Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/8034
“When someone holds the card with the snowboard up to the window, a mo- bile phone spins down from the top of the screen, with a snowboard character stuck to it,” Davis explains. “T e character lands on the card. Once the system is initialized, that is, once it has successfully tracked the card, that window shrinks down to the center bot- tom of the screen. All around is an immer- sive video game.” T e viewer is now in the video game, controlling the movement of a snowboard- ing character with the card. Viewers can see themselves steering the character in the little window at the bottom. If the system loses the tracking, that window expands until the software tracks the card again, and then it shrinks back down. “We’ve created experiences before where you see a tracking object and a 3D charac- ter attached to it doing some kind of ani- mation,” Davis says. “No big deal. What is diff erent with this experience is that there’s a game engine behind it. T e 3D charac- ter is still attached to a tracking object, but we’re incorporating the character into a video game.” Two teams of 3D artists, engineers, and project managers at Total Immersion devel- oped and delivered the experiences, with a separate team working on incorporating the real-time feeds. T e 3D artists used Autodesk’s Maya. All the other software is proprietary. Helios handled the logistical support, hardware, installation, and monitoring of the application. “We’re constantly making sure the system is running perfectly,” says Jon Fox, chief cre- ative offi cer at Helios, “including the real- time uploads.” Helios had a crew on the ground for the installation and for moni- toring at fi rst, but soon switched to remote monitoring using an Internet connection. Yahoo considers the experience a great success. “We were thrilled with it,” says O’Connor. “People got to experience a product demo without [Yahoo] doing a product demo. We even saw people taking pictures of their friends wearing the funny hats and interacting with the experiences. It was terrifi c.” ■ Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at BarbaraRR@comcast.net. THE STUDENTS OF TODAY ARE INDUSTRY LEADERS OF TOMORROW... Our industry is shaped by creative minds who never stop thinking, never stop learning, never stop moving the industry forward. 2010 Education & Recruitment Special Edition: Coming in the July issues of CGW and POST Never-Ending Story. Artists never stop improving their skills. There are always new tools and techniques to master. We will be looking at ongoing training, online courses, training sites, DVDs, books and more. School Showcase. Whether you are looking for the best sound editing, animation CG, post production, mocap facilities or on-the-job learning, it’s all on display. Job Outlook 2010. We will investigate how head-hunters and career placement services can help you, whether you’re starting out, or ready for a move. Don’t miss this opportunity to display your school, products or job openings in this special issue! Bonus Distribution: SIGGRAPH, COMIC-CON, IBC HIGH SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ACROSS THE US (VISUAL ARTS CIRRICULUM SCHOOLS) RESERVE SPACE TODAY: LISA BLACK lisab@cgw.com or (903) 295-3699 March 2010 45