Augmented reality continues to gain momentum in the gaming world. As the technology has grown more advanced, companies specializing in augmented reality, such as Metaio and Qualcomm, have released tools to help intrepid designers build their own AR experiences. Such is the case with Sahar Fikouhi, a computational designer and architect from London, UK. Fikouhi has developed a new game for the iPhone that plunges players into a world of staggering geometry and tasks them with navigating their way through a virtual maze.
The game is called Grid and it was built using only Qualcomm’s Augmented Reality SDS, the Xcode development tool from Apple and a large room fitted with circuit-like designs. Using an iPhone, the walls act as markers that mark the boundaries of the virtual maze. Players will have to make their way through the augmented reality environment in order to collect a series of rings. At its core, Grid is a major accomplishment in real-time virtual gaming as it shows how games can be made at an architectural scale.
Augmented reality may come to change the gaming industry as a whole. Most game developers are focused on using the technology for mobile games, but some may soon try their hand at bringing augmented reality to consoles. The transition from mobile devices to consoles may take several years, which is plenty of time for Fikouhi to perfect her Grid.
