Maikang Wu Senior Certificate Project '02

This project creates a game that uses haptics (force-feedback), music and visuals to examine the interactions among these three senses. The user can play against the computer to choose dice. Each one chooses a pair of dice. The dice have values associated with them. The object of the game is to get the best combination of values. The user can make guesses about the value of each die by feeling the number of holes it has on the bottom (illustrated below) with the Phantom haptic device. The user is not allowed to see the bottom of the dice during the game. Or the user can listen to the pitches associated with each die and choose good harmonic combinations. Or the user can view the colors associated with each pair. All three of these methods yield the same combination; the user can choose whichever one is most comfortable.

One of the goals of the game is to train the user's ear to distinguish different kinds of two-note chords: unison, fifths, sixths, etc. and to tell about differences in pitches. This training can be assisted by feeling the objects with the haptic device and counting the number of holes or by looking at the color of the dice on the color spectrum.Another goal is to examine the interaction and reinforcement of the senses of vision, color and audio.

This project was created in a 3D virtual reality world using Sense8 World Toolkit libraries and a Phantom desktop touch device from Sensable Technologies. In order to run this program it is necessary to be in the Olin Arts and Technology lab.