Francois

Since I am a sculptor I am very interested in the interface between the physical and the virtual.

I think that this interface is often overlooked, but recently there has been a refocus in this area. For instance Nintendo can't compete in processor speed with Sony or Microsoft so instead it competes in interface design (Wii.) A smart move because it's quite a bit cheaper, and changes gameplay just as much.

Here is another interesting interface invention from Edward Tse.

It's hard to understand in photograph form because the commands are auditory. Here is the video of him using the tabletop for Google Earth and Warcraft 3

I find different interfaces fascinating: For computers: A keyboard, a mouse, a joystick,

For consoles there were various video game controllers with various combinations of buttons and sticks.

Some more outlandish ones that I have seen are the NES Zapper:

a plastic pad that you stomp on (for dance Dance Dance Revolution)

Also interesting are vibrating controllers (which vibrate when you get hit.) I remember watching a friend playing Metal Gear Solid (1998) for Playstation. There is a point in the game where the game script "breaks the fourth wall." IE the game is self referential, aware that it is a game. One character tells you to "put down your controller" and then proceeds to vibrate the controller with his "telikinetic powers." There are several other instances of breaking the fourth wall in Metal Gear Solid detailed on Wikipedia:

But back to interface:

When I was a kid playing video games at my friend Tom's house my friend's dad would always ask why we weren't out getting any excercise. I (being a smart alec) said that we were excercising our finger muscles (from pressing the buttons on console controller.)

I like involving the whole body in the experience of games, but it doesn't have to be in a strictly virtual reality way.

I want to change the interface. One way to do this for me is to use a classic sculptural idea of scale and apply it to an interface. The Querty keyboard was designed for typewriters and has survived to this day, I think it would be interesting to scale up this artefact from the days of typewriters and make it into a full body experience.

If the keyboard was big enough, it might even become a team experience, with different people controlling different parts of the keyboard. For instance in playing a Real time game (either FPS or RTS or even MMORPG) one would need to coordinate a team of people over a whole keyboard.

Another idea that I had (which I think owes some to Edward Tse) for a full body interface would be to remap the map of a RTS game (or that of google earth) onto a floor on which you roll around on your stomach. You basically use your whole body as the mouse pointer or directional keys. (I'm not sure which yet.)