I recompiled my photography “collection”.  I wouldn’t call it a portfolio because they aren’t exclusively the best photos, but also my favorites.  I think I still have more that I’ll want to add, but it’s much more complete than it was before.  The old site is still up, for now, at http://DeptOfArt.com.  The new site is at http://DeptOf.com/Photography.

One warning, the file size is huge.  I am not completely done building the shell so basically all the photos are in 1 category, and I require you to preload the whole set before you view any of the photos (because it makes my life easier).  Once I finish the site, all of that will be much more user friendly (and less bandwidth intensive).  That said, I also intentionally made the photos somewhat large and saved them at a decent quality.  So forgive me if you don’t have a high bandwidth connection.  Also, I’m using Flash so for all of you on cell phones, forgive me.  You’ll have to check it out in a browser.

Anyhow, that’s it for the “weekend update”.  Now I’ve got to go back to working on “real” projects.  I’ll have an update on Vignettes by tomorrow (hopefully).

Best,
Philip Likens
Texas based Interactive Artist and Web Design Instructor

I’d like to pick 3 of these projects.  I’d like to do a bit of a spread over different age groups, and different technologies.  My initial thoughts are Tower Defender (because it’s a game for older children, and competitive), Alphabet Soup or Mustache Mayhem (because it’s aimed at younger children, in a group setting) and Spelling Bee or Tic-Tact-Toe (because it’s aimed at children a little older, plays off the neural network technology, and is single player).  I think Mustache Mayhem would be the more fun choice for the younger group.

Tower Defender – This game is specifically for children learning about angles and geometry, though younger may be interested in playing.  Thus, the target age is High School: 15-18 years old.  The digital game board would be set up similar to an air hockey table or soccer field.  On the two ends would be two towers with a gun on the top.  The gun launches a puck or ball toward the other person’s tower at some angle (determined by the player).  Each tower would be a semicircle, centered along either edge of the “field” with 3 targets (1 facing the other person directly, the other two at 45 degree angles – something like this: \ __ / ). The goal is to hit the other person’s 3 targets before the other person hits yours.  The only defense you have would be 3-4 walls that you can set up at the beginning of the game to defend your tower.  The walls wouldn’t be huge, but big enough to deflect the ball off in a certain direction if it reached a certain space.

Alphabet Soup – This game is aimed at children 3-10¹, depending on their developmental level, handicaps, etc.  The idea is that the screen is a “soup” of letters.  The game is to find whichever letter the game asks you to find.  The letters to search for would be both audibly and visually represented. A selection of a letter would warrant either positive or negative feedback – again both audibly and visually most likely.

Mustache Mayhem – This is a finding game that doesn’t require any language.  The idea is basically to find all the people with a green shirt, find all the people with stripes on their shirt, find all the people with a brown mustache, etc.  Instead of the alphabet soup setup, this is a sea of torso’s and faces, all with randomized characteristics.

Spelling Bee – This game is for children who know how to form letters², but need practice making words.  The idea is that they can draw a letter at a time and the software will recognize the letter, adding it to their word.  There would be a free-form mode in which the child could create their own words, or a spelling mode where the child is given a word to spell.

Tic-Tac-Toe – The classic game of tic-tac-toe, enhanced by the touch surface and neural networking to allow each person to draw their xs or os and the program will discern which is which and declare a winner.