Is Rescape about to change gaming forever?
This is the coolest thing that you’ll see today. Imagine a first person shooter like Call of Duty – but one that takes place in your office, or somewhere a bit more familiar than you’re used to. A new Kickstarter (what else?) has just launched called Rescape – which combines some clever image capturing technology and a mission behind enemy lines. What more could you want?
Go on, press play on this now:
The way it works is by using a special 180 degree camera bolted on to your iPhone (presumably connecting via bluetooth). It will then map out the room you’re in by analysing the images, and will build a 3D model – one that can apparently be quickly skinned to add some flavour to your environs. In the video you can see that whilst the basic room structure remains the same, it is possible to turn your work colleagues into fellow soldiers and blow out the wall so that behind it is not the accounts department, but a more interesting vista.
To play, you mount your phone (current plans only support the iPhone – 5S, 5C, 5, with experimental 4S support) onto the white plastic body (which is reminiscent of the Wii Zapper accessory), and your phone essentially becomes your scope through which you can aim shots. Even at this early stage, apparently multiplayer is supported so you and a friend can team up.
The Rescape developers have already compared it to Paintball or Lazer Tag. When the Kickstarter is delivered, it will apparently come with a ready built game to play with the new kit – but also a bunch of development tools for developers.
Really it is a tantalising glimpse of the future – where real world environments can become the game. Just imagine if someone managed to combine this tech with the Oculus Rift – so we can all wander around buildings with a headset on – having a virtual shoot out with real world obstacles.
