Project Description
The requirement was to either enhance the existing user experience or create a new interaction possibilities on an existing analog toy in a team of two.
The Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots is a hacked toy with arduino technology enhancements that makes the robot wrestling game more playful and engaging.
It was a part of ‘Physical prototyping for interactivity’ assignment in advanced prototyping course that involved hacking an analog toy in three weeks.
Concept
Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots is a wrestling game between two robots each operated by a player via joystick.
It was hacked to enhance the existing game experience by four arduino enhancements.
a) LEDs as the eyes of robot to indicate if the game is on. b) Point recording system for each player in a tournament. c) a button for playing music during the game. d) buttons for each player for trash talking during the game.
Process
Soon after we got this project, we did secondary research to understand different forms of feedback mechanism that toys currently use. We conducted ethnographic study at a local museum to observe and get inspired by the creative usage of different materials in interactive exhibits. After several visits to toy stores, we decided to build upon ‘Rock ‘em Sock ‘em’ toy as we found the original game to be very playful and engaging. Next we ideated different possibilities of arduino enhancement on the toy and built a working prototype in processing language. Lastly, we documented our process and submitted our final deliverable.
Methods
Secondary research, Ethnography study, sketching, prototyping and documentation
Duration
Five days
Team mates
Manali Gortekar - Research, Documentation
Yishi Yang - Prototyper
My Contribution
I participated in the initial research and ideation phase of our project and helped my team mate in coding. I documented the process (in Adobe indesign) and submitted it as our final design deliverable.