OTE

OTE is a lo-fi mini-game made in p5 in which the user uses their hand+webcam to protect an alien named OTE on planet Earf from bad weather.

Matthew Yue Li

https://vimeo.com/489248298

Description

OTE is a project created in 2020 by Elijah Alvarez and Matthew Li. OTE is a video game created in p5.js that tells the story of OTE, an alien who lives alone on planet Earf. The user interacts with the video game via their webcam and the ml5 Handpose model. The model tracks the users hand, which they use to control a hand that floats above OTE. The objective is for the user to use the floating sky hand to protect OTE from bad weather.

​The concept for OTE came from our idea to do a reverse take on the choose your own adventure form of storytelling. Instead of controlling a character in an external world, we decided to have the user control the external world which affects a character with free will. After learning the backstory of OTE, with enough empathy, the user should feel some responsibility to protect OTE as long as possible.

IMNY-UT.101.001, IMNY-UT.102.00001
Creative Computing, Comm Lab: Hypercinema
Play/Games

Smart Tiles

A letter block board with text-to-speech engine designed for tangible learning.

Brandon Roots

https://vimeo.com/489237628

Description

Smart Tiles is a block board that recognizes wooden letter tiles to generate speech and play games. It operates entirely offline. The project was designed with my 4 year old niece and nephew in mind. They both enjoy playing with educational smartphone apps but I had a hard time finding any really compelling educational tangible toys for learning letters and words. This is my attempt to fill that gap. The letter tiles are designed to be familiar, like the wooden alphabet blocks I had growing up, and CNC milled from eco friendly Green-T Birch plywood. I have pushed to make the technology as “invisible” as possible to bring some magic to the user experience. Both English Braille and print characters are engraved on each block to be inclusive for tangible learners.

ITPG-GT.2845.001, ITPG-GT.2301.00005, ITPG-GT.2048.00002, ITPG-GT.2536.00001
Prototyping Electronic Devices , Intro to Phys. Comp., ICM – Media, Programming from A to Z (Online)
Education,Play/Games

A Shining Tree

This project aims to create a poetic and embodied experience of nature and growth by letting people grow shining trees using their body.

Chenyan Yu, , Zairan Liu

https://youtu.be/EweHTKCm43M

Description

The Shining Tree combines Posenet to detect human and p5.js for the growing tree itself. Our purpose is to remind people the magical and beautiful nature and its amazing arrangement of the circle of life and at the same time, make it a calm and peaceful process for people to experience by themselves as a way of meditation and reflection. In the chaotic time of Covid-19, not only social interactions are partially impeded, but our connection to nature. A shining tree seems to be a great solution to the anxiety we are facing now and can help us to reconnect with the most basic yet wonderful experience of living and the hope it carries within the circle of life.

ITPG-GT.2233.00007
ICM
Narrative/Storytelling,Play/Games

Sensor Battle (Star Wars Edition)

Remotely controlled synchronous RC car battle entertainment

Minyoung Bang, Rui Shang, Sara Ro, Yifei Gao, Zhaozhi Liu

https://vimeo.com/488984000

Description

In the spirit of COVID-19 remote learning, we wanted to create synchronous entertainment done remotely – the first ITP Sensor Battle. We are a group of 5 members located in 13-hour-difference time zones and we created a live sensor battle entertainment connected via UDP server. This is a match among 3 players to determine the best and strongest sensor. 3 players, in the USA, are battling with 3 different sensors – joystick, gesture and muscle sensors – connected to the battle (UDP) server to control their respective RC cars in Beijing battle ground. The battle ground and competing RC cars are in Beijing and players and their sensors are in the USA.

The team ideated 4 different gameplays to determine the battle, but after putting to the vote to the ITP class of 2022, we decided on the Paintball gameplay. Each RC car has a canvas and a paint gun mounted; and the players eliminate the others by shooting the paint on the other players’ mounted canvases.

Technicality aside, we imagined ourselves as extraterrestrial beings representing different sensor communities. The Sensor Battle is taking place at Star-dium stadium on the remote frontier planet of Batuu. Hope you enjoy! *Vulcan Salute*

ITPG-GT.2734.00001, ITPG-GT.2301.00004
Live Web (Online), Intro to Phys. Comp.
Performance,Play/Games

KameHameHa Ball

The KameHameHa Ball is an interactive sphere that inspired by Dragon Ball Z.

Chenyou Lee

https://vimeo.com/489948512

Description

How to use:

1. Put your left hand on the hand shape of the sphere. Starting from your thumb to your little finger one at a time, pressing down the sensor on the finger tips.

2. When pressing down the sensor, it will activate one set of the LED inside the sphere. And also activate the animation on the monitor.

3. Each sensor controls one set of LED and a clip of the animation. At the end when you are pressing down all five of them, you will complete the “Kame Hame Ha.”

ITPG-GT.2301.00001
Intro to Phys. Comp.
Performance,Play/Games

Building Blocks

Building Blocks deals with the effects that every building and its height creates on the surrounding area

Dalit Steinbrecher

https://youtu.be/I8vpF_c4TmA

Description

Walking in the streets of New York made me think a lot about cities. Every building that is there (especially the big ones) has a direct effect on me: the light that I see or don't, wind that I feel, small or big shadows in hot days – are all effects of the size and height of every building and their position.

Building Blocks deals with the effects that every building and its height creates on the surrounding area of the city. Does it block the sun and because of that the street is darker? Or colder? Does it block the air? Is there less grass because of it? In my project every wooden block can block something essential.

The project is divided into two diminutions: The screen and the physical dimension. The

The physical dimension was a surface and 12 wooden blocks that presented buildings. The screen was an illustration of a “city” without buildings and air and light graphs. The physical dimension effect directly on the screen. Each and every building that the viewer will put on the surface changes the illustration on the screen. The light, the air and the grass will be reduced with each building that will be put on the surface. The building heights and location also affect the illustration on the screen.

This project talks about communication between the physical and the computer. In Building Blocks I want to illustrate the effect of buildings to show the effects and change the height building has on essentials that we do not always see but can affect us as people that live or

ITPG-GT.2301.00007
Intro to Phys. Comp.
Culture,Play/Games

PAC-MAN Trump

PAC-MAN Trump lets you play Pac-Man on your kitchen table with a twist. Instead of helping Pac-Man munch pixels, you are on a mission to help Donald Trump pay his $750 federal income tax. One quarter at a time.

Lucas Wozniak, Pablo Mahave

https://youtu.be/eyeD_nfBaWk

Description

A $750 vertical tax payment counter slowly fills up as Trump collects quarters. Pac-Man ghosts are now red viruses (you lose 1 of your 3 lives if hit). Viruses morph into tax cut bonuses for a few seconds before reshaping to viruses (if hit, your tax due goes down by 50%)

When you are about to hit the due tax amount, Joe Biden appears on scene waving and smiling. If you run into Biden, he is scooped into the wheelbarrow and the game is over.

“Thanks for helping President Trump pay his $750 federal income tax for years 2016 and 2017”

A final call to action redirects you to your state’s official election day polling location website.

Zoom link:

https://nyu.zoom.us/j/93089677561?pwd=WmRlUVhPNTNIeE9rZk5EcEkxbWgvZz09

ITPG-GT.2122.00001
Magic Windows and Mixed-Up Realities
VR\\\\\\\\AR,Play/Games

WordEater

WordEater is a mini game where you can use your webcam to gobble up words in order to generate a sentence.

Jeeyoon Hyun

https://youtu.be/CZt9pIUUvpk

Description

https://jeeyoonhyun.github.io/WordEater/

Ever felt confused of so many words floating around the Internet?

WordEater is a browser based game that lets you gobble up a bunch of meaningless words in order to make another meaningless sentence, eventually removing all words that you see in the screen.

It doesn't matter if you don't understand what the words or sentences are trying to say – after all, they are going to be swallowed and eaten anyway. All you need to do is get some peace of mind by consuming all the disturbing, shattered pieces of information that makes complete nonsense. The goal of the game is making your web browser more cleaner by scavenging fragmented data with your mouth. After all, your web browsers also need some refreshment from the gibberish they encounter everyday!

WordEater uses the Facemesh API in ml5.js to detect your mouth in your webcam. You can play the mouse version if you can't use your webcam – for example, if you are wearing a mask.

ITPG-GT.2233.00005, ITPG-GT.2465.001
ICM, Machine Learning for the Web (Online)
Machine Learning,Play/Games

Wall Bear

A wall hanging Tamagachi you must feed bio data and intentionality to ensure it doesn't annoy you.

Duncan Figurski

https://youtu.be/s2iRO6uUlQ0

Description

Finding time to be intentional or playful can be challenging, and often the spontaneity of spending a moment on something frivolous can evade us. I wanted to create an animal that lived on your wall and demanded play in intermittent cycles to break up the monotony of the day. The Wall Bear uses blood oxygen levels, or when set to a different mode uses the sensor as a small theremin to give you an opportunity to have more fun with the notes. If you do not feed it it will sonically nudge you to a more playful place, the hope being that an air of seriousness can be dislodged.

Originally meant to incite meditative practice the Wall Bear was shifted to take on a more childlike personality, the action becomes more about preoccupying a restless child than finding a moment of calm. Hopefully that restless child is you, and in this moment of preoccupation you can find a lightness in your day, a new way of experiencing time, and a new enjoyment for the frivolous.

ITPG-GT.2301.00004
Intro to Phys. Comp.
Play/Games

You can't touch my balloon

Preserve your balloons digitally

Michael Zhou

https://youtu.be/gxtMdJnkkNw

Description

After coming to the states, I was shocked and excited when I learned there are stores that sell and only sell balloons. For someone who will stop crying if he could get a double-layered balloon outside the hospital before seeing the doctor, that's like the best place in the world. Maybe after the shops only sell candies. Of course, when I still was a child, I don't cry before seeing a doctor now. I enjoyed the satisfaction of blowing a tiny rubber into a large ball. It felt great when you consider blowing a balloon as capturing air, the thing we cannot touch or see. However, a balloon pops and deflates. And you can't get all the colors you want; even you own a balloon shop. So I wanted to create a device that can provide the same physical sensation of blowing a balloon while providing countless colors and preserving each balloon made.

The physical device contains a pressure sensor and several RGB LEDs while connecting to a p5 sketch on the laptop. The size of the digital balloon reacts to the physical one in real-time. The user can press the button on the top to pick a color and then blow up the balloon through the device. To push the button again, users can release the digital balloon they just created.

Since each balloon is unique in size and color, the user who created the balloon will feel the balloon belongs to them; even it is only a digital one. They will be satisfied to see their balloon safely floating in the virtual space. Hence to the title, You can't touch my balloon.

ITPG-GT.2301.00007
Intro to Phys. Comp.
Play/Games