The most sophisticated (and least pretentious) of platforms for the facilitation of thought and play!
By: Logan Schreier and Alexander Worley
Final Project for Stanford University's CS 147L Autumn 2023
Philosophers are tortured souls. The intense contemplation required to answer life's most profound philosophical questions, such as "what is a chair?" or "is a hotdog a sandwich?" can quickly drive even the shrewdest of philosophers into utter madness. Nor are philosophers known to be particularly stable to begin with. As the French egghead René Descartes famously said, "cogito, ergo bibo" - I think, therefore I drink.
Fortunately for would-be alcoholic thinkers everywhere, the unstoppable force of innovation has marched on into the future, and has brought unto humanity something truly brilliant - a perfect fusion of rumination and recreation! The marvelous Pong 'n Ponder has burst onto the global scene, and stands as the most sophisticated (and least pretentious) of platforms for the facilitation of thought and play.
We all know Friedrich Nietzsche would have loved Pong. So what took civilization so long to bind Pong with Pondering? As we contemplated this very question, we grew tired of twiddling our thumbs, waiting for this most extraordinary of ideas to be realized; thus we went to work, toiling away at our computers until Pong 'n Ponder was well and truly alive. Just as Atlas held up the heavens, so too did we bear a tremendous burden for the benefit of all humanity. And now, we wish to share it with the world, completely free of charge, and available on iOS and Android devices everywhere.
Rejoice, citizens! Don the mantle of philosopher, and pick up your paddle! The time of your life awaits!
- A Pong 'n Ponder Server (found here) must be running on the same network.
- Within /app/index.js, replace the URL on line 37 with the IPv4 Address of the machine on your network that is running the Pong 'n Ponder Server.
const URL = "http://XX.XX.XX.XXX:1930"
- Expo Go (found here) is required to run this project.
Upon download:
cdto the project's directory and runnpm installto download all required dependencies.- Run
npx expo startto start the project. - Scan the QR Code via the Camera App on iOS or the Expo Go App on Android to download and launch Pong 'n Ponder.
- Alternatively, press
ito lauch the project on an iOS Simulator orato launch the project on an Android Simulator.
Upon app launch, philosophers will be met with a title screen on the Ponder tab.
At the bottom of the screen, philosophers will find the following tabs:
Here, philosophers will find a synopsis detailing the purpose of this app.
Here, philosophers are able to enter a moniker for themselves along with a room ID. A random monikor pulled from a list of famous philosophers can be assigned via the dice button. Upon entering both, philosophers will join the room they entered and be introduced as their moniker. Philosophers will be unable to join a room if the moniker field is blank, the room ID field is blank, another philosopher in the entered room is already using the moniker they entered, or the room ID they entered already has two philosophers in it.
- Note: this requires a Pong 'n Ponder Server to be running on the same network. See Prerequisites for details.
Following this, philosophers will be sent to a Chat Room.
Here, philosophers will be able to adjust the following settings for when they play Pong:
- The hue of their paddle
- The hue of the AI's paddle
- The difficulty level of the Pong AI.
Here, philosophers will be prompted with a philosophical question chosen from a pool of questions and can discuss the question with another philosopher if they are in the same room.
An announcement will automatically appear in the chat when any of the following occur:
- A philosopher joins the chat room
- A philosopher takes a break and begins a game of Pong.
- A philosopher returns to the chat room after their Pong break.
In the top left, a return button will return philosophers to the Ponder tab.
In the top right, an information button will display the ID of the current room along with the monikers of each philosopher.
In the bottom left, a Pong button will allow philosophers to take a break and play a game of Pong.
Here, philosophers can take a break from philosophical discussion and play a game of Pong.
Using their finger, they can control the position of the paddle on the left while an AI controls the paddle on the right.
The hue of their paddle, the hue of the AI's paddle, and the difficulty level of the AI can be adjusted in the Boutique.
A score board is displayed at the top of the page, and a return button in the top left will return philosophers to their Chat Room.
