1.6 KiB
1.6 KiB
Pause Signal Rework
Problem
The current pause gesture is arms-out (T-pose): both wrists at shoulder height.
Issues:
- Accidental triggers — players raise arms during gameplay and inadvertently pause
- Unintuitive — new players don't know or remember to hold a T-pose to pause
Current Implementation
armsOutDetector.ts— checks both wrists withinARMS_Y_TOLERANCE(0.15) of shoulder Y- 2-second cooldown after arms drop before it can re-trigger
- Arms-out is dual-purpose: it both pauses gameplay and is the calibration-ready signal
Alternative Signals
| Gesture | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Hands on head (both wrists above head) | Very intentional, hard to do by accident | Might be tiring if held |
| Crossed arms (wrists near opposite shoulders) | Familiar "stop" posture, unlikely during dance | Harder to detect reliably with occlusion |
| Hand over face (one wrist covering nose) | Simple, quick | Could conflict with wiping sweat |
| Both hands raised high (surrender pose) | Easy to detect, distinct from dance moves | Could overlap with jump celebrations |
| Timeout / stillness (no movement for N seconds) | No specific pose needed | Slow, frustrating to wait |
| Palm facing camera (open hand toward webcam) | Intuitive "stop" signal | Requires hand landmark model, more compute |
Considerations
- Whatever replaces T-pose for pause must not conflict with the calibration flow (which also uses arms-out to signal "ready")
- Should be easy to explain in the tutorial overlay
- Must be distinct from stepping, jumping, and natural dance movement