Escape Room
Design and Prototypes
We designed an Escape Room experience intended for middle schoolers to have fun and learn about Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, and Mesopotamia by taking them through an interactive story based on the concept of time. We also chose to make our design as accessible as possible. For example, we designed puzzles accessible to those with focus-based disabilities and used both an LCD screen to display text and a speaker to simultaneously read the text (for both visual and auditory communication methods to participants). For that last feature, we had to create a connected system that could keep track of where it was in the storyline without one part of the system interfering with other parts, which required learning about software techniques and hardware well beyond the requirements of the project.
Video of Escape Room Prototypes
Video Timestamps:
0:06 – A button is pushed, which resets all the electronic components to their initial positions/states. 0:21 – The book is removed from the pressure plate, and the “bookshelf” swings open. 0:26 – The seven segment display shows the number 4, and the Sundial puzzle message plays. 0:34 – The “Replay Last Message” button was pressed, so the Sundial puzzle message plays again. 0:42 – An LED is turned on in response to a button click. 0:45 – LEDs turn on and off based on button clicks as well as independently of each other (as proven here). 0:54 – The hint for the Sundial puzzle plays because enough time has passed. 1:09 – Numbered buttons are pressed on the keypad in a passcode attempt for the Sundial puzzle. 1:23 – The “Replay Last Message” button was pressed, and because the last message played was the hint for the Sundial puzzle, that hint plays. 1:38 – A correct passcode for the Sundial puzzle is entered. All the LEDs turn off, and then the LED representing the main room lights turns on. The seven segment display number changes. The message for the start of the Trojan horse puzzle starts to play. 2:03 – Start of solving the Trojan horse puzzle 2:30 – The Trojan horse puzzle has been solved, and the Prophecy for the next puzzle has been obtained. 2:40 – The correct number is entered into the keypad, and a door on a box swings open. (For the real escape room, this would be the box the key to the cabinet is found in.) 2:49 – The Sliding Block puzzle begins (as well as the message that starts with it). 3:18 – The hint for the Sliding Block puzzle plays because enough time has passed. 3:27 – The last block is pressed down, and the door to the box opens. 3:41 – The button to reset the room is pressed, and all electrical components return to their initial positions/states once again. 3:48 – The “bookcase” opens again because there is no book on the pressure plate.
My contribution to the project:
This project was created by myself and three others (who worked on several aspects of the project not showcased here). I wrote over three quarters of the code, constructed all the physical prototypes, and wired together all the electrical components (and created the wiring diagram). We worked together on the overall concept, story, and design.
Code
Download ZIP: FEHSpringEscapeRoomProject_FinalCode