my name is mwd

For a bit of fun over xmas, instead of augmenting reality with virtual stuff, I’ve done the inverse, and augmented a virtual reality environment, Minecraft, with real world stuff.

I like the idea of ambient devices showing us information from the digital world without need for computers, and I like the idea in Minecraft that there’s a logic system you can use to build up control circuits, and this is a kinda mashup of both those ideas.

The way it works is I use a plugin for the excellent hey0 mod for Minecraft to give me access to all the core events inside Minecraft, such as when players come and go, and also the Redstone wires/switches/etc. and then I move all that into a Django based web service, where I can store it all and I’m no longer working in Java :) From there I can start calling webhooks – so I made my arduino light up LEDs based on webhook calls, and I connected it to twithook (an webhook API service I made that let you tweet) to let me tweet.

The example above is quite trivial, but I like the idea that now I’ve got this information out of Minecraft, it could be used for lots of fun stuff. I could build a virtual version of my house in Minecraft and us that as the interface to a home automation system like AlertMe or X10. I could control what’s on the CODA screen in our kitchen or what our Nabaztag is doing, as both have simple APIs. Because this uses the minecraft server Laura or I could access it from anywhere in the world to control our house. Having a simple VR model as opposed to a web page could make for a better link between what happens in the virtual world and in the real world.

Lots of potential fun!