Airduino Hockey
An air hockey table powered by Arduino.
Airduino Hockey is a two-player game built around physical controls: the scoreboard lives on screen, but the inputs come from an Arduino rig. We built an air hockey table and installed light strips within it, and the Arduino controls the lights as well.
Just like any other air hockey table, but this one is rigged with lights that are controlled by Arduino. Any time a player hits the walls of the table or scores a goal, the lights go off.
Sensor input is read cleanly and quickly enough that a fast rally, as air hockey games typically are, is still able to output properly.
The scoreboard updates in real time as goals are scored, keeping the focus on the physical experience rather than the screen.