One of my favourite videogames is Lumines. I discovered it a few years ago after buying a second-hand PS Vita and then buying the Switch version which I’ve been playing since then.
Lumines is the kind of game I love: Fun, light, music-driven and does not require much investment, you pick it up, play for 20 min and that’s it.
But the most interesting thing about Lumines is how it combines sound, light, visuals, haptics, and music’s tempo to create a rich and engaging experience.
It creates a unique sensory experience — Synesthesia
Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the creator of Lumines, has dedicated his career to this genre, releasing numerous other video games based on the concept.
We believe Mizuguchi is the first in the gaming industry to have built a career on synesthesia: he has been able to make players “feel” sound and colors when smashing buttons on a joypad.
Synesthesia in Video Games
So if you are thinking about some lightweight game to play over the weekend, you should play Lumines!
Have a great weekend.
Spent a week in Egypt with my family. This is the first trip where I tried to take more and better photos. These are the ones I liked best, and I hope I’ll continue to improve as I keep shooting!
For many years, I’ve been interested and curious about what Humane was working on — I felt it had a good philosophy, different from going all-in on VR and AR.
But I became suspicious when Humane decided to show the device at a TED Talk and later at a fashion show.
When they first showed the pin at the TED Talk, I couldn’t believe it. Was this it? No, I told myself – this must be just a teaser, a different product to maintain secrecy, and I was sure they would release something else soon…
That was all.
The device and the website felt really polished and well-crafted, but the AI approach was disappointing and not at all surprising. I can do the same things with Siri, and Siri can barely do anything. Then they made mistakes with some data during the launch video! How? How could a company that raised $250M make such a huge mistake? I felt terribly disappointed and let down by people I had admired. People like Imran and Ken who were “geniuses” at Apple, people who had created the iPhone and taken interaction design to another level.
I know hardware has little chance of success, and I know how hard it is to make software work in the market, but I put so much confidence in Humane that I’m really sad this will likely just end with an acquihire.
Moreover, I’m fearful that now, nobody will be brave enough to challenge the smartphone, to break the status quo and present a different alternative to tech.
The Light Phone 3 seems like a fresh take though.
We shall see.
Much needed relaxing Saturday — Walking in the park, pretty good pasta for launch and great news from friends. I’m grateful for what I have in my life.
