Hello, and welcome to my blog page. With the advent of 5G technology and the expansion of Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Hologram technology, I have 3 ideas that could utilize these aspects.
RTS AR Game
We’ve all played a real-time strategy game once in our lives. And the success of Pokemon GO has shown that we can implement a virtual ecosystem into the real world. However, Pokemon GO is limited in its battle mechanics. While yes you can battle with others anywhere in the world, you are restricted to the game’s in-game battle field. What if you could battle virtual opponents in reality? This first proposal is for an AR RTS game, in which, players control troops of one of multiple factions and battle for real world turf. A perfect testing ground would be TCNJ’s campus. Say for example that Blue Team occupied the AIMM building and Trenton Hall, while Red Team controlled the Student Center and the Library. In real time with troops you could see, you could view and control a true battle through your smartphone. Through your smart phone, you will see virtual troops fight for dominion over a real battlefield.
It should go without saying that even the initial product will look better than this garbage. And with the beginning of 5G becoming more readily available, there will be no restrictions to where you can play such a game.
A VR Game Made For Outdoors
If you’ve ever owned a virtual reality headset, you know that the one thing that is always clear no matter the headset is that the motion detectors, cameras, and especially the lenses are to NEVER be touched by direct sunlight. This obviously restricts the user to their home and prevents more physical activity. But with the prevalence of Google Glass, it is possible that a comfortable VR headset made for outdoor use can become a reality in the distant future. But if the technology doesn’t exist or is too underdeveloped to use in such a manor, how could one conceptualize a game for something that doesn’t exist. Well, Little [insert your name], conceptualizing a game for a product that can’t come out yet will help cement just the type of device we should come to make later down the line. For this conceptualization, I will be using an example like the above proposal. However, you will be the soldier instead of mobilizing them. And instead of military gunfights, there will be gladiatorial combat instead. Of course, gladiator fighting games already exist in VR. However, what would make this game different from ones that already exist is that, instead of a programmed arena, the arena is in your backyard. And because spatial limitations are mitigated in an outdoor environment, there’s more room for enemy AI to be randomized. Compare this to being inside where if you go too far, you’re ripped from the game, or say if you were to swing and risk breaking either something next to you or your peripherals. The problem such as a person or animal or debris becoming a tripping stone when you play is gone with a camera that makes reality the game’s map.
Lifelike Holographic Games
Thanks to companies such as Voxon and Tilt Five, there are now holographic games that we can experience at relatively low costs. However, while this technology is a giant leap towards hologaming (I may or may not have just made that up), there are still limitations, such as choppy and clay-like graphics and the need for outside peripherals such as specialized controllers and physical pieces such as models and cards. Tilt Five has, well, five games that you can play on the unique system, including a dungeon crawler. Let’s take the dungeon crawler game and amplify it to where we can use our physical selves to interact with the game. What would it look like? You’d see your characters, the dungeon layout, maybe some enemies and some traps. How would you traverse this dungeon? Maybe the game plays like a point-and-click, but instead of a mouse, you use your finger to guide the characters. Use motion to attack the enemy; swing an open palm to attack and use a fist to defend. Much like the previous proposal, the technology is very limited, but with some foresight and with the right ideas, we can shape how such a gaming system could come to be.
I think a VR RTS is an interesting concept. Relating it to pokemon go terms, I like the idea of being able to hold some form of base or camp (like the gyms in pokemon go) and from there being able to send out you units to try and gain more ground in the surrounding areas, especially if you can see all of the action going on either through your screen or some form of peripheral. An interesting Idea would be: What if you had an LED at the base locations and you could actively see what team currently holds the base by an indication of the color on the LED, so even when your not actively playing the game you can still be informed through the real world surrounding of what the current situation might be. This idea has some great potential and could be a really unique experience for many people, similarly to how pokemon go took the world by storm with its initial release.
Hope this helps, I am excited to see which route you take with this project!
-Pat
In response to your second concept. As an owner of a VR headset, the possibility for an outside VR Headset is a very exciting prospect. With the current workarounds for the current VR Headsets which can avoid the risk of knocking pricey things over (Having an entire room for VR or perhaps having something physical located directly in the center of your playspace to keep the player oriented), the idea that players could take it outside into the safer backyard area is a tempting future. The technology for something like this is actually closer than you may think in the Oculus Quest 2 where the sensor itself is inside the headset so no wires and no big desktop is required. Maybe look into the Oculus Quest 2 software for a more solid foundation for your gladiatorial game and the accompanying headset concept?