A Georgia Tech Class Blog
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ssharif7So imagine you’re stuck trying to solve a hard problem and all the old solutions seem unusable. Some creative problem solving is the only way through. Here are a few unusual Cognitive/Psychological boosts for creative thinking.
LINK: http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/03/boost-creativity-7-unusual-psychological-techniques.php
This game is basically about rhythm and playing a song with your walking and jumping rhythms. As you walk at a steady pace, the game has powerups and obstacles that you can get through by jumping in time to the music playing. One false step and the music will come to a crashing halt. Walking backwards also reverse plays the song. Just brilliant!
LINK: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/543815
Art Games are few and far between… This one deals with finding one’s way through the great journeys in the subconscious… This platformer has got beautiful visuals, a stunning soundtrack and fairly decent game play.
LINK: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/541124
Many people consider fractal art to be less than art, due to the highly mathematical nature of it’s form. Whichever side of that argument your views may lie on, there’s no denying the beauty that fractal art can possess. Here’s a list of a few brilliant examples.
LINK: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/17/50-phenomenal-fractal-art-pictures/
So I was checking out generative art web sites for our upcoming game (touch wood!) and I stumbled across this neat random recipe generator site (also available as App). Can’t vouch for how good they are (try it yourself at your own risk / try it out on a roommate 
), but it’s an interesting concept. Now if only browsers could output tastes as well so you could sample it instantly… (Note to self: Idea for killer invention!)
LINK: http://jamesoff.net/site/fun/random-recipe-generator/
Taking abstract landscapes and converting them into an addictive 3D journey makes for one hell of a trippy experience. The brilliant soundtrack also adds a lot to the experience. Proun… A ball rolling through insanity.
LINK: http://www.proun-game.com/
Fun game with beautiful visuals and funky sound. It takes some abstract works of Kandinsky and makes a game of navigating the crazy landscape created by it. Fun and extremely simple.
LINK: www.thecatthatgotthemilk.com
In Dresden, Germany, there is a wall that is a band unto itself. When it rains, the intricate series of trap drains and funnels create ‘musical’ sounds. Sadly, I couldn’t get a video of the wall while it rained. So you’ll have to make do with a video on a dry day. The building is a part of the student quarter where there are many themed buildings/walls. The one opposite is yellow with shiny golden aluminium foil to reflect light.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQXN85QfhlA
What does it mean to play or be playful? Dr Brian Magerko of LCC at GeorgiaTech seeks to model this play or playfulness computationally. This is a unique research problem as intelligent agents are not normally tasked with exploring a virtual space and doing exploratory actions in the interest of fun alone without rules or goals. Though as the games industry knows intimately, defining what is fun is always a challenge. This project seeks to provide a digital play space, possibly for children, with virtual playmates that know how to play with them. The applications could be immense for gaming where rules are not as defined but the goal is whatever the players choose it to be.
The ADAM Lab’s site had a vague blurb about the project, so here’s a paper on it.
LINK: http://adam.cc.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/fp276-zook.pdf
Just came across a fantastic article about a composer’s struggle to gain acceptance after creating a phenomenal AI Composing system Emmy. Emmy could create amazing pieces after any number of classical music composing styles in what must surely have been a very early CBR + Rule Based approach to algorithmic composing. Her successor Emily Howell adds elements of personality and interactivity to the mix. A brilliant read about her creator’s story and some samples of the music created by Emily.
LINK: http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/triumph-of-the-cyborg-composer-8507/
LINK: http://www.miller-mccune.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/emily_howell_1.mp3
LINK: http://www.miller-mccune.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/Emily_Howell_Track2.mp3
