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THE
JAM-O-DRUM | Goal-driven Audiovisual Experiences Entertainment Technology Center Carnegie Mellon
University
Project Team: Donnie Antonini, Cliff Forlines, Randy Hsiao,
Ning Hu, Ian McCullough Advisor: Tina
Blaine
Introduction Phases I and II of Jam-O-Drum development
occurred at Interval Research ranging from July 1998 to January
1999. The original goals of those phases were centered on the desire
to change the context of music making into a casual social setting
so that novice players could have the experience of musical
interaction in an ensemble.
Building upon the earlier development
goals, Phase III sought to incorporate additional game elements so
that the musical experiences might be more structured and
goal-oriented. To that end, over the course of a six-week period, we
developed two new experiences for the Jam-O-Drum. Those two
experiences were dubbed "Rhythm Breaker" and "Circle Maze" for
development purposes.
View Rhythm Breaker movie (5.4 MB) | view Circle Maze movie
(2.8 MB)
Rhythm
Breaker
Overview Rhythm Breaker is a competitive musical game.
The players are expected to play the drum pads matching the rhythm
of a backing track. If a player is playing well, waves, or ripples,
are emitted from his/her pad. The waves push a moving object,
referred to as the puck, away from the player. The objective of the
game is to push the puck off the edge of the table, and if the puck
is pushed off the table on a player’s side, s/he
loses.
There are three main parts to Rhythm
Breaker: the graphics and animation, the rhythm checking, and the
backing track and rhythm. Rhythm Breaker is an experience
integrating visual and audio effects, hence the animations and
music. Rhythm checking evaluates the players’ performance in terms
of how well they match the rhythm while they are playing.
Original Development Plan Rhythm Breaker was developed using an Apple PowerMacintoshG4.
(See Appendix 2 for a full hardware diagram.) We decided to use
Cycling 74’s Max as a key element in our programmatic
infrastructure. Max is an object-oriented application-programming
environment that allows a programmer to drag objects onto a window
and connect the objects with lines to create applications. It is
designed specifically for developing music applications, since it
has extensive capabilities dealing with MIDI messages. Max also
allows a programmer to develop external objects that can be used in
Max applications. Rhythm Breaker’s external objects were written in
C.
Two programmers were assigned to take
responsibility for Rhythm Breaker. One focused on the backing track
and rhythm composition, while the other handled the graphics and
animation coding.
Graphics and
Interaction The original
intent was to use Max for the MIDI interface, the graphics, and the
rhythm checking. After encountering certain limitations, the
graphics and animation were reimplemented with Apple’s QuickDraw
API, and the rhythm-checking algorithm was transferred entirely to C
code.
During early user testing, a critical
issue was that the players did not understand the purpose of the
application without explanation when they saw it for the first time.
To increase the program’s intuitiveness, the proposed solution was
to combine Rhythm Breaker with Conductor — another concept that
emerged from brainstorming. Conductor was also based on rhythm
matching. It differs from Rhythm Breaker in that there is a
stationary "conductor" at the center of the table, that sends out
visual cues to the pads to signal the players when to hit. Since it
takes time for the visual cues to move from the center to a pad, the
players have time to prepare before they hit the pads.
Further user testing revealed that the
solution had a positive effect. Nearly all of the players understood
that they were supposed to hit the pads when the visual cues reached
the pads, and many realized the cues were timed to match the
background rhythm.
The next step was to enrich the
overall visual experience, and to implement more performance
feedback for the players. A series of textual cues were put in place
to keep players how they were doing. If the puck leaves the table on
a player’s side, a message is displayed on his/her pad reading,
"Come on! You can do better!" The intent of this is to encourage
rhythmically challenged players to keep trying — hence a message of
encouragement as opposed to a reprimand.
A scoring system based on the players’
rhythmic accuracy was also added so that an ultimate victor could be
declared at the end of the game. The players are able to see their
scores during the game and text messages are also given as visual
feedbacks to the players based on how well they are keeping with the
beat. For example, if a player hits a pad and matches a beat
perfectly, an image of the word "PERFECT!" scrolls upward from
his/her pad.
There was also some experimentation as
to how the waves should behave. One idea was that the waves would go
all the way across the table, but the strength of the wave would be
determined by how well the player was matching the rhythm — that is,
the more accurate the hit, the thicker the wave. The other idea was
that the waves would only move a distance proportional to how well
the player is doing — so if a player was doing well, his/her waves
will travel farther. Based on user test results, the former idea was
implemented, since the latter was confusing for some players.
At this point, QuickDraw began to
reveal it’s technological limitations, so the graphics and animation
were reimplimented again with Apple’s QuickTime. The use of
QuickTime permitted the opportunity for more bitmap images, as
opposed to simple sprites, to be used in the application. In effect,
this allowed the creation of customized visuals — or "skins" — for
the application. By choosing appropriate background music, the
Rhythm Breaker game could now be themed differently depending on the
environment in which it is place. We created three skins for the
game: a standard skin, a Halloween skin, and a skin based on the
arcade classic "Pac-Man."
Finally, beginning and ending states
for the game were incorporated. During the game-start state, the
pads will flash with the message "hit the pad to start". The
application would passively wait for a player to hit a pad to begin,
which is ideal if the Jam-O-Drum is a stand-alone console because if
no one is playing the Jam-O-Drum, the application will simply sit
there idly, without needing someone to monitor the process. The game
is over and a victor is declared when the song ends.
Music and Audio Composing for Rhythm Breaker’s backing and
rhythm tracks proved especially challenging. We maintained the
original project parameter of building experiences that are
enjoyable for novice and skilled musicians alike. The original
scheme had different pieces of the background rhythm delegated to
different players in order to try and make the entire rhythm a
combined product of all of the players’ efforts. User testing
revealed that most players perceived that there were three
completely different rhythms that didn’t make much sense together.
The composition was simplified so that all three players were given
a single, unified rhythm to match.
Ultimately, we created two rhythm
tracks. One rhythm was used for the standard and Halloween versions,
and another for the Pac-Man version. Both rhythms have the
characteristics that they are very simple and easy to follow
initially, and the same rhythm is repeated several times before
switching to a more challenging one.
Audiovisual
Integration A major
challenge was striking an appropriate balance between the visual and
audio elements. After the "conductor" component was integrated into
the experience, most players focused their attention almost
exclusively on the visual cues. A significant number felt that if
they had diverted their attention to elsewhere on the table, they
would not be able to follow the rhythm. Simplifying the musical
tracks, starting simple, and pacing the changes started to help, but
continued tuning is necessary. The key here is finding a rhythm that
is very simple at first, repeat it for a long time, and then
gradually increase its difficulty. This would make the players focus
on the visual cues initially, learn the rhythm quickly, explore what
else is going on, and then, if necessary, have the visual cues
available as a crutch when the rhythm becomes more difficult to
follow.
Future
Directions Rhythm Breaker
does require additional development. It ultimately should be a
stand-alone application that does not require an external
application such as Max to run. Also, currently, when the game ends,
an attendant needs to quit the application and restart it for the
next game. Some mechanism should be built in to have it
automatically restart, just like any other arcade game. Rhythm
Breaker should also be made more customizable in that one could
choose what kind of skin or theme to use at the beginning of the
game. The biggest challenge with Rhythm Breaker, however, is tuning
the interaction so that the players will be more aware of the fact
that they are trying to match the rhythm of the backing track rather
than just matching the incoming visual cues.
CircleMaze
Overview Our high-level goal for this experience was to
design a game that furthered communication and collaboration among
its players. The task for the players is to collect all of the
CircleMaze’s pieces in the middle of the game board. Because the
maze is divided into three concentric rings, the pieces must pass
through each ring in turn; thus, all three players must work
together to achieve this goal. Movement of the pieces and rings
produce changes in the musical score; therefore, players of the
CircleMaze are involved not only in a game to collect all of the
pieces, but also in a
collaborative music making experience.
Each of the three rings is filled with
maze-like paths, some providing the pieces a route from one ring to
another, some looping the pieces back into the ring from which they
came. Each of the three players is in control of the rotation of one
ring. Players turn their ring through turning a wooden disk attached
to the side of the Jam-O-Drum. The rings affect one of three musical
tracks through their absolute rotation — as a player turns their
ring, they mix their track from among several complementary
loops.
At the beginning of the experience, a
number of pieces are distributed throughout the outer ring of the
maze. Each of the many pieces moves blindly through the maze,
pulsing to the rhythm of the music. If the paths from one ring to
another align, a piece will cross into the new ring; however, if a
piece hits a wall, it will simply reverse its direction. When pieces
enter the center circle, they cease moving but continue to pulse to
the beat.
The action of turning the circles back
and forth clearly lends itself to the scratching of a DJ’s record.
The game’s music fits with this metaphor. Each player is in control
one of three complementary tracks of music — the bass, the beat, or
the melody. We chose Techno music for this experience because it
lends itself to looping and to the blending of multiple tracks. Its
high energy and fast pace fit in nicely with several qualities of
the experience. It has the additional quality of being somewhat
international, belonging to no particular ethnic group.
The only requirement of the players is
that they are able to work together as a team. No musical experience
is required as any movement of the rings produces a complementary
musical effect. Hopefully, many individuals who might not approach
an instrument because of their fears of performance will approach
the CircleMaze because of its game-like appearance. Only after
playing through the maze might one realize they have been playing an
unusual instrument.
User Testing and
Revision Testing out the
CircleMaze on people was an important part of the development
process. Through this testing, we were able to identify some of the
problems with the initial design and make improvements to the
experience. On four separate occasions, we brought in a wide range
of individuals to play through the game. Below are descriptions of
several of the issues and opportunities that
arose.
Interaction Confusion: In early rounds
of testing, our players did not recognize the wooden disks as
interaction devices. Without the ability to turn the maze’s rings,
they quickly became frustrated with the game. This confusion was
only amplified when we ran these players through another experience
first, one in which they interacted with the table’s surface
directly.
Rather than allowing the animated
images on the surface of the Jam-O-Drum to continue to compete for
the player’s attention, we turned off the projector at the beginning
of the game until the players made their way to the now brightly
painted, black-lit disks in front of them. After making these
changes, few individuals had trouble finding the interaction
location.
Rotation Confusion: Several players
expressed a misunderstanding of their influence on their ring.
Instead of seeing rotation around the center of the board, they saw
the maze as "reconfiguring" itself as their turned their disk.
Instead of working to align the paths between the rings by rotating
them into position, they worked at finding the "right" combination
of rotations, describing the game as a "combination
lock."
We addressed this issue by animating
the rotations, a change which improved players understanding of the
interaction greatly. Furthermore, we would like to replace the solid
color backgrounds of the rings with non-uniform imagery — a change
that should further help players understand the movement of the
rings.
Musical Control: In early rounds of
testing, we had not implemented the player’s influence over the
background music. Interestingly, many players incorrectly assumed
that they did have control. One player commented, "I loved how when
I turned the dial, the music changed!" when in fact there was no
change at all.
As we intended to implement this
functionality from the beginning, we felt that our players were
primed to understand this interaction; however, when we did add this
feature our players stopped responding to it. Our best guess is that
as the development of the game progressed, the CircleMaze attained a
higher level of visual richness that overwhelmed the players’ audio
sensitivity. Finding a balance between the visuals and the audio of
such an experience remains a topic for further development and
study.
Goal of the Game: In the early
development of the CircleMaze, we were very worried that players
might not understand the goal of the game. We were so worried that
we spent a good amount of time brainstorming on how we might teach
people to gather all of the board’s pieces in the center of the
maze.
Through testing, we found that 53 out
of 54 players correctly identified the goal of the game, without any
elaborate help from us.
Reference Points: From the
beginning of the development, we were intent on creating an
experience that forced people to work with one another to achieve a
goal. This interdependence is the most important facet of the game;
it requires a high level of communication among the players. We
quickly found that while we were requiring a lot of talking, we were
not providing a means to reference a particular game piece or
location on the board. We heard many exchanges among the players of
the type, "Lets work on that one. No! That one. No!
That one!" Interestingly, while the entire surface of the
board was well within reach of all of the players, many individuals
did not seem to want to reach into the projection space to point out
a particular piece.
Our partial solution was to give all
of the pieces a unique color. Players quickly began to focus on "the
red one," or "the yellow one." Furthermore, we would
like to replace the solid background color of the rings with images
that contain visual landmarks, so that players can talk about "the
one on the bridge" or "the one by the tower."
Switching Ring Control: In early
testing, several players expressed regret that they had the "worst
ring." Interestingly, depending on whom we asked, the "worst ring"
was sometimes the middle one, sometimes the outer one, and sometimes
the inner one.
Whatever the case, we now switch the
position of a player’s ring after each round. The individual, who
felt cheated having been given the middle ring in round 1, should
feel better after controlling the outer ring in round 2, and the
inner ring in round 3.
Controlled Exposure: Some of the first
words out of several players’ mouths upon seeing the CircleMaze were
"Yikes! This is madness!" and "This is so overwhelming!" Initially
we were starting them out on a new experience and asking them to not
only learn a new interaction technique on a new device, but also
asking them to handle the stress of leading 30 pieces into the
middle of the board.
The solution we found is to limit
their exposure to the facets of the game. Presently, a group of
players is given a single piece at the beginning of the experience,
so that they can more easily learn the rules of the game. Once they
have some practice working together and controlling their rings,
they move on to 2 pieces, then 4, and so on.
The End: A problem that we were
thrilled to find was that several groups we tested did not want to
leave at the end of session. With other groups, interest dwindled
slowly but surely over time. To address both of these issues, we
added a pair of high-level game elements.
First, we implemented a game clock.
Shown at the center of the maze, the game clock counts down the
remaining time the players have to clear the board. As pieces enter
the center, the players are rewarded with additional time. This game
element heightened the level of urgency felt by our players. If the
players run out of time, they restart the current level.
Secondly, we limited the number of
levels to 5 so that there is now a fixed end to the experience.
Instead of continuing onto infinity, a successful group of players
are given the total time they took for all five rounds so that they
might play again to beat that combined time. We feel that this end
will encourage players to replay through the experience, instead of
overplaying it in their first encounter.
Future Directions
We would like to continue
the development of this experience through further user testing and
revision. Like the Rhythm Breaker, the CircleMaze should ultimately
become a stand-alone device, requiring little of an attendant’s
attention. One avenue of exploration that we were unable to pursue
during the course of this project was visual skins. We feel that
replacing the solid color background of each of the rings with some
form of imagery might allow for the customization of the experience
for a particular group. Furthermore, such images would aid players
in the communication process — they would be better able to
reference particular points on the board if they could talk about
their unique characteristics. Further work is required in the
development of the game’s control devices. The current hardware
implementation fails in that it cannot register a disk’s rotation
until the player has already turned it; thus, any animation we add
to the movement of the rings adds to the visual lag. A more accurate
input device is needed. For more
information: http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/jamodrum/index.htm
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