Mixed Reality Pong is
a mixed reality version of the classic
Pong
game. The aim of the game is to score goals by hitting a virtual ball over
the other end of the game area protected by the opponent player. The game
counts the goals the players have scored, and they can agree to play either
for a limited amount of time, or until either of them has scored a certain
amount of goals.
The players can play
the game with their hands or other real-world objects. The game physics
simulate the behaviour of a real ball, except that the virtual ball doesn't
slow down at all.
The computer is completely
hidden in Mixed Reality Pong. The system runs on a normal PC, but the input
is handled only by a web camera capturing the playing table. The output
is handled by projecting the computer-generated image onto the game area.
No specially marked objects are required, so any objects with enough contrast
to the background can be used in the game.
Mixed Reality Pong
started as a technological experiment, but it has proven to be an enjoyable
game, both for kids and adults. Mixed Reality Pong is written in C and
C++, and runs on Windows platform using DirectX. The game also uses Allegro
game programming library and a video capture library by Perttu Hämäläinen.
