The outdoor COVID-safe instant gaming . The way I see it.

 I like the photo I have found today.

This is the next step for outdoor instant gaming offered by NVIDIA  on the basis of its cloud gaming platform GEFORCE NOW.  

What is great here?

1.  The gaming system is positioned outdoors.

2. You do not have to go to the arcade club or so.

What causes problems?

1. You still need  a special game controller.

2. One can play alone only. There is no space for two for comfort gaming inside the cabin.

3. Onlookers and bystanders  have no possibility to watch your gaming. But this was a key feature of  the classic  arcade gaming !

4. Social distancing and COVID sanitary still matter😠

Though we see the epic battle between NVIDIA and GOOGLE cloud gaming platforms, they are pretty much the same with the  hardware specifications.

As to me,  the outdoor instant gaming  is most of all hypercasual arcade gaming with simplified gaming and game control. Keeping this approach in my mind, I created an alternative idea of the outdoor arcade gaming . All you need is to  take your gadget , go outdoor with your friends and find your favoirite meeting point with embedded game controllers and wireless  access point. General scheme is desribed below as in my patent application.

My foot-operated game controller  may be made weather  resist and vandal proof. Several prototypes are already tested .

  With animation it may looks like this. Of cause , it is better to use tablet :).

 The gaming computer ( or at least  local ETHERNET I/O module ) maybe installed inside  the vending machine and serviced by  the vending machine's owner.

  The gaming video can be streamed through WiFi for all  onlookers  and bystanders  for watching at any gadget.

The arcade games in this project must be very simple as all hypercasual games do. I have tested several of them. Of causee the first one  for men will be the "Football"!

 

 I suppose that girls will like some kind of dancing arcade.

 

 

 

#cloud gaming, #outdoor gaming, #NVIDIA, #GEFORCE NOW, #STADIA, #instant, #InstantGaming, #Instant_gaming, #outdoor_gaming, #arcade_cabinet

The "spherical" game controller made from scratch

 Now every player has three global choices for game control: a keyboard, a gamepad , and a joystick. With keyboard , one has a lot of buttons but  no analog axes . With joystick you get analog axes but a limited quantity of buttons. With gamepad you get analog axes and buttons, but half of your fingers are out of operation  because they hold gamepad.It wiil be great if all ten fingers  will  be used for the game control. 

 Inventor's brain works like a huge blender which makes a mixture of  existing ideas and adds something new.

I did the same. I took and idea of  a spherical keyboard from US patent and modify it with elements of  a classic joystick and  a gamepad.
 I took an old  plastic salad bowl , a piece of  plywood and a part of broken LED lamp for the housing of a prototype.  The electronic part contains Arduino  modules .

The small OLED display is now used for test purposes, but there is an idea to leave it at the top between upper buttons. In my case all fingers are positioned at the button's caps and there is no need to move them from one button to another . I hope this will help to play faster.

Analog axes are   made from Arduino accelerometer module. This part already works OK .Now I need to connect buttons to Arduino input pins.

 To be continued...

#spherical , #joystick , #DIY , #altctrl, #HMI, #HCI, #gamepad, #ergonomic

"Pong-style" intence voice controlled arcade

 "Pong" arcade  seems to be  the best platform for alternative  game controller testing. 

 I have tried to control "Pong" by screaming.

About four years ago  one intense voice  controlled game was very popular.

 

But this game can be played alone only. 

I  have combined well-known technology with  "Pong". This game cxan be played alone, by two players and by two groups of players.

I like  #BeetleJuice movie  and I use  #NoFeet  #Ghost  #Graveyard themes .

 I hope my game will be popular not onle for #Halloween party  but as a funny party game in general.

Even #FryScream fans can use it for training.

 

10.16.2021. 

Part 2.

I have polished  my game by adding  an animated mouth to each ghost.

 https://youtu.be/a0GCp1x3LQ8

 Wow, it is really hard to control your scream!

 

 

#Halloween, #Halloween, #spooky, #party_game , #scream, #screaming, #Pong

The Transformer Bench as an element of an outdoor arcade gaming

 A couple of days ago I  found an interesting picture of the wooden benches on Reddit.

For more than a year I have been making experiments with alternative  game controllers.

            Such type of controller makes outdoor arcade gaming possible.

 

            Till now I have no solution  for bench design. The bench from the photo is a cool solution!

One can use this bench in a standard way facing the road or use the foot-operated controller and his own tablet or mobile phone for arcade gaming.  The distance between benches  and foot-operated controllers make such gaming COVID-safe for sure.

According to my project, all foot-operated controllers are connected with the game server by wires. But server broadcasts game data   in a wireless way  through WiFi as it is shown it my patent ,

 

 I have already tested such a system and it works OK. Watch the clip below.

                                                     

                                                    Some Grannies can even dance !

#arcade gaming, #COVID-safe, #alternatice controller, #foot-operated

Alternative game controllers give us a chance to reimagine the vending machine business

 Vending machine business  creates stable cashflow if  you have :

1. good location
2. high foot traffic
   

But all "rich" places are already occupied before you!

So you have no chance but to find the way how to convert  "poor location " without foot traffic  into a "rich one".

There are a lot of attempts to redesign standard vending machines by adding gaming hardware.

The freshist one is .

It looks cool but seems to be too expensive in comparison with the price of regular vending machine. 

COVID-safety regulations  adds problems with game control's sanitation.

Let us imagine " the Blue Ocean" for   Vending machine businessman:

1.  a cheap   outdoor location with poor foot traffic becomes a favorite  meeting point for local young people;
2. standard vending machines  have  attractive gaming features;
3. game  controls are  totally COVID-safe .

Imho such " Blue Ocean" is real .

 During a year I  have been testing   my  invention - "foot-operated   game controller". The 3rd version of prototype is at the photo below.

The idea of an  outdoor  gaming system  based on this controller  is  described in  my utility patent.

Let us take a number of standard vending machines and add my invention.

All you need from standard  vending machine is a signal that   the coin was dropped. Local gaming server with WiFi access point  activates the game  broadcasting  for 5-10 minutes. The idea is to use users mobile gadgets with  a special app  instead of  local displayes.  It is cheaper and more COVID-safe. The design of the holder for mobile gadget may be different.

 I have  tested game broadcasting through local WiFi and it works well for simple hypercasual games.

In general ,  the standard WiFi access point is able to broadcast for 32  addresses. So all player's friends can watch the game on their mobile devices. Even at  a social distance!

Investors are welcome !

#vending machine, #vendingmachinebusiness, #BlueOcean, #alternativecontroller, # vendertainment

Brooklyn Bridge + Niagara Falls = an unusual water feature for limited public space. My 20 years old project.

I like water features embedded in the urban landscape. One of my favorites is the water wall in NY.

The water wall needs small space but has a limited air cooling effect.

20 years ago I invented a shade with water-actuated fans. It looks as I lifted the water fountain and put it over my head.

With this evaporative air cooler, I modified the initial idea of a water wall. In the project below drain pipe feeds the water wall.

  This water feature may be used for open-air restaurants or just a "cooling island" during summer heatwaves. Two evaporative air coolers were made in the "Brooklyn Bridge" style. The water wall looks naturally like Niagara Falls.
Old SketchUp drawing looks pretty "vintage".

Taking in account COVID-safety this idea can be modifed as a S-shape structure.

Alternative game controller in vintage -style " Magic eye race " arcade

 When I was a kid I liked to watch how "Magic eye" blinked in our old lamp radio.

This week I have   an new arcade game " Magic eye race". I used only green and yellow colours as in old tube lamps and radar  displays. I hope radio amateurs 50+ will like it 8-).

Unfortunately , I have only two feet and one game controller, so I  controlled only left " Magic eye".