European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes Page 19 augmented reality games merge physical world with fantasy theres no alien world behind the virtual reality just a modestly decorated living room that can be seen without the video but once the game a facade you might wish there were space that because it puts you in the Middle of an excruciatingly uncomfortable argument Between trip and a bickering thirty something married do you play Moderator and decide to help broker a truce do you instigate them by complimenting Grace on her decorating style or pretending to be impressed with your pal trips place or do you act As if everything peachy while their arguing heats up whatever path is this participatory soap opera at a Georgia tech research lab is at times awkward and intrigue and its always intense and emotionally a facade is an augmented reality a genre that mixes a virtual world with physical the technology is still though someday people May play such games with gear As simple As their cell so scientists seem to be having fun with the at the University of South researchers created a version of the popular shoot pm up where users with a wraparound visor and a Backpack walk around streets and fight superimposed computer objects that Only they can a human Packman created at the University of places virtual yellow dots along the City streets and allows players to become the games hero or one of the ghosts set on catch ing the Little some have a More practical Mark Billinghurst magic Book is an animated childrens Book that turns into a 3d changing with each Page when viewed through headcount de the new zealand scientist also is helping develop a which lets gamers use their cell phones As rackets on a virtual court superimposed on a real the action is watched on the phones within five years people will be Able to easily experience augmented reality applications on their Mobile in their Hospi workplace and he one of the most exciting things is that the current generation of Mobile phones have the processing display Resolution and camera Quality Neces sary to provide compelling a expert Billy a games analyst at the research company says the Field shows especially if its future is staked to the growing computing Power v Steven a Georgia tech demonstrates the a facade in the game puts you in the Middle of an uncomfortable argument Between trip and a sour married couple that wants you to take of cell phones and other handheld i dont know if its a sustainable but theres definitely Money in he theres Many ways you can link gaming and interactive entertain ment outside because portable devices Are getting pretty powerful and so is the net i can see it at Georgia the Atlanta school where trip and graces a facade was research ers Are using the technology to create interactive the games Are somewhere Between a movie and a video said Steven a student in geor on Georgia techs facade human interface technology Laboratory new zealand org you can kind of choose your own and you can define your own Way to he in a its a theater and a stage where people can step in to become an actor in the expert researchers there Are creating a game called four angry men based on the play where players debate the Fate of a Young Man accused of killing his a facade had a More traditional begin created Over a five year it started As a free traditional pc game that asked players to Type in comments to interact with the bickering More than copies have been Gia techs human entered computing and it earned critical acclaim for its sophisticated artificial intelligence Dow and other researchers spent a year trying to bring the game into the real they built a living room with a a pictures on the a phone and other household in everything is real except trip and Grace the two cartoonish characters can Only be seen through a Backpack mounted Laptop worn by the player and a screen mounted from the the virtual arguing comes through a pair of thankfully comfortable the goal of the research is to gain a better understanding of How humans and computers Dow has studied dozens of watching As some have antagonized the characters while others have grown emotional As the quarrelling one gamer tried to physically Stop the Only to remember she was trying to Block a virtual character from walking the equipment that gamers strap on to enter the facade world seems impose but the processing Power that runs the system is no More daunting than whats found in an Box 360 this whole thing could run on your Home game said Blair Macon an associate professor in Georgia techs College of professional voice actors recorded thousands of lines of dialogue to play the Young couples As the player a researcher types the words into a computer behind the they trigger certain reactions driven by several Complex algorithm engines that control the dialogue and even the facial expressions of a Pushy and an attractive and temperamental there Are hundreds of different Story lines and seven different outcomes and most of them end with Grace or both kicking you out of the but theres one extremely that can almost be described As the disgruntled couple As Over Home jobs and even wine but after a shift in tactics by the they launch into an loud and occasionally profane you can almost sense the moment they let their guard that when Grace admits to a linger ing depression and concedes that she has allowed trip to dominate their and trip admits his materialism is rooted in his experience grow ing up on the Edge including living in a shelter for six they finally come to a hesitant and agree to talk about their but this they talk o c 0