QuakeRunner

The new version of QuakeRunner is now a Quake3Arena(TM) mod instead of using my own madness VR engine. I have no time to enhance my engine further and so I decided write a mod. I'm looking forward to use Doom 3 as the underlying rendering engine as soon as it is available.

I've created a short video (~2 min) that shows the concept of QuakeRunner with live recorded footage. Below you can see some screenshots of the movie:

QuakeIIIRunner.avi (Codecs: DivX Video, MP3 Audio, Size: 10 MB)

Idea

The idea of QuakeRunner is to recognize real patterns for running, jumping and crouching and to use them as a replacement for the keyboard/mouse/joystick interaction paradigm of the original game. The interface makes the player feel the bodily action of the game first hand. The implicit feedback of the interface creates a deeper sense of immersion than traditional interfaces and at the same time has a positive impact on the fitness of the player.

Theory

A recent research topic are new game environments which connect real and virtual elements into a game: mixed reality games. In augmented reality the real world is overlaid with computer generated images whereas in augmented virtuality the virtual world is enhanced with real images. Two well known examples are the AR Toolkit for augmented reality applications and Sony's EyeToy for augmenting virtuality. Different technologies exist to achieve this integration: camera, trackers, and others.

Todays gaming takes place in front of a computer screen where the player is controlling avatars using abstract codes from input devices like Joystick or Keyboard. There is no direct embodiment of the player and the game although players are getting often into a trance when playing a game.

Mixed Reality games are showing a new kind of human-computer-interaction paradigm. The human body is more and more replacing the standard input devices like keyboard, mouse, joystick and joypad. The point of interaction is moving away from devices towards a natural user interface. Players actions are no longer indirect and mediated by devices. A jump will become a jump, run is running. The abstract buttons/arrows are replaced by direct actions of the user. Real actions and gestures are translated into virtual ones with a nearly one-to-one mapping.

Games utilizing joysticks, keyboards or mouses as the input device are faced with the need of creating a code that enables the player to control the virtual avatar. Sometimes these can be pretty huge as the joystick mapping for FIFA2003 for example shows: see here.

With the new-style, known as Body I/O, there is no need for learning abstract moves in order to play the game. Real actions are virtual actions that control the avatar. This new interaction concept overcomes various limits of the „standard“ devices. Also, the interface is vanishing and hardly recognizable by the user. Non experienced players may use this interface to play computer games. Social interaction becomes important and some of the aspects of traditional gaming are maintained.

Desgin

The figure below shows the design of the system. The user wears a small receiver of a magnetical tracker from Polhemus Inc. The device returns information about position and orientation relative to the emitter. By analysing the data using heuristics the patterns are recognized. Running for example is a sequence of alternating up and down motions. The frequency of up/downs is used as an indicator for the running speed.

A physical simulation engine uses these actions as input and moves the avatar according to the real player. Also map effects like jump pads and transmitters are recognized.

The implementation is based on the free Madness VR Engine which supports features like: Avatars, Multi-PC rendering and Multi-Player support. Multi-PC rendering capacity enables us to create wide-screen displays using multiple projectors (e.g. 3*60=180 degrees field of view) or build a cave for complete immersion.