D&D on Microsoft Surface
What if you could roleplay at a table that actually contained all the game logic? It recognized your mini when you placed on the surface and presented an array of options available to your character and resolved the challenges based upon GM and Player input? In addition, you were not constrained to play within the rules (game logic), but could play “freestyle” any time you wish by simply switching of the rules?
Well, the technology is available today, but it’s real pricey (app. $12,000 USD). However, in about 10 years, I expect the price for such technologies will have dropped into the upper range of affordable and such tables might become something more than an uncommon sight.
If you have been following the Labs for any amount of time, then you are probably aware of my love of technology when it is used to enhance or facilitate the playing of roleplaying games. Recently, The Core Mechanic and Mad Brew Labs bounced some ideas about utilizing Social Media as a platform for playing RPGs.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Prior to the discussion of Social Media RPGs, I wrote several articles about the Future Technology of roleplaying. These articles focused on current technologies the hobby had yet to use fully[5], emerging technologies that RPGs could utilize[6], a look at augmented reality for RPGs[7], and finally a piece about the rise of the digital game table[8], which included a preview of Dungeons & Dragons being playing on the Microsoft Surface.[9]
The SurfaceScapes[10] team at Carnegie Mellon University[11] has designed the interface and logic for playing D&D on the MS Surface. The MS Surface site has done several interviews with the team, and if you’re interested in the technology, I recommend you read them.[12] [13] [14]
Otherwise, I present three videos that demonstrate the capabilities of the table:
References
[1] Roleplaying Games, Social Media Games, and the Shared Fence. The Core Mechanic. 2010-01-12.
[2] Bridging the Gap: RPGs and Social Media. Mad Brew Labs. 2010-01-14.
[3] Social Media RPG Platform. Mad Brew Labs. 2010-01-15.
[4] Social Media Role Playing Minigames. The Core Mechanic. 2010-01-15.
[5] Untapped Potential of Technology. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-05-06.
[6] Future Potential of Technology. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-08-06.
[7] Augmented Reality “Boardgame”. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-08-07.
[8] Rise of the Digital Game Table. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-10-19.
[9] The Microsoft Surface is a multi-touch table computer.
[10] SurfaceScapes is a student project for Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center.
[11] Carnegie Mellon University is located in Pittsburgh, PA.
[12] Dungeons & Dragons Done Right on MS Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-10-19.
[13] SurfaceScapes Follow-up: Bringing D&D to MS Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-12-08.
[14] New Gameplay Video with D&D on Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-12-16.
Listening to: Monster Magnet – Dopes to Infinity – Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Rise of the Digital Game Table
I have talked about emerging and established technologies and how they could be harnessed to enhance table top roleplaying games before. The digital gaming table is one of my favorite concepts and there appears to be a trend of resourceful individuals and groups developing more examples of these tables.
Previously, I wrote about Shane Deseranno’s interactive game table that worked with Wii technology. Recently, I have seen a few more digital game tables appear on the radar that are using multi-touch technologies. Multi-touch allows users to interface with a program via pressure sensitive screens that can be manipulated with your fingers.
DragonEye: DIY Multi-touch Table
The first example I want to highlight is a DIY multi-touch created by repurposing a PS3 Eye Camera and using Rear Diffused Illumination projection and reacTIVision software built by SpynalTom.
The best part of this build is that SpynalTom is part of a larger DIY community called NUI Group (Natural User Interface), “an open source interactive media community researching and creating machine sensing techniques to benefit artistic, commercial and educational applications.” They have a very informative and active forum where you can follow project builds like SpynalTom’s.
SurfaceScapes Proof of Concept
SurfaceScapes is a team out of the Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University. They have developed a decent proof of concept (prototype) of software/user interface for Dungeons & Dragons on the Microsoft Surface table.
This probably the most polished software I have seen designed to be with a roleplaying game on a digital gaming table. Obviously, the UI needs some tweaking, but I really like what I see. I think it would be even better if you had the option of using traditional dice which could be programmed to be recognized as fiducials (and therefore tracked by the software).
Tomorrow: Touchable Holographs
I am obviously talking about nextgen equipment that has yet to go mainstream with the multi-touch tables. But what is the next logical progression? Touchable Holographic or Augmented Reality displays.
I have also touched upon Augmented Reality (a different, yet similar technology than holograms), but before, where virtual realities are layered atop the real world… now imagine if you could touch it. I’ll leave you to wonder at the possibilities with this video that highlights while I ponder the ways to integrate Google Wave with these things…
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Listening to: Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls, & the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool - What!?
Augmented Reality “Boardgame”
Right after I posted my Future Potential of Technology post yesterday, I saw a couple of posts from Justin at CartoonSmart.com (an excellent site for Flash animation/programming) come through my feed reader concerning my primary topic of AR. Justin found this amazing video on YouTube by Georgia Tech and SCAD Atlanta. It uses a flat map “board” and the game is interfaced with Nvidia’s Tegra powered device. So if any of you were wondering what I was talking about yesterday, here is a fine example of an Augmented Reality game.
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Listening to: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppeling IV (Zoso) – Black Dog
Future Potential of Technology
The seed for this post was created when something clicked together in my head while posting a comment on Stargazer’s World in response to Michael’s article; The Hobby is far from being dead! I was basically writing in a stream-of-consciousness style, when the thought of having a virtual tabletop created with Augmented Reality [AR] popped into my head.
I also see this post as a follow up to my very popular article, Untapped Potential of Technology. Where the untapped potential focused on technologies that were already mainstream and readily available yet under used; this article focuses on technologies just over the horizon.
Augmented Reality HUD
Augmented Reality
I am certainly not the first tabletop gamer to think about using AR in conjunction with traditional gaming, as the AR part of the game being run by my alma mater, IUPUI (as reported here), was inspired by a graduate student’s desire to see 3D animations of the creatures on the table when playing Magic: the Gathering.
That’s cool, but what exactly is AR?Augmented Reality is the blending of actual and virtual reality. It is often achieved by projecting computer generated data over the real world visually. This practice is usually made possible by employing an optical aid such as VR goggles. Motion tracking, fiducial markers, and object recognition are major research areas used in Augmented Reality.
AR has very important applications in the medical and military fields and I’m sure everyone could imagine the marketing/commercial uses of the technology as well (virtual advertisements/billboards). It is already used today (yellow down markers in football, heads up displays for pilots, museum tours).
Augmented Tabletop
Star Wars Dejarik Holochess
Now let’s apply the concept to the world of tabletop gaming. Envision being able to play games like Warhammer 40k or Warmachine without having to invest a fortune in miniatures and time in painting (I would still paint minis, but that’s not the point). Think about being able to see your minis animate and do battle, ala Star Wars Dejarik Holochess. Perhaps you could easily download expansions or new pieces for your favorite board game.
Hell, you might even be able to virtually appear like your character while playing that bad-ass drow assassin. Oh and what if you never had to remember or physically look up the rules again? The simplest solution would have the rule display in front of everyone playing on a virtual index card, perhaps called by voice recognition.
“Game, define grapple.”
The more complex version would give players a virtual rolodex of options based upon their character, terrain, and other elements, allowing them to execute a selection on their turn, which in turn drives the augmented miniatures. Yeah, can you dig having the goggles automatically highlight the area of effect for spells and powers?
Of course, this really begins to blur the line between a video game and the tabletop game, but we all know this is the path we are already on as each type of game continues to feed off each other. However, you still have the capability of going full manual when rules engine doesn’t provide an option.
Remote AR Tabletop
With the inclusion of Augmented Reality, the term virtual tabletop would become obsolete. Being able to game with people not at the table would be called remote tabletop gaming. The gameplay experience would be nearly identical, except you can no longer physically punch buddies in the arm (unless everyone has tactile feedback bodysuits, see below).
The AR application would project streaming video of fellow players’ faces near the tabletop and everyone would see the game table updated in real time. Everyone would have their own fiducial markers that would be integrated into the virtual tabletop.
AR Headset
Equipment & Peripherals
The standard equipment needed to engage an AR tabletop game would be fiducial markers (objects the AR application can easily recognize and interact with), goggles or headset, and computer to run the app. I could also see devices similar to the WiiMote being utilized to simulate the tossing of dice or other game accessories.
Think even bigger and you come up with tactile feedback devices. These would be gloves and bodysuits that stiffen and transmit sensations when they interact with the AR environment. Add some olfactory (scent) reproduction technology and you can all five senses (taste could be derived from scent).
Fiducial Marker
Full Digital Integration
Access a soundtrack from your music library, play pre-packaged cut scenes in between adventures or after climactic battles, automatically create blog posts or podcasts from gaming sessions, stream live video of gameplay… the possibilities are endless.
All this could be done from interacting with the AR environment. You could have fiducial markers that represent your mp3 collection, the record button on the mic or video capture device, or the play button for a cut scene. Seamless integration with digital media, hell yeah, I get excited just thinking about it.
Complications
The first major hurdle to make this type of technology accessible is the buy-in cost. In the beginning, a set of decent VR goggles or headsets are going to be extremely expensive. But do you remember how expensive a CD player was when they first came out? Maybe not, but in 1982 when Sony released the CDP-101, it cost $900. Now you can get a portable CD player for less than $15.
The other issue that will no doubt vex corporate security assholes and users alike will be piracy and all the baggage that comes with it. I can see proprietary goggles/headsets that prevent applications from competing publishers from working on them, no compatibility, and DRM laden downloads. You know, the same bedlam that is going on today.
Early adoption is of course out of the question. No one in the tabletop industry is willing to gamble on new technology; even when the probability of said technology to become as mainstream as mobile devices are today is a sure thing. Be fearless.
Resistance
I can hear the very loud voices of the dissenters and non-believers now:
“That’s not roleplaying!”
“It’s too much like virtual World of Warcraft.”
“AR will be the death of the industry/hobby/game!”
“This is heresy of the worst kind, burn in hell heretic!”
In my opinion, Augmented Reality would not change the fundamentals that make a tabletop roleplaying game what it is. It would just enhance it. As for me, I can see myself enjoying traditional tabletop gaming sans electronics just as much as an AR tabletop game. But the AR games would [eventually] be cheap, immediate, and more accessible. In the long run, it could also reduce operating and distribution costs for publishers as well as attracting new players.
This is the type of innovation we need to be looking for (and actively developing) that could revitalize and even grow the industry/hobby. Just think about the possibilities for Live Action RolePlay!
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Untapped Potential of Technology
Interactive Game Table
Yesterday I posted an article for this month’s RPG blog carnival, The Future of Roleplaying, and I mentioned that I had more to say on the integration of technology and roleplaying games. I think there has been some great ideas emerge in the last five or six years about taking advantage of technology to improve gameplay at the table (real or virtual).
Some of these ideas have produced fantastic software while other ideas have failed miserably. I am going to talk about how some technologies could (or should) be implemented to extend the resources for roleplaying games as well as some tactics game publishers could use to help combat piracy (or at least turn the tables).
Maximizing PDF Potential
The PDF is a venerable technology whose execution hasn’t changed much over the years. However, Adobe has been sneaking in support for some really cool media types since about Adobe Acrobat 7 (currently at version 9).
Acrobat now handles Flash content natively, which is awesome. Besides Flash, you can also embed audio and 3D into PDFs. Acrobat markets this fusion of technologies as PDF Portfolios. Imagine reading the core book for a new system and being able to watch a video of actual gameplay, or having an animation play that visualizes miniature tactics. Better yet, make it interactive and allow readers to test the tactics by moving virtual game pieces on a battlemat.
The potential of the PDF has yet to be fully harnessed. I think this is because the PDF is merely considered as the digital mirror of its analog counterpart, the printed book. Thinking within the confines of print limits the possibilities that can be achieved with a PDF. Of course, adding an animated panel of each race would significantly increase product costs, but it would be revolutionary.
Deploying Digital Tools
I think Wizards critically fumbled DDI, right from the very concept. Imagine a platform that would allow a gamer to use your suite of tools offline, without a browser, and dynamically update when connected to the internet. That technology is already available with Adobe AIR.
Formerly call Adobe Apollo, AIR allows developers to create rich internet applications that run outside of a browser and on multiple platforms. Similar things can be accomplished using other enterprise level development platforms like Microsoft .NET or Java.
Of course, this method doesn’t really jive with the whole subscription model, which I am not overly fond of anyways. However, it could work with an ala carte sales model, where you purchase the components (or upgrades) separately.
Integrating Technology at the Table
Shane Deseranno, a Microsoft software developer currently working with the Zune, has built an amazing interactive gaming table. The table utilizes a Wiimote, IR pens, a projector, and a mirror to create a game table that allows players to physically interact with RP Tools’ MapTool.
This is probably the epitome of my vision of the integration of technology and roleplaying games. The Wiimote can be configured to run a PC using Bluetooth and has the ability to track four separate IR points. This allows the players to move the virtual game pieces on the virtual table top which is projected onto the surface of the table (from below). This table is awesome and Shane has been kind enough to show you how he built it (there is also video of the table in action):
Pirates or Privateers?
Recently, Wizards of the Coast yanked all their PDFs from the market and pointed their fingers at piracy as the cause for their impetuous actions. I think most people with cognitive skills can agree that while piracy is wrong, it doesn’t have the impact on sales that company executives seem to believe it has. Ninety percent of those downloading the contraband would have never bought the product in the first place.
Using a technology like air, publishers have the capability to stream secured content from servers, which require the user to be logged in. Content would be determined by the user’s subscriptions and purchases and would be volatile and encrypted. This could be a huge determent for piracy.
I have also been thinking about methods to turn pirates into an asset, thus taking a privateer designation. If a company can truly track the amount of illegal downloads of their product, as Wizards of the Coast has claimed, then perhaps you could use that as a marketing bullet point.
I think it would be interesting to provide advertisement space within the confines of the PDF. You could use the piracy circulation numbers when pitching ad space to potential advertisers. “Our e-books are downloaded by two hundred thousand users” could be a powerful sales fact. Sure, the ads could be stripped by energetic pirates, but if you turn the ads into a feature by utilizing Flash (interactive video/games) then it might even increase PDF sales (and illegal downloads).
Then who cares if it was illegally downloaded, you just made more off of advertising than you would ever have done if every single pirated copy had been purchased (assuming you price reasonably). Hell, you could just give the damned things away for free, which would make everybody happy!
However, there is no fool proof protection against piracy. The best actions a publisher can take are encouraging and satisfying legitimate customers by providing the material they want in the formats they desire. Turn potential pirate into loyal patrons by creating the best damned product you can.
What technologies are you waiting for? Can you think of any effective methods of turning pirates into assets? If you have answers to these questions or general comments about what I have mentioned, be sure to post your comment.
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