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Getting it out there.

A project log for Perceptoscope

A public viewing device for mixed reality experiences in the form factor of coin-operated binoculars.

bensaxbensax 05/30/2016 at 06:370 Comments

I started to show the Perceptoscope to people around the interactive arts and hacker scene in LA. It was a nice safe way to demo, get feedback, and begin thinking about how to improve. Along the way, I got introduced to the gang from Two Bit Circus, and was given an opportunity to have the Perceptoscope premiere publicly at their first ever STEAM Carnival.

It was an exciting but terrifying moment. This was more of a proof of concept prototype than a rugged unit designed for persistent public deployment. I was going to need some help to get it ready for the Carnival only about a month away.

I'd been becoming a more active member of my local hackerspace CRASH Space, and with the help of Steve, a fellow member and experienced inventor, worked to get the scope protected and ready.

We added a lock to the bottom of the case so kids couldn't open it, and laser cut a set of acrylic shrouds to cover the gears and encoders. I found an old UPS battery to supply the power, and scrambled to ruggedize the wiring and write the software for the experience.

It was a simple experience. Using a physics engine, a random array of shapes would populate the space. Buttons on the scope allowed the user to shoot at and modify the shapes they were pointing to.

Over the course of four days at the Carnival, the Perceptoscope was played with by hundreds of kids and families, and I gained a huge amount of insight. However, it barely survived the experience, and I was constantly flighting short circuits, software glitches, and aggressive children pulling on delicate assemblies.

Exhausted and feeling a bit defeated, I took some time to regroup while I redesigned a more bulletproof Perceptoscope. The next step was getting together the courage and funding to build it.

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