The game of dominoes is a classic that instils a sense of nostalgia in people. Although it may be a new game for some, it is its simplicity and familiarity that appeals to us. Everyone plays it in their own way.
Dominotes is an interactive multi-user installation that adds a musical dimension to a traditional game transporting it to a new level.
How the heck does it work?
Dominotes uses the open-source software Reactivision. You may have seen the popular Reactable being powered with this technology. This software is free and available to anyone.
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DOMINOTES - How does it work?
A camera placed inside the Dominotes box, detects the unique fiducial markers we have attached to the bottom of each domino and triggers a function in Flash to play a sound according to which marker is detected. Put simply, the dominoes act as switches, allowing users to turn sounds on and off by placing them on the table’s surface.
To begin with, a javascript function is called within the “terminal” on a mac, this allows us to edit the maximum number of objects being detected by the camera at any one time.
Then Reactivision gathers the information from the camera, sends it via the terminal window to Flash where the scripts are all handled, and sounds are born!
It may sound simple, but it took weeks of experimenting with light and pressure sensors before the concept of image tracking was introduced. Once we discovered the open source Reactivision, we could begin manifesting our vision of adding sounds to this fantastic traditional game.
We plan on taking Dominotes to the next level by adding several new features in preparation for our next exhibition. Keep revisiting for updates on the project.