Invention, Intellectual Property and Business Models
This weeks assignment is to Develop a plan for dissemination of my final project. Prepare drafts of my summary slide (presentation.png, 1920 x 1080) and video clip (presentation.mp4, 1080p HTML5, < ~minute, < ~10 MB) and put them in my root directory.
I will have to admit that I did not think much of the next step (if any) for my final project. I chose to create an arcade simply because it was something I always wanted to have an i thought it would be awesome if I could make one myself. In short, it is a project that I wanted to do for fun with no intention of commercializing it in any way. A huge part of that is that a big part of my project is based on other's work.
Licensing
The project is based hugely ( it wouldnt even be an arcade without it) on the Arduino TVout library TVout library
The author and creator of this library, user Avamander on github, did not list the library under any license or include any text relating to licensing in the library. There are multiple contributions to the library by multiple other users on github Link. The library is shared on the Arduino website. In the arduino website the ditorial contents such as text and pictures is listed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0. license.
This license states that users can use content on their own derived works, in part or completely, as long as they also adopt the same license.
I assumed first that it meant that all content on the arduino website was under this license, however, this only includes the content made by the editorial team. A lot of the libraries posted mention different licenses. a coomon one that is used is the GNU General Public License.
Tldrlegal website is a brilliant website that summarizes licesning agreements in an easy to undrestant language where anyone without a legal background can undrestand. Link
According to the TLDR legal website, the GNU General Public License means that You may copy, distribute and modify the software as long as you track changes/dates in source files. Any modifications to or software including (via compiler) GPL-licensed code must also be made available under the GPL along with build & install instructions.
I wanted to select a licernse for my final project, at first i wanted to choose between those two licenses, however, the GNU General Public License is centered around software and does not cover hardware. I like this license becuase it encourages sharing the work created and including build & install instructions which can be very helpful to users of that work and would encourage the spread of knowledge.
The Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licnese is not just software centered and seemed like an excillent choice, but while looking at the details, it did not have a liablity clause. What a liablity clause means is that the original creator cannot be held liable and / or charged for damage caused by the use of licensed information. So I opted to not use it as having that kind of clause is important to me.
I looked up another alternative that did contain that clause. Given the project's light hearted fun nature, I opted to use a license that matched it.
The diffmark license
I chose the diffmark license becuase it basically states that users can do what they want with the information and that the creator refuses any responsibility for the consequences. Its simple and to the point. Link
future possibilities
At first I do not intend to do much with my project. My main intention was to create a fun game that I can keep at Fab Lab Bahrain for visitors to try out. I think having something made in the fab lab using so many different manufactring processes and that is fun to interact with will inspire visitors to start creating projects of their own.My future plans include improving on the project and creating a more powerful version (that is not black and white) and creating new games users can interact with.
During working on the project I started to see so many different possiblities for it which changed my future plans. I am planning to use the arcade as a starting point and as a fun interactive way to teaching coding. In Fab Lab Bahrain, we deliver different kinds of courses to an audiance of different ages, from kids to adults. Some of those courses invclude design, coding and using the machines of a Fab Lab. I have noticed that teaching kids coding tends to be chllanging at first. Espically for kids that never tried it before. They tend to have difficulties wraping their head around a lot of the concepts, and teaching them in a visual way or a way they can interact with is the best method to do it, which is where the arcade comes in.
For most childern, the games available to them are games available on their ipads or on their different gaming platforms. Even if a kid was interested in coding and creating their own games, the games available to them is at a much higher level and requires dozons of developers to create.
A level a kid experimenting in game coding on their own would never reach, thus furthering the idea of being a consumer instead of a creator.
The Arcade brings game coding down to a level that is achivable by the learner with a little bit of work and undrestanding the basics of coding. With a little bit of help, they can create a play their own games. Earlier this year (April 2018), Nintendo released an interactive gaming and construction toy platform. The Nintendo Labo. It functions as an extention to the Nintendo switch. It gained popularity becuase kids can assemble their own switch extention and comes with a feature called "Toy-Con Garage", which allows users to create and program their own Toy-Con using simple programming commands.
The arcade can accomplish a similar concept at a larger scale. I inted to use it in upcoming coding workshops in the fablab to create an interactive session. Unlike any other thing available in the market, the possiblities are endless with the arcade. Any input device can be used other than the buttons and joystick that come with it to teach children about sesonrs and input devices. As a next step, the arcade can be sold as a kit to be assembled and programmed by the user. It can become a very effective way at teaching programming and electronics to children and that what I entend to work on in the next period. To make learning coding and game design interactive and fun for anyone to learn.
Presentation and slide
This section includes My final project Presentation and slide downloadable files