Researchers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom have designed an interactive color Sudoku game, one of many programs designed to explore the interplay between logic and perception as humans interact with computers. Empirical Modelling, as the researchers’ computing approach is named, pays more attention to what humans take into account when problem-solving. For Sudoku, this can mean a mix of perception, expectation, experience and logic — and, of course, color discernment.
-- Bryn Nelson"; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Empirical Modelling","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku2.hlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "273", "362", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Empirical Modelling
In the same color Sudoku game, a player has added seven numerals to the partially completed grid, causing the color combinations to change dramatically in some areas of the board (note the dark orange colors in the second-to-last row), but not at all in others, as in the upper left square of nine boxes. The fourth square from the left in the top row has now turned a forest green, seeming to match the color assigned to the numeral 4. These player-computer interactions, with the possibilities of solutions or mistakes arising from how the player interprets available clues, are a key concept of Empirical Modelling."; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Color Sudoku","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku3.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "273", "361", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Color Sudoku
This image shows the same Sudoku game board as in the previous image, but the red color chooser on the control panel has been pushed all the way to the right for the numeral 4, giving all corresponding boxes on the game board an orange color. Now the fourth square from the left in the top row is unambiguous, thanks to the new color clue: the numeral 4 also belongs there. "; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Clayton Tunnel Model","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku4.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "273", "306", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Clayton Tunnel Model
The Clayton Tunnel Model, developed by graduate students Antony Harfield and Eric Chan, recreates different vantage points from a famous 1861 train accident near Brighton, England. This screen shows the view of Henry Killick, one of the signalmen on that fateful day. Based on Empirical Modelling concepts and created with its unique programming language, a role-playing system allows users on six different workstations to see unique vantages of the scene and what rail personnel would have had access to, such as the controls or the red warning flag."; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Car parking simulator ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku5.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Car parking simulator
Designed by undergraduate student Jon McHale, this car parking simulator features four workstations with a steering wheel and pedal set. The basic model, according to its creator, is a prime example of Empirical Modelling principles and of cause and effect: If the user changes one variable (velocity, for example), a string of changes such as the car’s position automatically follow from the program’s design. Fortunately, the ensuing fender bender is only a simulation."; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Traffic patterns","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku6.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "273", "313", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Traffic patterns
This simple model, created as a one-week project by student Chandika Mendis, uses Empirical Modelling’s programming language to create a dynamic T-junction, with traffic passing through three traffic lights. The traffic build-up is represented by a black bar and a number indicating the number of waiting cars. The color of the lights follows a predefined sequence that can be tweaked by the programmer, resulting in different traffic patterns."; Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i++] = new Array("","Musical adaptation ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080125/brill-080125-ColorSudoku7.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Empirical Modelling Group/University of Warwick", "130", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_ColorSuduko_080204[i-1].body = "Musical adaptation
Project leader Meurig Beynon has created a kind of visual map for Franz Schubert’s musical adaptation of a dramatic poem called “Erlkönig.” With the top color-coded band, Beynon has marked out different characters’ actions within the song (“The horse rides in the night”), while the lower band symbolizes the changing musical keys and harmonies, based on Beynon’s deliberate distortion of an existing mathematical formula. The resulting display can be synched to a performance of the song, presenting a blend of the computer’s automatic associations and Beynon’s subjective choices — another key feature of Empirical Modelling programs."; // END editorial data