Gather Innovative Ideas Here!

[Game_over]

I would have some active program in the background that would let you know who was online and weather he/she was open for transferring files and chat and other things like that during a game. something like how xbox live is now.

 

[DeadlyDad]

That 3-axis accelerometer sounds like a lot of fun. Did MWeston say anything about the possibility of integrating this into the pandora? Maybe it could be sold as an addon. He did mention that there is still some space on the pcb for hackers later on... so maybe that could be added as a mod. Would be cool though if it was already in the pandora. I wonder if that would raise the price evenmore, though the pricing for the chip itself is pretty cheap. Let's ask! ^^

It could easily be incorporated into a HID USB dongle, as all it would need is an ADC & USB interface. As long as it was firmly attached to the main unit, any movement of said unit would register with the accelerometer 1:1.

 

[sephiroth111]

It could easily be incorporated into a HID USB dongle, as all it would need is an ADC & USB interface. As long as it was firmly attached to the main unit, any movement of said unit would register with the accelerometer 1:1.



(that was another one of my ideas i had planned when i asked for hardware hacking fun.)

 

[varioustimes]

Hi there =)

I don't think I would buy a pandora anytime soon, but I thought the following could be of interest:

The two things that makes me never regret buying a GP2X:

-LGPT (GP2X Music Tracker)
-Pikix (GP2X VJ (Graphics Mixer) Software

They allow me to do live shows and events with an handheld console I can practice with anywhere I go.

So basically anything related to art production would be awesome

Could be through the touchscreen (Drawing ANSi Style oldschool graphics?), or a betterish sound chip, an awesome synth chip like the 2A03 (NES) or the SID (C64) (or the GB one, forgot the name), a DSP, a preamp for an external microphone (Sampling), etc

I'm not saying this is needed or that's it's a good idea, just telling what an artistically inclined individual might find appealing in the device =P



If the pandora gets-

1. LGPT (i think it will from what ive heard)
2. A fasttracker2 (milkytracker) style tracker that makes use of the wealth of pandora control options in a clever and usable way.
3. An audio editor that can use some vst effects to process and save files.
4. Decent battery life and the ability to be mains powered without feeling too awkward..

Ill definatly buy one. The above would = a very usable studio in a box for some sorts of music but id have my fingers crossed that enough people thought so that some more interesting musical toys, tools etc were made too. With two joysticks, a dpad, buttons, keyboard and touchscreen it could be a great instrument.

 

[efegea]

The pandora should have an IR sensor, like the one on the wiimote.

This is why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&feature=user

 

[yannv]

The pandora should have an IR sensor, like the one on the wiimote.
That's actually a 1024x768 camera with an IR filter and a DSP detecting bright spots, and the size alone of that module makes it untenable for the Pandora. Another point against it is that it's not useful on its own. As the video demonstrates, you need IR beacons to do anything with it, normally two of them. It's doable if you integrate a camera by the screen, like on many modern laptops, and have the option of a filter on it.. but I think the cost cannot be justified, with how little use those get.

 

[DeadlyDad]

The pandora should have an IR sensor, like the one on the wiimote.
That's actually a 1024x768 camera with an IR filter and a DSP detecting bright spots, and the size alone of that module makes it untenable for the Pandora. Another point against it is that it's not useful on its own. As the video demonstrates, you need IR beacons to do anything with it, normally two of them. It's doable if you integrate a camera by the screen, like on many modern laptops, and have the option of a filter on it.. but I think the cost cannot be justified, with how little use those get.

One thing that I think we should all keep in mind is that, to keep weight and costs down, the Pandora should have as few features built-in as possible, right down to a detachable keyboard. After all, it does have USB, so that anything you want to add, you easily can. I would even go so far as to advise Craig&Co. to offer a version without a keyboard for those that only want to get retro-gaming. They can always buy it later, and if they really want to get secretarial, they can just plug in their computer keyboard, mouse, and TV.

And if they want a IR camera like the Wiimote, they can just get an actual Wiimote and a bluetooth USB dongle. C'est facile, n'est pas?

 

[whiskthecat]

I don't think the devs would like for everyone to have different hardware.

Most of the people who want a keyboard don't want it hanging down with a little dongle.

As for multiple versions, go see what happened to the xgp.

 

[DeadlyDad]

I don't think the devs would like for everyone to have different hardware.

(I was going make a comment here, but, in the spirit of the season and all that, I'll forebear until you have edited your post regarding this open source project. You'll have to forgive me for having a quiet chuckle, though.)

 

[Typhoon22]

How about a new gpmenu that uses the touchscreen to move between tabs or emulators/games/movies like the ipod touch?

 

[Gorriah]

Touch screen??

It isn't innovative! PDAs, Nintendo DS, Zodiac, GP2X F-200, mobile phones,... Already lots of gadgets have touch screen...

Let's take another step!

An example of what I think could be the future for handheld systems are the multi touch screen: http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/]link[/url] :blink:

As the NDS, GP2X F-200, PDAs,... it would be really friendly to navigate, but still more for example to scale photos with 2 fingers and so.

About how to hold the system to play with touch screen. Nobody complained to Craig?? You can't play touch screen in the way it is placed because touching with the stylus the screen would go back, and furthermore more vertical position than buttons is not comfortable. That's the reason all the touch gadchets have the buttons in the same face than touch screen.
So I think that for either a simple touch screen or for a multitouch screen, the screen should turn 360º and rest over the back side of controller. Just as a small tablet. It would look as 2 totally different systems: One Linux system for emulation, ports,... and an innovative new handheld system for creative homebrew creators!

It would be nice for new concept games. Really good for new puzzle games, a first person boxing game being controlled with both fat fingers, a Traumacenter but using both hands as in real life for example with the tweezers,...

And what about unlimited multiplayer in only 1 system? Of course it wouldn't be comfortable for 8 people playing in one small screen, but it would be great for the common 2player multiplayer game. Furthermore Pandora's screen isn't a small screen for a handheld system... Think for example in a 2player 2D fighting game making the attacks with the movements of stylus, or in a multiplayer chicken shoot game, or in a band music game playing each instrument in a part of the screen. Think about a Twister party game but playing with fingers of different players over the screen. It would be hilarious!

The actual handheld systems are for 1 player. Shouldn't we share them with family or friends? Yes, you can play with turn based games as Worms, or you can play simultaneosly buying other handheld system, or now you can even play in the TV with something like a dock station for GP2X and buying several extra controllers. But there is not still a 100% multiplayer handheld in the market. A handheld you can play real multiplayer, anywhere, and with the need of additional system or accesories or even tv.

Other good thing would be being able to have the buttons in the position you wish for each game. How? It is a multi touch screen, so the buttons may virtually appears on the screen. An example of virtual buttons: For the 2D fighting game, each player could hold the system by one half and use shoulder button for protection, virtual digital pad to move character, and pencil for the attacks. Or action buttons for action movements such as shoot or punch.

These are just a couple of ideas but sure lot of things more can be done with multi touch screen. Homebrew community is sometimes really creative, so sure some interesting homebrew games appears just as happens with DS.

But maybe this technology is too costly. I don't know. And the example of multi-touch screen is not good for retro market. Not useful for emulators. Although maybe if it is really powerful it could emulate NDS system. I see it a bit utopia, but it would kick ass! There is already NDS emulators for computer so maybe something can be done. Or at least for NDS homebrew games...

Those are only my thoughs. Of course all you will know much better how to do it. I have no idea how a whole game system is made. But seems so simple as replacing the touch screen by multitouch screen. I don't think it is much more expensive in this way... however it gives much room to innovation and will get the attention from press.

Thanks for all you who read my post. You can not share my thoughs, but this is my first post here, so don't be so bad with me

 

[Typhoon22]

An example of what I think could be the future for handheld systems are the multi touch screen: http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/]link[/url] :blink:





Apparently it is easy to make your own???

http://www.multitouch.nl/documents/multito..._070523_v02.pdf

I wonder if there is enough room for the IR-Leds between the screen and the case - the acrylic could sit on top of the actual screen - no projector required (as long as the screen is bright enough and your acrylic thin enough) not sure where the modded web cam thing will come in though? maybe angled and software adjusted to give a "best fit" of where your fingers are?

The software is available here for windows and Ubuntu/Linux

http://nuigroup.com/wiki/Touchlib/

 

[Mr B]

I've imagined something like this and controlling it with the touchscreen, by simply drawing the box.
B!

 

[yannv]

Apparently it is easy to make your own???
Thanks for the links! Those solutions require a camera seeing the screen from behind, though. which I don't see an easy way of fitting in. You'd probably have to make the screen block an inch thick, then you could use a bent reflector and a perpendicular camera. I plan to experiment a bit using LED matrices myself.

 

[monkeyo2]

How about one of these, taped to a WiiMote, attached to the Pandora's video out (along with a BlueTooth dongle), running this guy's software?

(And a couple of pens fitted with infra-red LEDs of course)

 

[whiskthecat]

It would be cool to be able to plug in a usb gamepad and have multiplayer snes or any other system. One person plays using the pandora controls and the other person uses the gamepad.

 

[Typhoon22]

Apparently it is easy to make your own???
Thanks for the links! Those solutions require a camera seeing the screen from behind, though. which I don't see an easy way of fitting in. You'd probably have to make the screen block an inch thick, then you could use a bent reflector and a perpendicular camera. I plan to experiment a bit using LED matrices myself.

That is probably more elegant solution in this case! But its surprising how easy it is and what equipment you can get away with using.

Thanks for the vid monkeyo, I have seen all 3 vids - can't remember which site now though, that would be cool too, but we are trying to get multi-touch into the actual console itself. Unfortunately a good googling session doesn't reveal much as to if there is an existing product on the market at this size, so it looks as if it is going to need to be a self build.

How about this for a solution - please bear in mind that I am no electronics engineer but I am also relying on someone seeing the same products as me.

A few years ago I had a light gun for my playstation that hooked into the controller port and had some kind of "in-line" video connection, the video came out of the PSX into the gun adaptor thing then into my TV.

For the GP2x
What if the video signal was split out of the ext port but also to the screen (so you can still see what you are doing), that signal then sent out to a couple of pens with an IR LED and a camera(IR Sensor of some kind???) in each one, or however my psx gun worked. These pens would connect to the USB host out of the EXT port, to send the data back to the GP2X
I am hoping that this may work to give you a 2 point touch screen of sorts.

I'm sorry guys but I can't describe it any better than that.
Any questions I'll try and explain further


EDIT: Bloody keys on my arsing keyboard!!!

 

[yodaofborg]

Errm, this is the Pandora Dev forum Thyphoon22

Multiplayer SQDef You could have a coop mode, where 2 or more players *share* the money, and you have to work literally together to finish a map

 

[Magic Sam]

Errm, this is the Pandora Dev forum Thyphoon22

Multiplayer SQDef You could have a coop mode, where 2 or more players *share* the money, and you have to work literally together to finish a map

Hi,

I was thinking about the same thing. I also hope that some great commercial games we have on the GP2X will be somehow "ported" to the Pandora, like Wind and Water, and Payback. What about some Wind and Water online battle through wifi while in bed, with touchscreen functions, and online rankings ? I'd also like a 3D enhanced Payback with online play, like in GTA online. And while I'm still dreaming, UrbanTerror, OpenArena and Boswars on the Pandora

Bye ! Magic Sam

 

[Typhoon22]

Errm, this is the Pandora Dev forum Thyphoon22

Multiplayer SQDef You could have a coop mode, where 2 or more players *share* the money, and you have to work literally together to finish a map

Apologies, got carried away with the whole multi touch screen idea...

its a good idea for the coop mode though -> excellent with a link up for the 2 consoles, using ad-hoc or infrastructure modes. As soon as you introduce that though you could even (at a stretch do a play by mail thing - but would be slow)