FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Games

Ping Pong Meets 'Guitar Hero' When Table Tennis Goes High-Tech

The only difference is that 'Ping Pong FM' actually teaches you ping pong.
Screencap via

If you still have nightmares about the k'chink sound from Guitar Hero and want to up your table tennis game, then you need Mark Wheeler's Ping Pong FM. "Choose a song and keep it playing at the correct tempo by keeping the ball in play. Rally too slowly, or drop the ball, and the music will wind down to a stop," explains the Seattle-based artist, whose work ranges from audiovisual performances to projection mapping.

Advertisement

The blue and green ping pong table has a sleek modern aesthetic, but the real magic is in the sensors and circuits under the hood. Speakers blasting Missy Elliot or Drake force players to swing their connected ping pong paddles to the tempo, otherwise it will become distorted and near-unbearable to listen to. Miss, and the record scratches and goes silent; a sonic message of incompetance even more unbearable than Guitar Hero's fail-sound. Unlike Guitar Hero, though, Ping Pong FM actually teaches you to play ping pong.

Click here to check out Ping Pong FM. See more of Mark Wheeler's work on his website.

Ping Pong FM was created by Mark Wheeler, Christopher Arzt, Alaa Mendili, Camille Durand, Kevin Bleich, Demetre Arges, Paul Williamson, Graham Bullis, Catherine Schultz, Brandon Hilliard, Les Hilliard and Tyler Coray. Special thanks to Object.

Related:

You Choose the Lovers in Cassius' Interactive Music Video

Remix Grimes with Your Bare Hands Inside an Interactive Installation

Play The Interactive Music Video Game For QVALIA's "Sound The Alarm"