Keywords: Mixed Reality | Computer Vision | eSports
Inspired by the popular Light Cycles game featured in the movie Tron, we created a real world version of the concept on our own mixed reality platform. Together with the talented researcher, Mr. Alex Peplowski, we sought to bring to life the retro racer for a new type of social gaming fun. The concept of the game was to make your opponent crash into a virtual line that would be drawn based on the trail left behind by the user-controlled vehicle. In this case, we made use of mini Mario kart toys that were remote controlled individually by each player. As part of the gameplay, we had also developed simple AI opponents with multiple difficulty settings. The system we had created could support up to 8 players at once with any combination of human and AI controlled characters.
We developed a method for real-time target tracking by using a fixed ceiling mounted projector and camera system to observe moving objects. Multiple targets can be tracked and a history of object position is stored and projected in real time. Error-checking and filtering techniques are used to ensure data reliability. The research has been implemented in the form of a strategic game with objective to avoid the history of occupied positions by moving objects in play. Remote control cars are used as the object to be tracked. A projector is used to overlay the history of positions in the form of a ‘trail’.
We envisioned a system that could be extended to stadium sized playing fields with soft-robotic vehicles trail-blazing at high velocities as each player donned a VR headset for an epic POV playstyle. With the rise of superhuman sports and digital fitness platforms, this vision may not be so far off.