The Human Variable Resistor
For Hoberman and Lew's 534 class I decided not to use a webcam/isight for my user input. I realized that at the heart of my project was a way to necessitate not only physical movement between the user and the screen, but physical interaction between the user and other people in the room.
Perry and I brainstormed ways to force the players/users interact with each other. One way we thought would be simple would be to use the variable resistor code, replacing the variable resistor with two copper wires attached to humans(contacting the skin in any way does the trick), and then the humans touch each other.
Well, it turned out to actually be easy! The more contact the two(or more) people have, the more resistance, and the lower the reading. Light contact generates high readings. I wasn't expecting to accomplish this so quickly, and am not prepared with content(That backstory is that I've been creatively blocked towards this project) . However, it obviously suggest a sensous experience, although one could make the choice to contrast this with something completely non-sensous. (i.e. turn the lights on)
Anyways, it's really fun to use, and I'm only getting numbers from it right now, so at he very least I'm hoping to create a more accessible and equally fun experience for the users.