Sing Pong: the game

Why do we always expect computers to entertain us? Why don’t we entertain our computers? Won’t computers enjoy listening to us if we sing more than if we talk?

Some people think that for a computer to respond to our voices, it needs to understand our words. But in our game, Sing Pong, players use the characteristics of their voices to control the paddles in the traditional game “Pong”. It is a two-player projected game where the volume of each player’s voice controls the height of each paddle. The louder the volume, the taller the paddle becomes. To position the paddle, the player’s shadow is tracked using a web-cam. So, the paddle appears to emerge from the player’s mouth.

Players move backward and forward, and stand and kneel to control the position of the vocal paddle. Short players use their hands or jump to raise the position of the paddles. So, the game allows players to exercise their bodies as well as their vocal skills while playing.

The game is initialised by the appearance of a player’s shadow in the middle of the screen. It is stopped by the generation of very loud voices. Generating loud voices turns the colour of the paddle red, and the ball bursts when it hits a red paddle.

Vocal input may be beneficial in curing asthma, voice disorders, social anxiety, shyness, and other communication disorders. It may possibly be used as a training tool by vocalists and singers.

When the game was exhibited in a gallery in London, many visitors played the game and many others enormously enjoyed watching. Sing Pong transformed users into performers who became an integral part of the entertaining installation. So, Sing Pong is not only a game for players. It has an element of performance art as well.