Games in AR: Types and Technologies
Andrea Phillips
Neogence, Inc.
ABSTRACT
To unlock its full potential, augmented reality
gaming will need to integrate several types of
technology, including RFID; motion, image and
face recognition; location awareness. Different
types of play mechanism enabled by integration
of each of these technologies are discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
Augmented reality seems like the perfect
playground. In theory, it allows games of pretend
where the imaginary characters act of their own
accord, and new sports with complicated rules
and elaborate scoring systems handled invisibly
by computer. In practice, though, augmented
reality alone is not enough to bring these games
to life. The potential of AR gaming will be
unlocked when it is integrated with other
technology – most of which already exists –
including RFID, GPS, and motion detection. As
they are integrated, the potential for AR gaming
will explode.
2 STATIONARY AR GAMES
Stationary AR games based on marker
technology are the first and lowest hurdle we
expect to be leaped. In fact, several developers
are working on such games already, though none
have yet made it to market; they should between
Q4 2009 and Q3 2010. For the most part, these
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Twitter: @andrhia
games are very similar to existing board and
tabletop games.
2.1 Stationary Marker-Driven AR Games
These games may be very similar in feel and
execution to existing games. One might wonder
at whether it’s worthwhile to develop such a
game; but consider the success of solitaire card
games for the PC. Any implementation of a
popular game that allows some of the game-
management overhead to be controlled by the
computer brings a value-add of low effort that
could boost the adoption of AR versions of
already familiar games.
2.1.1 Arena dueling games
These games are similar to Magic: The
Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. The
players (generally two) conduct a battle by
gradually placing new markers (probably cards
indicating creatures, abilities, or other concepts)
into the field. The computer mediates the
markers' interactions with one another and keeps
track of score and other vital statistics.
2.1.2 Battle chess
This is a popular game concept, from Star Wars
to Harry Potter. It involves a traditional strategy
game, such as chess, in which the pieces perform
animations in AR that will vary depending on
their relative position versus other pieces on the
board.
2.1.3 Tabletop strategy games
The non-AR analogue to this is Warhammer 40K.
In AR tabletop strategy games, markers are
moved freely around on a table; the player inputs
actions such as attacks or building fortifications,
and the game computes damage and other
statistics.
3 MOBILE AR GAMES
The next step in the evolution of augmented
reality gaming will come when the AR device is
untethered. This requires a portable camera,
display, computer, and some interface
mechanism. While wearable computing devices
and AR headsets would be ideal, a smartphone
should be sufficient.
3.1 Mobile Marker-Driven Games
A mobile AR device relying on markers will still
be extremely limited, but mobility does open up
new genres of play. They should be possible even
under current technology; such games should
start to appear on the market between Q3 of 2009
and Q2 of 2011, depending on market saturation
of the devices for which development first
occurs.
3.1.1 Puzzle hunts
These are likely to be limited-adoption small-
scale pervasive games. A designer places markers
in predetermined locations. Upon view via the
mobile AR device, each marker displays a clue
toward the location of the next marker. This style
of puzzle hunt could be repurposed to serve as a
self-guided walking tour of a neighborhood,
theme park, or museum; or even to convey a
narrative, such as a mystery.
3.1.2 Set-collection games
Markers are interspersed into an environment,
and the player must seek out each marker. Upon
view, the marker would likely play a set
animation, possibly appearing to interact with
other elements in its environment. When each
marker is located, the computer adds it to an
online storehouse and adds points to the player's
score. We anticipate set-collection games run as
marketing efforts, with markers placed on
promotional materials such as posters, billboards,
and packaging.
3.1.3 Assassin/laser-tag style games
Players tag themselves, either with markers
printed on stickable labels, or by purchasing and
wearing items such as T-shirts and hats with pre-
printed markers. Players disperse into an
environment and then try to tag one another. A
tag would be complete when one player targets
and "shoots" another player's marker through the
viewfinder of the mobile AR device.
3.2 Mobile Markerless AR
While the games using AR markers will certainly
be entertaining in their own right, it is only when
the technology allows markerless AR that the
games designed will start to become native to
augmented reality, allowing completely new
mechanisms of play rather than mere adaptations
of existing ones.
In these games, a player would view his or her
surroundings through either a viewfinder on a
mobile device or a camera/display headset.
Software would detect objects and perspective
and overlay AR information accordingly.
Some simple implementations of markerless
AR operating on a small scale should appear by
Q1 of 2010. First implementations are likely to
include simple arcade and puzzle games.
3.2.1 Shooting galleries
AR objects are displayed in the environment and
players must locate them in the AR viewfinder
and shoot them. The objects could be asteroids,
aliens, ghosts, or
3.2.2 Whack-a-mole
Objects appear and disappear from the field of
view very quickly and the player must target
them or otherwise catch them before they
disappear. (This is only one in a nearly limitless
variety of possible fast-reflex games.)
3.2.3 Hidden object
Virtual objects are concealed in the detected
surroundings, and the player must locate them
(presumably in as little time as possible.) If local
object detection is sufficiently sophisticated, AR
objects may be "hidden" behind and under real,
physical objects.
3.3 Location Detection
Games using markerless AR and location
detection – probably via a GPS-and-compass
combination – should appear by Q4 2012 at the
outmost, and likely quite a bit sooner. Note that
two varieties of location detection are possible. In
one, the system relies on static maps of an area to
draw a playing field. These would likely be
implemented outdoors first, as the interior of any
given building would be highly unlikely to be
mapped. In dynamic mapping, the computer
would parse the environment for objects and
continue mapping on the fly as the player moves
and perspective and location both shift.
Ultimately, an efficient system will likely rely
on both techniques: Systems would access a
Google Maps-style datastore with size, perimeter
and location information for large static objects,
while dynamic mapping would account for the
presence of mobile objects such as vehicles and
people. It's unlikely that a completely integrated
system will exist until sometime in 2013, and
possibly not for quite some time afterward.
3.3.1 Mobile first-person shooter
A single player both seeks out and hides from AR
opponents in the style of first-person shooter
games such as Quake or Halo. This game type
could easily become multiplayer if the AR
devices are communicating with one another; this
game then becomes similar to marker-driven
assassin/laser-tag games, but without the need for
a marker.
3.3.2 Mazes
The player must navigate AR constraints tethered
to real-world locations in order to navigate a
maze. The AR constraints could appear as shrubs,
walls, or simply lights in the air, and the path of
the maze could either correspond to existing
streets, or be entirely artificial and drawn within a
large open space such as a sports field or
gymnasium.
3.3.3 Mobile platformers
This is a close cousin to games such as Pac-Man
or Super Mario Brothers. The player navigates
challenges in an environment -- say, collecting
coins and avoiding ghosts -- to reach a specific
destination or a high score.
3.4 Other Technologies
Some of the possibilities of augmented reality
gaming rely more on input or data collection
interfaces than any other single technology.
Stationary games associated with a desktop or
laptop computer can rely on a full keyboard and
mouse/trackpad setup. Mobile devices can make
use of touchpads, or simply use a static point on
the viewfinder as the cursor point. Speech
recognition, particularly when integrated with a
mobile AR device, will allow for more complex
functions and games. But motion detection and
face or image recognition will allow the kinds of
games that often come to mind when
“augmented reality games” are discussed.
3.5 Motion Detection
Games relying on physical motion on the part of
the player will open the avenue to entirely new
categories of sport and exercise. To be sure, there
are larger uses for motion detection in AR,
including an interface based on a gesture
vocabulary or the ability to interact with a virtual
object in the same way as a physical one, but
these games are not easily tackled by existing
taxonomies.
3.5.1 Exergames
Motion detection allows just about any kind of
exergame that could be imagined; the concept of
a game like Kinetic for the PS2 and Eyetoy could
realize its full potential, as would boxing,
fencing, and dance games. The possibility is
strong that this technology could also be used to
teach real skills that require a high awareness of
proprioception: martial arts, yoga, golf, etc.
3.6.1 Pervasive MMORPGs
These technologies together would allow role-
playing games to be played pervasively on a scale
never before seen. Networked AR devices could
alert players to others in close physical proximity,
and the ability to identify common objects would
allow the game to overlay them with a pervasive
environment consistent to the game world.
Pervasive MMORPGs will likely be a very long
time in development, due to the many
technologies required. We anticipate that one or
more will launch sometime between 2015 and
2020, depending on how quickly AR technology
saturates the market.

3.5.2 Quidditch and other fantasy sports

Obviously augmented reality won't let anybody

fly on a broomstick, but fantasy elements of a
game like Quidditch -- balls that move of their
own accord and with their own goals -- could
definitely be ported to an augmented reality
interface successfully. The best of these games
will be completely native to AR, and may not
have clear antecedents in traditional games or
sports.

3.6 Face and Image Recognition

Identity recognition -- of people or of objects -- is

another technology that will significantly
advance the gaming possibilities of AR. RFID
chips embedded in everyday objects will allow
the AR game to detect the existence, location and
purpose of everyday items such as furniture,
vehicles, or clothing. Facial recognition will
allow the AR environment to paint individuals
with clothing, accessories, or other personal
attributes in keeping with a game. Together, these
technologies would allow one of the most
ambitious goals of augmented reality gaming: the
pervasive mobile MMORPG.