Geeky Traveller

I have to preface this by saying I think these students are brilliant. This is one of the coolest concepts I have ever seen and I can just imagine how well it would sell if it gets out of the prototype phase.

Students from the Berlin University of the Arts created a roadtrip game that goes way beyond backseat bingo. The game, called Carcade! takes the world around you and translates it into a computer game that you play right in the car.

(Passengers only, naturally. Drivers will have to wait until someone else takes over the wheel if they want to play too!)

The game uses a webcam that attaches to the passenger side mirror, facing forward, while being plugged in to a laptop inside the car. Using camera tracking software on the laptop, the webcam takes the scenery of the road and passes it into the game.

From there, the player inside the car plays a game involving a spaceship that must dodge obstacles that are created from the environment outside the car. The faster the driver goes, the more challenging the game becomes, so clearly street driving would be the novice level, while highway driving would be for the experts.

Check out this video to see the whole thing:

Obviously, we’re not talking stunning graphics like you’ll see in top-notch games, but this isn’t about graphics – this is about a unique game that takes real life and turns it into an arcade. If that doesn’t make your long road trip a little less boring, I don’t know what will!

Would you try Carcade! out if it becomes available? I know I would!

(source: Engadget via psfk.com

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