Bestiary :: control freaks and devil dust bunnies

Although you all know that I don’t have time to play games AND there’s no public transport here in Terra Incognita,* I couldn’t go past something that involves devil dust bunnies, Howard Hughes, urine and a bus-strap-controlled play system. Especially because its creator Robot School Dropout aka Haiyan Zhang has made a non-bus dependent version available that even I can play.

And suck at.

The premise of Evil Dust Bunnies is very simple: You are the head of Howard Hughes and you must collect jars of urine while avoiding the dust bunnies which will turn your head into a cloud of death if they touch you.

So far so easy – it all turns bad when you realise that you have to use a bus hang-strap to control it…

Evil Dust Bunnies was an early prototype towards ‘Control Freaks’, Zhang’s completed MA project.

Control Freaksare devices that attach to everyday objects, turning them into interactive game play objects. When the Control Freak attaches to a host object, its movement, vibration or sound can be translated into control functionality for a game. The situation, location and behaviour of the host, are all enablers for opportunistic play experience. The Control Freak device therefore enables any object in any situation to become the focus of play adventure.”

A Control Freak attached to a person makes them and their game avatar continuous as both bunny-hop to clear obstacles. Attach to an office-chair and it becomes a pong-paddle. A bunch of Control Freaks allows multiple users to join in social games.


Control Freaks >>
Evil Dust Bunnies >>

Photograph by haiyan on Flickr A couple of Zhang's friends mid-transformation in the process of becoming Control Freaks

* Now there’s no need because I never go anywhere, scarcely leaving the Chambre Ardente as I devote everything to coordinating the search for Inky.