Teddy Bert (Prototype 02):
Bert uses an arduino nano which is stored in a small metal tin in the head of the bear.
The four buttons on the limbs are made from velostat and felt, which allows them to be properly pressed and released without removing the finger. The hug sensor got more responsive and reliable by sewing a small ball which is filled with the conductive wool and then surrounded by the normal filling of the bear. Furthermore the bear has a gyroscope, accelerometer and a temperature sensor. He has an RGB Led embedded in his nose and vibration motors in his arms.
Bert is hooked up with unity and allows input and output through serial line communication.
Teddy Road Trip (the game):
You are doing a road trip with Bert. He sits in front of you and you are using his arms to steer a motor bike. You can speed up or break with his legs.
In the right upper corner is Bert’s heart rate shown. When you pass by a car too closely his heart rate will increase. As his heart speeds up so does the led on his nose. You might want to give him a hug to calm him down, because if his pulse goes over 200 he will quit the trip. If you crash into a car the road trip is over too of course.
Art by Bjørnar Frøyse, Sounds by Troels Nygaard.
Prototype :
This teddy bear controller has 5 possible inputs, hands and feet are touch sensitive (capacitive) and the belly is filled with conductive wool, so that it can be hugged.
The conductive wool is handmade, the hands are sewed with conductive thread and the feet made out of aluminium foil. The input gets processed by an arduino uno, which is stored in the rocket back pack of the teddy.
The controller is hooked up with unity over the serial port. 2 unity scripts handle the inputs and raise events as they occur, so they can be used for any games with some small adjustments.