Mario Ball (2012)
collaboration with Babycastles, Keita Takahashi and Vikram Subramanian.
Summary
Mario Ball is oversized physical controller for the original Mario Brothers game that requires 2 people to hold it up and use it. The controller uses 90 magnetic reed switches which are triggered when a magnetic ball (dressed up as Mario) is rolled around. The Arduino and 6 multiplexers are used in addition to the magnetic reed switches. The maze senses where the ball is and Mario appears at the corresponding location on the original Mario Brothers screen interface. I love that the controller is built for 2 people and is large and heavy enough so that it is almost impossible for one person to play alone. It even has cute ceramic and brass handles to indicate where the players should hold it.I built the controller with Keita, and Vikram wrote the code for the game.
Exhibitions/Demos
- 2012 Babycastles Summit, Museum of Art & Design, New York, NY [site]
