I... don't know if i can do mass effect justice.
aside from the few laggy bits, and the occassional annoyance with choosing a dialogue option and having Shepard (the main character) say something drastically different, this game is flawless. It is one of the most magnificent works in the industry I have every been exposed to.
The game actually got me emotionally invested... I was planning on going to bed 3 hours ago, but something that happened to a member of my crew left me feeling so... wronged, so cheated, that I continued to push for more and more plot.
They've done so much right, and I can't wait for the sequel (or to finish the first tomorrow!).
I only hope the sequel improves upon the first. then maybe I could stop playing games, having played the pinnacle of them.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
face tracking touch screen multitouch video game mash up?
As technology improves, actions and activities we have never before imagined become not just possible, but common. In order for this to happen though, people need to think up those weird combinations and applications for existing and emerging technologies. So, I was struck with the thought, of a fully interactive world, that just used the world we already have to create itself.
baby steps though. So the first step is finding a high quality touch screen display, with multitouch capabilities, and capturing large amounts of video with things like 360 cameras. when you take the video, have software along the vein of face tracking software map the parts of the body, and identify things that can be interacted with (such as light switches). Map a generic rig (the virtual bones and ligatures that make animation move) onto the image using the analysis of the face tracking software. If you have enough video captured you can interact with the people in the video.
If I am not explaining this well, I apologize, but I really think it has potential. It's the start of a way to make highly realistic, reactive computer programs. almost like the holodeck on star trek. Captures could include a fairly limited suite of positions and expressions. Taking angry, sad, happy, shocked, conflicted, honest, lying, and maybe exasperated, and you would have all the emotion you needed. Have postures that match, plus a few like, falling, running, jogging, depending on the nature of the features being used you could also include a few gymnastic positions (splits, back bends, high kicks, rolls, flips), and maybe some wire work (think wushu flying kung fu stuff). With that suite postures and expressions in place, you could put them in a virtual environment, and have them react and interact.
What would be left, essentially, would be collision detection, lighting, and some basic scripting. These are all things we already have the capabilities for already(though I in no way wish to downplay their difficulty or importance).
baby steps though. So the first step is finding a high quality touch screen display, with multitouch capabilities, and capturing large amounts of video with things like 360 cameras. when you take the video, have software along the vein of face tracking software map the parts of the body, and identify things that can be interacted with (such as light switches). Map a generic rig (the virtual bones and ligatures that make animation move) onto the image using the analysis of the face tracking software. If you have enough video captured you can interact with the people in the video.
If I am not explaining this well, I apologize, but I really think it has potential. It's the start of a way to make highly realistic, reactive computer programs. almost like the holodeck on star trek. Captures could include a fairly limited suite of positions and expressions. Taking angry, sad, happy, shocked, conflicted, honest, lying, and maybe exasperated, and you would have all the emotion you needed. Have postures that match, plus a few like, falling, running, jogging, depending on the nature of the features being used you could also include a few gymnastic positions (splits, back bends, high kicks, rolls, flips), and maybe some wire work (think wushu flying kung fu stuff). With that suite postures and expressions in place, you could put them in a virtual environment, and have them react and interact.
What would be left, essentially, would be collision detection, lighting, and some basic scripting. These are all things we already have the capabilities for already(though I in no way wish to downplay their difficulty or importance).
Monday, April 13, 2009
Dear god why
I just found a number so big that it hurts me to try to think about thinking about it.
it is the third number in Kurskal's TREE sequence. to give you a rough idea of how large this is, there is the following paragraph:
the difference between it and friedman's n(4) is apparently inconcievable, and the difference between friedman's n(4) and Graham's number is also inconcievable, and Graham's number is inconcievably larger than a Googolplex, which is a POWER of 10^98 large than a Googol, and a googol is so large that it cannot be written down as the paper it was written on would take up more space than there is in the KNOWN UNIVERSE, which is said to be so inconcievably la
I can't even explain how big the numbers needed to understand how big the equations used to get the numbers needed to explain how big the number is that is needed to explain how big the number arrived at by the equation used to find the third number in the TREE sequence is.
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it is the third number in Kurskal's TREE sequence. to give you a rough idea of how large this is, there is the following paragraph:
the difference between it and friedman's n(4) is apparently inconcievable, and the difference between friedman's n(4) and Graham's number is also inconcievable, and Graham's number is inconcievably larger than a Googolplex, which is a POWER of 10^98 large than a Googol, and a googol is so large that it cannot be written down as the paper it was written on would take up more space than there is in the KNOWN UNIVERSE, which is said to be so inconcievably la
I can't even explain how big the numbers needed to understand how big the equations used to get the numbers needed to explain how big the number is that is needed to explain how big the number arrived at by the equation used to find the third number in the TREE sequence is.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
two good concepts
So, I am an avid lifehacker reader, and enjoy a lot of the ideas they put forth. I have been collecting information in my brain for a long time. I still haven't figured out the best way to organize it all, maybe something involving google reader, gmail, delicious, yahoo pipes, and a mind brain interface? anyway, a topic for another day.
Today I have two fun ideas. ones I am looking forward to trying and will hopefully review again after trying them.
The first will be action cards. maybe just buying cards, but I think one could probably extend it to other things.
The idea is you write out a number of questions you have to answer before you purchase anything, print it on an index card, and keep it in your wallet, or take it shopping with you, or tape it next to your computer for when you use amazon. Hell, print up a bunch of cards.
These are just reminders of questions you should be asking yourself already. Things like:
1.) is this really the cheapest price you can get for this? have you looked? amazon, craigslist, google, your local retailers?
2.) do you really need this? is the function necessary to your continued quality of life (note this CAN include the big screen tv if you destress with things like that)?
3.) do you have something that does this already? do you have something that functions just as well you could use?
4.) do you have something lined up to pay for this? does this require debt?
and obviously they are guidelines, not rules, but I think it would help to have a checklist every time I looked at things. Amazingly enough I wouldn't find it very hindering either.
Next is the idea of big, medium, and small things. Kind of a way of prioritizing tasks that don't have a set amount of time to them. This is actually because I have a lot of trouble focusing on things, and can be combined with naps, break time systems, tangent lists, and the like.
so, if you have a big thing, like the apartment hunting that I have coming up (and the job search, oi), give a week to it, and every day of that week, when you have time, you work on the big task. you give yourself the week as a deadline, and to measure your progress. admittedly it will take time for people to get back to you and the like, but you can get a LOT of work done in a week.
medium items you give a day to, things like a report, you just figure you will give all the free time you have that day to getting it done, if you get it done, then you are all set.
small items are things you can do in less than an hour (like make dinner), and combined with prioritizing, this way I can set clear, simply goals.
idk, something to try.
Today I have two fun ideas. ones I am looking forward to trying and will hopefully review again after trying them.
The first will be action cards. maybe just buying cards, but I think one could probably extend it to other things.
The idea is you write out a number of questions you have to answer before you purchase anything, print it on an index card, and keep it in your wallet, or take it shopping with you, or tape it next to your computer for when you use amazon. Hell, print up a bunch of cards.
These are just reminders of questions you should be asking yourself already. Things like:
1.) is this really the cheapest price you can get for this? have you looked? amazon, craigslist, google, your local retailers?
2.) do you really need this? is the function necessary to your continued quality of life (note this CAN include the big screen tv if you destress with things like that)?
3.) do you have something that does this already? do you have something that functions just as well you could use?
4.) do you have something lined up to pay for this? does this require debt?
and obviously they are guidelines, not rules, but I think it would help to have a checklist every time I looked at things. Amazingly enough I wouldn't find it very hindering either.
Next is the idea of big, medium, and small things. Kind of a way of prioritizing tasks that don't have a set amount of time to them. This is actually because I have a lot of trouble focusing on things, and can be combined with naps, break time systems, tangent lists, and the like.
so, if you have a big thing, like the apartment hunting that I have coming up (and the job search, oi), give a week to it, and every day of that week, when you have time, you work on the big task. you give yourself the week as a deadline, and to measure your progress. admittedly it will take time for people to get back to you and the like, but you can get a LOT of work done in a week.
medium items you give a day to, things like a report, you just figure you will give all the free time you have that day to getting it done, if you get it done, then you are all set.
small items are things you can do in less than an hour (like make dinner), and combined with prioritizing, this way I can set clear, simply goals.
idk, something to try.
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