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Snake '97 High Scores

Game inspired art by Zena Van den Block

Apr. 18, 2022
Happily accepting the invitation to attend an exhibition of Snake 97 art works in Antwerp. This was totally WOW!

Last week I received a very kind invitation from a Belgian artist, to attend her art exhibition in Antwerp. The work on display involved the Snake '97 game that I have created. Uttering to find the right words and thrilled with excitement, I happily accepted the invitation!

Some thoughts on touch screen user interface design

Creating intuitive natural interfaces

June 24, 2020
I am working on a new app involving personal health that requires a natural intuitive interface that works well on touch screens. It's good to check out some best practices for touch UI design

Past weeks I have been working on a new app involving personal health. The main challenge is to come up with an intuitive, natural interface that works well on small touch screen devices. But what is it that makes an touch screen interface any good? Read along for some best practices.

Different ways to visualise health

Looking at games and fitness apps

May 25, 2020
To better understand how to visualise health I looked at different health/fitness apps and games.

This month I did some research into how health is visualised in fitness apps and games. For a new app involving personal health I am looking for an intuitive way to visualise how healthy one person is. There are many colourful approaches out there!

Realtime human pose recognition through computer vision

Using TensorFlow and PoseNet on a video feed

Dec. 1, 2019
For an exciting new project I have been experimenting with TensorFlow, enabling realtime pose detection using PoseNet.

For an exciting new project I have been experimenting with computer vision using TensorFlow. I wanted to achieve realtime human pose detection to drive interactive video projections and games. Time to dive into the world of machine learning, tensors and computer vision!

Updating Snake '97

About the challenges of developing a wildly popular game

Feb. 21, 2018
This month I bit the bullet big time: I redesigned the game engine of the wildly popular Snake '97 game. Read about the design challenges in this blog post.

Few years ago my brother threw a beer on my iPhone in an Amsterdam bar. The poor thing didn't like the Dutch brew as much as I do: it died. While waiting for a new phone to arrive, I used an old one that couldn't do anything but texting, calling and... Snake! The idea for Snake '97 was born and this month it was time to update the wildly popular game.

Repairing a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP

Chip surgery to play classic Zelda

Mar. 26, 2017
Reparing an old Nintendo Gameboy Advance to play classic Zelda again.

This month Nintendo released the Switch with Zelda "Breath of the Wild". The new console received positive reviews. The new Zelda game is amazing and can be played on-the-go, thanks to the portability of the Nintendo Switch. But it its hardly the first Nintendo device that features the mythical kingdom of Hyrule with Link and princess Zelda. I found an old Gameboy Advance, perfect for playing classic Zelda games... but it was in need for repair!

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Snake art works in SECONDroom Antwerp:
Snake art works in SECONDroom Antwerp: "High Scores" by Zena Van den Block
Spot the differences: the original faulty logic board above and the replacement on the bottom
Spot the differences: the original faulty logic board above and the replacement on the bottom
The Activity app by Apple shows data measured by Apple Watch
The Activity app by Apple shows data measured by Apple Watch
Programming the new game engine and testing it on an HMD Nokia 2 running Android
Programming the new game engine and testing it on an HMD Nokia 2 running Android
Clever hardware design: each button fits exactly on one position and orientation only!
Clever hardware design: each button fits exactly on one position and orientation only!
ReCaptcha: you've been training Google's AI for years!
ReCaptcha: you've been training Google's AI for years!
The actual code from Snake '97 handling distance calculation using the Pythagoras Theorem
The actual code from Snake '97 handling distance calculation using the Pythagoras Theorem
The Biostrap app shows data collected by the Biostrap sensor
The Biostrap app shows data collected by the Biostrap sensor
Catapulting birds is fun because of the natural interaction that is key to the Angry Birds game
Catapulting birds is fun because of the natural interaction that is key to the Angry Birds game
Me and mini-me being recognised by the PoseNet model
Me and mini-me being recognised by the PoseNet model
Thank you Ebay: an original replacement logic board for about €15
Thank you Ebay: an original replacement logic board for about €15
Mario 64 and a the Super Mario Galaxy life bar
Mario 64 and a the Super Mario Galaxy life bar
World champion of Snake '97 - but not for long...
World champion of Snake '97 - but not for long...
MobileNet-SSD algorithm (image: hey-yahei.cn)
MobileNet-SSD algorithm (image: hey-yahei.cn)
The buttons can be removed easily to be cleaned
The buttons can be removed easily to be cleaned
The art works glow in the dark
The art works glow in the dark
This is what the cloud looks like, dear boys and girls.
This is what the cloud looks like, dear boys and girls.
Snake '97 rocking the carts with Angry Birds and WhatsApp
Snake '97 rocking the carts with Angry Birds and WhatsApp

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