I thought hard about the interactions i wanted out of my Algorithmic Agent. While i love the entire concept of infusing the Pomodoro timer and the AA together, i found it quite challenging to create a fun and interactive interaction because of the entire premise of this as a tool to keep the user focus. By not touching it. So in to the bin goes the idea. Presenting to you…
Okay so i want to double down on the kind of interactions i can have with the micro:bit. So screw Pomodoro and not touching it. We are going to move the heck out of the micro:bit. How else better to do this than a football. American football that is. Don’t ask me why.
So in my head, the new interaction can be presented as such, in the state diagram below.
In this new state diagram, i focused deep into the kind of interaction and how it relates to the animation on screen. I also wanted this to be a two person kind of gameplay.
Interactions like:
Pumping the ball 10 times (Magnets)
Passing the ball 10 times (Accelerometer)
Throwing at a target (Accelerometer)
All this but timed. Can’t make it too easy and adds to the competitive element to it.
| State | Key | Interaction | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake | h | Shake Billy the ball | On Shake |
| Pumping | s | Use pump to “inflate” the ball | If Magnetic force > 250 |
| Passing | n | Pass the ball to another player | On Free fall |
| Shooting | y | Throw ball at target | On 8G |
The interactions had some similarity in the way it is being detected through the sensors. For instance, Passing the ball and Throwing at target has very similar kind of readings in terms of what the micro:bit picks up through the sensors. The passes (mapped to detect free fall) vs impact on target (mapped to detect 8g). I realised that there is a tendency for it to prematurely trigger the hitting target when the user is still passing the ball