Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Controlling real objects
There is a pretty original and breathtaking initiative that lets mobile devices control
small electric toys, turning them into an interesting game experience. All this started
with remote control car models and helicopters managed through special iOS applic-
ations. This was funny, especially for kids, but also pretty traditional. Except the con-
troller that wasnew,the processitself wasthe sameanddidnot requireanyadditional
video game background. Later, more advanced models such as AR.Drone, the amaz-
ing quadricopter by Parrot (
http://ardrone2.parrot.com/
) appeared. AR.Drone has an
onboard camera, and its native iOS application uses live video images along with vir-
tual controls and other onscreen digital information, since it truly adopts itself to the
requisites an AR environment. Moreover, developers also let the quadricopter get in-
volved in some gaming activities. There are special applications that use AR to create
a virtual game environment. For example,
AR.Rescue 2
lets players collect items in
the air and fight with alien invaders. It even uses fiducial markers to generate virtu-
al decorations for the player's base. The game idea and mechanics are very close
to early arcade games; it can even be considered as primitive. However, because of
an advanced context involving AR and high-end remote controlled flying vehicles, the
immersion effect is simply tremendous!
Anki DRIVE's little robotic cars, which use mobile devices as a platform for AI.Image Courtesy: Anki
DRIVE
A different approach to mixed reality was made by a company named
Anki, Inc
(
ht-
tp://anki.com
)
. They introduced a unique concept of gaming. Their product is known
as
Anki DRIVE
; it includes a special mat with track markings on it and a couple of
toy cars. These tiny vehicles are not simple remote controlled toys; in reality, they
are small robots with sensors that scan the track and send information to an iOS
device where calculations and decisions are made in real time and sent back, since
the device is the mother computer for these cars. It can control their speed, direction
of movement, and so on. Therefore, there are real objects as well as accurate virtual
representations of them inside a special iOS application. Any manipulations in the vir-
tual space have a direct effect on the behavior of the real toy, and vice versa.
