About MoneyRunner:  Remember the days of the Atari by being a 1980′s money hungry investor looking for coins and taking them away from other players.

GALLERY:

Players get points each time they are hit by moving objects.

To access project: Call (206) 456-1465, ext 1 when asked.

About GameCentral: Allow anyone with a mobile phone (old-school Nokia phones to the new fancy smart-phones) to play audio-based brain games.

The user calls the number, their number is automatically pushed to the server, where it is check to see if its in the server. If it’s not, a new entry is created for them. If they are a previous user, their score is pulled.

The user is then presented with a phone tree, which contains the game’s name. Once they pick a game, they are given instructions on how to play. Every single time they get a right answer, their score is updated in the database.

In the back-end of things, I took a OOP approach for the project. Each game is a ‘module’, which are broken down into two simplistic functions: state question & check response. All other functionality of the game is handled by the main class. This will allow for easy swapping and adding of games. An extra class, Server, was written to allow for communication to the MySQL server. It was created as an extra class in order to separate the PHPAGI and PHP, along with giving each class its own purpose.

For the midterm, I would like to develop a set of module mini-games (aiming for three) that can be access from any type of phone. I would also like to keep track of the user’s score over multiple sessions.

I want to do this project for a few reasons:

• Provide entertainment in bite-size chunks
• Create games that are compatible with legacy hardware
• Create a project that is not limited to users of a certain phone type or brand
• Create a games that are not only entertainment, but also provide brain tune-ups.

The three games I currently have in mind are:

• Simon Says
• Math Blaster
• Tone Matcher

Development plan:

• Get AGI script for one game working
• Port script onto Asterisk server
• Create Main Menu
• Create AGI script to track user’s score

• Get familiar with PHP or Ruby programming and try some simple AGI scripting
• One idea might be to write an AGI script that reads the time and temperature

Response:

• I’ve decided to continue with PHP, in order to further my study in the language. For the assignment, I assigned four major cities, one per timezone, to the touchpad.
  1. Boston
  2. Minneapolis
  3. Denver
  4. Las Vegas
• The server will respond by stating the city, the time in said timezone, and weather.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/php -q
answer();

$cities = array();
$cities[1] = array("BOS", "Boston", "http://www.weather.gov/xml/current_obs/KBOS.xml", 0);
$cities[2] = array("MSP", "Minneapolis", "http://www.weather.gov/xml/current_obs/KMSP.xml", 3600);
$cities[3] = array("DEN", "Denver", "http://www.weather.gov/xml/current_obs/KDEN.xml", 7200);
$cities[4] = array("LAS", "Las Vegas", "http://www.weather.gov/xml/current_obs/KLAS.xml", 10800);
$continue = true;

while($continue) {
$agi->stream_file("vm-extension");
$return = $agi->wait_for_digit(-1); // -1 = wait forever
if ($return['result'] >= 0) {
$ascii = chr($return['result']);
} else {
$continue = false;
}
$weatherPage=file_get_contents($cities[$ascii][2]);
$currentTemp = -100;
if (preg_match("/([0-9.-]+)<\/temp_f>/i",$weatherPage,$matches)) {
$currentTemp=$matches[1];
} else {
noop("no match");
}

?>


• Setup a softphone for your use with Asterisk
• Try out the “Dial” application both through the Dialplan and with “call files”. (Be responsible)

Response:

• Zoiper (the sofphone software I’m using) doesn’t seem to happy with SIP; it will not play the audio or accept any extension. IAX on the other hand, works like a charm.
• I can finally record & playback phone calls, which is pretty exciting in it self.

Code:

exten => s,1,goto(ev526_week_3,s,1)

[ev526_sip]
exten => s,1,Goto(ev526_sip,1,1);
exten => _X,1,Answer();
same => n,SayPhonetic("TWO")
exten => _X,n,Goto(ev526,s,1);

[ev526_iax]
exten => s,1,Goto(ev526_iax,1,1)
exten => _X,1,Answer()
same => n,SayPhonetic("TWO")
exten => _X,n,Goto(ev526,s,1)

same => n,Wait(5)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_3,s,1)
exten => 2,1,Answer()
;To "real" phone
same => n,Dial(SIP/itp_jnctn/19498423052,30,r);
exten => 3,1,Answer()
;To "soft" phone
same => n,Dial(IAX2/ev526_iax,30,r)
;Reset caller ID to new number
;same => n,Set(CALLERID(num)=11231231234)
exten => 4,1,Answer()
;Record specific time period, stop recording when # is pressed
same => n,Record(/home/ev526/asterisk_sounds/rec/say_something.gsm,5,30)
;Playback with Controls
same => n,ControlPlayback(/home/ev526/asterisk_sounds/rec/say_something,1000,#,*,0,1,2)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_3,s,1)
exten => 5,1,Answer()
;Record until caller hangs up
same => n,Record(/home/ev526/asterisk_sounds/rec/say_something.gsm,,,k)
exten => 6,1,Answer()
;Record both parties in a conversation
same => n,Monitor(wav,/home/ev526/asterisk_sounds/rec/call_monitor);
same => n,Dial(SIP/itp_jnctn/19498423052,30,r);
exten => 7,1,Answer()
same => n,ControlPlayback(/home/ev526/asterisk_sounds/rec/call_monitor-in,1000,#,*,0,1,2)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_3,s,1)


Assignment: Using the Dialplan, build your own simple Asterisk application. Play around with different Asterisk commands, and build some simple logic with variables and extensions.

Response: Code is under [ev526_week_2]. I develop a simple phone tree, which does the following, depending on the next extension sued:

1. Phonetically spell out “One”
2. Playback morse code version of “All your base belong to us”.
3. Playback multiple tones.
4. System talk back to user
5. Play monkey sounds
6. Talk about weasels
7. Activate voicemail

When accessing the system, callers are greeted. The dialplan is also in a loop, so the caller will always go back to the root directory until they hangup.

Code:

[ev526_week_2]
exten => s,1,Answer()
same => 2,Background(dir-welcome)
same => 3,Background(vm-extension)
same => n,WaitExten(5)
exten => 1,1,Answer()
same => n,SayNumber(${EXTEN})
same => n,SayPhonetic("ONE")
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 2,1,Answer()
same => n,MorseCode("All your base belong to us.")
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 3,1,Answer()
same => n,PlayTones(480+620/250,0/250)
same => n,Wait(4)
same => n,StopPlaytones()
same => n,PlayTones(480+620/500,0/500)
same => n,Wait(4)
same => n,StopPlaytones()
same => n,Wait(1)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 4,1,Answer()
same => n,System(echo 'Guess what, All your base now belong to us. Tra la la, la la la, lalala' | text2wave -scale 1.5 -F 8000 -o /home/ev526/base_meme.wav)
same => n,Background(/home/ev526/base_meme)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 5,1,Answer()
same => n,Playback(tt-monkeysintro)
same => n,Background(tt-monkeys)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 6,1,Answer()
same => n,Playback(tt-somethingwrong)
same => n,Playback(tt-weasels)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => 7,1,Voicemail(105@voicemail_ev526)
same => n,Hangup();
exten => a,1,VoiceMailMain(105@voicemail_ev526)
same => n,Hangup()
exten => i,1,Answer()
same => n,Playback(pbx-invalid)
same => n,GoTo(ev526_week_2,s,3)
exten => t,1,Answer()
same => n,Playback(vm-goodbye)
same => n,hangup()


Introduction

• When the phone become mobile, it also became artistic, social, and ludic.
• Laslo Moholy Nagy created art by giving directions via phone to the factory.
• Robert Huot used the telephone to be “a creator of context”, and allow visitors to participate in the art, which in turn makes it social.
• Projects where created that used recorded messages.
• A great deal of projects where created that used response systems to get strangers talking to each other.
• Projects before the mobile phone phase where connected to a place & used previously recorded voices.

Mobile Phones: Bringing the Interface Into Public Spaces

• Far more people have mobile phones than computers.
• The mobile phones has many great possibilities.
• “Communication art has six main characteristics”
  • “It stages physical presence at distance”
  • “It telescopes the immediate and the delayed”
  • “It focuses on the playfulness of interactivity”
  • “It combines memory & real time”
  • “It promotes planetary communication”
  • “It encourages a detailed study of human social groupings”
• The perception of space is changed.
• Mobile phone projects
  • Dialtones: A Telesymphony – Users would register their number in a kiosk, and they would be given a ringtone and assigned seating. During the concert, the computer would call phones in order to produce a social musical piece.
  • Blinkenlights: The Cell Phone As A Remote Controller & Game Device – Cellphones where controllers and the screen was a huge building with lamps in the windows. Considered social because it was in a public space, anyone in the public space could play it.
  • Broadening The Concept of Mobile Technologies: Blast Theory – The virtual world affects the digital world and vice versa.

Slide deck is hosted by GDocs, and can be viewed HERE.

Slide deck may also be viewed here:

Our presentation: rethinking the web experience

Our notes