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Philips amBX: For Ambient Gaming
JamesO writes "Philips has announced amBX, a technology which is said to extend the gaming experience out into the real world.
amBX, developed by the Surrey based Philips amBX Group, is a technology that will take gamers a step closer to a full sensory experience, with amBX enabled games providing gamers with the ability to use light, colour, sound, heat and airflow in the real world during gameplay. The technology uses a scripting language to enable games to send signals to compatible hardware such as lights, fans, heaters, and even furniture. This means that in a game the lights in your room will match up to the environment you are gaming in. E.g. Green for jungle and blue for the ocean. Strobes of while light could simulate a lightning storm and a burst of air from a fan could make huge jumps feel more realistic." Finally, my master goal of a game called "Bacon Fryer" can be brought to the level I've always: wafts of pork smell in the air, grease burns on your hands for bad flipping. And just wait until you have to pour the grease out of the pan!
It could also apply to movies :D
Be or ben't
Why spend the money? I can already get this experience for Doom 3 with the flick of a single switch.
Philips already make a television that uses "Ambiant" technology. It has side-lights that glow to match the dominant colour on the screen at that moment. They're currently advertising it (Here in the UK at least). It looks pretty good, but then I've not yet seen one demoed in real life, so take that with a pinch of salt.
When I'm truly immersed in a game, my surroundings tend to get pushed away from my consciousness. Having glare-inducing lights or jets of hot air would likely be things I'd try to ignore rather than welcome. The same happens when reading. Never underestimate the power of imagination to create an appropriate mood. Visual and auditory cues work pretty well for that. I don't think Smell-o-Vision is necessary for a good gaming experience.
...but what happens when trojan horses and viruses take control of these peripherals? And will I be able to integrate it with web pages or email? I'm sure the pr0n industry will be all over this....
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
"providing gamers with the ability to use light, colour, sound, heat and airflow" ...they've invented a CRT!
How thy hell is this going to work in the consumer world ? Is there going to be a standard hardware base or will each "ambient game" require its own set of props ? The theory is mildly entertaining if one ignores the practicality issues.
"ambFarCry requires at least two ambPalmTrees to run. Go back to the store, punkass!"
We already have force-feedback controllers that either suck, or are poorly utilized by developers/designers. Now we're going to have a buttload of props that all suck, and take designers' attention away from the actual gameplay even more than the current orgy of ultra-excessive graphics and gee-whiz sound.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Too bad you can play it for real with any stove or grill for about $10. Stupid.
... vigourous. As is the police armed response.
:-(
Well, you can play a remarkably realistic Grand Theft Auto simulation for the cost of a bent screwdriver - but I wouldn't recommend it. The force-feedback is a bit
1/10
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
Sounds cool. However, you better be alone in the room. OTOH, I'm quite interested by the new 3D screen. That should really enhance your game experience. And it is available today.
Million Dollar Screenshot
I get to have salty water splashed in my face, and on my keyboard and mouse, and in my computer
:)
How does this differ from your current nightly computer experience then?
(yeah, I know you were fishing for this type of response)
As well as to the Hot Coffee Mod :) Though I'm not sure most slashdot'ers would know how to play..
You may notice that the TV commercials for this product all show it being used on a matte white painted wall. If you'll give me my claim that a lot of pro-high tech early adopters who like 'cool-looking' TV devices that show themselves off, rather than finding them intrusive, are also just the sort to have really decorated their favorite viewing area, how many people right now, that pass all the other tests to become customers, are thinking it won't work as well with their paint or wallpaper?
Our media room has burgundy sound absorbing cloth, actually salvaged from an old movie theatre, covering all the forward walls. I can't imagine how that scene from Return of the King where the witch king's fortress suddenly lights up with that icy green glow would look on one of these, but then I can't really imagine what it feels like to be run through a sausage grinder alive either, and I don't want to get any better at imagining such things.
Who is John Cabal?
I suggested that you could also use a couple of big lamps. A blind person could feel the heat of a lamp when it was switched on. I then suggested creating a Thief-like game, which would play in a world of blind people with monsters that could see infra-red. So, when you would be in the full light (you would feel the heat of the lamps), you would be invisible, but in the dark (lamps off) you would be highly visible. Combine this with 3D-sounds, and a pad which would represent walls in the environment by raised buttons (which she already had available), and IMHO you can create a challenging, story-like game for the visually-impaired.
The point is, of course, that people who can see well enough don't need more than what they can see on a screen, but being able to address other sensory inputs may open up the world of computer games to people with certain disabilities. But the games need to be designed around the extra gadgets, and the gadgets should not only be used as an enhancement.
Flashbangs in CSS will never be the same...
Ah, but you can change things in CSS pretty easily:
{flash-bang: 10px}
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
This thread is useless without light, colour, sound, heat and airflow.