Holoseat v0.3.5 (aka Demo of v0.4 for SyndCon 2017)

In addition to our traditional presentations, we added dedicated demo Space for Holoseat.  Our “booth” included two demo units and all new signage.  The demo units (shown above) showcased the v0.4 design with upgraded sensors and an all-in-one configuration.  Plus we pre-sold v0.4 builds of Holoseat to seven alpha testers!  As always, it was a great SyndCon.  Keep reading for lots of pictures and more details on this year’s con-venture.

Austin Bound

This year’s SyndCon was held in Austin, TX and getting Holoseat there presented a whole new challenge.  In previous years at least one of us drove, simplifying the transportation logistics for Holoseat.  But this year, Bryan and I flew to Austin together.

SyndCon 2017 Holoseat Flies To Austin

Our solution was to build airline approved custom travel crates for Holoseat and they worked like a charm.  Of course, TSA decided to have a look at Holoseat.  Maybe next time we will have to leave them a note with a link to our website. 

Feet on Demos

We ran about 50 demos this year, with 60% of those demos to first time users.  The vast majority of users, new and old, were thrilled with Holoseat’s upgrades.  Many commented on the game play related improvements.  The only group of players with significant concerns about Holoseat were FPS players who wanted to see even greater sensitivity from Holoseat.

SyndCon 2017 Holoseat Demos

SyndCon 2018 also represented the widest range of user demographics we have seen.  Young and old alike gave Holoseat a try, many playing through multiple levels of Portal 2 (this year’s demo game), well beyond the expected play time of 5-10 minutes.  While we are on the subject of Portal 2, Bryan and I were shocked by how few fellow guild mates had never played Portal.  Seriously, we thought everyone had played Portal at some point.

Project Updates

Holoseat has come a long way since last year’s convention.  Our latest version, a preview of v0.4,  is zeroing in on production design.  How so?  Holoseat is now an all in one unit with fully integrated electronics built into high quality exercise pedals.  This upgraded packaging means Holoseat is ready to use out of the box, just plug it in and start playing.

SyndCon 2017 Holoseat Panel

Holoseat also has dramatically improved response times for better game play.   And it has flexible pedal speed that automatically adjusts to a user’s play style and fitness level.  This adaptive pedaling feature means it can now take into account whether players are sneaking, exploring, or running for their lives.

#spoileralert

So, what is in store for SyndCon 2018?  Well, that is the best news of all.  We are officially targeting the next SyndCon for the launch of the v1.0 crowd source campaign.  Our fellow Syndies will have the first chance to support the campaign and pre-order their own Holoseats.  Watch this space for the complete story of the road to SyndCon 2018 and v1.0.

LLTS!

The post Good News Everyone! – HOLOSEAT AT SYNDCON 2017 appeared first on Model B.

The year is flying by. Sprint 2 is done and suddenly it is time to get everything ready for SyndCon 2017. Our last sprint was a roller coaster ride, full of mission critical Product Backlog Items (PBIs). On numerous occasions we asked ourselves “are going to get enough done before this year’s SyndCon?”  Fortunately, we applied all of the lessons learned from previous sprints and delivered exactly what we needed to lock in the v0.4 design. And I am happy to report we are ready to share our progress with our fellow guild members in August.

How We Did Last Sprint

Review

As we shared in our last sprint kick off post, the number one priority for Sprint 2 was to implement the HID keyboard interface through an Arduino based board. We worked hard in planning to ensure we would be successful. One key to our planning was breaking this PBI down into smaller bites.  Thanks to the smaller PBIs we made slow, steady progress.  We also more quickly identified when and where things were not working. Thanks to this planning, we have fully demonstrated the architecture and implementation we will be using for the v0.4 HID keyboard.

It is worth noting another key to this success was our willingness to adapt our implementation to suit the technology stacks the rest of the CHIP Pro community is adopting. It turns out our initial implementation plan had some hits and misses. For example, we correctly identified Docker as a useful technology for the CHIP Pro, but it is lacking in key documentation. On the other hand, our initial decision to go with Node.js was not sustainable. There is just not enough community support for the combined CHIP/CHIP Pro platform for Node.js related projects. So, we have moved to the language of CHIP IoT development, Python, for the v0.4 firmware.

Retrospective

Overall we had a very good sprint. We accomplished what we needed and demonstrated an improved level of teamwork. That does not mean the sprint was without its challenges. Both Bryan and I had outside blocks at the same time due to work and family demands. This led to our missing several stand up meetings in a row mid-sprint. And, despite how well the sprint ended, the implementation details for the HID keyboard interface looked like they would not be completed as late as week 6 of 8.

Yet, as we noted in our retrospective meeting the theme of Sprint 2 was recovery. Unlike past sprints, we recognized the pattern of missed stand up meetings and immediately resumed meeting. Further, our improved teamwork helped us identify the sticking points around the HID keyboard research.  We were then able to select the proper path forward, leading to a surge in productivity the last two weeks and the successful completion of the sprint.

Bryan and I also identified a new lesson at the close of Sprint 2. The two of us have reached the limit on how much work we can take on in any given sprint. If we want (or need) to take on more work than we have been doing, we must bring in outside resources. These outside resources can include volunteers or contractors.

What We Are Doing This Sprint

The Sprint 3 plan can be summed up in one word, SyndCon. Every PBI is directly related to getting ready to demo and present our progress toward v0.4 at SyndCon. This includes:

• implementing the new sensors we have selected
• upgrading our demo hardware to showcase improved sensitivity and packaging
• creating a professional, scripted demo process (complete with signage and dedicated demonstration games)
• bringing Holoseat swag to give out at SyndCon
• creating our presentations for SyndCon

In case this looks like a lot of work for 7 weeks (yes we are running a truncated sprint), that is because it is. Based on our final lesson from Sprint 2, the Sprint 3 plan includes calling on outside resources to help us get the job done. And, the good news is they have all accepted.  You can see the full list of PBIs on our Sprint 3 plan (click the Sprint 3 tab) and our complete backlog (click the Backlog tab) in our 2017 planning document.

As always, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep up on all things Holoseat.  And you can follow the week to week details of this, and future sprints, on the Holoseat project News page (Atom feed).

The post 2017 Sprint 3 Kickoff – Prep for SyndCon 2017 appeared first on Model B.

We are back from SyndCon 2016 and what a con it was!  All of our preparations and the wonderful support of our fellow guild mates paid off in spades.  We could not have asked for results, which just further reinforces the lesson from last year, “always bring Holoseat to SyndCon.”

Our activities started Friday afternoon when Bryan and Petie (friend of Bryan and weekend long Holoseat volunteer – thanks for all the help Petie, you can come to cons with use anytime!) arrived.  Bryan had two of the three pedal sets for our demos and I had all of the electronics, so the first thing we needed to do was get the last two demo units fully assembled.

Our public activities started with a panel Friday afternoon where we presented the lessons learned over the past two years (see my previous post) and our plans to take Holoseat to version 1.0 (that’s another blog post).  We also held a Questions * Answers session.  The Q&A portion turned into a lively discussion and amusingly touched on every question we had in our future development survey questions.  Clearly we were asking the right questions on the survey. Our next public activity was a presentation slot in the annual guild meeting, including a live demo of Holoset by the Starr Long in front of the entire convention.  Starr was quite impressed by the Holoseat as you can tell from the picture below.  Finally, I was interviewed for the MOLDS episode 2.  As you can tell, we all had a blast during the interview.

Starr Long’s Holoseat Demo @ SyndCon 2016

On top of our scheduled public activities, we ran many, many demos.  The demos gave us a chance to get real world feedback about Holoseat (both live and through the surveys). We learned valuable lessons from the demos, some technical and some business.  The most important lesson was just how excited people are about the Holoseat.  Don’t take our word for it.  Check out people’s reactions in the video below.

Like I said, it was a great con.  Thank you to all of our fellow Syndies for all of their support.  We can’t wait for next year.  LLTS. Stay tuned for regular updates on Holoseat development and other Holoseat news.  And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter so you won’t miss a thing.

The post Demos, Panels, and Podcasts – Holoseat at SyndCon 2016 appeared first on Model B.

Slide from our 2014 Presentation

Bryan didn’t just invite me to come to SyndCon that year, he also insisted we bring Holoseat with us and get feedback from the attendees about it. After all, where better to take a new kind of gaming peripheral than a conference full of people who spend a good deal of time playing online games? Bryan ensured there was space for us to give live demos and that we were on the program schedule so we could share our project’s story with all of the attendees.

We walked away with some truly valuable feedback:

• the responsiveness needed to be improved
• we needed to add an option to buy Holoseat with a set of pedals included (most testers did not have an appropriate set at home)
• people were surprised by how the physical interaction through Holoseat made the games more immersive
• people were very interested in buying their own Holoseat

The plan after Holoseat’s first year at SyndCon was to update it and bring it back in 2015. Unfortunately, life had other plans and the project sat without substantial updates for the next year. Bryan and I still attended SyndCon in 2015, just without Holoseat…

Big mistake. Everywhere we went at SyndCon we got asked, “Where is Holoseat?” or “When can I buy Holoseat?” or “What happened to Holoseat?”, leading to the lesson of SyndCon 2015: Always bring Holoseat to SyndCon.

So, here we are in 2016 and we are on our way to SyndCon once more (this time with Holoseat). We have updated almost everything about Holoseat to address the feedback from our fellow Syndicate members, including the move from a hobby project to a business venture. Bryan has once again made arrangements for demos and presentations so we can get more great feedback from real players. I can’t wait to see what we learn this year.

LLTS!

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