Reporting live from The Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, with my Augmented Reality filter on – here are the stats:
0 (Zero)
Number of mentions of Augmented Reality during Sid Meier’s keynote – the game design legend behind “Civilization”
Truth be told – also missing from the keynote were mobile games, social games, casual games, and virtual goods…
0.1
Number of mentions of Augmented Reality in 10 Microtalks by 10 of the most revered visionaries in the game industry
Jesse Schell touched on the impact of games on reality (AKA Gamepocalypse) as an epilogue to his mind blowing Dice Talk
1
Number of mentions by investors on a panel about how to get funded
Brought up as example of games that will help developers differentiate themselves. The advice: build real life RPGs!
2
Mentions of Augmented Reality during Facebook’s Social Games Summit Keynote
Gareth Davis touted augmented reality twice as the next generation of mobile social games.
3
Number of press articles about augmented reality during the GDC week
- Augmented Reality Games Show Potential
- Rapid Growth of Real World Video Games
- Will Wright joins Bruce Sterling in keynote at the Augmented Reality Event
3.5
Number of GDC sessions focused on Augmented Reality
- Tony Tseng (SCAD University) – Step Into The Future Of Gaming: A Practical Approach to Design Handheld Augmented Reality Games
- Tom Soderlund (A Different Game) – GHOSTWIRE: Creating Augmented Reality Experiences on Nintendo DSi
- Diarmid Campbell (Sony EyePet)– Making Robust Computer Vision in Games
- Keith Lee (Booyah) deserves half an “AR credit” for reviewing augmented reality in his talk Real-World Gaming: The Blending of the Real World + Digital World
(on a personal rant – my submission for a talk titled “Put a Spell: Post Mortem of the first augmented reality learning game for the iPhone” was shamefully rejected!)
5
Number of Augmented Reality game demos on the exhibition floor
- Sony EyePet and Move
- Vuzix presented a game by Ohan Oda – Columbia University (video below shows a similar game)
- AR Drone CES sensation by Parrot and Int13;
- Nestle Cereal box as controller by 3DVia-Dassault Systemes;
- AR Cards by Beyond Reality;
(Metaio skipped the show this year and is betting on SxSW with ScavengAR)
6
Number of AR capable devices showcased at the event
iPhone, Android, DSi, Sony EyeToy. Plus Windows Phone 7, and Xbox Natal – promised to be released before the end of 2010 (NVidia mobile AR demo was MIA – missing In Action)
27
The least number of back-room meetings focusing on augmented reality which took place at GDC
(or in other words – meetings I was part of…)
(or in other words – meetings I was part of…)
100
Percentage of game developers familiar with the concept of augmented reality
(based on my anecdotal survey)
∞ (infinity)
Amount of inspiration at the event for designing augmented reality games
***
So how does GDC 2010 compare with last year’s Tiny Spark of Augmented Reality?
In a nut shell: Augmented Reality made progress in mind share – but not yet in real impact on the game industry.
In a nut shell: Augmented Reality made progress in mind share – but not yet in real impact on the game industry.
Wanted: Game Designers to build Augmented Reality Games!
Filed under: AR Demos, AR Events | Tagged: 3DVia, AR Drone, Beyond Reality, Booyah, Diarmid Campbell, Facebook, GDC 2010, Ghostwire, Jesse Schell, Keith Lee, real life RPGs, Sony EyePet, Sony Move, Tom Soderlund, Tony Tseng, Vuzix | 6 Comments »
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