Unite LA is a developer event that reveals the latest on goings in the realm of Unity. This year we were fortunate enough to get a ticket to Unite LA 2018. Various Unity projects were showcased from the latest gaming innovations, to crazy Augmented Reality demos. Here are some of the stand outs experiences from the event.
Check Out Previous Articles From the Event
Experimental AR Games Using Unity
At the demos hall at Unite LA there were several stand out experimental projects shown off. One of the unique sections in the hall was dedicated to the AR devices and games. AR or Augmented Reality, is a branch of Virtual Reality. In fact you could very well call an Augmented Reality project a Virtual Reality project. While each overlap in terms of what they do there is a clear line that separates both.
In the case of AR the demos shown off at the event would overlay new experiences on top of physical objects. The perfect example of such a project came from a game in which a digital race on a tablet would control the events on a physical Hot Wheels track. If the player attacks the other car on the tablet then the physical track would eject the the targeted car. Words do the experience no justice, check out the video below to see the potential in augmented reality.
The Hololens Experience
Not surprisingly Microsoft was also there showing off their mixed reality devices and even the Hololens. I had never used the Hololens before so I was curious to see how it would work. The Microsoft representative let me try it on and guided me on how to use the device.
I wasn’t playing anything extravagant like Minecraft AR, in fact it was just a simple organizing application. Sure it was a little disappointing but at least I was able to try the device. Like the other reports state, yes you can only see the AR holograms through a small square window. You can only interact with objects in that window and if you move your head and aren’t facing the hologram you can’t physically reach out to the object and manipulate it. The MS representative told me it worked because there was a Kinect attached to the device allowing the device to track your arms and fingers.
Overall it was cool to play with it for a few minutes but because I was just trying out an organizing app I couldn’t properly judge how innovative the device could be. Having tried VR before, an Oculus device is far more impressive. Perhaps if I tried an AR game I would recommend it.
