CONTENT > INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES

One of the original goals of the Interbots Initiative was to create an extensible-show control platform that would allow non-technologists such as writers and artists to use common applications like Maya and Flash to develop content. The software tools developed for the platform allow practically anyone to create an interactive experience in a very short period of time. This was actually put to the test when Quasi was used in the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon University. The following experiences were created in two weeks by interdisciplinary teams of four students who had no prior experience with the IBI platform.

Quasi's Dreams

Unlike the show animatronics found in Disney theme parks, Quasi's hobby-grade servo motors aren't designed to withstand nearly-continuous operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This BVW team addressed the problem of how to keep Quasi engaging, entertaining, and interactive while allowing his motors to "rest." Their solution was to create interactive dreams for a "sleeping" Quasi. The dreams, displayed on Quasi's touchscreen, can be happy, neutral, or scary. Quasi will twitch and his eyes and antennae will change color in response to the content of a dream. If a guest approaches Quasi while he's dreaming, he will wake up. If approached while having a happy dream, Quasi will wake angry, but if approached while having a nightmare, Quasi will wake happy and relieved. While some of the dreams are purely visual, others are interactive flash games, allowing the guest to guide the direction of the dreams.

Quasi's Photo Kiosk

Andy Hosmer Neel Kar Seema Patel Tim Sweeney

When guests visit the ETC, they love to have their picture taken with Quasi. Until November 2004, these pictures (often taken with celebrities) have resided on personal computers, inaccessible to the public. After visiting the Kodak Imageworks Lab at EPCOT, this BVW team was inspired to create a photo album for Quasi. The album contains pictures of his friends and family, as well as a short illustrated story about how he was created. The picture taking process was also automated. The team set up a USB camera across from Quasi's kiosk and wrote a program that took a guest's picture with Quasi, e-mailed the picture to them, and then automatically added the picture to the photo album. While guests peruse the photo album, Quasi reacts to many of the pictures, and even does impressions of the celebrities in the photos.

Quasi's Life Story

Writing: Seema Patel Graphics: Neel Kar Video Editing: Seema Patel Layout: Andy Hosmer and Seema Patel Click on the graphic to the left to view Quasi's life story

Selected Pictures from Quasi's Photo Album
Click on the thumbnails to view larger pictures

Quasi with Anthony Daniels (C3PO) Quasi at the International Press Release for iRobot Quasi with Bing Gordon (co-founder of EA)

Quasi with his dad, Andy Quasi's brother, Heinzy Quasi with his family