Interactive Spaces – Semester Project (Part 2 – Digital)

UNDER SCORE

Under Score is an interactive installation that challenges two players to play a game of soccer confined within the space under the table, relying only on their sense of hearing and touch. Players can hear the position of the ball through the headphones connected to a color tracking patch.

By Joan & Tiffany

Concept

Inspired by two branches of the sport – table soccer and blind soccer (played during Paralympics).

Ideation

From our previous giant hanging foosball idea, our idea evolved towards digitizing the experience to change the conventional gameplay of soccer. Instead of tracking the ball with the sense of sight, we decided to translate what we normally see into sound. This means that players rely on their sense of hearing and touch to locate the ball. The location of the ball is indicated by the pitch and directional sound from both sides of a player’s headphones.

To add on to the aesthetic element of the space, we decided to project a visualization of what they hear onto the table. It also allows non-playing viewers a glimpse of the movement going on under the table.

Spatial layout & diagram:

Materials needed:
External camera (webcam or phone cam), attachable wide-angle lens, table (with four legs at the corners and no obstructions underneath), wooden stools, large black cloth, some cardboard panels, projector, colored soccer ball

Process

MAX Patch processes:

1. Get feedback from the camera (interchangeable between computer cam and external cam)
2. Color tracking with min and max values for the color(s) picked, the range of color values can be adjusted via the ‘tolerance’ bar slider at the side
3. Extract the top left x and y coordinate values from the camera output
4. For the x coordinate, scale (1 300 18 58) and input the values to the keyboard to control the pitch via the colored ball’s x position
5. For the y coordinate, scale ( 1 220 1 158 ) and ( 1 220 158 1 ) and input these values into the left and right gains~ of the audio output respectively. This creates directional hearing based on the ball’s y position

Screenshot of our colour tracking MAX patch, tracked via camera

Screenshot of our MAX patch for the production of synthesized sounds/visuals – part 1

Screenshot of our MAX patch for the production of synthesized sounds/visuals – part 2

For the construction of the table, we bought 6 planks of wood, measured them and sawed them accordingly. We joined the planks together by hammering in nails (the hardware uncle told us to use nails and hammer), but discovered that the process could have been made easier/hastened by using a drill and screws instead.

Hammering processing to building our wooden table frame from wooden planks

How each table corner was joined and reinforced

Blocking two sides of the table using cardboard and covering the whole table with a layer of black cloth

Torch lights attached at each corner of the table frame to illuminate the playing area

Phone camera attached under the table, directly above the playing area. Camera signals are sent over to the laptop via wifi and DroidCam

Our colored ball in the lit up playing area

feedback & Improvements

Audiovisual feedback was fairly slow, players will have to play slowly and kick gently for the position of the ball to be updated in sync.
The audio feedback was too hardcore. Perhaps the sound feedback could have less noise and smoother sounding.
Lighting underneath the table could have been stronger and evenly lit, to prevent blind spots that allow the ball to hide in the dark.