Taboo
Phygital redesign of the Taboo board game, combining physical NFC cards with an AI-powered mobile app.
Category
Phygital
/
Year
2024
project overview
Taboo: Guardians of Words is a phygital reimagining of the classic word game. Teams assign custom categories to four coloured cards, each featuring a unique guardian character, and scan them via RFID to start their turn. An AI generates words in real time, making every game fresh and unpredictable.
team
B.L. Espinosa, L.M. Mihalcea
my role
UX Designer & Hardware Prototyper
context
hardware & software technologies for design, politecnico di milano
digital interface
The ProtoPie app handles game logic, custom categories, and AI-generated word lists, making every game session unique. Players can define their own categories before the game starts, and the AI generates appropriate words in real time, eliminating repetition and keeping the experience fresh.
physical interface
Powered by an internal ESP32, the lightweight 3D-printed device uses an RFID reader to scan game cards and initiate turns. It features a central red button for opponents to quickly signal forbidden words. To provide immediate visual feedback, a responsive LED ring matches the scanned card's color, acts as a live timer, and blinks three times to conclude the round.
outcomes
Development involved resolving hardware and software issues. On the software side, the AI prompt required calibration to correctly parse custom user categories, while ProtoPie variables needed adjustments to fix text formatting errors, such as single-line string outputs. Hardware-wise, programming the LED ring required fine-tuning to synchronize color transitions and blink timings.
