Student’s Design Links Coin-Op Wash Cycle to Gaming Ability

LONDON — It wouldn’t be unusual to see coin-op washers and arcade games in the same laundry, but what if they were one and the same?

Lee Wei Chen, an art design student attending Kingston University in London, has designed a video game that involves doing the laundry.

His “amusement washing machine” resembles an arcade-style video console, but the bottom half is a washer. Chen linked the circuitry of the two, so the washing cycle is dependent on the gamer’s progress.

Players insert three coins, which gives them three “lives” and turns on the washer. If the player fails to progress beyond a certain level, the washer doesn’t move to the next stage in its cycle until more coins are added.

Chen’s device was part of the university’s display during the London Design Festival over the weekend.

Do you think something like that would ever go over in the States? If so, parents might finally be able to take advantage of all that time their kids spend playing video games.

Postgraduate student Lee Wei Chen said he wanted to find a productive use for the “wasted but enjoyable time” he spent gaming, so he designed a machine that combines gaming with doing the laundry. (Photo: Kingston University London Press Office)

Players insert three coins, which gives them three “lives” and turns on the washer. If the player fails to progress beyond a certain level, the washer doesn’t move to the next stage in its cycle until more coins are added. (Photo: Kingston University London Press Office)

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].