The alarm clock is the source of ire and inspiration for designers. This is a great compilation of unusual designs.
Link: The Carpet Alarm and Other Innovative Wake-Up Tools (plazarugs.com, via)
Posts Tagged: unusual
10
Jan 08
Unusual game control schemes
“Some present their own standards in its place, due to their being well-suited to their style of game; the dual joystick (shooting) style has been used in a few games itself, from the old classic Robotron: 2084 to Geometry Wars. Others really have no chance of ever becoming a standardized control scheme, but are okay with it. After Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, why would anyone else even care to make a platformer controlled entirely with the pressings of two buttons? But then, why would someone have cared to make it to begin with?
“For some of these games, special hardware is needed to measure player performance in greater detail, so as to translate it into game terms. In the Golden Tee games, rolling the trackball further and faster makes for a stronger shot. Other games use special controllers to accentuate the game experience. Guitar Hero naturally does this to help the player feel like a rock star, and the bicycle-powered arcade game Propcycle is perhaps the closest we will ever come to experiencing human-powered flight.”
Link: Game Design Essentials: 20 Unusual Control Schemes (gamasutra.com)
6
Dec 07
Curious cameras
Nicholas Nova has put together a list of curious cameras.
”[I write about this because] it’s both the interest in automatic cameras as tools for User Experience research and as curious devices from the near future. Automatic camera can indeed be used to ask people to reflect on their activities (with some ethical limits) and weird cameras are very interesting devices to imagine new uses.”
Link: A list of intriguing digital cameras (liftlab.com)
