A Game of Cat and Mouse

The goal of this pressure project was to create a way for human and computer to communicate, that isn’t a way that is typical like keyboards and mice, but rather using body movements to cause a reaction.

When working through this pressure project, I started out wanting to make a program where you were able to use certain facial and hand tracking to activate certain noises. The goal was to be able to make a “beat” with different movements of my fingers and my face. Little did I know, this would be me setting my goals too high. I got the initial sounds to work, but it just did not sound or feel like an enjoyable experience. This led me back to the drawing board.

My second attempt was more successful. I ended up making a game for me to play with my cat. The controls were pretty simple, using the webcam to track the movements of my two pointer fingers and whether my mouth was open or closed. I used the values generated by the node tracking my fingers and mouth to activate other nodes. These nodes included an audio node that activates a quack when you open your mouth and plays a soft mouse chattering when your mouth is closed. The other major nodes that I used were the transform and 3D model nodes, allowing me to use the values of where my fingers were in relation to the bounds of the camera to the bounds of the 3D model of a mouse on the program’s canvas.

When using my projector to cast my program on a surface, I found that the more contrast, the easier it was for my cat to see. So I ended up going with a silhouette look for the mouse, allowing my cat to see it more clearly. In the end, I felt like I learned a lot about the difficulties and possibilities of body tracking, and how it can be used to create unique and engaging experiences for others, even if they are not human.

Link to Pressure Project #2 Download