Inspired by classic racing video games such as F-Zero, Excitebike, R.C. Pro-Am, Super Mario Kart, Super Off Road and others, Excite Bikes adds another dimension to the classic video game experience by mapping game elements onto a real race course with real bike riders. As cyclists ride over interactive “racetime” graphics they change state, both visually and aurally.
As technology generally becomes cheaper and more malleable, this type of “gamification” of reality proliferates daily. This particular instantiation follows a previous installation I did for the Red Hook Crit in 2013 called Light Bikes. While it certainly seems cool for now, one can’t help but wonder about the long term effects of adding game-like elements into our daily lives. Will our lives become more fun? Or will we just take “games” more seriously?
Excite Bikes was created for the 2015 Red Hook Crit, which took place on Saturday, April 25th, 2015. It is created with custom software written by the artist built on OpenFrameworks. It consists of three interactive “racetime” graphics projected onto the race course. The installation is played with an old school Nintendo controller.
