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Bamzooki (stylized as BAMZOOKi) is a British children'stelevisiongame show broadcast on the CBBC channel, in which teams compete in knockout tournaments using virtual creatures known as "Zooks". These creatures were designed by contestants using a free computer-generatedtoolkit developed by Gameware Development, available for download from the CBBC website.[1] The original run, hosted by Jake Humphrey, aired from March 2004 to 2006 over three series. A 13-episode revival, Bamzooki: Street Rules, hosted by Barney Harwood and Gemma Hunt, aired from November 2009 to February 2010 with updated graphics, physics, and contests.
The original series premiered in March 2004 on the CBBC channel, and was presented by Jake Humphrey. It initially ran until 2006, airing over forty episodes across three seasons. A new thirteen-part revival series, set on a street, titled "Bamzooki: Street Rules”, premiered in November 2009 with new presenters—Barney Harwood and Gemma Hunt—, a revamped toolkit with improved graphics and physics, new contests, new "House Zooks," a new format, and a "Zook Doctor."
A Zook is an autonomous creature designed by users and contestants on the gameshow. Created using 3D primitives, Zooks move autonomously based on IK points assigned by the designer.
Inspired by nature, contestants design Zooks to compete in various competitions. The toolkit for designing Zooks is available for download on the show's website. Recently, two new features have been added to the Zook-Kit, allowing users to simulate TV contests and replay their Zooks' performances from multiple angles.
Gameware's Creature Labs team uses artificial life programming techniques to provide the Zooks' autonomous movement and behavior. This is integrated with the BBC's virtual studio system for real-time visualizations in a studio setting.
The Bamzooki Zook Kit enables users to build virtual creatures, called Zooks, and test them in a real-time, physically simulated environment. Kids used this software to build Zooks and submitted them to the BBC. Selected teams were invited to the studio to enter their Zooks in various contests. The new series "Bamzooki: Street Rules," which aired in November 2009, features fully interactive contests where participants direct their Zooks by shouting instructions, as well as contests set on the streets and rooftops. Thirty-six teams were selected for the championships, which included nine heats, a semi-final, and a final.
The software and manual were freely available from the BBC website. Although designed to be easy enough for children to use, it is highly flexible and versatile. Zooks are constructed from basic components that users shape and assemble. Users are not restricted to particular body designs or topologies, although the control system uses a standard Braitenberg architecture.
The BBC's Virtual Studio technology was used to enable real-time composition of the 3D-rendered graphics with live camera feeds. Each studio camera has a dedicated render PC to render the virtual scene from that camera's perspective. To know what a studio camera's perspective is, each camera is fitted with a second "Free-D" camera that points towards the ceiling. On the ceiling are reflective, circular bar codes. The 3-D camera data is fed to a computer system that identifies the targets on the ceiling and calculates the camera's position and orientation 50 times a second. Series 4 adopted Vinten tracking peds instead of FREE-D as an alternative approach.
The contest runs in real time on a networked PC. All the clients receive contest scene information and render their scenes from their studio camera's point of view. A bank of chroma key boxes then composites the virtual and the live feed together to provide a real-time composite. This video stream can be sent to the studio camera monitors so that camera operators can view the composite and hence follow the action in real time.
The toolkit (a modified version of the Bonsai artificial life program) has at times been utilized by adults for their own purposes, including research.[2]
Bamzooki で人気のある目標は、Zook をギャラリーやリーグに入れることでした。これらは、最も閲覧されダウンロードされる Zook であることが多いからです。リーグに入るには、特定のイベントで最大限まで強化された Zook を作成する必要があります。これらのイベントは、短距離走、ブロック押し、ハードル、走り高跳び、および周回です。CBBC Bamzooki サイトでは、毎月、「宇宙の Zook」や「不気味な Zook」などのトピックに基づいた新しいギャラリーが公開されます。各ギャラリーには 16 のスペースがあり、Zook モデレーターが最も見栄えの良い Zook を選んでそのスペースに配置します。ツールキットは、物理学、アニメーション、プログラミングの基本原理を教える教育的価値があると評価されました。主に子供向けでしたが、このソフトウェアは大人が研究目的で使用できるほど高度でした。[ 3 ] [ 4 ]
比較的新しいリーグとして、アルティメット・ズーク・リーダーボードがある。ここでは、すべてのトライアルのスコアが1つのスコアに集計され、そのスコアに基づいてズーク同士が比較される。