Video: CES Augmented Reality Drone Invading Gamer's Homes This Summer
Augmented Reality is the system of layering digital information over moving pictures in your surroundings. This kind of technology is used most ubiquitously in something like Google Maps which layers real time pictures of selected locations over the maps they inhabit. This type of reality is also responsible for the running stock tickers on news channels, Playstation Eye games and is used in at least half the videos on You Tube! This week at CES, Parrot, a company specializing in the science of Bluetooth technology, unveiled their latest in augmented reality programs that utilizes a not-so-small lightdrone quadrocoptor in tandem with the iphone.
Weighing 11 ounces and stretching 18 inches across, the quadrocoptor, which flies thanks to four sets of powerful blades, houses two mini video cameras that captures surroundings and sends a live feed direct to the iPhone. The inter-connectivity of the iPhone and this mechanical whirlybird appears spot on as tilting the phone changes the course of the quadrocoptor and it's speed most accurately. The AR layers monsters over the fed surroundings and requires the player to shoot and destroy them as they advance on the ship. This type of "game device" appears bulky for an iPhone app and perhaps a little too simple in its mechanical execution, as it essentially shoehorns a video game into a very expensive remote control helicopter. Even the prospect of linking two quadrocopters for virtual dogfights does little to boost my excitement. Christina Santz, vice president of marketing at Parrot, has this to say about her product
"Kids spend ages in front of a computer or TV screen playing games and this gets them off their seats and chasing the drone around the backyard or sitting room."
Despite my penchant for gaming I would rather send my kids outside with a decent frisbee to toss around. They would most certainly have zero chance of getting hurt by a stray quadra-blade! This contraption is slated for a summer release for about $500, American.
ROCsteady
Posted to Video Games on 9 January 2010
Other stuff like this: augmented reality, bluetooth, ces, christina santz, google maps, parrot, playstation eye, quadracopter, you tube
