Now here’s a research project that wouldn’t have any trouble finding volunteers! Jennifer Chowdhury’s investigation into controlling computer games via intimately positioned touch sensors appeals on many levels… even works as a spectator sport!
Inspired by research into new interfaces for video games and by the Widows of World of Warcraft support group, Intimate Controllers is endorphin inducing goodness which takes half of the game off the screen.
The project consists of two people (male and female in this instance), where the man stands behind the woman. They both position themselves so that they can reach each other and see the screen.
The game (programmed in Flash) shows a sequence of blue and pink symbols that scroll up the screen with the objective being to hit the sensor with the corresponding symbol before it vanishes. Another cheeky aspect to the research is that the game is divided into themed levels. The first stage “At the Movies” involves a nice polite love-tap here and there… but as the levels progress to “First Date” and beyond, the action gets decidedly more frisky.
The girl wears a bra which has six sensors sown in various erogenous locations… similarly the guy has a pair of shorts with six throbbing “hot-spots”.
The result is a cyber-twister-esque experience that ensures that the ice is well and truly broken in about 20 seconds.
Ideas for how they could increase the level of difficulty/intimacy:
- Find a girl will bigger boobs (not that there’s anything wrong with the girl above)
- Increase the height difference of the participants
- Vibrating or heat-emitting sensors
- Take a shot of Tequila between levels
- Electric shock when the wrong sensor is tapped!
- Have Barry White crooning in the background
- … have you got any ideas?
I think this has great market potential. All they need to do is hook it up to an xbox and I’ll be preordering mine.
Link 1: Intimate Controllers blog
Link 2: Thesis Presentation Overview
Link 3: View the Video
[via We Make Money Not Art]
