Twitch forces its user with electric shocks to play a computer game perfectly.
This device shows a new way of experiencing computer games.
It lets the user not only feel the signals that are necessary to progress within the game but actually forces them to press the appropriate buttons with electrical impulses.
The computer plays a particular version of the game ”Snake“ automatically where an algorithm calculates if the next move has to be up, down, left or right. The computer itself can not move the snake. It just sends signals to the two controllers.
Each controller can receive two different signals. When a human is connected to them, each signal lets a different finger twitch and unwillingly press one of four possible buttons. This moves the snake into the appropriate direction and starts the next calculation loop. The user has not to do anything actively. However, without a human, the system would not work.
Twitch is inspired by some of the unconventional ways of playing computer games. Many people enjoy just watching others play on platform like "twitch.tv" cheat or spend hours to find the most efficient route through a given level. This project is inspired by all of those methods but at the same time something completely different. It shows how differently the overall topic of playing computer games can be approached by showing another method that concentrates more on the experience then on just reaching a given goal.