APD wk5 Play & Forces

Context:
For the theme, Play and Forces, I wanted to use hand gestures and movement as inputs in game. I also wanted to explore how to utilize webcam as movement sensor. Given the time constraints and the fact that I am not familiar with programming the video sensing function in games, I decided to create the project with Scratch. The idea is to create a game, where the player can interact with the surrounding and animated assets through video sensing function.

Method:

1. Create animated assets
2. Upload animated assets and sprites to Scratch
3. Program the sprites and props with video sensing
4. test play pogromed props

The project is an interactive game. The player uses hand gestures and movement to explore and interact with objects on screen. The animated props are triggered / response by hand gestures and the speed of movement.

Reflection:

For the theme this week, I wanted to explore how to utilize video sensing, using gestures as input (force), in digital interactive game.

When I was brainstorming, I again looked back on how children play away from digital devices. When children play, it often involves exploration and interactions with surroundings. Children likes to experiment with hands. When children touching, building or playing with objects, they learn from the context (Bernard van Leer Foundation, 2017). And hand gesture is crucial in the process. These were the series of thoughts that leaded me to land on using hand gestures as the input / force for the game.

I recreate the experience, with video sensing, on screen. I also aimed to have the interaction to be a part of exploration. I created five different assets in the garden (playground) scene, and each of them were programmed with different responses when being triggered. Different objects response to hand gesture and movement speed differently as how they are in physical world. When the player interacts with the objects, the player also discover the different responses, which are different animation and SFX in this case, from them.

Due to time constraints and the canvas size on Scratch, I was not able to create the enough number of assets I was originally intended to. I was not able to refine the coding for a better control for the ball. These two things are something I would like to work further to improve the play experience.

Game link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/673743169
Project outcome: https://youtu.be/j1dJ4lT3Ptw

Reference: Bernard Van Leer Foundation. (2017). Why children need to play in nature.
https://youtu.be/OsofJhHHHiA