Dino Dash
Tangible prototype project, made with a team of 3
Completed: November 2018 (University – 4th Year)
Beginning halfway through Semester 2 of 2018, I worked with a small team in ‘DXH602 – Embodied Interactions’ to produce a prototype. The brief for this prototype was to make an exhibition for Queensland Museum, and our team decided to cater to the Lost Creatures section of the museum.
We decided to create a pressure pad that was decorated with elements that relate to dinosaurs, and this pad would act as an input for a simple game. This post will go over some of the process images I captured to show our progress throughout the semester.
Early Prep: Bought Wood, Gluing Materials
Timber / Plywood was purchased after determining the correct measurements.
This wood was cut to size and glued down in QUT J-Block.
Processing/Arduino Drivers
Arduino & Processing code was written to interpret physical button presses as controls. This was adapted to the pressure pad by placing two surfaces covered in foil inside of the wood enclosure.
Laser Cutting, Spray Painting
Several dinosaur footprint shapes were laser cut to decorate the pressure pads.
The parts and the touch-pad surfaces were spray-painted.
Artificial turf & woodchips were applied for a grass-like effect.
Completed Setup, Final Wires
Shown is the complete setup, there is a set of three pads.
Only the left and right pads are functional, and connect easily to the Arduino.
Stepping on one of these two functional pads would control the direction of a dinosaur on-screen, the player’s goal being to avoid being hit by asteroids.