Transreality puzzle as new genres of entertainment technology

📝 Abstract

The author considers a class of mechatronic puzzles falling in the mixed-reality category, present examples of such devices, and propose a way to categorize them. Close relationships of such devices with the Tangible User Interface are described. The device designed by the author as an illustration of a mixed reality puzzle is presented.

💡 Analysis

The author considers a class of mechatronic puzzles falling in the mixed-reality category, present examples of such devices, and propose a way to categorize them. Close relationships of such devices with the Tangible User Interface are described. The device designed by the author as an illustration of a mixed reality puzzle is presented.

📄 Content

Page ! of ! 1 28 Transreality puzzle as new genres of entertainment technology. Ilya V Osipov
Human Computer Interaction Laboratory, I2I STUDY, INC San Francisco, CA ilya@osipov.ru TAGs: Puzzles; Mixed reality; Gamification; Tangible user interface; Interactive art and entertainment; HCI Abstract The author considers a class of mechatronic puzzles falling in the “mixed-reality” category, present examples of such devices, and propose a way to categorize them. Close relationships of such devices with the Tangible User Interface are described. The device designed by the author as an illustration of a mixed reality puzzle is presented.

2017 Page ! of ! 2 28 Transreality puzzle as new genres of entertainment technology. Introduction Wide application of microelectronics and ubiquitous computerization leads to a situation, where computers are present almost everywhere. They are built into all things, and we are surrounded by them (pervasive computing) [ Weiser, 1991 ].The concept of the Internet of Things means that microcontrollers are built into all household items, from door locks to hair dryers, linking them in a common network. At the same time, a continuous decrease in the price of microelectronic appliances and children’s interest in all things electronic give birth to brand- new toys and construction sets using built-in microprocessors. Due to the invasion of cell phones to overall life, gaming and computing are everywhere serving for entertainment, gamification (as a motivation tool driving this or that behavior model), education, and serious games.
Pervasive gaming as a variety of pervasive computing is the gaming process, which mixes the game universe with the physical world. The term itself is connected with ubiquitous games, augmented- and mixed-reality games, transreality and affective gaming, virtual reality games, smart toys, location-based or location-aware games, and crossmedia games [ Nieuwdorp., 2007]
[Montola, Markus et al., 2009]. Mixed- or hybrid-reality gaming is the process, which takes place in actual reality and virtual reality simultaneously [Bonsignore et al., 2012]. According to Souza de Silva and Sutko, the formal characteristic of such games is “the absence of the primary game space; such games are played simultaneously in physical, digital, or represented spaces (such as the playing field)” [de Souza e Silva, et al 2009]. Allowing for the mixed-reality concept, which was proposed by Paul Milgram and is presented in Fig. 1 [ Milgram, et al, 1994], and the “virtuality continuum” (Fig. 2), the list of such games includes the popular game Pokemon GO, where players, while traveling in physical reality, affect what is happening in virtual universe, and what happens in virtuality motivates the players to perform physical moves in the real world. Other examples are The Killer, The Beast, Shelby Logan’s Run, BotFighters, Mystery on Fifth Avenue, Momentum, Pac- Fig. 1. “ Simplified representation of a RV Continuum.” From Poul Milgram, [ Milgram, et al, 1994] ! Page ! of ! 3 28 Manhattan, Epidemic Menace, Insectopia, Vem Gråter, REXplorer, Uncle Roy All Around You and Amazing Race, as well as the transreality puzzles considered herein.
Augmented- or mixed-reality games, which are available now, are usually based on two techniques. The main technique is that the game processes the video camera signal and superimposes additional elements on the image of the real environment. (For example, the 2004 cell phone game called Mosquitos displayed the image taken by the phone camera on the screen of the phone, and overlaid images of giant mosquitoes on it, which the player had to shoot at using using the superimposed crosshairs). The second technique uses geolocation to combine virtual objects and geography of the real world. By the end of 2016, multiplayer Pokémon Go had spread widely and become extremely popular. It uses the both techniques, namely, it superimposes virtual objects on real camera images and like events and objects to the real world map using geolocation.
However, a whole class of games or gaming devices stay frequently beyond consideration. It comprises devices or sets of devices, which interact with the user physically, via positioning, slanting, or turning of their elements, thus affecting what is happening in virtual space, and this influence is often direct, since virtual objects are correlated with physical ones. The author proposes that such devices should be called “transreality puzzles”. By their nature, they belong to the Mixed Reality realm ( Fig. 1), and, according to the scale proposed by Paul Milgram, are located in the Augmented Reality zone (AR). In what follows, the author reviews such devices Fig. 2. “Virtuality continuum”. A similar scheme illustrating the transition from reality to virtuality. From the blog of Bob Duffy, Intel WWW site [ Bob Duffy (c) The case for Augmented Virtuality, https:// blog

This content is AI-processed based on ArXiv data.