“PingPongPlus” by Wisneski
Conference:
Type(s):
Entry Number: 13
Title:
- PingPongPlus
Program Title:
- Enhanced Realities
Presenter(s):
Collaborator(s):
Project Affiliation:
- MIT Media Lab
Description:
PingPongPlus is a digitally enhanced version of the classic ping-pong game. Various audio and visual augmentations have been added to a conventional ping-pong table with a non-invasive, sound-based ball tracking system. The “reactive table” displays patterns of light and shadow as a game is played, and the rhythm and style of play drives accompanying sound. At times, the game is subtly enhanced, and sometimes it is powerfully changed. In one mode, the table appears to be covered with water, so that playing on it creates patterns of subtle ripples. In another mode, images that race around the table change the entire scoring system and method of play. The goal of the project is to explore systems for collaborative play that push the physical world back into the forefront of design, without relying on simple GUI con- trollers, such as a mouse, keyboard, and joystick.
