A Study of Anamorphosis in Video Games with the use of Head tracking Technology

1. Patrick Vince Tom Pemberton-Parker Cullan Nhara A Study of Anamorphosis in Video Games with the use of Head tracking Technology

2. ‘Anamorphosis’is a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image. Earliest use of Anamorphosis was pioneered by Leonardo Da Vinci in his piece ‘Leonardo’s Eye’ in 1485 LEONARDO'S EYE What is Anamorphosis?

3. One of the most common use of ‘anamorphic’ designs is in road markings. The markings have to be viewed by road users from an unconventional position i.e. at a shallow angle, where the effect of foreshortening(the apparent shrinking of objects as they move further away) is to squash the vertical dimension. Here is a typical example… Uses of Anamorphosis

6. Other uses of Anamorphosis can be found in: • Advertising, in sport for example • Video, recent examples include Channel 4’s Idents… VIDEO • Art, such as the work by British artist ‘Julian Beever’ Uses of Anamorphosis

11. A few games use it as a gameplay element • ECHOCHROME • CRUSH • We plan to use it as a ‘Directional Technique’ to guide the player through the game how do we use this in games ?

12. Directional technique can be defined as an in-game tutorial on how to play the game or what to do next. This is most commonly used by having an in-game example informing the gamer on what to do, such as in ‘Kirby’s Epic Yarn’… Or by having another character tell you what to do with the use of audio and some text in the H.U.D, such as in ‘Call of Duty’… Some games have chosen to do this with a little more style such as ‘Splinter Cell Conviction’… video games Directional Techniques

16. Our goal is to come up with some new ways of directing a player through a game using different styles of 3d text with anamorphosis. • Current ideas for text include: • Projection over objects • Objects forming information • Graffiti on walls ANAMORPHIC GRAFFITI • Silhouettes cast on objects • Walls with extruding bricks Integrating this with Anamorphosis

17. To make the experience of interactive digital anamorphosis all the more immersive, we plan to add the feature of head tracking. Here is some examples of how head tracking is being experimented with in video games today: HEAD GESTURES IN GAMES SPRAY N' PRAY Head tracking

19. Before we mentioned how using a Wii Remote with Infra-Red LEDs can simulate head tracking. Using a piece of software called ‘Face API’ we can successfully track the user’s head movements using any standard webcam This will make the appeal a lot more accessible to the majority of the demographic Face API Demo… Head tracking Software

20. Having the right soundtrack is important to help the player feel immersed in the games atmosphere Using ‘Binaural Recording’ we plan to use various sound effects and signals to help guide the player to points of interest To achieve the best effect of 3d Audio we will require the player to use a set of headphones or have a surround sound set-up Here is an example of how well we can place objects and people in 3d space using 3d Audio: 3D AUDIO DEMO Sound with 3d Audio

21. So our goal is to create a test 3d environment to implement the use of anamorphosis game direction with head tracking. The environment will be small but large enough for us to test a variety of the different 3d text direction. Using a ‘film noir’ art style it should help immerse the player as they unlock clues and solve puzzles using their perspective as a foresight. The Concept

25. The overall result should be one of making a game far more immersive. By taking away the tools games use and putting the knowledge back to the user, for them to figure out problems themselves. The Concept

26. Patrick Vince Tom Pemberton-Parker Cullan Nhara