DAT206: Group project using Kinect

In our group project, we are using the Kinect with OpenKinect, which is an open community-driven API that is used to access the Kinect's sensors and camera, and also allows Processing to control the tilt. The Kinect was only just released last year, so for the first time in IDAT, we will be using the many capabilities that have never before been exploited in a project.

Originally meant as an interactive peripheral for the Xbox 360, in response to Sony's PlayStation Move and the incumbent Wiimote, many opportunities became true after Spanish hacker Héctor Martín Cantero managed to create the first open-source driver for the device in response to an Adafruit competition bounty. The OpenKinect project was founded after Héctor posted the hack on Github, and is available in various programming languages; the version we're using is the Processing variant, which includes the necessary libraries in order to access the API. OpenKinect is in continuous development, and many more programming languages are being added as development progresses.

Our game will be themed on zombie survival, and the goal of the game is to survive the whole duration of the game without getting touched by zombies, and defend yourself against them. We are going to try and fuse two Kinect devices to create a 3D world, and use the tracking features in the OpenKinect API to detect the player's movement and interactions against the zombies, and to detect collisions that would result in the player's heath being subtracted. We are also going to use an object to act as the gun, which the player uses against the zombies. The Kinect will detect the player's interaction with the object, and whenever the player pulls the trigger, it fires the gun, and if the gun is aimed well at the zombies, the zombie then gets killed.

IDAT 107: Know what standards you'd need to go for, not veer off course! And also, about the originality of design

As the marks for my last two assignments came back, I now know about the true meaning of a design theme, like for instance, I know know that the true meaning of a web 2.0 logo is something that is completely lower-case, mine didn't feel that way. Although at least I did something modern, maybe I was a bit too vague about the definition (at least in terms of what trends are being done in the world of web 2.0). It's like saying that if something calls for a Disney theme, I'd have to include something that is Disney. I saw an example of compliance in the shape of an electricity pylon that is within the limits of Walt Disney World; the designers knew that the juxtaposition of WDW with the highway meant that they should captivate it, so they designed it in the shape of the silhouette of Mickey Mouse, which in terms of when doing something Disney in specifications, it always ticks all the boxes!

In addition to standards, originality also has to be considered too. During the 3D design part of the coursework, drawing teapots similar to the famous Utah teapot isn't what many consider in the world to be something that is original, because the idea has already been taken, even though my object originally called for something that resembles some kind of teapot (but with a barrel instead of a spout, and a lot more added to it), I had to take it into account that just that isn't going to get me the high esprit-de-corps of originality, so what I decided to do, is create a more surrealistic object, that captivates the spirit of famous surrealists Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, whilst at the same time takes it to a whole new level, kind of like thinking about the windmills of Don Quijote, but making it more literal, and illustrative of one of my favourite design themes, especially since I've done works of something similar at school, I became enamoured of it, and decided to use it to effect in order to have something that I at least have savoir faire in, rather than vaguely presume that it is surrealisim, as it was demonstrated in the digital signature.