openFrameworks

1. Receipt Racer

Reciept racer takes a simple “dodge obstacle” game and adds a twist. The entire game is level is printed out on a long sheet of paper. The rate at which the game progressess is limited by the speed at which it can be printed. The player controls a light (projected on the paper) which is sensed by a camera.  If the camera sees the light intersecting an obstacle, the game is over.

I think this project is awesome because the printing makes the game more physical. Also, the entire journey the player took is printed. I think this recording is very deep since people never remember the past when playing games like the one demonstrated. Its always about the present. That said if the author did want to show destruction of the past, he could make the paper drop into a fire. This might add more anxiety to our player.

The author (http://www.undef.ch/cat/projects) seems to have done a number of print related projects in the past. His passion with this medium probably inspired him the most.

2. Particles

Processing is neat, and there are a lot of cool effects you can make for the confines of your computer screen. This project was particularly neat because it showed something that I would expect on a screen in real life. Seeing a display like this physically makes the experience really magical.

The artist essentially created a large “roller coaster” for glowing orbs. These orbs can transmit positional and glow information with the technology inside of them. With this, an elaborate effect can be constructed. I kind of wish they had added speakers to the orbs though. This would open up so much more potential, something like a marching band effect.

I was not surprised to find that the creator of this was an architect. When I first saw the image of the project, I thought that it was another light up building. I think the construction of the project mirrors what one might see in modern architectural buildings.

3. Precious

A bike, outfitted with sensors to measure speed, direction location, temperature, humidity, and more can communicate with the world through a website. The goal here was to create something that was informative with a human-like touch.

Humanizing objects is always cool, but I feel like with the bike it is even more appropriate. Since the bike was to go on a journey across the US, it made the process of presenting the journey a little more fun. Something interesting the creator could do to go one step further would be to add sensors to see if the bike was damaged or on its side. This may indicate that the user is hurt, and could be used to notify 911.