Student Design Challenge

The classic tag game is very popular among children: one child “has it”, and he has to pass it to someone else. Magic Tag is based on the classic tag game enables new gaming possibilities thanks to its technology. Players wear an armband packed with a SunSPOT connected to an RFID reader. These SunSPOTs are embedded microprocessor that run Java and are able to have wireless communications with each other. Besides this armband, players also carry a magic tool such as a wand or a sword containing an RFID tag. On top of this platform the game can work in two different modes: Pass your spell: This mode is like the classic tag game. Every armband starts the game displaying a blue light except for one that is red. At every moment of the game there is always only one red player. The armband displaying the red color “has it”, and if that player touches another one in the armband with his/her magic tool, he will “pass the red spell” to that person, turning his light to the color blue. Spread your spell: Each armband displays a unique color when the game starts and the players have to spread it with their magic tool by touching the others' armbands. The game ends when everybody has the same color. In this mode it’s interesting to notice that the rules of the game are not strict, so players can find variations on the game by their own (for example, when a blue player turns a second player into blue, the second player can then decide to keep spreading the color blue to others, or try to find other player of his/her original color to “go back to normal”).