June 2009 Archives
Pretty interesting. Students at Georgia Tech created a game that maps a 3D view onto whatever the camera in the phone-like device is seeing.
ARhrrrr is an augmented reality shooter for mobile camera-phones. The phone provides a window into a 3d town overrun with zombies. Point the camera at our special game map to mix virtual and real world content. Civilians are trapped in the town, and must escape before the zombies eat them! From your vantage point in a helicopter overhead, you must shoot the zombies to clear the path for the civilians to get out. Watch out though as the zombies will fight back, throwing bloody organs to bring down your copter. Move the phone quickly to dodge them. You can also use Skittles as tangible inputs to the game, placing one on the board and shooting it to trigger an explosion.
They produced a nice video too…
Sweet idea.
A few weeks ago, Hugh MacLeod, whose blog Gaping Void is a never-ending source of inspiration announced that his book Ignore Everybody was available for pre-order on Amazon.
Naturally I went ahead and ordered it.
A few days later he announced on his Crazy, Deranged Fools email list that he’d send a signed copy to the first thousand people who’d pre-ordered the book.
Genius.
Today my signed copy arrived and my other copy will find it’s way into the hands of someone else who needs some inspiration. Or a kick in the arse. One of the two.
Anyhow, the book rocks! I started reading it this evening and was very happy to see that chapter seven starts with my favourite piece of Hugh’s writing…
Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the “creative bug” is just a wee voice telling you, “I’d like my crayons back, please.”
It inspired me.
So I went ahead and mashed me up some Hugh to create my own cube grenade. You can find Hugh’s original here.
It’ll be going up in the office tomorrow.
Thanks Hugh (and I hope you don’t mind ;-)
