The uniCON: Collection 01
Engine: Unity | Platform: PC/Arcade Cabinet
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The uniCON is a wearable game controller designed to inspire social connection through play. In 2023, a Surgeon General Advisory reported on the devastating impact of the current Epidemic of Loneliness we’re enduring. With this in mind, uniCON explores social connection through traditional arcade game design in a modern form by leveraging physical computation and a bluetooth microcontroller. It comes packaged with three multiplayer arcade games which encourage both collaboration and friendly competition. This innovative controller is made from soft cotton fabric which beckons players to touch, wear, and experiment with its form. Depending on which game players select, the uniCON is used differently and engages varying parts of players’ bodies for embodied gaming. Through the forced proximity and highly physical gameplay, players quickly bond to accomplish their shared goal- to win!
Read more about it in the official strategy guide available here.
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The uniCON is best enjoyed where there’s a a large, open game-area for players to move around in. Sometimes, a table is useful for setting uniCON onto in “modes” where the controller should be laid flat. The uniCON Collection (a companion of games designed to showcase uniCON’s many uses) contains party-style games, meaning they’re meant to be played at social gatherings for entertainment and recreation. The perfect setting is an arcade where players can pick up and put down uniCON at their discretion. You can choose to play one game and move on or have a new player to challenge the winner of the last round in a championship style. The majority of play-testing uniCON’s development took place at Wonderville, a bar arcade in Brooklyn which granted players of all ages and backgrounds to play with uniCON in the environment it was designed for.
Game developers (or inspired players!) who experience the uniCON are welcome to develop their own games to experiment with the sensors within the controller.
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“Play is foundational for bonding relationships and fostering tolerance. It’s where we learn to trust and where we learn about the rules of the game. Play increases creativity and resilience, and it’s all about the generation of diversity—diversity of interactions, diversity of behaviors, diversity of connections. “
Isabel Behncke, Field ethologist and primatologist
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New technology begs for the revival of the arcade. In the last 10 years, modern tech (like Arduino kits) has become more accessible where anyone can now easily order sensors and other tools online. The current rigid design of game controllers is begging for a modern re-imagining.
Arcades were once a vital third place, operating as more than a physical establishment for patrons to purchase food and play games. Since 2011, almost all categories of third spaces– especially commercial establishments and privately-run organizations– have declined. People used to gather in such spaces for formal and informal socialization and entertainment, which fosters a sense of community and belonging, thereby building perceptions of security, confidence, and comfort.
Why not combine the invigorating atmosphere of an arcade with the socially-stimulating essence of a collaborative, wearable controller?
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Thanks for reading! Please reach out to me with any inquiries @ lea.r.melendez@gmail.com
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