virtual football game fooscade comes with mini boots for your fingers

Virtual football with mini boots as controllers

Hong Hua and Yixuan Liu create Fooscade where players inject their fingers inside a pair of sliding mini boots before they play the virtual football game. Inspired by the arcade games, the device is a modern spin on the Pong game and tabletop foosball play. The main catch here is the custom-made controllers. Unlike the traditional table football where players twist the rods so the figures can kick the ball, the virtual football functions only when they slide the mini boots with their fingers. The field is also absent, replaced by a screen and a video game.

The game starts as soon as the players have their forefingers in the mini boots. These shoes have wires under them, connected to the screen in front of them. Because of these, the tiny footwear controls the digital football cleats. Just like in table football, players maneuver the ball and use rotating and sliding motions to beat their opponents. The goal is to score more goals than the other team in two and a half minutes. While the football is virtual, the mini boots make the concept tactile, keeping the spirit of the Pong game and traditional foosball play alive.

all images courtesy of Hong Hua and Yixuan Liu

Fooscade revives soccer styles from early 2000s

Fooscade’s design is a homage to the soccer styles from the 1990s to the early 2000s. What’s new now is the series of geometric patterns that the game projects. It also features bright colors like red and purple. Even the style chosen by the team is reminiscent of the jerseys from the previous eras. Because the football is virtual, it’s easier for Hong Hua and Yixuan Liu to add more mechanics, animations, and visual cues compared to the traditional, manual ones. 

The interface is also pared back and easy to understand, so all players easily know what to do. The technology behind Fooscade is based on a direct interaction and wired model, meaning there’s a ‘fast’ response between the movement of the player and what they see on the screen. Fooscade handles its own game state tracking. There’s a timer on board, running for two and a half minutes per play, so the players don’t need to time their games. The design of the custom-made controllers is also open, so viewers can see the wiring and mechanics inside as the players move them. So far, the team has brought the virtual football with mini boots to a few conferences.

Hong Hua and Yixuan Liu create Fooscade where players put their fingers inside a pair of sliding mini boots

the tiny footwear controls the digital football cleats

the design of the custom-made controllers is also open, so viewers can see the wiring and mechanics inside

the device is a modern spin on the Pong game and tabletop foosball play

users can even play with two fingers from one hand

project info:

name: Fooscade

collaboration: Hong Hua, Yixuan Liu | @studiohuahong