The idea is that you'll play the games within Messenger and be able to easily challenge Facebook friends to beat your score, or chat about playing, and spend more time in the overall Facebook ecosystem. It's already online in the US, although we don't seem to have it in the UK quite yet.įacebook's tech uses HTML5 to replicate shrunken versions of arcade and mobile hits. The collection is rolling out now via an app update in 30 countries. We use an Android Galaxy S5 smartphone, which has a 16-MP rear camera and a 1/2.6” sensor.17 games have been added to the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile, including Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man and Zoo Keeper. A low-cost school microscope (HomeScienceTools, MI-5000DHD) was used for the smartphone-attachment version of the LudusScope. We used a 10x microscope eyepiece lens (Cnscope, WF10x, 18-mm field of view, 23.2-mm mount), a 35-mm CCTV board lens (M12 Lenses, PT-3621), and a CCTV lens threaded seat (M12 Lenses, PT-LR001P).

The electronic extension used an Arduino Uno board (DEV-11021), transistors (COM-00521), and BlueSMiRF Silver wireless serial cable (WRL-12577) ordered from Sparkfun. All of the electrical components were ordered from SparkFun. Microfluidic chips were made with a laser cutter (Epilog Helix, 45 W) on double-sided tape (3M, 300LSE), a 1.5 mm thick poly(methyl methacrylate) base and cover, and tubing (Tygon, AAQ04103), resulting in chamber dimensions of 6.5 mm x 6.5 mm x 170 μm. These let kids collect data on Euglena behavior, swimming speed and natural biological variability.Īccording to its paper: All structural components were designed in SolidWorks (Dassault Systemes, v2014) and 3D-printed with ABSplus plastic (Stratasys uPrint+). Other non-game applications provide microscope scale-bars, real-time displays of swimming speed or zoomed-in views of individual cells. Kids earn points by guiding the Euglena through the goal posts. Another game looks like a soccer stadium.

Kids can select one cell to track, then use the LED lights to control which direction the cell swims in an attempt to guide it around the maze and collect the dots. One resembles Pac-Man, with a maze containing small white dots. On the phone, kids can run a variety of software that overlay on top of the image of the cells. Once assembled, students can use the LuduScope in a number ways.

Playpacman