I’ve implemented two different face detection systems on the Nokia N900 of which one works pretty well. On top of that I’ve created a very simple game – a technology demo – that uses the player’s head position as the input. The game is called BurgerFace and looks like this:

BurgerFace Screenshot

The goal is to pick up the burgers that increase the score and dodge the knives that cost lives. I’ve also created a video that shows the game in action:

Now I need to evaluate how well this input method works and if it’s fun. For that, I need your help. I’ve put the game online. Download it here (764 KB). It’s a .deb package that can easily be installed on your N900 by opening the file after downloading it (it depends on SDL, SDL_mixer and SDL_ttf and yes, it’s optified). It can also be uninstalled easily through the application manager.

Please download the game and play it as much as you like. Afterwards, take the survey that asks you some questions about the game and the input method. You can either take part in the survey on your computer or directly on the N900. If you want to do it on your N900 you can easily open the survey directly from the game.

I’d be very happy if you played the game and took the survey as that would greatly improve my thesis.

Update: I also posted this on Maemo Talk.

Update: The survey is closed now. Thanks to all participants! The download is still online though.

Well, there goes my job. At least there is one good thing to it: My thesis won’t be “top secret” anymore. I guess I will post something about it soon.

One of these things is not like the others
OR
The mole who wanted to be a penguin

(Taken with the N900).

I was trying to install ESbox, an Eclipse plugin for Maemo development, but it wouldn’t work as my Eclipse version 3.5.1 was too new. I then tried to install an older version of Eclipse, but that wouldn’t run because my version of XULRunner was too new then. The error you then find in workspace/.metadata/.log look like this:

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!ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 4 0 2009-12-06 19:37:24.648
!MESSAGE Application error
!STACK 1
org.eclipse.swt.SWTError: XPCOM error -2147467262
	at org.eclipse.swt.browser.Mozilla.error(Mozilla.java:1597)
	at org.eclipse.swt.browser.Mozilla.setText(Mozilla.java:1820)
	at org.eclipse.swt.browser.Browser.setText(Browser.java:737)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.intro.impl.presentations.BrowserIntroPartImplementation.generateContentForPage(BrowserIntroPartImplementation.java:252)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.intro.impl.presentations.BrowserIntroPartImplementation.dynamicStandbyStateChanged(BrowserIntroPartImplementation.java:451)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.intro.impl.presentations.BrowserIntroPartImplementation.doStandbyStateChanged(BrowserIntroPartImplementation.java:658)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.intro.impl.model.AbstractIntroPartImplementation.standbyStateChanged(AbstractIntroPartImplementation.java:249)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.intro.impl.model.IntroPartPresentation.standbyStateChanged(IntroPartPresentation.java:443)
	at org.eclipse.ui.intro.config.CustomizableIntroPart.standbyStateChanged(CustomizableIntroPart.java:266)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ViewIntroAdapterPart$2.run(ViewIntroAdapterPart.java:74)
	at org.eclipse.swt.custom.BusyIndicator.showWhile(BusyIndicator.java:70)
[...]

By the way, grabbing the complete Eclipse install from the ESbox website doesn’t help when running a 64-bit system.

So here’s my way of getting it running anyway without harming the rest of my system:

1. Get and install Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers version 3.4.2 / SR2. Of course, you can keep your current Eclipse installed.
2. Get and unpack XULRunner 1.8.0.1, but don’t really install it. Just put it somewhere and memorize the path.
3. Edit eclipse-install/eclipse.ini and append this line to the end:

   -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath=/path/to/your/old/xulrunner/

   (Thanks to this forum thread.)

4. Go on and follow the normal ESbox installation instructions using Method 2: Eclipse Update Site.

I hope this helps someone.

Vor kurzem bin auf einen Test von Weltensaga bei BrowserSpielWelt gestoßen. Auch wenn Weltensaga dort nicht in den höchsten Tönen gelobt wird, gefällt der Test mir sehr gut, da man merkt, dass der Autor sich tatsächlich mit dem Spiel beschäftigt hat. Außerdem werden viele gute Seiten von Weltensaga hervorgehoben.

Die Einleitung kommt recht negativ daher:

[es] wird einem ein Konglomerat an Zutaten geboten, die anfangs hoffnungslos überfordern

Im Fazit wird das dann aber relativiert:

Weltensaga ist etwas konfus angelegt, wenn auch spielbar, und kann das Ruder auf den höher gelegenen Ebenen – incl. den Flottenverbandskämpfen – noch herumreißen [...]

Leider hat der Autor den Techtree von Level 1 übersehen:

Welche Forschung sich auf das Bevölkerungswachstum und -verhalten oder den Gebäudetechtree auswirkt, kann anfangs nur erahnt werden.

Dabei hätte dieser wohl gerade am Anfang weitergeholfen. Zugegebenermaßen ist die Grafik etwas im Wiki versteckt.

Besonders gefällt mit der Absatz über das Flottensystem:

Die Flottenaussendung und -produktion ist mit einigen Voreinstellungen verbunden, zum Beispiel der Menge, die von einem Planeten gefördert und geladen wird, und kann stets über die detaillierte Ansicht aufgerufen und kontrolliert werden. Die Möglichkeiten der Befehlserteilung sind mit 15 Einstellungen äußerst vielfältig; vom “Rückzug” bis hin zum “Wurmloch erschaffen” oder der planetarischen “Invasion” sind einige interessante Ideen umgesetzt worden.

Danke an Gerald Meyer für den Test!

Der Test ist zu finden auf: http://www.browserspielwelt.de/2009/10/weltensaga-die-welt-ist-doch-genug/

Windows Mobile

• Slow and clunky interface
• Almost no customization
• Most available applications (at least the free ones) are either unusable or you don’t really need them
• Paying for applications is too difficult as there is no centralized shop
• I think if Microsoft doesn’t do a major overhaul here soon Windows Mobile will be dead

Android

• The idea of an Open Source system based on Linux is good
• There seem to be good applications available and there is an easy way to get them
• From what I hear, the interface is alright
• For my taste, there is too much Java
• Google is slowly becoming too ubiquitous and has a pretty tight hold on the platform¹

iPhone

• The interface is obviously great, but it’s customizable
• There are so many applications available and they are easy to get
• It’s a good platform for small developers to earn some money²
• I don’t like Apple’s style of locking down the device
• It’s starting to feel like everyone has an iPhone

Palm Pre

• The interface looks great
• There seems to be good support for Open Source applications
• It’s pretty new
• Come on, writing applications in HTML and Javascript only? And native applications only by trusted third-parties?
• There are rumors that the Pre gathers user information and uploads it to Palm

Nokia N900 & Maemo

• The idea of running Linux on a smartphone is just awesome
• So there’s also very good support for Open Source software
• The device is very powerful (real multi-tasking!), it really is a computer
• The interface looks good and intuitive
• Nokia seems to get the idea that openness is good

To me, the Nokia N900 and Maemo look like the best choice for a smartphone at the moment – if it will ever be released. And no, I won’t wait for the N900 Duke Nukem Forever edition.

• The Home page has been changed a little adding links to some social networking sites.
• I added the Games page where I keep a list of professionally developed (and published) games I’ve worked on.

  Currently, there are two games (well, actually three) which I worked on during the last year at SnapDragon Games:

  • J4G – A Girl’s World
  • PONS VokabelBuddy Englisch and PONS VokabelBuddy Französisch

  All were released in October 2009. Check Games for further details.

• I also added my GPG key to the Contact page.
• The design got a little tweaked.

Change is good. (Bullet points are good, too. )

The repair was done by Convar. According to the accompanying paperwork, the Wii’s mainboard was broken and it has been replaced with a new one.

Nice service, Nintendo!

Broken Wii ready to be taken away

Our Wii has just been taken away by UPS.

It all started with sporadic random freezes during games like De Blob and Zelda. Then it started happening more regularly. We could sometimes play Zelda for more than an hour, but the Wii would often freeze after 5 or 10 minutes. The freezes were often accompanied by single polygons going crazy all over the screen and always by pretty bad noise from the speakers. In the end, there were also crashes right after a reboot when doing nothing at all in the Wii’s menu.

As the Wii was unusable, we decided to get it repaired under warranty. Fortunately, it’s rather easy to get the Wii back to Nintendo:

1. Make a copy of your proof of purchase.
2. Go to Nintendo’s RMA site where you create a new repair request and describe your problem.
3. Print the shipment documents and wrap up your Wii.
4. Go to UPS’s pickup site and tell them when you want them to get the Wii from you.

I hope our Wii will be back soon.

Update: UPS fetched the Wii on the September 29th. Today (October 2nd), I got an e-mail that is has been delivered to Nintendo.