Revised Concept: https://www.immtcnj.com/thesis_fall_20/2020/10/03/kovacs-revised-concept/
For realistic reasons, I have scrapped the last two ideas and have opted for the first option: the AR RTS game. Although the finalized plan is technically already done, the questions will be answered later. For now, I am going to focus on answering questions to the research plan.
How did we get to where we are today, to what constitutes as state-of-the-art?
The very first implementation of Augmented Reality was in 1962, when Morton Heilig created the first Augmented / Virtual Reality system: the Sensorama. The Sensorama was capable of displaying visuals, play sound, vibration, and producing smells. Since then, the usage, practicality, and power have increased to even today with the likes of the commercial Oculus Quest 2, smartglasses, or all the military simulations in between. AR technology is sprinkled in all of our commercial tech, including our smartphones, game consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS, and the advent of affordable smartglasses currently being developed by Microsoft and Samsung.
How does your project build on and extend that history rather than just re-enact it?
Yes and no. No, in the instance that AR based games are nothing new. The explosive popularity that was PokeMon GO not only got everyone to hop on the mobile game and PokeMon bandwagons, but struck a prevailing market for augmented reality. But there was another obscure game that implements the type of game I’m going for: ARQuake. In 2000, ARQuake was tested for mobile devices, however, it required AR cards and hardware and equipment that would be way too expensive for practical consumer use. Yes, in terms of the display and function of the game. While PokeMon GO implements your smartphone’s camera and GPS systems to track and find PokeMon, you still battle other players’ PokeMon in an in-game battlefield. This is where my app changes things. Instead of a digital field, the game will be played in reality through the camera. The menus will be integrated in such a way that attacks, spells, and item usage can be done on the fly. Much like ARQuake, it would immerse the player as characters would be portrayed through the screen, however, there will be no need for cards to be placed or for any external equipment.
What previous technologies and what advances in other areas fed into the development of your area?
The very first display of true Augmented Reality was in 1975. Created by Myron Krueger, Videoplace was a lab consisting of monitors that respond to stimuli. For example, if a user were to swing their arms in front of the monitor, the monitor would pick up the motion via a display of colored shadows. The machine was capable of displaying motion capture (to some extent). Like all emerging technologies, when a breakthrough is made, the government begins to fund the production. In 1992, the US Air Force develops a fully immersive flight simulator. In 1998, NASA uses AR for a practical field navigator on their X-38 spacecraft. As previously stated, in 2000 ARQuake was made so a player could play Quake anywhere they chose. The big one that will help is Google’s Android ARCore SDK that was released in 2018. This will make development for an AR game much easier and more streamlined.
Are there major stylistic milestones, and how did they reflect the culture at the time?
The milestones made with the technology are the development of ARQuake, the concept and testing of smart glasses, and the release of AR-centered development kits. The only AR based I could argue was reflective of it’s time’s culture would be the AR games ARQuake and PokeMon GO. Both were launched at the height of their brand’s popularity/resurgence, and a newly found love for augmented reality.
What sort of predictions were made about AR?
Who were some pioneers of the field?
The first development of AR tech was made in 1957. Cinematographer Morton Heilig invented the Sensorama, which delivered visuals, sounds, vibration, and smell to the viewer. In 1975, Myron Krueger developed the first “virtual reality” interface called “Videoplace.” Some more modern breakthroughs include Bruce Thomas’ development of ARQuake in 2000, ARToolkit made by Adobe Flash in 2009, and the development of smart glasses by Google, Microsoft, and Samsung between 2013 and now. The biggest was the release of PokeMon Go in 2016 by Niantic and Nintendo.
Current state of the field?
Based on some research of AR games in development, the best games I can say would be an influence are: ARQuake, Jurassic World Alive, Beer Pong AR (yes, really), dARk: Subject One, and Nightenfell: Shared AR (and yes, I know that mentioning all of this makes the project less and less original, but dammit, this stuff is difficult). ARQuake (Bruce Thomas) is the direction I wish to take the game. The enemies appear in real-time and can be battled in a camera-captured landscape.
Jurassic World Alive takes PokeMon Go and brings the dinosaurs to the real world. Unlike the generated maps (minus the GPS and battle screens) of PokeMon Go, JWA allows the user to view the dinosaurs in real time. This is the type of camera setup I’m going for. However, I want the player to be able to battle in real time as well, just like in ARQuake.
Now, a game with the name Beer Pong AR sounds like it should just be a cheap imitation of an actual AR game. Believe it or not, however, the function of the game is exactly what is needed. Well, more specifically, the camera function. The AR system not only can load in-game objects onto real surfaces, but the balls used in the game also have a sense of object permanence. The balls will take some time to bounce towards the cup, and will bounce off non-augmented objects scanned in.
dARk: Subject One uses AR technology to turn your own home into a world full of horrors and adventure. Although this game will not be an open-world adventure game, it being able to render the world around you and bend the structures to work the battlefield.
Nightenfell: Shared AR is an AR defense game where two or more players share the same real-time battlefield. This is the part that is very important for the game. The multiplayer aspect is necessary so two players can battle together in real-time while being able to view the same battleground and see their characters duke it out with their powers (and maybe see the affects fly in your face).