XRoom

A multiplayer AR game for mobile devices that people enjoy in a room-scale space

CLIENT & NEEDS

Interdigital expects to utilize the power of their product AdvantEDGE (Edge Computing Technique) to create a multiplayer mobile experience that can showcase in the public venue and promote Edge Tech.

QUICK VIEW

RESEARCH

What’s Edge Computing?

DESIGN

Disco Arena - 2-player AR mobile game

What’s Disco Arena?

A 2 player competitive arena game about reflecting light into your opponent’s face using your phone as a mirror.

Core Design Goal

Cooperation, Competition, Communication, and Emotion Sharing.

Playfield Setting

Room-Scale Space Setting

The playfield should be split in half, with the QR code in the middle.

Light racks should be situated on the back ends of both players’ sides of the room.

IDEATION

Game Loop

The Game is played in Rounds

User Flow

MAIN CHALLENGES

AR drift-related Issue

How to solve the drift-related issues with AR?

Basically, we used QR codes to solve this problem in our project. Since Scanning QR code is the easiest way for setting environment both from the tech and design sides, we attach the QR code in the middle of the floor of the game field.

The player will move around at will, sometimes the camera will not scan the QR code.

In this case, we need to ask the player to scan the QR code again to continue the game. If so, the entire game experience will be ineffective and not smooth.

Solution

Place the QR code around the space as much as possible

Make the QR code as a sign, stand in the middle, and place the QR code around the space as much as possible, so as to help the player not easily disconnect.

Light Beams

How do players distinguish light beams come from?

Based on several rounds of playtests, we found that players cannot distinguish the light beams.

Solution

Vector line

The light should behave as a vector line rather than a spread and come from a light source, which is to keep light-reflecting simple.

Indication

At a glance, it should be clear to the player which direction the light source is coming from. Some forms of indication, either through animated arrows or a motion graphic should make this clear. The light should travel in a straight direction until it is obstructed or reflected. When the light is being reflected by a player, it should be indicated visually/auditory that a player is reflecting it. The light beams should be a different color (or appearance) when being reflected by each individual player.

Color Differentiation

For Example:

A light beam with nobody reflecting it can be white.

A light beam reflected by player 1 can be yellow

A light beam reflected by player 2 can be blue

Auxiliary equipment

How to make the player feel comfortable with the physical interface？

At first, We design to attach the phone to the head to emit the light beam. However, Based on the playtests, we found that it is hard for players to receive feedbacks(whether they get hit or not), and they could not be able to do any manufactures on a digital screen to help them more engage in the game.

Solution

The Physical Interface

We decided to change from attaching the phone to the head to attach the phone on the hand.

Each player will have 1 Phone as their interface for the game.
The phone will be situated on top of a handheld harness, making it feel like a mirror.
The game will be played in landscape mode.