Summary
During my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to participate in the Experimental hardware course, which was an incredibly inspiring and educational experience. The course allowed us to work with hardware that we would not normally have access to, and this challenged us to think in novel and creative ways.

Our team’s goal was to design a territory control and bluffing game, and we began by creating paper prototypes. Through several iterations, we were able to develop a version of the game that was both easy to understand and fun to play. The programmers then implemented the mechanics into the game engine.

To create our playfield, we used a projector placed in a box with a hole in the bottom and set it on a makeshift tower of books and chairs. It may have looked primitive, but it worked effectively. In addition to the projector, we utilized the Peregrine Glove, a glove with electrical circuits on the fingers that could send out keyboard commands when certain fingers were pressed together or when certain gestures were made. These signals were linked to triggers in Unity.

The Leap Motion Controller was used to detects hand position and gestures. The player could hover their hand over the playfield to select a tile to place a card on.

Role
Artist, Designer

Learning Experience
As a designer new to experimental hardware, I found the process of working within physical limitations to be both challenging and inspiring. To overcome these challenges, I made a concerted effort to sketch and design numerous mechanics that could work within the constraints of our hardware. This required rapid iteration and a continuous process of moving between paper designs and the Unity engine, as well as conducting extensive playtests and taking detailed notes. The experience of working with experimental hardware pushed me to think creatively and to constantly strive for improvement in my design process.

Showcase

Details

• Team size: 6
• Development time: 4 months
• Status: Finished
• Engine: Unity3D
• Hardware: Peregrine Glove, Leap Motion Controller