About | Photos | Papers | Videos | Links | Contact |

[In frames? Break out]

A: Yes, the equipment works as described and has been used to produce a number of videos which are available for you to view.



Q: So what exactly is ARQuake?

A: ARQuake is a modified version of Quake from iD Software, designed for play outdoors using augmented reality technology. Augmented reality is where a user wears a head mounted display (sorta like virtual reality goggles you've seen in movies), and the user can see both the Quake game, and also the real world at the same time. We modified Quake to take its view information from a GPS and orientation sensor, and so as you walk around, Quake moves in sync with the real world. Monsters and buildings appear to sit in the real world as though they were really there, and then you can play a game of Quake while you are in the real physical world.



Q: What kind of tracking equipment do you use for this? GPS is only accurate to 5 metres!

A: We use expensive surveying grade equipment in order to supply the software with highly accurate position and orientation values which are orders of magnitude better than what can be achieved using standard grade equipment. The Trimble Ag132 GPS uses differential signals and extra signal processing in hardware to achieve 50 cm accuracy at 10 updates per second, at a cost of US$4,000 (compared to 5m accuracy at 1 update per second for a normal GPS costing US$200). We use an Intersense IS-300 sensor which uses both magnetic and gyroscoping tracking for fast sensing of head orientation, although it does drift due to magnetic distortions in the environment.



Q: I am a member of the media/press and would like to use your photos or videos, what should I do?

A: Please send an email to the Wearable Lab at ciswrb@cs.unisa.edu.au explaining what you would like to do and we would be happy to give you permission to use our photos, we can send you high resolution versions suitable for publication.



Q: Can I come and play ARQuake at the lab?

A: Unfortunately we are very busy with our research work, and it is not possible for us to demonstrate the game to everyone as we get quite a large number of requests for this and we need to get some work done :) Also, since the backpack is used for other tasks and is constantly undergoing modifications, it is not always in a state where it is able to be used on demand. Since the amount of time required to set up a demo is quite large, we tend to only do them on CIS school open days at the university, at conferences we attend, and by special invitation.



Q: Can I buy an ARQuake system? I want one to use outside at home!

A: Well, the answer is probably no, due to the price of the equipment being prohibitive :) For example, the major hardware components alone are probably worth more than US$10000 (Laptop + GPS + IS-300 + HMD) and then there are additional costs for the custom backpack, cabling, cameras, hardware controllers, and software installation. So we are talking serious money here - unfortunately the technology has not reached a point where it is possible to buy this equipment cheap enough that it could be sold to the mass market at an affordable price.



Q: Why don't you use Quake-3 instead of Quake-1, its so old and out of date?

A: If you look at the videos and pictures, you will notice that in most cases the video is transparent, using video from the real world. We add a small number of objects, such as monsters, doors, etc, and we want these to be highly visible. Quake is generally a very "dark" game, with lots of gloomy shadows and dark areas, but these effects are not very visible on a head mounted display when used outside. So, with ARQuake, all the lighting effects are disabled and objects have had their colours boosted to make them as visible as possible. This also helps to improve the realism by making the lighting in the game similar to the lighting in the real world during the day - which is not generally dark and gloomy. The other reason for using Quake-1 is that the source code is available under the GPL license, while Quake-3 is not. We need to make modifications to the source code to do the position and orientation tracking, as well as the video overlay, and this requires source code.



Q: Why don't use use Unreal Tournament/Counterstrike/ instead of Quake, its my favourite and so much better?

A: As with the previous question, you have to ask what is actually better, and will it make a difference to the AR gameplay. For rendering quality and lighting, we tend to turn most of these features off to make the display reasonable outside, so this is not important. Secondly, most newer engines tend to have better AI for the monsters, but we don't really want them to be too smart for ARQuake. The reason is that when running around outside, it is not possible to move at the same speed as on a desktop (see the next question), and so if the monsters are too smart and too fast, they will always beat you. In Quake, we use monsters which are intentionally slow and not too powerful to give the player a chance to actually beat them.



Q: Does ARQuake work with multiplayer?

A: Yes, since it uses the standard Quake engine, it is possible to use all its multiplayer features. For example, you could have two people outside playing against each other with a wireless network, or one person outside playing against a person indoors on a desktop machine. You should note that the person on the desktop will always win because when you use the mouse you can turn and run at a rate which is much faster than is possible in real life.



Q: I'd like to be employed as a coder on the ARQuake project, what can I do?

A: Our main work is in research and making prototypes to demonstrate technology, not to make products for the mass market. The ARQuake prototype is now at the point where it does pretty much everything we want, and we have a number of good videos and pictures showing this in action now. Apart from small changes to keep the software working with the latest backpack hardware, there are no further features to be added to the software.



Q: What further features are you thinking of adding?

A: Unfortunately Quake (as well as all games) have limitations in the way certain parts of the game work, and so this means adding other things we would like to do become impossible or very difficult. For an example of an augmented reality system which is much more complex and takes advantage of new user interface technology, check out the videos for the Tinmith project which is a full blown AR modelling application for use outdoors, with glove based user interfaces to support CAD like functionality.