MIDI Controller Monkey

MIDI Controller Monkey
Peter Kim | Make Vol. 08- 2006 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 1 mb
Who said input devices have to be hard and mechanical? Here's one that's as soft, bendable,
and easy to play with as a plush toy. In my MIDI primer (MAKE. Volume 07, page 158. "MIDI
Control"), we saw how to use the MIDI data specification, originally designed for music, to interconnect both musical and non-musical hardware and software. Now, we'll use this approach to construct a sock monkey instrument you can use to control visuals and sound.

The monkey has flex sensors sewn into its limbs, and it wears a sensor interface board as
a backpack. The sensors detect the monkey's movements, and the board converts the readings
into MIDI data. This lets the monkey conduct audio-visual symphonies and perform other
MIDI magic.

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I, Pleo

I, Pleo
Robert Luhn | Make Vol. 08- 2006 | Pdf | 9 pgs | 1 mb

Can a machine have a soul? Can it think? Can it laugh and cry, bug you for a snack, tease you, or curl up on your couch and dream robotic dreams? Can you build such a machine? And can you sell it for $250?

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Gun-Operated Alarm Clock

Gun-Operated Alarm Clock
Roger Ibars | Make Vol. 08- 2006 | Pdf | 10 pgs | 2 mb

KILLING TIME
Hack a retro gaming light gun with some tilt switches to control a vintage digital clock radio. After the alarm wakes you up, you can grab then gun and kill i off. Ins't that what you've always dreamed of doing?

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Coffee Roaster

Coffee Roaster
Larry Cotton | Make Vol. 08- 2006 | Pdf | 12 pgs | 2 mb

THE NIRVANA MACHINE
Lots of folks think that quaffing a cup of coffee from boutique beans comes close to nirvana, but roasting your own beans will bring you even closer. That's why I call this roaster the Nirvana Machine.

I didn't drink coffee for most of my life, and I even survived without it in the Navy. But when my son introduced me to a cup of legendary West Coast java (OK, Peet's), I began to understand what all the fuss was about. Soon, I too became fussy about excellent coffee.

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Clean Out a Dishwasher

Clean Out a Dishwasher
Thomas Arey | Make Vol. 08- 2006 | Pdf | 3 pgs | 1 mb

Salvaging components from unwanted appliances.

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Real-Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers

Real-Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers
Mark Haigh-Hutchinson | Pdf | 530 pgs | 3 mb

Video games and other interactive real-time applications are often
required to present a view of a virtual world in a manner that is both
contextually appropriate and aesthetically pleasing. The internal
mechanism responsible for this process is colloquially known as a
virtual camera system. As the main avenue through which the viewer
interacts with the virtual world, the effectiveness of the camera system
at presenting such a view has a major infl uence on the viewer’s satisfaction
and enjoyment of the experience. A poorly implemented camera
system will likely cripple the application to such an extent that
excellence in graphical presentation or interactive mechanics may be
insuffi cient to overcome it. A brief perusal of video game reviews, for
example, will reveal common problems such as poor framing, cameras
passing through environmental features, and so forth. These recognized
problems will have a negative effect on the rating that the
game receives. On the other hand, a well-designed camera system —
one that presents the virtual world in an unobtrusive and easy to
understand manner — allows a great interactive design to become
fully realized. In light of this, it is surprising that there is so little
information available to the designers and implementers of interactive
camera systems.

Real-Time Cameras is aimed at expanding the knowledge of designers
and programmers regarding this crucial yet often overlooked topic.
While there is common ground between traditional cinematography
techniques and virtual camera systems (especially, of course, with
respect to non-interactive movie sequences), the dynamically changing
nature of video games and other interactive real-time applications
demands different approaches and solutions. Interactive application
design lags behind traditional movie making in that the underlying
principles of real-time camera design are still in their formative process.
However, enough information is now available to establish a set
of ground rules that should apply regardless of the genre or presentation style.

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