I really want to finish what I started with the midterm project, but perhaps with a physical wearable device twist. I want to stick with the phone, simply because it has a lot of useful components already: a good camera, internet connection, battery life. In addition though I feel that I could develop a wearable accessory that makes being “Josh” a fun and enjoyable experience.
FPJ (First Person Josh) Midterm
I do want to acknowledge that inspiration was taken by a project that Mashi (ITP ‘24) did in Applications last semester, where he was controlled at the whim of people over Zoom. As always, Mashi is life.
After having some discussions with classmates and friends I decided to rethink the interface for this experience. I wanted to change it to a more 1-to-1 experience and a great analogy that my friend and I came up with was as if I was being possessed or haunted by somebody. I also thought it would be necessary for people to see who was in control, making them more than just a poltergeist. I see a lot of potential here for events, having a number of headsets that volunteers can pick up and “host” a “ghost” while they’re visiting.
Here’s the new UX prototype I’ll be working from:
https://www.figma.com/file/Q88xltt3KNB5Mq4nB2BX2P/FPJ-Reloaded?node-id=0%3A1&t=HC6duib6HYFZzXlJ-1
Another change that happened during development was the switch to using key control for a truly authentic gaming experience, rather than just voice control. At first I wanted the screen of the phone to be facing outwards, allowing passers-by to know who was in control. However this meant that all action communication had to happen over voice. To me this felt too much like just a FaceTime call with someone telling you to move over because the thing you were trying to show was not in frame.
This new way would mean the hosty (me) would be able to see the actions, making it more seamless. This also meant I could use a higher quality, wider angle camera. I would also keep the push to speak action so communication could happen, but would not be the default.
It may feel like a limitation but in my testing it seems that people really enjoy the process of learning the controls and the anonymised and granulised action. The allegory to a FPS game is also a nice touch.
https://github.com/jz2450/midterm-fpj