What happens when two fingers are your only controller?
What happens when two fingers are your only controller?
Firefly Catch, a spatial game where hand gestures, AI, and a projected night sky turn a tabletop into a playground.
Category
Interaction Design, Spatial Computing, Game Design
Tools
P5.js · Procession · OpenAI API
Timeline
1 month (October 2024)
Firefly Catch, a spatial game where hand gestures, AI, and a projected night sky turn a tabletop into a playground.
Category
Interaction Design, Spatial Computing, Game Design
Tools
P5.js · Procession · OpenAI API
Timeline
1 month (October 2024)
A night sky is projected onto a table. Fireflies drift across it, pulsing with a soft glow. Two players stand beside each other. To catch a firefly, they have to do one thing: bring their index fingers together near it. One finger each.
A night sky is projected onto a table. Fireflies drift across it, pulsing with a soft glow. Two players stand beside each other. To catch a firefly, they have to do one thing: bring their index fingers together near it. One finger each.
Regular fireflies are worth 1 point. Every 15 seconds, the AI drops a golden one worth 5.
Regular fireflies are worth 1 point. Every 15 seconds, the AI drops a golden one worth 5.
"The whole game lives in the space between two fingertips."
"The whole game lives in the space between two fingertips."
Here's where it gets interesting.
Hold your fingers together for more than 3 seconds and the game turns on you, you start losing 6 points per second. Your finger indicators bleed from white to orange to red. You can't catch anything until you let go.
The same gesture that scores points can destroy your score. You have to be fast, but more importantly, you have to be fast together.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Hold your fingers together for more than 3 seconds and the game turns on you, you start losing 6 points per second. Your finger indicators bleed from white to orange to red. You can't catch anything until you let go.
The same gesture that scores points can destroy your score. You have to be fast, but more importantly, you have to be fast together.
"Catch and release. Hesitate, and the fireflies start catching you."
"Catch and release. Hesitate, and the fireflies start catching you."
OpenAI runs underneath the game as a live game master.
It analyzes player performance every 20 seconds, adjusting difficulty on the fly, spawning bonus fireflies for strong players, and delivering a personalized performance review when time runs out. No two rounds feel the same.
OpenAI runs underneath the game as a live game master.
It analyzes player performance every 20 seconds, adjusting difficulty on the fly, spawning bonus fireflies for strong players, and delivering a personalized performance review when time runs out. No two rounds feel the same.
What Stayed With Me
What Stayed With Me
Constraints are collaborators. The fingertip pivot wasn't plan B. It was the better idea I couldn't have reached without the failure of plan A.
Constraints are collaborators. The fingertip pivot wasn't plan B. It was the better idea I couldn't have reached without the failure of plan A.
Cooperation changes everything. One gesture, two people. That's all it took to shift the game from reflex to relationship.
Cooperation changes everything. One gesture, two people. That's all it took to shift the game from reflex to relationship.
Risk makes reward feel real. Without the penalty, catching fireflies was pleasant. With it, every held second became a negotiation, and players started laughing, panicking, and scheming together.
Risk makes reward feel real. Without the penalty, catching fireflies was pleasant. With it, every held second became a negotiation, and players started laughing, panicking, and scheming together.