ConsoleDEMO

The ConsoleDEMO is an example of Contextual Virtual Reality Prototyping, illustrating an imaginary concept of a mobile augmented reality console. The prototype has been implemented using the Unreal Tournament 3D game engine.

The main idea of this work was to create a demonstration of a hand-held mobile game console by using the Contextual VRP approach. The demonstration simulates a small city environment which users can explore by walking around. The product prototype (i.e., the console) can be used to access various information and services located in the 'city'.

When using this approach, the future product can be tried out and demonstrated in the corresponding environment, thus making it easier to understand the use-cases of, for example, a mobile device that has various location-dependent features.

The purpose of the experiment was to provide a level of immersion, enable contextual interactions, and control autonomous actors, as well as allow access for multiple simultaneous users via the network. In this sense, the virtual environment acted as a virtual laboratory, which could be used to design, develop, evaluate, and market games and game products with the aid of Contextual VRP.
 

Implementation

The Unreal game engine was selected as the technical base for the demonstration because it is the most suitable game engine for applications like this. The engine has stood the tough test of real-world 3D game development. Furthermore, the main developer (Heikki Korva) of the demonstration had previous experience working with the engine (i.e., game development), so the effort to get started was not high.

The development followed loosely the method of rapid prototyping. The features of the system were usually brainstormed based on the research, and the next version was tried out after some time. The total production time was amazingly short. The off-the-shelf platform enabled the concept design and development to focus on the substance.

Screenshots Fig. 1. Console acting as navigational aide in the virtual city. Fig. 2. Augmented reality features can be accessed through console screen.   Fig. 3. Location dependent features provide enhanced contextual information.