Human-Swarm Interaction - Mobile Swarm Arcade Game

Closed Human-Computer Interaction Computer Science Games Engineering Bachelor Master Project Thesis Games Research Lab

Background

Maintaining control over a complex system, that is a system that is comprised of large numbers of interacting, interdependent components, is a difficult task. The field of human-swarm interaction aims at finding slick solutions to this challenge by deploying and inventing innovative means, modalities and designs of interaction. Considering the novelty of this whole field, games lend themselves well for pushing the envelope, for amalgamating the state-of-the-art in visualisation, user interface design and novel input and display technologies. We have previously developed a series of games to investigate the complexity of complex, or self-organising, games [2] and we have conducted a first comparison between two interac- tion modalities indirect touch (using a mobile for control only) and 3D gesture recognition (using a LeapMotion device). Recent advances in AR and VR hardware and software libraries render it possible to push the boundaries further and to take the next step towards real-world swarm systems that will play an important role in emerging technologies [1].

Tasks

This project challenges the student to redefine the arcade games genre for mobiles based on the need to control a potentially large number of spatially interacting swarm agents. There are no limits to the student’s creativity—the player can play a single agent or a group, guide the swarm through a force field, or determine its flight and interactions by changing the environment. Goals may, for instance, include covering large areas, flying in formation, maintaining a large number of individuals, avoidance of obstacles, collection of items, etc. As the result of this thesis work, an iteratively designed mobile game is expected whose evolution has been well-directed and well-documented.

Prerequisites

A background in computer graphics, mobile programming, and game development is a great asset for this work.

References

[1] Victor Gerling and Sebastian von Mammen. Robotics for self-organised construction. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE 1st International Workshops on Foundations and Applications of Self* Systems, pages 156–165, Augsburg, Germany, September 2016. IEEE Computer Society.

[2] Sebastian von Mammen. Self-organisation in games, games on self-organisation. In Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-Games), 2016 8th International Conference on, pages 1–8. IEEE, 2016.

Contact Persons at the University Würzburg