Ubiquitous Computing in Minecraft
Ubiquitous computing has become more and more a part of our everyday lives. It is not surprising to see that this has now spread into different games that we play. One popular game where we can see this taking place is Minecraft. Minecraft uses a basic circuit system called redstone that allows people to build all sorts of different contraptions and devices. If we look at this system in the viewpoint of ubiquitous computing, we can see some similarities starting to present themselves. I have decided to try and break down and match different types of machines in Minecraft to those that we see in ubiquitous computing; inch, foot, and yard and translate this to blocks, chunks, and multi-chunk.
Let’s start at the smallest scale and work our way upwards beginning with blocks. Since Minecraft uses blocks for just about everything this is the smallest they can be. Most machines this size would be rather basic. A block sized machine could span up to five blocks. These could mean basic doors, teleporters, and other simple things. But these can also be used to build out larger farms or machines by using smaller block sized ones. Another important object that fits into the block sized category are gates. These kinds of gates are OR, AND, XOR, and similar. They are very important for other devices and can be used to build out complex circuits. Usually people will use basic redstone within these types of machines, sticking with pistons, levers, and repeaters. It is only when the devices grow bigger that they use more complex tools. Below is some examples of these different gates as they are built within Minecraft.
Next would come the chunk sized devices. These are far more complex and can hold quite the amount of redstone within them. You would most likely see major farms, flying contraptions, or other sorts of machines of this size. Within these types of machines it is not uncommon to see smaller block sized devices being used as well. This could be for a certain type of switch or to open a door. Most players get the most utility out of chunk sized devices and build multiple of them to expand across their world. The level of redstone blocks used within these also go up as more complex ones like comparators are used. People can also chain them in tandem, increasing their efficiency. While multiple chunk sized machines can be built to cover multiple chunks they still do not fall under that category. Think of it more like lining up multiple foot sized devices or tablets. Stringing them all together to cover the size of a board or yard sized device would be interesting but still would not work as such.
Multi chunk devices are when the machines get incredibly large and can take weeks or even months to build. Machines that fall into this category are typically like mob grinders, note block compositions, or even full Minecraft computers. This is also where the link between yard devices and these can become somewhat skewed since multi chunk devices can grow infinitely large while yard devices must be contained within a certain size. The level of redstone is also bumped up once again for these machines as chunk based and block based devices are used all around to make it function accordingly. You would also see more complex redstone being used like command blocks, daylight sensors, or methods that take advantage of the game itself like entity cramming.
Having each of these correspond to the sizes that we see in today’s ubiquitous computing devices may be a coincidence but seeing how they mimic real life devices takes it a step further. Minecraft is always adding more and more redstone functionality so the tools are always expanding. Recently, the honey block was added that allowed it to not stick to the slime block, another block that is commonly seen in redstone. These two blocks allowed for more compact devices to be made and could even shrink down some chunk sized devices into block sized ones. We can see this type of thing happen today with how tablets and phones are almost interchangeable given how much technology we can shrink down and put into it.
Another similarity comes in the form of communication. Today, most devices will communicate wirelessly with one another making for a seamless transition from one device to the next. In Minecraft this can be quite hard as working over long distances or even short ones requires some sort of physical connection. But some dedicated players have found interesting ways around these problems with either arrows or taking advantage of the games physics itself. While this worked for a while, the developers of Minecraft decided to take it a step further and introduce a new block that can essentially transmit wireless waves. This block, call the skulk sensor, works by sensing sound and once it detects a sound of some sort it will light up and send out a wave to any other nearby skulk sensors. With this, users can have a machine send out a sound wave to another skulk sensor over multiple blocks without needed to hard wire the two. It is a wireless signal just done in a weird way.
But what about data? This becomes a little complex in Minecraft since we can consider data to be a few different things. Data could mean information that naturally occurs in the world like the weight of something or what time of day it is. We could also compare data to blocks or items, counting them like we would numbers and either sort them or keep them for keeping track of something else. In any case, Minecraft has a special block to keep an eye on all of this called an observer. An observer will look at any block and output a redstone signal based on a number tied to it. For example, a lectern can output a redstone signal based on what number of pages the book on it has. This can then be used to input a special code of sorts and open something. Alternatively, if you wanted to store something like, we see with cloud computing, you can either put those items into a chest and leave them be or build out a more complex sorting system so that all of your items will go exactly where you want them to be. No matter what part of ubiquitous computing you think of there is some form of it that can be transferred into Minecraft.
Of course, most of this information presented is stretched quite a bit from what we see today and in ubiquitous computing. But the fact that we can see these similarities in a game about blocks just makes it all the more prevalent. Ubiquitous computing has become such a staple of todays world that we are able to mimic its basic qualities in a simple game to add a layer of complexity to it. More and more blocks and redstone capabilities are being added to Minecraft with every update meaning that more devices will be able to be created. I am sure that we will be able to draw more parallels to our real life ubiquitous computing to the one that we find within this game. Minecraft is not the only game to do this kind of thing either so next time you pick up your favorite game try to analyze the ubiquitous computing or technology within it and see if you can pick up on any parallels.
