Pi User Interface

On a regular computer, the UI (user interface) is printed in the Python terminal. It displays all relevant information and takes user input through the keyboard, although it’s a little clunky, it gets the job done.

However due to the small size of the screen on the Raspberry Pi, displaying the game info via the terminal wouldn't have made for a good user experience, so I made my own UI. The screen came with basic graphical starter code using the Pillow module in Python, which helped me get started which I modified heavily. Features include a scrollable menu bar allowing for options to be quickly chosen while not taking up much space; a menu to modify the cards being present, which gives a visual preview of what the table looks like; a menu which lets you take and view pictures stored on the Pi, these pictures can be processed and the cards present on a table will be input into a new game; and my personal favorite, a loading screen which simulates a card spinning in “3D”, the illusion of 3D is achieved by applying trig functions to a card which makes it appear to rotate.

Shoe Input

In addition to the buttons on the Pi itself I designed a shoe insole which maps foot movement to keyboard input, allowing for a hands free user experience. I was shopping for microelectronics and I saw conductive fabric and I immediately knew I could use it for my project, combining it with some leftover denim, the sewing skills I learned in THE 1330: Stagecraft: Costumes, and an old shoe insole, I built the custom insole. The old insole serves as a structural base while the denim sits on top with pieces of conductive fabric inlaid into the big toe and heel areas.