eLaborate Labs

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  Space Croquet

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  Foldable Plastic

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  Interactive Tabletop

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  Crude design of the system components

Inspiration - A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Brett Victor's Dynamicland. His work, along with that of others, has demonstrated a variety of ways to configure interactive tabletops for learning and entertainment. In dealing with the limitations of this challenge, I realized that adapting the existing video projector to also support an interactive table would save space, and offer crewmembers more game variants than through traditional forms.

What it does - It simultaneously projects an image onto a tabletop surface and captures a real-time image of that same surface. By comparing the expected image that was projected, and the real-time image of the tabletop, a computer vision model can be trained to update the projected image in response to any identifiable physical objects or motions. These physical identifiers can be differentiated by size, shape, and color. Using flat-packed colored cardboard or plastic, crewmembers can convert them into orgami-type polyhedrons, which can then be used on the interactive surface.

How we built it - It can potentially be adapted from existing components of the crew-member capsule. Mounting the project with the ability to unlock freedom of movement along two axes would allow the projector to shift from projecting on a screen to the tabletop surface..

Challenges we ran into - There are many potential challenges such an unexpected shortening in the lifetime of projector bulbs rendering the project unusable. The unclear dimensions of the capsule mean certain games might risk injury. I did not have an opportunity to test the mechanics of the games, which might create an unfair advantage. Additionally, I did not consider the available computing and processing resources after satisfying the demands of mission-critical systems.

Accomplishments that we're proud of - I am surprised I was able to think of enough games in just a few hours.

What we learned - Astronauts have already found ways to play in space, which helped inspire some of the ideas, such as the foldable shapes.

What's next for eLaborate Labs - Well...I need a job, haha, so I guess that's first. Then, my priority will shift towards designing new digital spaces that enable more complex and lasting discussions.

Built With

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