Mixed Reality Storytelling
Last Saturday we took a family trip to the National Videogame Arcade (NVA) in Nottingham. It has been on our to-do list for some time, but we were give the impetus to go following a contact on my Facebook page about the Mixed Reality Storytelling project, which would be located at the NVA during February.
“Mixed Reality Storytelling is a research project from the Mixed Reality Lab of the University of Nottingham. Its overall aim is to explore the ways by which contemporary technology has influenced our relationship with the material objects that surround us in our daily life.
In particular it focuses on the hobby of Miniature Wargaming. The wargaming community routinely records and shares information about the practices of the hobby, such as the details of their craft, the background stories of their models and armies and battle reports of their games and campaigns. This information is commonly formed into stories and narratives that are prized by the community.”
The exhibit at the NVA includes the “The Last Stand of the Argo” diorama, connected to an Augmented Reality application that lets you scan the battlefield and learn more about the story and characters. My brain has been buzzing with ideas about how I could use a digital footprint within the narrative structure of a game – something that was on my mind as “game mechanics as narrative” was the subject of my seminar at ROBIN on the Sunday (I’ll blog more about ROBIN soon). I’m very excited to have been invited to the lab at the University to find out more about the project.
Must. Not. Get. Distracted. From. Big. Stompy. Robots…
You can also take along your miniatures to be scanned in the 3D scanning photobooth. It took about five minutes for my Pig Iron Productions Wardroid to be scanned (one of the models for my Big Stompy Robots game). Here it is in all its glory:
As Dimitrios, who scanned the model, was quick to point out, he could have taken a little more time and some lower angle shots to fill in the rest of the model, but for something that literally took a few minutes I think it’s cool (and a white model on a white background also didn’t help!). Also, I don’t suggest people look at their own models at greater than 100% zoom if they want to retain any dignity about their painting skills!
I’ve also got my Heavy Gear Razorback scanned – I’ll share that in a later blog post.
The exhibit is at the National Videogame Arcade every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm until the end of February (and for the remainder of this half-term week too). You can find out more about the project, including some great 3D scans, over on the official website – and this video goes into more detail about the 3D scanning element of the project:
If you have a character from one of my books scanned, send me a link if you’re happy for me to use it on my website!
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