Balloons, an Augmented Virtuality computer game

Resumo

This paper summarizes the implementation of a mixed reality game using computer vision techniques that enable players to interact using body motion in a rich and dynamic environment, dubbed: “Balloons”. Players have to safely maneuver a balloon through 3D mazes full of perilous obstacles that will affect its behavior. Developed on the Virtools platform, this application takes advantage of single camera tracking techniques, such as background removal and silhouette tracking, allowing the use of limited hardware requirements. Through a physics engine, real life behavior of all elements is emulated, leading to an immersive user experience. To support fast creation of new game levels, a user friendly 3D visual game level editor was built, providing on the fly editing and testing of new content.