Hack a Day » googleearth

Gaming with real-world data

Juan Aguilar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:15:00 +0000

We were pretty excited by the prospect of location-aware software and its ability to pull map data into its functions, but what do you get when build software on top of a map-based service? Well, one possibility is 2D gaming on real maps.

Geoquake developed a 2D driving sim that uses a Flash app to interact with Google Maps. The game lets players enter any location in the world and drive around in various different vehicles. It was made by using Flash and the Google Maps API for Flash. Unfortunately, there is no collision detection or any other form of distinguishing topography from roads, so it’s a little more like flying over the area than driving on it.

For intentional flying, there is this flight simulator that works with the Google Earth browser plugin. It does exactly what you would expect, allowing users to fly a somewhat crudely rendered airplane using very simple controls over any location on (Google) Earth. If there’s anything you don’t like about it, though, you are free to edit it by using the author’s API and polygon editor. The simulator is Windows-only.

We know these are really simple, but bear in mind that these are the first games to incorporate real, semi-live map data. We’re sure there will be more games like these, but given the availability of the tools used to build these games, we wouldn’t be surprised if people took it upon themselves to make them more complex, visually rich, and fun.

[via Waxy]

Wii Fit World of Warcraft

Juan Aguilar — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:15:00 +0000

By now you’ve probably seen the video of two researchers from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) navigating through maps on Google Earth by using the Wii Fit Balance Board. They’ve gone even further now by using the board to navigate World of Warcraft. It’s obvious that the board is usable with any 3D environment. The hack is entirely software based, as the board is completely unmodified. It relays data to a laptop via Bluetooth, where the pressure data in converted to directional instructions by their custom app written in C#. No notes on the project are available on DFKI’s site, but we’re betting they’ll release the software to the public once all the kinks are worked out.

[via Balance Board Blog]

Alternative 3D controllers

Sean Percival — Sat, 31 May 2008 06:00:00 +0000

There are several very nice 3D mice out there for navigating services like Google Earth or Second Life. 3Dconnexion for example makes a whole line of devices for 3D navigation. Their compact units offer 6-8 degrees of freedom with several customizable options. The company has an SDK available and many of their devices are natively compatible with Linux (or available for access through an XInput driver). So while that is all well and great, lets look at some alternative ways people are navigating 3D spaces.

We are glad to see it didn’t take long for someone to figure out how not to get healthy with a Wii Fit. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence turned one unit into a global surf board. Using the Bluetooth connection of the Wii Fit they developed software to port the user’s motion back into Google Earth. The result, surfing over the alps to 90s techno music. They also briefly demo using the balance board to walk in Second Life.

Why use any input at all when you can use your face? The Human Media Lab has developed software that allows for hands free navigation of Google Earth simply by moving your face. The software is free (although a download link is missing) and currently only available for Windows. They do appear to be using OpenCV as part of this package which is open source.

Lastly from the virtual world of Second Life we have navigating with your mind. This brain-computer interface (BCI) was developed by Japanese professor Jun’ichi Ushiba of Keio University in Japan. The user wears a headpiece that monitors activity in three areas of the motor cortex, where movement signals are processed. A user simply thinks about the direction they want to move and the avatar responds accordingly. Still under development, this device is aiming to recognize more complex movements and gestures in the future.