Interactive floor - Dev blog for group 9 / IDP

Interactive floor - Dev blog for group 9 / IDP http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/ Interactive floor - Group 9 dev blog (c) 2009 Mr. Personality [group 9] Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:46:54 -0700 http://www.textmotion.org Projectors and projected area http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/57/projectors-and-projected-area http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/57/projectors-and-projected-area We tried a new projector at the Science Park today, the <a href="http://www.planar.com/products/projectors/pr/pr5020/index.cfm">Planar PR5020</a>. <ul><li>The projected area is not bigger than the Sharp's</li><li>It is brighter: 3000 lumens compared to Sharp's 1700</li><li>It costs us money to hire from lob: 400 SEK a day</li></ul> Conclusion: We should stick with the Sharp if we can block out the natural light affecting the brightness of the projected display. If we can't, we will consider this projector again. We also discussed the small size of the projected area. This isn't a problem for some applications (for example it might be fine with the prisoner's dilemma) but for others (for example the monster chasing game) we will need a bigger area. I looked into wide-angle lenses but couldn't find any for the projectors we have access to. I did find some more information on related work. What's most interesting is the number of PCs and projectors that are used to accomplish what we're trying to do: <ul><li><a href="http://www.artcom.de/index.php?option=com_acprojects&page=6&id=7&Itemid=113&details=0&lang=en">The Famous Grouse Experiment (2002)</a> uses 6 PCs and 6 projectors, 6 infrared spotlights and 2 cameras for tracking, and 8 shock sensors for footfall recognition! (They use a separate PC to control everything.)</li><li><a href="http://www.artcom.de/index.php?option=com_acprojects&page=6&id=28&Itemid=113&details=0&lang=en">Bodymover (2000)</a> - no tech information on this one </li></ul> More information <ul><li><a href="http://www.aec.at/center_exhibitions_project_en.php?id=26">Sensitive Floors on Ars Electronica</a></li><li><a href="http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7259747.html">US Patent</a> on these type of systems - interesting reading <a href="http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7259747/claims.html">(claims page)</a> </li></ul></a></a></li></a></li></ul></a></li></a></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></a> keyvan@k1m.com (Keyvan Minoukadeh) Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:46:54 -0700 Member tasks http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/52/member-tasks http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/52/member-tasks As a result of our short meeting today, here's what we're all going to be working on… Alejandro <ul><li>Tracking code - test new openframeworks/openCV code</li><li>Add overall movement value from 0-1 to output (0 is no movement, 1 is lots of movement)</li></ul> Keyvan <ul><li>Modify monster processing code to take into account multiple users (e.g. bigger/faster monster, reaction to new users?)</li><li>Hire <a href="http://www.lob.chs.chalmers.se/bokningprislistor.php">big projector</a> to compare to Sharp.<pre>You either send an email to them: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:lob@chs.chalmers.se">lob@chs.chalmers.se</a> or you can go to the other campus, you can meet them between 12 and 12.30 Monday to Saturday in the Kårhuset, go to the left, take stairs down, to the right through glassdoors, then to the left then you see the logo on the doors “lob”.</pre></li></ul>Amir <ul><li>Consider interactive apps we can work on</li></ul> Everyone <ul><li>Design document! (see last post)</li><li>Test projectors at Science Park on Tuesday 31st March (after 4pm) </li></ul></li></li></ul></li></ul></a></pre></a></li></li></ul></li></li></ul> keyvan@k1m.com (Keyvan Minoukadeh) Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:29:00 -0700 Meeting with Olof summary http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/41/meeting-with-olof-summary http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/41/meeting-with-olof-summary <ul><li>The 2 beamer solution looks feasable from an economic point of view (buying the image splitter thing)</li><li>Find Ola and ask him about the beamer</li><li>Must develop further than the monster (of course)</li></ul> (to be continued) </li></li></li></ul> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:14:04 -0800 Meeting Markus http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/40/meeting-markus http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/40/meeting-markus Hardware: webcam (wide angle), beamer (wide angle or two). if two beamers, what is a good solution? - Markus suggested using the <a href="http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/dh2go/">Matrox Graphics Extension DualHead2Go</a> - We should also talk to Ole for the wide angle beamer - and test how much more projection area you get with projection under an angle (and correcting with keystone). Software: pipeline thingie we're doing with two components - one for input/user tracking and one for output/interaction-scenario projection. We might have issues with calibration and other things that need to be communicated between both components. The up-side for us is that we can use C and Processing, which suits our needs and capabilities better. It also forces us to think out and extend the protocol which might actually benefit our design. But then again, it could also NOT benefit us, hehe <img src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/media/emoticons/default/smile.png" width="16" height="16" /> Interaction / scenario: prisoner's dilemma, pong, ? Markus suggested that Pong is actually easier to make than the Prisoners Dilemma. I think he has a good point, because the PD involves a lot more game state and interaction handling. </a> askewdriver@gmail.com (Eelke Boezeman) Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:49:00 -0800 Processing monsters http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/37/processing-monsters http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/37/processing-monsters Bookmark this! <a href="http://www.rmx.cz/monsters/"><a href="http://www.rmx.cz/monsters/">http://www.rmx.cz/monsters/</a></a> </a> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:10:24 -0800 Feedback received from other groups http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/36/feedback-received-from-other-groups http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/36/feedback-received-from-other-groups Via Olof: <blockquote> Group A A fun/creative idea, but requires good games to become really fun. Put focus on designing good games. Group B Idea for technical implementation: use developed but unexposed dia positive film-material as IR-pusstiller /use 2 cameras and calculate sterescopic depth map image / interface should read fast and “snappy” Group C The intent of the project was a bit unclear, further information of how personalities come into the picture might be needed. Nice concept though. Group D Had difficulties understanding what they were doing. Have you thought about the shadows from the players? If you can’t read the text on the floor it gets kind of confusing. Perhaps have multiple projectors displaying the same thing on the same surface. Group E The game is still too ambiguous. It is pretty challenging to understand the rule and the personalities of characters for the users. We believed it is also a challenge for designing team. Because right now you can only give definitions of personalities by color blocks and shapes. However, we like the concept interacting with video on the floor. We also like those technical things you did. Hope we can learn more details from you. The video prototype is awesome! Group F quite abstract, seems very promising. when it comes to realization, there are already commercial products which interacts in a similar way - projecting the image and capture user’s movements, which could be a good source of inspiration. </blockquote> Thanks a lot for all the great ideas and criticisms above, there are quite a number of issues that need to be taken care of! </blockquote> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:47:00 -0800 Ideas for character/movement/interaction http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/32/ideas-for-character-movement-interaction http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/32/ideas-for-character-movement-interaction SoftBody in Processing: <a href="http://processing.org/learning/topics/softbody.html">http://processing.org/learning/topics/softbody.html</a> I like the idea of a blob-like character following/chasing a user. Good blog about digital motion: <a href="http://createdigitalmotion.com/">http://createdigitalmotion.com/</a> <blockquote>So, that’s it. No more desktop development. JavaScript is the future, and you’ll never need another language. Everything will happen in the browser. Nothing will happen in the browser, and everything will happen in servers. Not real servers - the cloud. In fact, nothing will happen in the cloud. That cloud will just virtualize another cloud. That cloud will be owned by Google. You won’t even have a computer, you’ll just have Firefox. Nothing will happen anywhere: you’ll just sit and think about Google and Firefox. Or a cloud will think about it for you. </blockquote>Cool libraries for Processing: <a href="http://code.google.com/p/toxiclibs/">http://code.google.com/p/toxiclibs/</a> <a href="http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~traer/physics/">http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~traer/physics/</a> </blockquote> keyvan@k1m.com (Keyvan Minoukadeh) Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:48:00 -0800 Visit to universeum http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/31/visit-to-universeum http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/31/visit-to-universeum Friday 20th we went to Universeum to see an installation similar to what we intend to do, called the “living floor”. We got a few tips and hints about its operation: <ul><li>Uses infrared emitters and receptors</li><li>The beamer is ~4 m high and gives an image of approx 3x4 m^2 (or 12 Eelke-feet :P) </li><li>The room is quite dark. We'll see how we manage that..</li><li>Interaction too simple (chase fishes). But they've fixed that (see website below) </li></ul> Website (has a nice video): <div style="margin-left: 40px"><a href="http://living-surface.de/">living-surface.de</a> </div> </a></div></li></li></li></li></ul> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:30:54 -0800 Meeting [18/2] http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/29/meeting-18-2 http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/29/meeting-18-2 Quick summary: <ul><li>Keyvan is back! <img src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/media/emoticons/default/grin.png" width="16" height="16" /> </li><li>Decided to split work on the prototype in 2 parts: video and software</li><li>Mohammad & Eelke to work on Video</li><li>Keyvan, Amir & Alejandro to work on Software </li></ul> Some notes about video: <ul><li>Probably implemented using Premiere or a similar software </li><li>Must display intended functionality</li><li>Must be self-explanatory</li><li>Desired length about a minute or as much as needed to make it self explanatory </li><li>comments? </li></ul> Some notes about Software: <ul><li>Implementation done in two modules: Image recognition, and Reaction</li><li>Preferably to run in Windows, Mac and GNU/Linux</li><li>Emphasis on easyness over performance, but without exaggerating</li></ul> Image recognition: <ul><li>Looking at <a href="http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/">OpenCV/C</a> - (Idea is to see if there's something more high-level) </li><li>Looking at <a href="http://ubaa.net/shared/processing/opencv/">processing</a></li><li>Looking at <a href="http://www.openframeworks.cc/">OpenFrameworks</a></li><li>Input: Webcam data - processed in whatever way it is needed</li><li> </li><li>Output: Notification of user(s) joining(user, x,y), user(s) leaving</li><li>Output: Position update(user, x,y) per user</li><li>Comments?? </li></ul> Reaction module <ul><li>Could be further subdivided into more specific modules ( IIP, user, ?)</li><li>Should stand on its own</li><li>Should be able to receive “faked” input (for example, read the mouse)</li><li>Suggestion for drawing graphics - OpenGL. It's fast and not too horribly complex <img src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/media/emoticons/default/wink.png" width="16" height="16" /> </li><li>Ideal to be able to receive data through either a socket or a pipe - this will make both programs independent</li><li>INPUT: Notification of users joining, moving and leaving</li><li>OUTPUT: A window with graphics - this will simply be maximized/fullscreen in the final version, when the computer is connected to the beamer</li></ul> Edit: One last thing: if we go as a group on Friday and explain, we might be able to visit for 50 SEK. Keyvan knows the details. </li></li></li></li></li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></li></li></a></li></a></li></a></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></li></ul> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:48:00 -0800 Some ideas on implementation http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/26/some-ideas-on-implementation http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/26/some-ideas-on-implementation I thought over some ideas for implementation, from a Software perspective: <meta> <title></title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Linux)"> <style type="text/css">  </style> <ul><li>Core in C (nearly everything has bindings for C). If done right, will compile and run everywhere. Or we could also try with <a href="http://mono-project.com/Main_Page">Mono</a>? Or (ugh) Java? </li><li>Vision using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCV">OpenCV</a>. </li><li>Graphics using OpenGL (simple, but we can make things look nicer if we get more time - and I'm very familiar with doing cross-platform OpenGL things). We definitely don't need OGRE, that would be an extreme overkill.. </li><li>AI – not decided yet. Perl? Python? Something more specialized? (CLIPS?). </li></ul></li></li></a></li></a></li></ul></style></meta></title></meta> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:48:00 -0800 Pitch http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/24/pitch http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/24/pitch Next week (Wednesday 11th from 9 to 12 according to <a href="http://www.cs.chalmers.se/idc/ituniv/kurser/09/idproj/schedule.html">schedule</a>) every team will pitch their definitive idea to other people - including some from the industry at the CHARM-Dagar -. Some tips/observations gathered so far <ul><li>Platform / technology </li><li>Target audience (if applicable, it could be that we're mostly into research?)</li><li>(in case of research, what we're expecting to find out) </li><li>Last slide saying “thanks! questions?”</li><li>Spelling / presentation details are very important</li><li>Failsafe presentation - All our laptops should be able to be used for presentation at any time and we should try to do a little test with the actual equipment if possible </li></ul> </li></li></li></li></li></li></ul></a> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:52:00 -0800 Interesting augmented reality virtual pet video http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/22/interesting-augmented-reality-virtual-pet-video http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/22/interesting-augmented-reality-virtual-pet-video Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (based in London) are producing a virtual pet using augmented reality with a camera (playstation 3 eye). I think it's very interesting - though I wouldn't be thinking of replacing my own dog just yet: <object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1643596&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1643596&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225" /></object> <a href="http://vimeo.com/1643596">EyePet Hd</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user630533">Nkio</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>. <a href="http://www.scee.presscentre.com/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=4667&NewsAreaID=2">Link to webpage</a> </a></a></a></a></object> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:11:00 -0800 More thoughts on ideas http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/20/more-thoughts-on-ideas http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/20/more-thoughts-on-ideas <meta> <title></title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Linux)"> <style type="text/css">  </style> Idea 1 (character / annoying character) Advantages <ul><li>I find it interesting </li><li>Could be very funny (in Clippy we trust) </li><li>Open to experimenting with different ways of conveying personalities, as well as different personalities </li><li>Convenience or added value is irrelevant; this could be classified as experimental art </li><li>Might turn into a bigger project if we find the time (mini game, etc) </li></ul> Disadvantages <ul><li>Graphics could take some effort to look good </li><li>Implementation most likely to be done in non-managed code (though we could try looking into XNA..) </li><li>Might not look too challenging for other people (perhaps not enough challenging for our supervisors) </li></ul> Feasibility <ul><li>Looking nice </li></ul> Likes <ul><li>We could use several characters, and try to focus on making it a less cardboard-like personality </li></ul> Dislikes <ul><li>No physics simulation :'-( ……….. <img src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/media/emoticons/default/tongue.png" width="16" height="16" /> </li></ul> Idea 2 (space game): Advantages <ul><li>I find it interesting </li><li>Could be very impressive </li><li>Open to experimenting with different ways of conveying personalities, as well as different personalities </li></ul> Disadvantages <ul><li>I don't know how compelling the idea would be for other people </li><li>Favours extreme personalities, or at least eccentric ones </li><li>Graphics could take some effort to look good </li><li>Implementation most likely to be done in non-managed code (though we could try looking into XNA..) </li></ul> Feasibility <ul><li>Lots of work: Graphics, some collision detection, tracking, etc.. Not counting personality, which will also take a lot of effort. </li></ul> Likes <ul><li>I like games </li><li>I think this kind of game could be very interesting – at least you'd be able to vent your frustration into a game character </li><li>Challenging </li></ul> Dislikes <ul><li>Lots of effort <img src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/media/emoticons/default/smile.png" width="16" height="16" /> </li></ul> Idea 3 (Fridge) Advantages <ul><li>Could be useful </li><li>People like physical stuff </li></ul> Disadvantages <ul><li>Added value is not guaranteed </li><li>Personalities might not be as deep as the supervisors would like </li><li>Gremlins!! AAAAAAAAH!!! </li></ul> Feasibility <ul><li>Might take a lot of effort </li></ul> Likes <ul><li>Experimental </li></ul> Dislikes <ul><li>Physical Computing </li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></li></li></ul></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></li></ul></li></li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></li></li></ul></style></meta></title></meta> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:57:53 -0800 Idea 2 - Space shooter game http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/12/idea-2-space-shooter-game http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/12/idea-2-space-shooter-game How: A small “shoot everything you see” game is produced; the player can only shoot at other things, but avoiding enemy shots is done by the computer character (which could be humanoid or something more abstract). The player's head can be tracked by using a wiimote; the player must motivate the computer character by shaking another wiimote (we are also considering voice pitch input).  <a href="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/data/uploads/game-ish.jpg"><img class="picbox-photo" src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/data/thumbs/280_7a4f0c3a204432f286c71edaeaa8c9c7_game-ish.jpg" width="280" height="210" /></a> Game-ish idea, image 0   <a href="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/data/uploads/game-ish2.jpg"><img class="picbox-photo" src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/data/thumbs/280_9859e50993ae62e4cda052a2fad674bd_game-ish2.jpg" width="280" height="210" /></a> Game-ish idea, image 1 What: The “pilot” character is not very predictable (due to drunkness, for example).  <a href="http://mrl.nyu.edu/%7Eperlin/experiments/facedemo/"><img class="picbox-photo" src="http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/data/thumbs/249_d14a187c5ebc3ab92bac8edabf743b34_perlin%20character.png" width="183" height="249" /></a>  It may be that some pre-made face systems already exist; if not, we can have inspiration with Ken Perlin's face (and do a simplified version), or use a more abstract way. Depending on how much one moves the wiimote, the character will change its behavior - shaking it too much could piss it off, so it would drive even more erratically, or could bring it to its senses, driving in a better manner. </a></a></a> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:01:00 -0800 Meeting [28/1] http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/9/meeting-28-1 http://idp.mexinetica.com/blog/blog/blog/view/9/meeting-28-1 We met again today, Wednesday. We noted Keyvan's comment about the fridge; we're thinking how to add more interaction with the on-screen character in the fridge. In this meeting we have agreed to work out on each idea so that a document can be sent tomorrow; Mohammad will collect the idea data, create the slideshow and submit the document to the supervisors. We will meet tomorrow again at 11:00am to refine details and iron out everything for the presentation. **** <ul><li>Another idea would be a mirror that augments the user's features; it has several technical problems though (how do we project successfully into/from a mirror?)</li></ul> rocaa@student.chalmers.se (unknown) Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:07:00 -0800