Virtual Archery Game Makes Practicing Convenient, Safe, And Inexpensive

Virtual-Archery

Inspired by playing The Legend of Zelda video game series, Cornell University students [Mohamed Abdellatif] and [Michael Ross] created a Virtual Archery game as their ECE 4760 Final Project.   The game consists of a bow equipped with virtual arrows and a target placed about 20 ft away. The player has three rounds to get as high of a score as possible. A small display monitor shows the instructions, and an image of where the shot actually hit on the target.

Pressing a button on the front of the bow readies a virtual arrow. A stretch sensor communicates with a  microcontroller to determine when the bow string has been drawn and released.  When the bow is drawn, a line of LEDs lights up to simulate a notched arrow. The player aims, and factors in for gravity. An accelerometer calculates the orientation of the bow when fired. The calculated shot is then shown on the display monitor along with your score.

This immediately makes me think of Laser Tag, and feels like a product that could easily be mass marketed. I’m surprised it hasn’t been already. Good work guys.

[via Hackedgadgets]

Check out the video demonstration after the break:

13 thoughts on “Virtual Archery Game Makes Practicing Convenient, Safe, And Inexpensive

  1. Not in any way a good way to practice for actual archery; not until the draw of the virtual bow is the equivalent of the bow you’d usually be shooting. After all, archery is 99% about being able to reproduce the same shot over and over again once you know how to land one even close to the target.

    1. Indeed, and one can practice with blunts and a blanket indoors, as long as your bow isn’t VERY high poundage.

      One of the best ways to improve your shooting is to practice your form with your eyes closed until you can do it the same way every time (of course everyone has a different form they prefer), then dial in your aim.

      Making a workable bow from Home Despot lumber is actually, now that I think about it, a pretty good candidate for HaD, too bad I didn’t keep a build log.

      1. Home Despot, we bring out your inner evil genius :-D

        But I wouldn’t have thunk they had a wholllle lot of choice in wood that would work, unless they had a special on 6ft sticks of yew last time you were there. :-D

          1. Yah sorry I was being sorta facetious, (Also in that yew is the one true wood for killing those damn frenchies) As for what our home depot has for wood… I’d figure spruce maybe???

  2. I’m not so sure this is safe.. Back when I used to practice archery the first thing anyone would tell you is to not fire a bow without an arrow, as it could explode in your face. Bows are designed to transfer most (if not all) of the potential energy stored when you draw into kinetic energy of the arrow. Without an arrow there to absorb the energy and carry it out of the system, that energy snaps back into the system which over time builds undue excessive stress in the bow which can lead to premature, catastrophic failure.

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