Soon, electronic board games!

WASHINGTON - Experts at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada are set to revolutionize traditional board pastimes into electronic games.

The technology, developed by School of Computing graduate Mike Rooke and Professor Vertegaal, will make it possible for friends and family to play electronic games, sitting around a table, just like board games.

The new electronic system looks like a set of white, cardboard hexagons similar to the game board of Settlers of Catan.

However, with the help of an overhead camera and a projector, each piece of cardboard becomes a mini-computer capable of displaying video images.

The camera tracking and projection allow researchers at the HML to anticipate technologies 5-10 years down the road, when thin-film Organic LED screens will allow these kinds of board games to become practical.

Roel Vertegaal, an associate professor at Queen’s Human Media Lab, said: “We just started thinking about, ‘What if these new screens exist? What could we do with them?’ This is no doubt the future of board games.”

Meanwhile, HML student Eric Akaoka and Professor Vertegaal are also researching on DisplayObjects, which will allow any object to become a computer.

The DisplayObjects workbench allows designers to carve future appliances out of interactive Styrofoam that immediately displays images, allowing evaluation with users at an earlier stage than is currently possible.

Vertegaal concluded: “In the near future, a computer will have any shape or form, and iPhone-like computer displays will start appearing on any product. Projecting and tracking objects is just the beginning. These Organic User Interfaces will be embedded in real world interactions.” (ANI)