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Nov. 18th, 2004 01:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselking
The classic arcade game PacMan has resurfaced on the streets of Singapore using “augmented reality” technology developed by military-backed scientists at the University of Singapore.
While virtual reality immerses a user completely inside a computer-generated environment, augmented reality combines both real and virtual sensory information to produce a digitally-altered version of the real world.
The original arcade game, released in 1980, involves using a joystick to move a tiny yellow character - PacMan - around a two dimensional mazelike grid on a video screen. Cookies are scattered throughout the grid and PacMan’s aim is to munch as many as possible while avoiding being caught by the Ghosts chasing him.
The new game, called Human PacMan, superimposes a 3D PacMan world on top of the city's streets and architecture. Players enter the game by donning a wearable computer, headset and goggles before choosing to play the role of PacMan or one of the Ghosts. Players' movements are tracked using GPS receivers and motion sensors and they are linked back to a central computer system by wireless Local Area Network.
The rules are the same as in the original, but the new game combines real and virtual elements. For example, the yellow cookies that PacMan eats to earn points are generated virtually and superimposed on the street ahead of a player via their goggles. But real sugar jars, fitted with Bluetooth radio transceivers, are dotted around the streets for players to collect.
Those inside the game can catch other characters by grabbing their shoulder. But they can also interact with people outside the game, who can watch their progress and send messages from computer terminals.
...wow.
Date: 2004-11-18 10:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-18 01:40 pm (UTC)