Progress - Final Rush

Ok after the rush of yesterday and the trying to organize everybody as to what we are talking about and stuff like that, i think that we are ready for the end. Yesterday I was the core person with the blank power point and i was helping anyone in the group who needed it.( for example Sophie needed another line recorded for the video) Everyone was handing me things that they wanted to present and include in the power point. I was also getting thigs off people that wanted their stuff in the game. As i had changed the interface of the game a little bit and had to run it past Silard the interface designer. Things like that. Yesterday was pretty much putting all of the pieces together into a coherent design.

Here are some final images of the game:

Input fields to gather user data:

Help question marks:

The customizing menu:

Also The Number by the name is the players current level and will change as they exercise more. The bar below the character is for the users experience points. Depending on the distances they cover and the amount of weight they lose will determine the amount of experience points they have:


With the experience points the player can also buy things from the store:
Time = current exercise time, and Last = the total amount of time the last exercise period went:

Here is a concise breakdown of what i have done:

• Main Menu
• Credits Menu
• The input Feilds and menus
• The Helpers in the menus
• The dynamic level, name and experience points
• The things on the Stats Page, Exercise Page, Map Page and Store Page
• The coding for mscapers and most of Flash code
  
• Getting the game onto the Ipaq and working
• Helper Dude for the Group
  

Progress - Sunday Morning

Its now 10.30 on Sunday morning and i am now happy with the layout of the game and have setup all of the dynamic text fields and all of the targeted areas and boxes. So now the interface and game design are finalized with just tiny tweaking to do. I can now focus purely on the coding behind the scenes. Timers and fitness calculations that sort of thing. Which is my job anyway. We also have a group meeting planned today at 1pm to sort out the presentation and get everyones stuff together into a group project. It is now time to bring the pieces of the puzzle together, into a magical piece of design and creativity.

Here is a short clip of what the game now looks like and how the data is passed around the game:

Progress - Group Meeting

We had a group check in meeting. And everyone is doing well (except one) Sophie is on track and about 60 - 90% through her stuff. Ash is pretty much done. and me and Silard are cranking on the game. Ive prob got about another 2 hours of graphical stuff to do. Then maybe another day of tweeking and working out the hard code of other smaller things.

Issue - Complex Equasions in Flash

I am having trouble working out complex equations in flash. I am trying to work out Body Fat Percentage. The equation is:

Body Fat Percentage = 495 / (1.0324-0.19077(log(waist-neck))+0.15456(log(height)))-450

This is my actionscript:
var bodyfat:Number = 495 / (1.0324-0.19077(Math.log*(txt_waist - txt_neck))+0.15456(Math.log*(txt_height)))-450;

I might just leave it for now and then get back to it later. Not that i have much time too. I think that it is how I am structuring the equation. I am having trouble finding a helpful and relevant Help file to teach me about complex equations in flash.

Progess - Mad Day Yesterday

Yesterday i had a pretty productive day and got heaps of stuff done. I made up the title screen, new game menus, tweeking the customizing screens. I have also been working towards getting the fitness calculations working and stuff like that.



Issues: I have been having trouble with keeping track of input variables and then passing them to dynamic text fields and then changing the values. Also i am working on the saving of the game and getting the game to run as a game.

Progress - Flashing it Up

I have been working on the flash side of the game and after not getting crap from Sam. But heaps from Silard in regards to the game and flash things. The girls are going sweet and they are awesome. So here are some development images from what i have been working on: I have been trying to polish the game into an actual game. With things like menu screens and other game like qualities.

The Main Title Screen:

A quick preloader:

The New Game Menu:And a quick screen shot of the flash file:

Must say that Silards coding is hard to follow but i have been able to work through it and clean it up abit. By the end of today i am hoping to have the new game, continue game, and options things working fully.

Progress - Filming

Today most of the group met up and when out into the real world and did some filming. Sam was surprisingly absent, but did turn up at the start but could not be found when it came to the actual filming. I really wish he was a tad more committed to the fitness freaks team.

On a more positive note. The 4 of us did some really great filming and i think that we got heaps of good shots and camera angles. We ended up using 2 cameras and took about 20 -30 mins on each tape. So a good amount of footage. Stay tuned for the final video. I cant wait. Sexy Jeff / Peter

Issue - Ipaq didnt have flash player

I was starting to try and get the swf file onto the ipaq and get flash to start playing from the beginning. I was able to do this on the computer but not on the actual ipaq. This was because the ipaq didnt have flash player. I tryed to look around on the internet and find the file and install it but i had some trouble. Doug ended up helping me out and now is working sweet. So yes first hurdle overcome. Here is a picture of the file working:

Development - Flash

I have been working in flash to get a debugging page and also getting the ipaq to talk to flash. Here is a development picture. The text boxs will show to current GPS position when it is on.

Readings - All 3

Technologies of Location: After reading this reading i started having ideas about out game and how some of the ideas brought up in the text could relate to fitness freaks. Like "sensorial overload" and how this idea is combated in our game. For example simplying the "While doing and activity" interface. So that the user can get information from the ipaq quickley and easily without having to stop the activity.

Folded Space: The ideas of a maze used to delay a player. And in digital worlds the ability to make a game world much bigger than it appears. These are very interesting ideas no specifically for our game but worth thinking about never the less.

Mapping and Phychogeography: The way that maps and data are defined by the users. Interests me alot and is very valuable in our project. Like im not sure if i want a hard map in our game. I would quite like a user defined map or something like that. The idea of a map-less location.

ipaq at home - Progress

I have taken the ipaq home and have been playing around with the different things on it. Mainley the solitaire game. But i have been working on getting the ipaq to talk to flash and getting flash to talk to an internet database so users can save their stats and things like that.

I am incharge of the code and here are the things i must have done by final handin:

• Saving the Game
• GPS co-ordinates into flash
• Area set out - Map
• Game functions that include - Weight and size of character, End of Activity stats, Live Stats etc

Final - Project Two Blog

I am happy with how the project turned out. I have learned alot about how the different electronic parts combine together. Also the act of making the physical part of the project was most enjoyable. I showed my parents when i went home for the weekend, and they were very interested in the general idea and the randomness of the object. Mum want me to make one for when i'm playing Xbox.

Progress since last blog

I have completed the physical part and have been working on the documentation as well. It is now the morning of presentation and i have completed the video and the presentation.

I have designed the video and the power point to capture people attention also. To prevent people getting RSI while watching or being in the room while my presentation is on. here are a few development images:

Mega Turbo Update - Progress

Ok wow i had a really good first week off and have this week been trying to get back into it again so here is the progress so far:

So what am i up to with project 2:

The Problem: People are starting to get RSI up on the 4th floor computer lab.

The Idea: To sustain people working on 4th floor, by distracting them from their work and keeping them interested for a short time.

I have been looking into what will distract me from the computer. And the things i came up with are:

• Light
• Noise
• Movement

Then what would keep my attention for a while as to have a rest from the computer and things:

• Intricate Parts and Pieces
• Being able to see inside to these intricate things.

Here is what i am now working on in brief:

• Strobe Light
• Vibrating Container
• Noise Maker - A large speaker.
  
• Solar panel Charged

Here is the container i have chosen. It is clear but still small enough to be intricate.
I am currently constructing a mini strobe light to go inside of the container. I got this one from Jaycar for about $20.I also brought a vibrator from the Adult Mega Store. As they had really cheap and good vibrating power vibrators. I have hacked it so i can control when it turns on. I have also stripped away the "p***s" part of the vibrator to reveal just the vibrating part. Ha ha ha what a laugh it was buying this with Mouse.
Bottom of the vibrator. I have attached some wires to it.
The solar panel with wires attached

So the plan for today is to get the inner frame and all of the electronic parts done so that all i have to do is programme the arduino and tweek a few things. I think that this project would be an interesting thing to have around the house after the project has finished. I am enjoying the physical side of the project. Stay tuned for updates and more exciting images.

Project 2 - Idea

I have been looking at how much time we look at a computer while at school and its not that good for us. So my project is based around distracting people from their work after a set amount of time to prevent RSI.

Things that i would like to incorporate into the design:

• Randomness
• Simpleness
• Doesn't look out of place, within the campus.

My idea is a small cube like structure. With all of the technical pieces inside of the object. It will be solar powered and self contained. I want it to vibrate and light-up and also have a sound of some kind. I am not sure what sound yet though.

Jeff logging out . . .

A simple flow chart

Here is a simple low chart of how the ipaq and website will work.

Project 2 - Solar Power Project

In the last class meeting Kah was talking about creating a solar powered project, thus being sustainable and he said something about solar powered lights at the warehouse. And while i was there for another project i managed to pick one up for $9.99. Then I hacked it apart. So here is what i did:

The Complete Light

The Solar Panel on the top

Without all of the crap, Has an AA rechargeable battery

The inner circuit, has a switch for turning on and off

There was a mass of gunk protecting the wiring to the solar panel so i had to scrape it off.

After scraping off the gunk i had to use sum force to get the panel out of the housing. (And as you can see it was glued to the housing)

And here is the free solar panel. I had to remove the wires to get the panel off but this will just require sum solder and abit of TLC

What I plan to do next it to cut off the AA battery charger and fix a 9V rechargeable battery to it. What i want is a self contained project that just does its own thing when it wants so this was a vital step in the process.

The PHP Issue

I have been having trouble install PHP on my home mac computer. I think that i have installed it and i think that its running. I just cant see the php info page. Here is an image of the error i get when i try and open the phpTest.php in the browser.



I cant quite figure this one out but I will look around on the net and see if anybody can help me out. I have also re-typed the php page in case I made an error in the spelling so this is called phpTest2.php.

Lateral Research - Conspiracy

I have been looking around on the internet for topics about sustainability and earth preservation. And while procrastinating on you tube i came across a few really good clips. They dealt with sustainability in a new way. We are currently living in a world that is becoming more and more conscious about sustainability and preservation. Well this is the main stream view of where we as a race are at right now. The clips that i have been looking at deal with sustainability as a conspiracy.

So i did quite a bit of looking around and seeing where this has come from. And what i have found is a large following of this conspiracy theory. That there is a small group of people that control most of the worlds wealth. And these are the people that are dealing with things on a global scale, for example the Twin Towers. Is the new drive for sustainability just another layer to the conspiracy's? There are quite a few clips of this online.

I think that this is a really interesting way to look at things . . .

Maybe sustainability for us is to have freedom of mind. Or total control of mind.(When i use "Mind" i mean thoughts and ideas). I think that the people of this earth are already slaves to the system, "The Man". Maybe sustainable design is freeing peoples minds of what they already know or what they think they know. Perhaps sustainable design is keeping people inline with what the main stream wants. Are we as designers just designing ways to control or persuade the masses. I really like the frog idea; If you have a frog and place that frog into a boiling pot of water the frog will jump straight out. But if you place that frog into a pot of cool water and gently heat up the water to boiling, the frog will eventually cook itself. The frog thinks that the small changes are nothing to be concerned about, until all the small changes add up, and its dead. (Are our lecturers and tutors just teaching us the skills or the mindset to fit into the lie? Is Doug teaching us how to be leaders in rhetoric, and control people?)

This i think will be the drive to my project two. What i need to think about now is what / who am i designing for? And are there sides and where do i sit as a designer?



(I am also not sure how to take these clips and ideas. Are they just another way to control us? How reliable are these sources? Why do i want to believe them? Why do i think the way i think? Have i already been converted into a puppet? Much like the matrix. Am i just being used by the machines? And if i am whats wrong with being a puppet? If i am happy with the way things are going for me whats the issue? Is truth law? Why should truth rule my life? Do i want to be "enlightened". Is living a lie or false existence so bad ???)

Chapter 2 - Reading

Just did the reading of chapter 2. I though that the chapter was quite interesting. I really liked the matrix quote. Where agent smith calls us humans a virus, like cancer on the earth. All we do is consume. Also i really liked the idea of sustainable consumption. I like that both words are opposite but in the same way work together.

One thing that i took from the reading is:

"Sustainability through complexity"

Where the complexity of our designs creates sustainability of the product or what ever we are designing. And when the consumer gets it all they move on. So we as designers have to increasingly provide more complex and theoretical designs.

Readings and an Asthma Game

I have just finished the readings and they are very interesting and relate to the project heaps. The emotionally durable design was good as it related sustainability and other ecological things to design. This helped me see more clearly what i was looking to create for project one. Also seeing the already in place ways of playing with in the city in the else / where reading and ground up. Looking at the social networking and the tapestry's of human life here on earth and also the way things work in wellington.

While reading one of the readings i also had a thought about a game i had seen and played online. It was about asthma. It was a really fun game and it raised awareness about asthma but i didn't feel like it was. It had asthma related games, Like blowing through a straw for a long period of time. I don't think that i realized it was about asthma until about two or three web pages later. I will try and find it and put a link up.

Jeff logging out . . .

Sustainable Wellington PDF

Here is my link to the PDF:

http://www.box.net/shared/u9n9wql4ck

I have also found a great free online storage place (For those people who dont have websites). Its www.box.net You get 1Gb of free online space and its super easy to upload and things. You can also subscribe to more space if you need it, but it costs.

Enjoy

Jeff logging out . . .

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