About This Game

Automata Streetcar is an interactive, digital-media art project that uses historic streetcars as a metaphor to explore ideas about connection, communication, and community. The project is inspired by the four historic streetcar systems that once operated in British Columba - in Victoria, Vancouver, North Vancouver, and in particular the small, remote mountain community of Nelson.
​
As mechanical devices, streetcars may be interpreted as a type of automata: self-guided, interactive mechanisms that respond to a sequence of predetermined instructions. They follow a fixed track through city streets, stopping to collect passengers at predetermined locations, operating within a sequential yet highly interactive environment.

The project is primarily intended to be a gallery / museum installation in which visitors use custom-made game controllers to interact with a digital recreation of Nelson's main street, as it was 100 years ago when streetcars operated there. Players take on the roles of the conductor and driver to operate a streetcar, collect passengers, and build community confidence. The project can also be downloaded directly to experience at home, using either home-built Arduino-based game controllers, or a standard keyboard and mouse arrangement.

Home Play Version

The project can be downloaded and played at home with a standard keyboard and mouse arrangement, or with two home-built, Arduino-based game controllers (one for the streetcar conductor, and one for the streetcar driver). The home play option was developed using Arduino Uno R3 compatible controller boards. A separate USB connection and one Arduino-compatible controller board is required for each game-controller (materials and components are not included).