Augmented Reality, Virtual Pets, and the Undead

Nelson Williams — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:12:35 +0000

Augmented reality is a technology where virtual objects are projected into real space, usually through a TV screen. This is really neat, because it allows for people to interact with their tech in a very natural and intuitive way. Just reach out and grab. In the gaming world, this technology is slowly evolving. It requires a camera, which only the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo DSi offer right now. That’s a limiting factor, but it won’t be for long. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to hook in your cell phone camera…

But you want to see what’s cooking. Okay. Here. Take the DSi. It’s got two cameras, it’s portable, it’s a great window, as it were, into augmented reality. That’s where the ghosts live.

Ghostwise is a little game of the everyday supernatural, where you can use your DSi to discover the ghosts that are all around you. Seems nice and creepy, but I’m curious to know what the game uses to determine if a ghost should pop up in a given place. Ah, just imagine the GameFaqs ghost grinding guide.

Then, there’s EyePet. We’ve all wanted to use our Playstations to create abhorrent monkey-things on the desktop, and now those dreams are finally a reality. The generic single-parent family is sold separately.

Vox ex Machina » Nintendo DSi

Augmented Reality, Virtual Pets, and the Undead