Having acquired a joystick I was eager to try it out in my DirectX project. This is theoretically a very easy thing to do, but of course, it isn’t turning out that way. While the sample project and tutorial instructions are incredibly easy to follow, and the sample project compiles and runs perfectly well, starting to apply this code my own project is not straightforward.
Something which I am now starting to accept is pretty typical of Microsoft’s code is that they do something totally differently to the way that they themselves have said it should be done, and don’t bother explaining WHY.
Nevertheless I shall persevere with adding this to my project with the intention of linking camera control to the joystick, but the responsiveness of the motion will be dependant on the strength of biofeedback signal.
Update: I discovered I was trying to fix an issue that didn’t exist when all that was required was including the dinput8.lib file to the project…
It was only bought for its components, but before doing anything with it I needed to test it was working correctly and what sort of functionality it has etc.
Before I actually do anything with them, I have taken a few shots of them ‘as is’ after receiving them from axminster. One thing to be noted is that they are actually quite large, so to avoid wasting this intriguing raw material I will probably rethink the size and shape of my joystick handle design.
As I suspected, my two separate orders arrived at exactly the same time, so I’ve been unpacking my banksia nuts courtesy of axminster.co.uk and my cheap joystick from amazon.
They certainly looked better as mysterious parcels.
So here is the wood I have nearly finally decided to make my actual physical interface from. Aside from the massively intriguing aesthetic nature of the wood, I feel that it draws attention to the physicality of the interface and fits in with a plan to emphasise the human-computer connection by allowing me to create a piece that emanates light from its core when interacted with. Essentially the holes could be illuminated from the inside and glow to indicate the level of connection between the user and the computer.
Thanks to Alan for pointing me in the direction of CamStudio, a free video capturing software for your screen, which I have used to produce a slightly better video of my project’s 3D world.
Running both the software and DirectX at the same time was a bit tricky, slashing the FPS from around 120 to 40 but it’s better than using my camera to take a video of my laptop screen!
The water can be manipulated from any point, but for now it is set to only ripple from the centre. When I produce a final visualisation the position will vary, of course based on biofeedback influence.
Having considered a number of alternative means of connecting human with hardware, I’m going down the route of using a joystick-like handle with the various sensors placed in suitable positions in contact with the fingers and palm.
Here is a very, very quick sketch of what I have in mind:
For the past couple of Sundays I’ve decided I have enough time to go walking on the moor, which naturally has meant I’ve returned with some photos to merge into panoramic views.
Easter sunday around the scout hut SW of Burrator:
And the following Sunday, up around Merrivale and Woodtown:
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