Tinycade
2022 Design Platform, NUS DIDIn this platform, students were challenged to redefine the boundaries of the magic circle commonly associated with video games; and to develop projects that facilitate playful and tangible experiences for a specific audience in mind. Students built DIY systems that facilitated tangible play experiences. These experiences are powered by everyday mobile devices, leveraging onboard sensors and cameras for interaction sensing and computer vision.
This platform was conducted in collaboration with VIVITA Singapore. Throughout the semester, we had the privilege of visiting their space (VIVISTOP Orchard) and students got to deploy and discuss their prototypes with VIVITA members.
Student Projects
Aru-scan
Verma Tanya, Liew Tze Chuan Joseph, Emily Zhou
Aru-scan is a scanner system that allows parents to build interactive activities using scannable markers. Join Aru, our lovable ArUco marker monster as he guides your child through their scanning adventures! Scan a unique marker in “Edit Mode”, and adjust the marker’s values to your liking. Change the marker’s displayed photograph, name, background colour, text colour and included audio recording. Switch to “Play Mode”, insert your phone into the scanner case, and your phone becomes a cordless scanner! Build all sorts of point-and-scan games for your child: a supermarket cashier roleplay, an enhanced storytime session with audio markers, or even a treasure hunt experience with the markers acting as clues! Both gameplay and learning opportunities are endless with the Aru-scan system!
Verma Tanya, Liew Tze Chuan Joseph, Emily Zhou
Aru-scan is a scanner system that allows parents to build interactive activities using scannable markers. Join Aru, our lovable ArUco marker monster as he guides your child through their scanning adventures! Scan a unique marker in “Edit Mode”, and adjust the marker’s values to your liking. Change the marker’s displayed photograph, name, background colour, text colour and included audio recording. Switch to “Play Mode”, insert your phone into the scanner case, and your phone becomes a cordless scanner! Build all sorts of point-and-scan games for your child: a supermarket cashier roleplay, an enhanced storytime session with audio markers, or even a treasure hunt experience with the markers acting as clues! Both gameplay and learning opportunities are endless with the Aru-scan system!
Leapfrog
Ong Jingheng Travis, Lim Zhi Stacy, Allen Ding
Leapfrog: A DIY arcade kit that functions as both a diorama display piece and a mobile puzzle game. Leapfrog leverages on the accessibility of DIY to blend the physical and the virtual into a cohesive experience, turning papercrafts into game controllers.
Ong Jingheng Travis, Lim Zhi Stacy, Allen Ding
Leapfrog: A DIY arcade kit that functions as both a diorama display piece and a mobile puzzle game. Leapfrog leverages on the accessibility of DIY to blend the physical and the virtual into a cohesive experience, turning papercrafts into game controllers.
CADE Cafe
Ong Wai Boon, Yang Junwei
Cade Cafe aims to further one’s gaming experience by going beyond the digital world. Through DIY, players can customise their own controllers and augment their own gaming experience. The game promotes natural physical interaction in an overly saturated digital world.
Ong Wai Boon, Yang Junwei
Cade Cafe aims to further one’s gaming experience by going beyond the digital world. Through DIY, players can customise their own controllers and augment their own gaming experience. The game promotes natural physical interaction in an overly saturated digital world.
Cardboard & Dungeons
Aileen Ooi, Srikesh S/O Sundaresan, Lovelace Madison Carey
Cardboard & Dungeons transforms everyday cardboard into smartphone-powered DIY swords that enables a fun-filled experience that blends imagination and reality, fostering teamwork and communication amongst young kids.
Aileen Ooi, Srikesh S/O Sundaresan, Lovelace Madison Carey
Cardboard & Dungeons transforms everyday cardboard into smartphone-powered DIY swords that enables a fun-filled experience that blends imagination and reality, fostering teamwork and communication amongst young kids.
Tech Saturday Workshop
After the platform, we ran a Tech Saturday workshop in collaboration with VIVITA titled “Fun with Computer Vision” with a group of 15 children. Participants took part in two activities inspired by platform outcomes:
A—DIY Rock Paper Scissors Machine
Participants built a cardboard machine to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with a computer agent. Player choices are detected with the ArUco markers; with a specific marker representing each element: rock, paper, and scissors.
︎︎︎ view the Instructable here
B—Build-Your-Own Scanner
Participants crafted a case for their phones, and transformed their devices into a scanner that reveals the information payloads delivered by QR codes and bar codes. We built a web application that enables users to associate an image and sound clip with a particular “code”.
︎︎︎ view the Instructable here
︎︎︎ try the scanner app here
︎︎︎ NUS CDE’s post of the event
︎︎︎ VIVITA’s post of the event
A—DIY Rock Paper Scissors Machine
Participants built a cardboard machine to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with a computer agent. Player choices are detected with the ArUco markers; with a specific marker representing each element: rock, paper, and scissors.
︎︎︎ view the Instructable here
B—Build-Your-Own Scanner
Participants crafted a case for their phones, and transformed their devices into a scanner that reveals the information payloads delivered by QR codes and bar codes. We built a web application that enables users to associate an image and sound clip with a particular “code”.
︎︎︎ view the Instructable here
︎︎︎ try the scanner app here
︎︎︎ NUS CDE’s post of the event
︎︎︎ VIVITA’s post of the event