Whack A Mole (Crack Attack)
The idea for this game originally came from farts because I just think they’re funny. Squatting is something that can trigger them so I combined those two things to make this whack-a-mole game. Squatting is also something I enjoy to do, but like any kind of physical activity, it’s always hard to find motivation to actually do it. Through this game I kind of trick people into doing some exercise while they have fun trying to whack the mole and score points with their butts. Motivation is key to keep you going so I chose a song that wakes me up every year played by a live band outside my building on a Sunday during the New York City Marathon; "Eye of a Tiger".
I used a Sharp infrared analog distance sensor to measure the distance of someone’s butt as they squat. The user's butt should aim for the sensor as they squat without actually sitting on it.
The box I’ve drilled the sensor and arduino to is just a random box I bought at Target meant to contain shape magnets that are now on my fridge. The box is meant to protect the sensor and arduino from being crushed under people’s butts.
Connecting the sensor to the Arduino was very simple. I just followed the diagram.
The interface of the game is made up of two p5 rectangles and png images that I mostly got off the web, except for the logo type and score. The color scheme is meant to be bright and vibrant to captures people's attention.
The code was a challenge for me. It was a process of changing and rearranging code with the very immediate and big help of Chino in order to have the sketch do everything I wanted it to do. In order to get the sketch working, the moles movement and actions had to be placed into functions. My original code had the mole moving the way I wanted it to but when I would bring in the data from the sensor; the images would not show up and the sketch wouldn't work. Once the code was figured out, the sketch ran perfectly and the game worked great.
I originally wanted to place the sensor on the floor, but as I tested it on my family I noticed that they have horrible form and in general most people don’t have good squat form. To aid people’s backs, knees and form I decided to place the sensor on a chair. In the future, I would like to make the game more challenging by increasing the speed of the mole as the user gains more points. I would also like to implement a timer so that the score can be of more relevance to the game and between different users. I would also like to improve the look of the physical interaction of the game. Possibly create a different enclosure that will allow me to cover it in dirt but won't disturb the sensor, so that an aspect of the interface can come to life in the physical user interaction.
Overall, I'm really proud of this game and enjoyed collaborating and making it. The process taught me a lot about p5, sensors, arduinos, and using a power drill carefully.