"The Binary Game" is a game to teach children about the binary number system. 

The game displays a decimal number (between 0 and 15) and the child guesses its binary representation using 4 different switches (on and off). Super Mario SFX are played for the different interactions to enhance the gaming experience.

This was a group project with Seena Peethambaran during the “Creating Tangible Interfaces Workshop” by Massimo Banzi at Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana, master program in Interaction Design 2013/2014. 

The brief was to design a game for a technological science museum for children. 

The aim was to explain one of the digital concept we live by each day. A working prototype was designed and coded to demonstrate the concept and the interaction of the game.

The project context was to build an entity for a technology expo for children below 13 helping them learn about concepts in the digital day to day life in a simple way. Also the entity was to be developed at a minimal cost and in a simple way to help small scale establishments reproduce the same. Digital technology is an inevitable part of everyday life. It is based on the binary system. Hence the concept behind the project is to help students understand the basics of binary system by understanding the conversion from decimal system up to 4 places in the binary system representing numbers 0 to 15. As each unit in binary system has 2 states 0 and 1 which is digitally understood as ON and OFF, we used buttons and led lights to represent the ON and OFF state. To provide a feedback not just visually for the answers but also to stimulate the children mentally and engage them more we added the 8 bit music with different tones for the different states in the game.

The binary game is a physical L shaped box made from plywood. The user can play and learn numbers with the game by using the switches. By changing the switches’ state, the LEDs switch their state accordingly (on/off) and the correct answers are identified by different music tones. The LCD displays the game's feedbacks as well as the numbers in decimal to be converted. The game has a simple user interface for children of even small ages to play around with.  Its user friendly, compact and quick to engage the children.

The binary game is a physical game for children to learn about the binary system for numbers and conversion from binary to decimal using arduino. An arduino Leonardo kit has been used to build the system. 

The switches are connected to 4 digital INPUT pins of the Arduino (8,9,10,11). When the switches are switched on, it gives the input as 1 to pins else it is at 0. The pins 4,5,6,7 are connected as output pins to the LEDs. When the switch is switched on the corresponding LED lights up. 

The common anode RGB LED used to represent the different states of the game is connected to 3 digital output pins(1-Red, 12-Green,13-Blue) and to positive(+5V). When the user has entered the correct combination of the switches to represent the number the RGB led shows green. During loading of the game the RGB led blinks blue and rest of the time it glows red. 

The LCD is connected to the output pin 3 of the Arduino, to the +5V and to ground. The IR sensor is connected to the analog input 5 of the Arduino. One LED is connected to the positive to depict a 1 as a legend on the device. One end of ohm speaker is connected to pin 2 of the Arduino and the the other end is connected to ground.

The 9V battery is connected to the positive and ground of the circuit.

• LED

• Sparkfun 16X2 LCD

• Switches

• Ohm Speaker

• RGB Led

• ARDUINO LEONARDO Kit

• IR Sensor

• Battery 9V

- Mona Diab 

- Seena Peethambaran

Masters in Interaction Design at SUPSI

November 2013

Role: 

- Research and concept 

- Interaction/UX design 

- Hardware/Electronics
- Software development 

- Product design

- Documentation video

- Arduino

- Rhino