Comp 080 Enabling Technology

I’d like a separate discussion of how we might generalize DDR to make it more accessible. Who says that the steps have to be given? Suppose the goal was to move creatively to the music? I bet some of you could have looked a lot cooler if you were making it up rather than trying to follow that rote drill. Discussion starters:

1. Suppose part of the fun is figuring out how to get the highest score?
2. Maybe the score is some simple function of timeliness and energy?
3. Maybe the score depends on how different your pad selections are?
4. Maybe simply moving to the music is the goal.
5. Using the pad is cheap and simple but we could imagine pointing a web-cam at the player. How does that change things?
6. Remember Pete’s suggestions about collaborative play (included below to remind you).

Pete’s comment from a session in Google talk:
Pete : sure 7:53 PM when thinking about wizard of oz methods, i suspect you might happen upon collaborative game ideas

me : we’re focusing on how it ought to work instead of implementing it, maybe I get a comp145 team to implement it in the spring if we find out something works

Pete : e.g. collaborative , non-realtime DDR

me : interesting

elaborate on that please

Pete : sort of like “simon says”

if the wizard is also a player

7:54 PM but with a musical tint

me : yes, I think simon is another interesting possibility

yes, cool

Pete : then you solved the “can’t keep up” ddr problem

me : so maybe two pads and kids challenge one another with patterns

Pete : and the “hard to generate steps” problem

me : yes

very interesting

Pete : plus it’s 2 player

me : yes, much needed

7:55 PM and sighted kids could play too

Pete : yes…challenge is first thing that comes to mind

bet you can make it collaborative too

they work together in some way

cooperative

sorry, wrong word

me : yes, maybe extending the melody or rhythm

Pete : yep

with both modes, you’d have a killer game

7:56 PM kids can play on their own, but it’s always more fun when someone else is around

me : yeah, I really like that

I’ll give the class that idea and see what they come up with

I could easily extend pad-play for hark to work with 2 pads

7:57 PM then they could provide sounds for each pad

Pete : cool

7:58 PM me : that is a neat idea

I’m always thinking competitive things

cooperative things could be good too

Pete : just playing on your “human in the loop” idea

always looking for a way to push that

me : kids like scoring, it’ll be interesting to think about how it gets scored

7:59 PM maybe it doesn’t have to be

Pete : in coop mode, it’s easy…you win if you complete the song

me : but we’re making up the song, right?

maybe not

Pete : either way

me : maybe we’re playing something

Pete : making up the song, there’s never a win / lose

8:00 PM playing an existing song, there is always a win

not possible to lose unless you quit

competing (aside: reminds me of playing “horse” in basketball) probably has to have a winner / loser

8:01 PM well, maybe not….maybe it just alternate

s

i go first and you mimick me

if you get it

i have to mimick you

if i keep missing what you do, up to N times, i have to keep mimicking

This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Ideas , Discussion . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response , or from your own site.