Selfiestick Deathmatch

Summary

Selfie Deathmatch is a two person competitive physical game where the players stand in a very small circle each holding a selfiestick loaded with a camera phone. The phones automatically take a photo on a timer, and then the photo is judged. The number of faces counted is the base score. The photos are then tweeted (https://twitter.com/selfiedm), and the number of likes and retweets adds to the base score. All selfies are viewable from an eternal leader board.

This project also explores the overlap between games and theater in various ways. By using the theater lights and audio system, and integrating it into the whole game system, as the game state changed, so did the environment with it. Ramsey and I both dressed up as referees facilitating the game and adding to the performance of the game.

Technology

The Mini-residency at CultureHub let us combine theater lights and audio directly with out game – which is something I have wanted to do for years, but never had the chance to. The game was coded in Javascript and communicated through wifi using Open Sound Control protocol with Qlab (https://figure53.com/qlab/) which is an application that sets up and triggers sequences of theater lights and audio.

With this theater space set up, we were able to utilize the quadrophonic speaker setup to create immersive sounds of cheering and effects, which really added to the feel of an event/performance game. The theater lights were used as a room-wide flash when taking selfies and also acted as a dramatic effect when announcing the winners.

We also used BLU selfie phones with selfie sticks that seemed to be shorter and therefore less chance to break.

Oh yah, and a fog machine was used for ambiance!

Support

This project is supported by CulturHub’s Mini Residency 2017. Thank you to Eric Zimmerman for playtesting with us during the development of the game and for his invaluable advice.

Exhibitions/Demos

2017 CultureHub Fall Kick-off Event (http://www.culturehub.org/events/2017/9/22/season-kickoff)

Gallery

Underside of judge's panel. Simple circuit using FLORA.

Working with Jessie from CultureHub. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Getting it together. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Coordinating screen, Qlabs and game with Jessie from CulureHub. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Vinyl cut footprints for starting and final positions.

2017 Fall kickoff Event at CultureHub. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Winner announced. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Ramsey and I dressed up as referees, facilitating the game. Photo by Ramsey Nasser.

Another album cover for our imaginary band.