Pongmechanik, an electromechanical version of the early electronic tennis game Pong, has its roots in two strands of technological history. The first follows the transition from the elaborate machines of computer pioneer Konrad Zuse, which had their inner workings prominently displayed inside glass cabinets, to the black boxes of today’s computers, which generally hide their internal processes from view.
The second follows the shift from Pong’s abstract representation of sport, a generation ago, to the increasingly realistic representations seen in contemporary video games. Pongmechanik contrasts these two trajectories by marrying the earliest manifestations of those threads. A physical version of the Ur-video game, Pongmechanik’s highly visible logic circuit, constructed from telephone relays like Zuse used, responds to joystick-guided cues that maneuver a white plastic square and rectangles (the ball and rackets) across the play field.
Pongmechanik
Pongmechanik
Pongmechanik is an electromechanical conversion of the classical game Pong. And instead of more realistic graphics, it ever accurately to reproduces the original Pong. The user is hardly changed. However the game breaks open the Black box: What takes place in the computer, becomes again perceptible and comprehensible.
Pongmechanik is an absolutely physical game. The game is realized electromechanically, and essentially consists of four elements:
A relay computer, the mechanical movement with collision detection, the display and the acoustic components.
- Relay computer
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Element 1: The relay computer controls the game. It consists entirely of used telephone relays, no semiconductors such as transistors or microprocessors were used. Contrary to modern electronic components, all operatins are visible and audible with the relays.
Element 2: The movements of ball and racquet, as well as the collision detection take place in a metal chassis under the glass cover. Each moving game compoent has a mechanical counterpart, which is moved by electric motors. When these parts collide, contacts are closed and the relays in the computer switch the direction of rotation of the motors.
- Mechanical Chassis
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Element 3: The movement of the mechanical parts is transferred via strings and guide pulleys to the display. The display consists of two closely spaced glass plates. The playing field is painted on the lower plate. The ball, represented by a white plastic square, is moved between the two plates by black string. The raquets, represented by two white plastic rectangles, are moved by string on the upper glass plate. The score is shown by rotating discs visible through openings in the playing field.
- The sound blocks
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Element 4: The sound is produced by two wooden sound blocks, which are struck by the core of two solenoids. The computer controls both solenoids.
Together, these four elements produce an exact copy of the classical Pong.
But there is more:
The game is brought to a physically understandable and comprehensible level. Added to the game is the fascination of a comprehensible mechanism. The classical video game inspires two players. Pongmechanik additionally pulls otherwise indifferent spectators into its spell. They have the liberty to investigate the mechanics of the game in detail.
Video Link:
http://vimeo.com/7548051
Source: http://www.cyberniklas.de/
