Look out, board game makers, this is the future
We’ve covered the intersection of computers and board games with the Scope augmented reality game and Dungeons and Dragons played on the Surface, and this video shows a new development.
This one uses those hexagonal tiles that you can find in games like the popular Settlers of Catan. The way it works is not with e-ink or Microsoft Surface technology, but a projector and camera mounted above the plain white hexagonal tiles themselves.
The video shows some very cool applications for strategy games. You can see a player push two tiles together, and one army advances from the pushed tile into the other tile.
What is very cool is the “pouring” feature which is what happens when a player tilts a tile upward. This causes one image to decant into the other, but it is even better in a game. For example, when an image of a boat goes into port, the player “pours” the troops off the ship and onto the dock. It is crazy how cool it is. Watch the video for more cool features.
Man, I don’t even like “bored” games, but I would definitely play them if they had tech like this. Traditional board game had better change with the times if they expect to sell their Monopoly or Risk. Then again, I’m not certain whether the computer and video gaming industry has affected these old-school games.
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Sportpong puts pong on the floor » Coolest Gadgets Says: February 8, 2010 at 5:04 pm
[...] on how electronic projections and digital technology was taking traditional board games to a whole new level. Now, old-school video games are being taken to a whole new level with [...]
Board Game Fane Says: May 5, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Love your website. Found this article interesting.
The Electronic Board Game looks very cool, but, in defense of my own past time, i have to say that there is still nothing like moving your little cannon or boot around the monopoly board and actually handling the money.
There is something intrinsically social about board games which may explain why they are making a comeback against all expectations.
cities & knights of catan Says: July 9, 2010 at 6:38 am
This article is very interesting. To make it usable it would have to be easy to setup and not add a layer of unnecessary complexity. It would be neat to see on classic board games like Monopoly or Risk.
Pictionaire: The desk of the future » Coolest Gadgets Says: January 27, 2010 at 4:20 pm
[...] As you can see from the attached video after the jump, this 4 x 6 foot table has a camera mounted above it, much like the futuristic hexagonal-type board game that we reported on yesterday. [...]