I had the chance to test Simpletones at PlayTech, an annual event at Parsons where children of all ages come to play test games and interactive projects that students are developing. It was a great experience where I could test a more finished version of Simpletones working with a new kind of audience . The evaluation is positive, kids interacted with the interface and behaved in a similar way from what I have observed before with previous versions, they explored, discovered, communicated, and they had tons of fun.
For this version I incorporated the color-lighted controllers, that gives the installation a different aspect and makes the computer vision sensing work more accurately. By doing this i solved the issue of clothing, since Simpletones uses color tracking, there is now no problem with the colors present in the clothing of users, making the tracking system consistent.
I also built the central pole with wheels that can be moved around the room.
Something beautiful to point out is that in many cases, children didn’t know each other but they still engaged in the collaborative experience. I see now that Simpletones can make complete strangers participate in a communal activity around music, which is something I expected but never really tried before.
