My thesis work involves building game controllers into undergarments so that games are played through players physically touching one another. The goal of this project was to research and create objects that challenge the traditional notions and orientation of video game play.

The project began as an exercise for networked objects. I made a pong controller that was made from a bra. The mapping for the controller was simple - touching the left breast made the pong paddle go left and the right breast made the paddle go right. I then found out about a phenomenon called gamer widowhood where men essentially abandoned their wives to play video games night and day. I wanted to create a type of video game play that would center around a couple's intimacy and where two people would touch each other in order to play the game.

I spent a lot of time looking at new interfaces for video game play and games that would be appropriate for the type of interface I was building. I also spent a lot of time looking at the Widows of Warcraft support group. Experimentation with wireless and minimizing circuit size was also executed extensively.

The audience is people in relationships who want to experiment with a combination of game play and intimacy

There are two controllers. The woman's controller is a bra with 6 sensors. The man's controller is a pair of shorts with 6 sensors. Man stands being woman and each has access to others sensors. For the show, I'd like to have mannequins so viewers can try the interface out without having a partner with them

The project is made from fSRs, atmel chips, Xbees, clothing, a flash game programmed by Sinan Ascioglu

-making two controllers and developing a game simultaneously is extremely challenging.
-how to make components small enough and wireless.
-Making components modular so that they may be swapped if they break.