Jena from InterSense sent me an email reporting their technology has been incorporated into an augmented reality (AR) installation of the acclaimed desktop-based interactive role playing game, Façade. As a part of the Grand Text Auto exhibition taking place from October 4 through December 15 at the University of California, Irvine’s Beall Center for Art + Technology, this new version of Façade utilizes InterSense’s VisTracker system as a means to track the players in real time as they move freely throughout the scene. From the press release: "InterSense, Inc., a leader in motion tracking technology, today announced its IS-1200 VisTracker system has been incorporated into the Grand Text Auto exhibition taking place from October 4 through December 15 at the University of California, Irvine’s Beall Center for Art + Technology. Collectively authored by six artists and scholars, Grand Text Auto (http://grandtextauto.org) is a popular blog about the potential of digital media. The event at the Beall Center marks the first time a blog has become a gallery exhibition, during which Grand Text Auto members are putting their concepts and ideas into practice in a variety of ways.
InterSense’s technology has been incorporated into an augmented reality (AR) installation of the acclaimed desktop-based interactive drama, Façade. The new AR version of Façade, developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, utilizes the VisTracker system as a means to track the players in real time as they move freely throughout the scene. Along with motion tracking, the players utilize gestures and speech to interact with virtual characters that appear graphically imposed in the scene, using an augmented video see-thru display. The InterSense inertial-optical IS-1200 VisTracker is incorporated into the head mounted display to smoothly track the player's viewpoint over a large area to ensure that s/he has a realistic interactive experience with the virtual characters.
AR Façade (http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/arfacade) is described by its creators as a piece that “explores the combination of interactive virtual characters, non-linear narrative, and unconstrained embodied interaction and serves as an instrument for understanding the relationship between presence and engagement.” It was created by Steven Dow, Manish Mehta, Blair MacIntyre and Michael Mateas (now at UC Santa Cruz) at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s GVU Center.
“This is the first time AR Façade has been seen outside a university research laboratory,” stated Blair MacIntyre, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech’s GVU Center and an expert in augmented reality, computer graphics and human-computer interaction. “By using augmented reality to make Façade more immersive, we’re allowing players to move beyond just playing the game ¾ so they actually feel they are the game.”
“InterSense is proud to support the creation of the AR Façade, as well as the cutting-edge research conducted by the team at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s GVU Center,” stated Dean Wormell, Director of Applications Marketing at InterSense. “This game is just a glance into the future of augmented reality for use in training and manufacturing applications. The ability to interact seamlessly in a real environment with virtual elements provides an engaging experience in which virtual content can truly affect participants.”
The Beall Center for Art + Technology is located at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine (712 Arts Plaza, Irvine, CA). The exhibition is open Tuesday and Wednesday from12–5 pm and Thursday through Saturday from 12-8 pm. For more information on the exhibit please visit http://beallcenter.uci.edu