All Part of the Game: Connecting Two Players Between the Virtual World and Reality

All Part of the Game is a two player physical and digital immersive game experience exploring the use of video games to foster social connections. Utilizing physical interactions such as real-time tracking and live video feed to reflect movement in the virtual environment, the two players have to collaborate between a divided wall to complete four different levels via verbal cues.

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Abstract

All Part of the Game is a two player physical and digital immersive game experience exploring the use of video games to foster social connections. Utilizing physical interactions such as real-time tracking and live video feed to reflect movement in the virtual environment, the two players have to collaborate in different spaces to complete four different levels via verbal cues. Video games are often associated with negative connotations such as addiction and escapism. But what if we were to look at games from a different perspective? Instead of using games for merely entertainment to escape reality, we can use them to create meaningful experiences. Through the experience of playing with another person, new social connections are formed as well as strengthening old bonds. Therefore, this project aims to question how video games can go beyond just a screen and allow people to collaborate between virtual space and reality. This project goes beyond the traditional digital gaming experience. Rather than using gaming mediums such as a screen and game controllers, the goal is to have both players engage in a collaborative way in both the virtual world and physical space. One player is real-time tracked using a virtual reality tracker and the information is sent into Unreal Engine to mimic the real life movements. In order to have the player as an avatar in game, their facial expressions are caught on a GoPro camera and sent into OBS Studio along with the game for compositing. The second player is able to view all of it at once as a complete game. Divided by a wall, the two players are essentially participating in different aspects of the game, from controlling virtual elements to moving in the physical world. By combining the physical space and virtual environment, each player experiences their own unique gameplay in their movement and collaboration. Therefore, as the gaming experience is taken outside of the traditional screen and controller, All Part of the Game envisions a new type of gameplay, connecting people from virtual to reality.

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