When it comes to augmented reality, there are few cooler applications than those made for gaming. Ogmento’s Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary is one of those games. Why?
Because it uses augmented reality and it’s all about zombies!
Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary is a location-based, multiplayer, augmented reality game set within your neighborhood. You play the game with those around you using geolocation elements on your mobile phone.
Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary from Ogmento on Vimeo.
When you’re not playing with those around you, you can use augmented reality to take zombies on one-on-one who appear from thin air in front of your camera’s lens.
Or you can draw a demon-fighting pentagram on a piece of paper, take a picture, and the pentagram spell will magically move from physical paper to virtual game.
The basis of the game is designed around a common dilemma: demonic forces trying to break into our world. Your role: “As a demonologist, you are an expert in occult secrets, with the knowledge and power to stem the tide of evil spirits attempting to corrupt the minds of humanity.”
Besides fighting zombies and your mission as a demonologist, augmented reality gaming has some versatile and promising future applications. For example, with augmented reality applications already available from the likes of Viewdle and Qualcomm, gamers could use the system to recognize enemies or allies before making moves within the game.
Currently, Viewdle is using its technology powered by Qualcomm’s chipset for social recognition like tagging friends within videos and pictures on Facebook and Twitter, but future implications for gaming look bright.
Such a feature could be extremely cool when used within a game like Paranormal Activity: Santuarcy.
When you combine augmented reality, geolocation, facial recognition, and maybe add in some 3D sound, you have a pretty awesome mobile gaming application. Something much cooler than what you can currently achieve from console gaming. Something that the masses might even play! Think augmented reality Farmville? It could happen.
And did I mention how cool the zombies are?
