"

From 2011.igem.org

some info on microfluidics and on our microfluidic online game idea...

Hardware stuff we need:

• a USB I/O for driving 24 Volt solenoids (DIY or from national instruments)
• a cheap microscope/camera system: see [http://hackteria.org/?cat=15 link]
• a cheapo PC
• a microfluidic device (we might have some simple ones already that we could play with)

Software things to figure out:

• remote control of solenoids?
• piping video stream?
• latency issues?

• need active feedback between camera and PC to determine end of game, reset game, etc.

Game related stuff:

We could either implement a one player or a two player game. We should have a virtual clone of the game that players can play if the game is very popular (only one person can play the real microfluidic version at a time). Game should be relatively quick, last only a couple of minutes tops. Games should be challenging and provide room for improvement. Implement a high-score, to award the grand-prize winner at the jamboree? Need a login based interface to keep track of who is playing?

• tug of war...
• pong clone
• snake?
• a game that takes advantage of the inherent fluid physics on microfluidic devices (i.e. why emulate physics in computer games if you can play the real deal?)
• could we make the game productive? I.e. have some useful output as a result of people playing it?
• can we somehow strengthen the link to synthetic biology?