Scavenger Stuffs
Savannah Mann
Scavenger Stuffs is a project dedicated to bringing wearable tech to a broader demographic by creating a game where all components are not only fun and enjoyable, but also low-cost to produce, maintain, or replace. The game consists of a scavenger-hunt-like format where people download an app, travel to different locations to find stuffed animals, then scan a pendant against the stuffed animal to get a digital representation of that animal in their game.
- What does your project do?:
The Scavenger Stuffs app is a game where you can collect various types of animals and send them on adventures for set amounts of time. During their adventure they send you updates and in-game rewards. Scanning a pendant against one of the real-life plushes will reward players with more animals.
- Who is your project for?
The app is designed for age groups between 7 and 20, and parents are also encouraged to play the game along with their children.
- What are the steps that a user would go through to interface with the technology?
The app will be available for download through the Google Play store. Players will be asked to create an account during this process. If a player has a Scavenger Pendent, then can register the name on the pendant to their account, and after that point any animal scanned with that pendent will result in that animal being added to the user account. From that point on, the user is free to roam around looking for and collecting animals, and they can send their animals off on adventures within the game itself.
- What makes your project different from existing products?
Many location/product to virtual pet products have been done before (Webkinz, Pokemon Go, etc.), but none incorporate any technology in their designs other than a phone. Scavenger Stuffs allows for the game and components to be free-standing and cheaply manufactured, which means that players get a physical pendant to own, keep, and personalize at low cost, and locations which house the animal plush get an attraction to encourage visitors.
- inspiration images/artists/designers/projects that are relevant to your idea
- digital or scanned sketches of your project
- a bulleted list of the materials/tools you’ll use/need
- 10-20 RFID Tags
- 1 RFID READ/WRITE Module per Animal
- 1 RaspberryPI Zero W per Animal
- Fabric + Polyform Stuffing for each animal
- Pendents to house tags (preferably 3D printed)
- Unity Software
- GameSparks Software
- list of skills/concepts that you will need to master for completion (for example soldiering, sewing, etc)
- a timeline (where you would like to be when in the project)
- Here are major milestone dates for you to work around
- Milestone 1 (March 25): Prototype animal design is created and houses a functional PI unit which can communicate with the server.
- Milestone 2 (April 8): App is developed to the point that the user can receive corresponding animals from scanning pendents
- Milestone 3 (April 22): App features games and adventures for the user to embark on
- Here are major milestone dates for you to work around
- a fallback plan
- Worst comes to worst (if the RFID scanning goes poorly), users will be able to scan a QR code posted on the animal to recieve the reward in-game.