Jonathan Rosenfeld

Referencing: The Sixth Sense

The first thing to notice about the Sixth Sense is that it allows the wearer to use any surface around them to view information and edit media. In the replacing space article, Harrison says “the structure of the space around us moulds and guides our actions and interactions.” This is very true in regards to the Sixth Sense. While using the device, any surface can become part of the device: a wall, a newspaper or, if nothing else is available, even your own hand. Whatever you end up using for the display depends completely on where you are at any given time.

The Sixth Sense is also a great example of ubiquitous computing. With its ability to turn any real-world surface into an interactive space, the person wearing the device can view and edit photos or browse the web on whatever is in front of them.

The Sixth Sense requires a lot of “performance” by the wearer in order to use many of the functions. The most obvious is when the user is taking a picture. In order to take the photo, the user holds up their hands as if to create a “frame” around what they want to save an image of. It is very quick and easy, but passers-by who see this, don’t see someone with a camera, but rather someone who looks like they are pretending to take a picture. With these photos, the user can go up to any wall and use hand gestures to browse through their albums or edit them. The personal keywords that are displayed on the front of someone when you go up and talk to them, is also an example of performance. Thanks to the Sixth sense, these people are now wearing a dynamic costume that can change depending on who they are talking to or even information they have posted on their blog.

The ease of the picture function seems to be exactly what Matt Jones had in mind when he came up with the idea of "bionic noticing”. All someone needs to do is use their fingers to frame a picture and the Sixth Sense takes it. There is no other hardware required. This makes for an easy time of “obsessively recording curious things” around the user. Adding an upload function to the Sixth Sense seems very easy and logical. Every time someone uses their fingers to take a picture, it could be uploaded to a photo site such has Flickr as well as saved on the device to be viewed or edited later.

The Sixth Sense, in a way, makes everything connected to the internet. Any book you pick up, person you look at or item you buy at the store activates the device, which then uses the internet to find more information on them. I really love how looking at a person brings up keywords about them. It seems like a great idea for networking and a fun way to find out interesting and unusual things about people. While the future probably holds a world with every object having access to the internet, this is a nice stepping stone that is probably more cost effective.

This is similar to the Etch example, but I added a few things.

Download file

For the Sketched GUI we decided upon a pen-and-ink visual style. This is a style with heavy black lines and simple shapes. The reason for this is because the game is about an artist and his creation, and the drawings he creates to help his stick figure out. We also picked pen-and-ink because we believed that the GUI style should match the in-game style. The GUI heavily uses symbols to convey the purpose of each element, as lives are represented by stick figures and the ink level is contained inside a pen symbol. This helps keep the GUI uncluttered by unnecessary text, but still quickly acclimate users to the GUI’s functions.

Explanation of Elements:
• The wavy line is the health bar. It will diminish when the player gets hit.
• The circle to the left of the wavy line is the White Out powerup indicator. If that circle is white inside then the powerup is ready for use
• The stick figures underneath the health bar are the life indicators. This tells the player how many lives they have left.
• The box on the right side of the screen shows which stamp the drawer can use. This box is only on screen when the player has collected a stamp. The drawer can scroll through the different stamps using the mouse scroll.
• The pen bar on the right side of the screen is how much ink the drawer has left to use. This will diminish the more the drawer uses ink.

Gameplay Video

Half Life 2, along with being one of my favorite FPS titles, is also one of my favorite games. One of my favorite things about it was that there weren't any cutscenes so I was never forced to watch something. I could always be messing around with the environment. I also enjoyed the different playstyles. Sometimes I was being chased while other times I had to get through areas with lots of enemies. The story was engaging and I wanted to see how it was resolved.

1. Health indicator: this shows how much health your character has left ranging from 0 (dead) to 100 (full health)
2. Armor indicator: this shows how much armor your character has left ranging from 0 (no armor) to 100 (full armor)
3. Ammo: this has two numbers, one showing how much ammo you have left before you need to reload and another indicating how much ammo you have left overall
4. Auxilary power: this shows how much power your suit has left. This power allows you to use your flashlight, sprint or hold your breath
5. Squad status: this shows how many people are in your squad and what they are doing in relation to you
# Wireframe analysis and the description. (Create wireframe in Photoshop, and number each GUI element, then upload the JPG to the blog. In the body of your blog entry, give description of each GUI element according to the number given in the wireframe).

Proposed Title: Pond

Genre: Casual/Sim

Target Market: 8+. Aimed towards casual users who enjoy playing games in short sessions but enjoy a certain amount of depth and persistence. Players who enjoy customization and enjoy games without strict rules or violence would also enjoy this game.

Narrative/Story: Maintain and raise your Koi’s in your very own Koi Pond you design. Feed them, cultivate their environment and protect them so they can grow and multiply.

Game play: (make sure to define the hardware controls and its functionality within the game - touch screen, shake and tilt. iPhone has sound-input device, and GPS as well)

Guide the right kind of fly to the right kind of fish (or the fish you want to populate your pond) by pushing the appropriate color fly to the same colored fish. Feeding a fish the wrong colored fly will make it sick and leave your pond while feeding it the correct colored fly will make it healthier, bigger and fruitful.

The player must also protect the fish from outside predators such as cats and birds by touching them or splashing water at them before they attack.

As the game progresses, and the player’s pond reaches a certain quality, the player will be able to customize his pond, optimizing it for protection, food or beauty.

If players ignore their pond for an extended amount of time, they will return to dirty pond and emaciated fish. The player must shake the pond clean and quickly feed the Koi.

Customization is done with the touchscreen.

Graphic User Interface elements: (be specific on what they are, and where they appear on the display/screen)

A distinctive lily pad roams the pond, touching it takes the player to the menu screen. The menus are designed to fit the visual theme of the pond. From the menu, the player can access statistics, customization options, tutorials/information or the credits.

For the most part, the GUI is transparent and seamlessly integrated into the visual design and the pond.

During game-play one user interface element is that fish and flies that go together are the same color. When the fed the wrong colored fly, the fish looks off-color and begins to look sick. Continuing to do so will cause it to leave.