May 19, 2012. Paul Hixon
New augmented reality software from Qualcomm is being introduced as a new twist on avatar games. The games are being aimed at mobile users that like to play games on their smartphones.
What is Augmented-reality?
Imagine for a moment that you are holding a smart phone in front of you in order to take a picture. You just happen to be taking a picture of some friends leaning against a brick wall. If the software decided to draw a basketball backboard and goal on the wall, along with putting a few robot elements on your friends, you would have augmented reality. The software looks at scenes from a real camera and then adds attributes to appropriate items within the scene.
Using the example above, the smart phone would be the game controller. Since the backboard is immobile, the person’s movements with the phone would dictate how the game flows. Dropping back further would lead to a possible 3 point shot. A jump shot or hook shot could take place with the right actions. And all of this comes by way of the software embedded in the smart phone.
Developed from Open Competition
Qualcomm wanted to get input from a lot of gamers so they opened a competition to see who had the best ideas. In a very short amount of time the company received 50 different application ideas. Some ideas included a helicopter used on a rescue mission during a city fire. Another idea involved a miniature stunt man maneuvering through obstacles. That fact that so many people wanted to chat about the software and the possibilities for altering reality through a video game gave a big breath of life to the project. The company hopes that the software can be branched out into other areas besides game play once the details of the platform have been perfected.
Updated May 19, 2012. Published February 21, 2011. Paul Hixon
