The making
The Parts
Tested multiple times to train the accelerometer to be handy
Torso controller vest (playing Space Shooter)
The multiple different fun ways of controlling games and computers always fascinate me, and I started thinking using more part of our bodies to control. This piece was made by me using an Arduino board, an HC-05 Bluetooth module, and an accelerometer, and obviously, embedded one a vest. It would map the movement of the player's torso to the movement in the traditional Asteroid game, and make the gameplay much more engaging than just using a joystick.
The movement of our torso has always been ignored in video game controlling, though the movement is small, it is subtle and meaningful especially in some specific scenario, for example, driving a plane/spaceship. By adding this layer of movement, the old school traditional arcade game Asteroid from decades ago, turned into a whole new and fun game though what shows up on the screen is the same.
Oct 2016
The Idea
This idea comes from the experience of playing games while playing a really intense game, like race game, battle game or shooter game, we intuitively move our body with the character even though we know it doesn't work, but our body will just move by itself.
And I was also reminded by how the pilots fly a fighter jet and how people steer the gliders with their bodies. So why don't we control games using the leaning movement of our torso? Especially in VR, the torso control will add a layer of richness to the experience of intense gameplay.
The movement of the torso is subtle and hard to track using laser motion tracking, at least from technology that I am able to access, an accelerometer on the back is the best choice to demo the experience that makes sense as a product. It is also a settlement because accelerometer is also a pain in the ass, hopefully, future tracking technology could be better.
Arduino Uno
HC-05 Bluetooth Module
IKEA food box as the mainframe
Arcade button
Soldering Iron
A vest from Amazon
Used some JAVA to make the HC-05 talk to the laptop