ANNOUNCEMENT:
Chalky is now available for Android (OS 1.6 and up) from the Market Place.
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iPod Touch users: This application monitors your microphone audio input and therefore Chalky will not dance on an iPod Touch unless you have an external microphone. |
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Android users: If you are using a desktop browser, use Android's "Barcode Scanner" application on this QR code. If you are viewing this on your Android device you may simply click on the code in order to reach Chalky's Market entry. |
- "iChalky is a fun little dancing stick figure that you can control. 99 Cent Gem [...]" - 09/14/2008 - 148Apps
- "iChalky is unusual, unique, funny in an odd way, and above all it’s an interesting study in iPhone physics [...]" - 09/22/2008 - iPhone App Reviews
- "iChalky: The Hilarious, Dancing Stickman [...]" - 10/08/2008 - RazorianFly
- "iChalky is Dancing His Way into Our Hearts [...]" - 10/15/2008 - App Craver
Chalky is a simplistic stick figure whose posture and behavior result from the mechanical constraints that define him. He consists of a set of 8 masses connected to one another through a series of damped springs with various coefficients. Gravity and instantaneous acceleration are estimated from your iPhone's X and Y accelerometers and transferred onto Chalky's virtual world.
Friction was further added to the edges of his frame along with some rudimentary stepping heuristics to give him a fighting chance to maintain his balance as you rotate your phone around or take him on the bus with you. You can also grab, stretch and throw him with your multi-touch screen if you feel he's not getting enough abuse.
Chalky also thinks he can dance and he'll start busting his moves if he detects music though your phone's microphone... so crank up the tunes!
Chalky is not artificially intelligent and none of his gestures are choreographed. He illustrates the fact that humble perceptual measurements and simple constraints set in a physically meaningful environment can lead to interesting and sometime unexpected behavior.