Toy Design Workshop: a conceptual presentation about the Sketch ‘n Share–a collaborative sketch pad for friends that communicates voice and sound. Kids in a local environment can sketch, play sounds and talk with each other.
To create an enjoyable interaction for a child and adult over distance–a networked toy–it seems essential to provide a rich communications medium. No matter how enjoyable the toy is, nothing purely physical can replace the sound of a child’s voice or the secondary channel of body language.
Therefore, we’re beginning to explore the GM-862 Cellular Module as a potential foundation for a networked toy. This module offers broadly available wireless data communication, as well as an audio channel that will function at home, outside or even in a car. The other option would be to use a single-board computer, with VOIP for the audio and WiFi to eliminate tethers so we’ll explore that as well. Communication from the single-board computer would be cheaper, but certainly more limited since WiFi coverage outside the home is spotty at best. With tri- or quad-band cellular coverage, our toy would work all over the world, even at Everest Base Camp. And that’s the kind of place where a kid’s going to need a good toy.
We created the SuperSucker for a Toy Design exercise that demanded an “amplification toy.” Sucking on the little clear tube triggers the much more powerful vacuum motor, creating amplified suction on the end of the big black tube as shown here. The functioning prototype was a lot of fun to play with since it allowed interaction with both the external environment and other people.
