Sidestep and Sneak Peek: Spatial Actions in Augmented Reality Games

We propose a novel concept of game, which allows players to experience tangible interaction with the virtual world of digital games by mixing motorised scenery with dynamic projection mapping.A specific hardware - which includes a controllable platform, on where players can setup customised polygonal shaped scenery to play games projected onto its surfaces, and a single, or a pair, of focus free laser pico-projectors pointed toward the platform direction - is proposed as a game console able to run this experiment. The controllable platform orientation is synchronised with the game play in a way the moving physical scenery and the projected virtual contents are constantly aligned. By designing 3-dimensional (3D) animations, which are rendered and projected in accordance with the physical surface orientations, we were able to enhance the illusion of depth toward these planar projection during the game play, while giving the chance for our flattened 2-dimensional (2D) main character to make use of all directions which surrounds him.The use of projection mapping is justified since we intent to exploit the characteristics of projected 2D light onto 3D objects in order to extend digital games means of expressions. In this paper we discuss about spatial actions, which are actions players can perform at physical object creases. When synchronised with motor movements, these actions extend the sense of volume in relation to the game character providing a tangible connection between players and digital content. We also discuss about the technical aspects regarding the development of this project and its application as a tangible game design tool.