Augmented Reality Quake

DrGonzo writes "Take a tour of campus an shoot some monsters. The Wearable Computer Lab at the University of South Australia has developed a prototype wearable Quake suit. " I'm a little skeptical of this, but it sure would make the frisbee golfers on campus look like the normal ones.

Reminds Me of...

[Astin]

Photoquantigraphic Lightspace Paintball, played by Steve Mann [wearcam.org] and his "cyborgs" at the University of Toronto. Wearcomps and flashguns to paint the Univeristy and the players in their own mediated reality. Fun, fun, fun.

Other articles

[Target Drone]

Info Satellite [infosatellite.com] has an article [infosatellite.com] with a little more detail. There is also an 8 page PDF [unisa.edu.au] giving complete details.

The main problems with the system seem to be

1. The system uses GPS which is not quite accurate enough for this type of application
2. The GPS is only updated once per second, where as the game is updated at 30 frames per second.
3. Anyone that sees you will think your crazy.

Re:Reminds Me of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet another self propogated Mann-myth, I've never seen this imaginary game actually being played or a video of it (something you'd might expect given the nature of the apparatus used to play).
Although I do see him mention it often.

Registration required

[Animats]

The really hard part is getting the virtual and real worlds to register exactly. GPS isn't that good. Differential GPS is sometimes that good, under optimal conditions, with no obstructions, maybe. But it's not fast enough to track fast movements. Inertial systems corrected with GPS can help, but they're not that good either. Camera-based systems potentially might work, but suffer from ambiguities. A full inertial/differential GPS/video matching system is a lot to lug around.

The motion capture people have been struggling with this for years. Motion capture in big spaces is still a problem.

Re:Other articles

[dew]

Differential GPS can give you the precision you need, at the time resolution you need. Internal gyroscopes (yes, they can be made small) can integrate "last know good" positions over time periods where GPS is unavailable (tree cover, ducking in a hole, tunnels) and give you lots

As for the people thinking you're crazy bit...well...hm. Give them a helmet too, then they'll see what all the fun is about and never take it off. =)