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The "Bizarro Game Controllers" studio aims to bring together a dynamic group of artists, researchers, students, designers and hackers to build strange and original game controllers for embodied interaction.
Game controllers are familiar - and fun - pieces of hardware. They're also dead useful. It's quite common for research prototypes to use inexpensive off-the-shelf parts; they are often cheaper and more reliable than custom hardware. However, the appeal of game controllers as a broad prototyping tool goes beyond simply being inexpensive and reliable. Game controllers are specifically engineered to allow people to interact with fast-paced computer games. Thus, they are not only reliable but extremely responsive. This makes them ideal for interaction with dynamic visual art, with music, and for creating tangible interfaces.
Basically, if your bizarro controller can control a videogame, you know it'll be useful for a broader set of interactive applications. We can also virtually guarantee you'll have fun prototyping and testing it.
Goals
- To push the envelope of game controller design. Current commercially available controllers typically use cameras, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and conventional buttons, aiming to control action on a conventional screen. If constrained only by our imaginations, what other materials, data, and bodily interactions might we use to control gameplay?
- To understand some of the constraints, demands, and opportunities of game controller design, and grasp its similarities and differences with other tangible interaction research.
- To build connections amongst people from different cities and institutions, who share a love of design and hacking.
- And, of course, to have some fun with soldering irons and video games!
Workshop Registration Fee
- $20 for students and independent artists.
- $40 for faculty members and professionals.
- Payment by cheque or money order. For more information about this, please contact hexinfo AT alcor.concordia.ca
- If the fee is a financial hardship, please contact meta AT wyldco.com and hexinfo AT alcor.concordia.ca to discuss alternatives.
Expected Preparation
- Participants are expected to give some thought to the sort of controller they want to build. They should consider what sort of bodily (inter)action, or what sort of interesting sensor, they might want to use as the basis of their bizarre game controller. They should know what materials they will need on hand in order to build it, and will be responsible for sourcing any unusual or specific materials. If this presents difficulties for people who want to participate, they may contact us to figure out how to procure what they need.
- We will expect participants to bring a laptop computer with Arduino, Processing, and required libraries installed (we will provide installation instructions). If you can't bring this, please contact us ahead of time.
- Participants will be encouraged to bring their own Arduino, if they have it. If they intend to make a wireless game controller, they should bring their own XBees. Bluetooth is not encouraged due to issues with pairing and interference when there are too many Bluetooth devices in close proximity.
Expected Skills
- Basic hardware skills: competence with prototyping simple circuits on a breadboard. We can help with soldering.
- Basic programming skills with Arduino and either Processing or Java.
- If you don't meet all of these prerequisites and still want to participate, please email the organizers ahead of time to inquire. We'll try to find a way to accomodate you.