SIGGRAPH 2009: Making Old Toys New Again (56K ROFLWUT)

[Occulus]

From Five Futuristic Interfaces on Display at SIGGRAPH, vis Technology Review:

Augmented Reality for Ordinary Toys

Frantz Lasorne, a student at L'École de Design in France, has invented an ingenious way to breathe new life into old toys.

http://vimeo.com/3853814

Lasorne's Scope display automatically recognizes ordinary toys that have been mounted onto platforms covered with hexagonal patterns. Viewed through the augmented reality display, these patterns become interactive buttons and can be used to make virtual modifications to the toy. As the video below shows, a Lego person can, for instance, be instantly armed with a giant virtual bazooka.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to SCOPE. We'll start with the basic concept:



SCOPE consists of a system integrating real toys, printed game grids, and a VR system that uses Augmented Reality to make your toys come to life before your eyes.



Gameplay takes place across a battlefield composed of both real and virtual objects, allowing the battlefield to be customized in any way imaginable, using any obstacles the players care to put into place. This can range from simple books, blocks, and random household objects to a complex terrain using miniatures such as trees and models buildings.



The VR system projects movement and target ranges onto the battlefield, and that information is displayed on SCOPE's VR goggles to the player that is making the move (but not the opposing player).

Now let's look at the system in action:



SCOPe recognizes the printed matter on the game piece, probably by using optical character and pattern recognition techniques. By focusing the targeting reticle on specific printed icons, the player gains access to menu items, weapons, attacks, camouflage, and other functions. Those items are highlighted in VR by the SCOPE system and projected onto the real object by the goggles.



The system also is able to recognize the opposing player's game piece, allowing for attacks and other functions.



When a new weapon is selected, that weapon is projected into position next to the chosen game avatar (in this case, a Legoman). multiple weapons are programmed into the system, each with its own range, damage, and attack type. Want to arm your Cthulu plush toy with a bazooka? No problem.



Once so armed, the range indicator is projected. The target must lie within the red area to be affected by the selected weapon.



Once in range, the player holds their targeting reticle on the opposing player's real-object avatar. After a short time to lock onto the target, the weapon fires.





Other functions, such as a shield (I think that's what this is) are also possible:



Movement on the battlefield is accomplished using a special "movement" tile. The player selects the movement option from the menu, moves the piece into place as indicated:





And then moves the large game piece. A ruler extends between the movement hex and the game piece, and shows in that way the movement range (the line turns red when the range is exceeded):



It is also possible to have pieces at differing heights, which is shown in the video at the top of this post.

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This system, although somewhat clunky at the moment, has some serious gaming potential. "VR Command & Conquer" or "Final Fantasy Tactics VR"? Yes, please. I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one want. Badly.

There's no word when this could possibly hit the shelves, but the system seems sufficiently advanced for it to potentially be seen in stores in the next few years. Here's to hoping it hits the shelves as quickly as possible.