Today mobile phones are designed to perform more tasks than to make a simple phone call. In this comercial presentation Google’s Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz explain the mobile phone plattform “Android“:
They demonstrate some apllications which show the usage of a mobile device beyond the classic phone call.
As you can see mobile devices can be used to access map application software, to play games, etc.
This presentation gives a good overview about the technical approaches implemeted in today’s smartphones.
The use of Mobile Phones as game controlling devices is based on the idea of the Macromanagement in games.
Wikipedia says:
“In computer games, especially strategy games, macromanagement refers to the general economy aspect of the game. This includes constructing buildings, conducting research, and producing units, among other things involving the intake and expending of resources. This is in contrast with micromanagement, which involves small-scale management of individual units.”
You control a greater number of tasks by developing a more general game strategy.
Data generated by a mobile phone could be used to initiate macromanagment commands in games.
So here are some first ideas to connect the data produced by a mobile phone with some game scenarios:
Location Awareness
- use meta-information transmitted through your geographical position via GPS.
simcity mashup
This is a picture of the Met’s Crime Mapping Website.
This site run by the Metropolitan Police shows “where crime is occurring at a local neighbourhood level” in the city of London. The Crime Mapping Website is a Mashup which combines Google Map data with crime statistics.
Combined with your current geo-position you are able to read the crime rate of your neighborhood.
Crime Rate is a game mechanism used in simulation games such as Sim City.
The player in the role of a city mayor has to develop strategies for dealing with with crime, pollution and traffic levels.
In my idea the crime Rate of your Current Position is used to modifiy the crime rate of the mobile phone game Sim City
This is an example of connecting london’s crime statistics and the crime statistics of the mobile phone game Sim City:
computervision
:
- use your mobile phone camera for game control.
Through the use of Computer Vision it is possible to detect several objects and shapes. You can even use CV to detect smiling faces. These objects / faces analyzed by the CV apps could be used as a representation for several game tasks.
Here you can see an example of the OpenCv Library for Processing a project by Atelier Hypermedia (Stephane Cousot and Douglas Edric Stanley).
- Which Game Events could be combined with the idea behind CV?
the sims / face recognition
This is a screenshot of “The Sims 2″.
The Need Bar is a statistic menu which displays the six basic needs of a “Sim”
Socializing in The Sims:
“One of the most amusing elements of game play is the whimsical process of socializing and making friends with other Sims. Initially the player sees the person they are talking to in a ? view shot; as they increase their relationship score the image becomes a close up. Relationship scores are saved from day to day, generating Daily and Life scores from the average of the two. Sims’ relationship scores and personality affect how well any given social interaction will go.”
“Fulfill Wants & Needs: Your Sim desires certain things to stay happy. Give them what they want… or don’t. It’s all in your hands.” by EAmobile
The idea is to satisfy the social need of your Sim by taking pictures of other individuals’ faces.
The User is forced to interact with or simply to find physical individuals to perfom the game task
- Are there other connections between the “Need Bar” and everyday objects or situations?
Color Detection/Strategy Game?:
Through Image Processing you are able to read the specific color values within an image. So you can use this technique to assign different colors to specific game events. For example if you play a strategy game and you need to attack an opponent you have to capture an image with high red values. If you want to make peace with your opponent you have to get an image with high green or blue color values.
The use of color values as representations is an old concept. Colors are used to represent feeelings and specific sounds. This image is an historical overview of the combination between color and sound:
via rhythmiclight
- What games/game events could be used in this context?
shape detection / tetris.
Blob detection by v3ga
Blob detection lets you find specific forms in an image. In combination with the puzzle game Tetris the user has to find the right geometry.
This could be everything from small objects to architecture:
bluetooth/mobile network
The Sims:
Meet The Locals: Sims are social creatures. Getting to know other Sims in the neighborhood can lead to employment, friendship and even romance.
This is equivalent to find other players in your current location. So your Sim is able to connect and socialize with another Sim
- Are there other networks accessible through a mobile phone?