Carl Jamilkowski
Caroline Sinders

Zombie Game // 21st Century Store

A game that is set in a future where a zombie apocalypse has broken out and features items you would see in this dystopian future.

http://www.infectedgame.com/

Classes
Appropriating Interaction Technologies,Design for Editions,Persuasive Design,The Temporary Expert: Research-based Art and Design Practice


Carl Jamilkowski and I have created a lo-fi physical trust game currently called "Zombie Game." This is an add on to our other projects we are entering in the show. Essentially, with zombie game, we need a stand to and a monitor. The monitor takes a picture of the person and they enter their name or alias. On the stand, there will be a stack of papers that include stickers. These papers are individual instructions and a game map and game profile. It denotes if each player is a zombie or a human. The goal of the game is to look for people wearing stickers on their left shoulders/collar bone areas and try to tag them with other stickers. The goal is for humans to kill zombies and zombies to kill humans. Also included in the stickers are a map to where Carl and I will be stationed to give them healing or weapons stamps. At the end of the game, (aka when leaving ITP), the players turn in their stamps and the monitor zombifies their faces using openFrameWorks. A story within 10 hours about their adventure will appear on our game website. Carl and I are interested in exploring trust and gaming dynamics in an open environment. There isn't anyone to really enforce the rules so we are interested in seeing how many people engage with the game and the idea. It's about politeness, persuasive design, trust, and exploring new types of gaming dynamics in the physical and digital world. Because if you don't turn in your passport, you simply get an MIA stickers placed over your photo.







But this is just an add on on top of a project I am entering. My other or main project is Future 21st Century store. I am creating projects you would find in the future- so a a bag printed with twitter data, tights with a data visualization infection is spread (related to the zombie game) but printed using thermo-chromic ink, and a prototype of a watch that blinks using the user's google calendar events.







We will need a stand, a table, and TV/monitor. THe gaming idea would work best in the front of ITP near the elevators. Future 21st Century Store can be placed anywhere.

Background
I started researching wearables, users responses to time, and gaming dynamics to come up with my wearables. AFter realizing I had designed "future products," and Carl came up wiht the zombie idea, we realized we could create a real but "fake" world to showcase our projects in while adding in the incredibly fun element of gaming. Additionally, I started researching haptic communication, politeness, and manners during my wearables research and realized it fit perfectly with Carl's zombie game idea. How people interact in a large and professional space, like a conference or an ITP show, is very particular and we are interested in seeing what happens when there is an over arching goal (ie being on the look out for zombies), beyond simply everyone's projects.





After researching quantified data and wearables, I realized I wanted to create products that respond to the users environment but do not quanitify any data. I want to create un-quantified life wearables.

Audience
Anyone at the show. But honestly, we hope it's more kids than adults.

User Scenario
People enter through the elevators or stairwell and pick up the paper and start playing. Ideally, they would engage with strangers- first awkwardly, and hten in a fun, fun manner.

Implementation
Arcylics, arduinos, fabric, stickers.

Conclusion
Creating fake products and trying to make them real can be incredibly difficult but fruitful. What started off as a fun but nebulous idea took on a life of it's own. GOogle Calendar is a difficult API to work wiht but the idea of hiding and revealing data (via the watch blinking based off of your events) in a time where everything is quanifiable with wearables is really intriguing to me.