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Maybe you would prefer this?  I'll stop now, its just those end of  
year technology reviews...

Eric Siegel

Game to turn pet hamsters into people-eaters

     * 13:37 18 April 2006
     * NewScientist.com news service
     * Lakshmi Sandhana

It's early days in development, and your hamster nemesis is yet to  
become a terrifying man-eater (Image: Nanyang Technological University)
Enlarge image
It's early days in development, and your hamster nemesis is yet to  
become a terrifying man-eater (Image: Nanyang Technological University)
The real hamster's movements are tracked using infrared (Image:  
Nanyang Technological University)
Enlarge image
The real hamster's movements are tracked using infrared (Image:  
Nanyang Technological University)
Advertisement

A computer game that turns pet hamsters into virtual man-eaters could  
be the first in a new breed of games aimed at both people and their  
pets.

"Mice Arena" is an augmented-reality computer game in which human  
players are pitted against a real, live hamster.

The hamster is housed in a tank fitted with infra-red sensors that  
track its motion as it chases after a tasty piece of bait. Its  
movements are mimicked by monster hamster on a computer screen, which  
chases a virtual character representing a human opponent.

The human player must manipulate the onscreen movements of the  
character to evade the hungry hamster. As they do so, actuators move  
the real bait around the tank to keep it away from the real rodent.  
The game ends when the human's onscreen persona has been caught and  
eaten, or when they have survived for a set period of time.
Remote rodent

Mice Arena is being developed by researchers at the Emerging Art and  
Architecture Research Group and the Mixed Reality Lab at Nanyang  
Technological University (NTU), both in Singapore. They have created  
the software engine for the game and are currently developing  
actuators for the hamster tank. These will control the movement of  
the bait and also the shape of the tank's floor, to match the game's  
onscreen terrain.

Adrian David Cheok, director of the Mixed Reality Lab, says the game  
should provide new ways for people to have fun with their pets, even  
when they are out of town.

"This game will allow remote pet interaction," Cheok says. "The game  
can be played over the internet so an owner overseas on a business  
trip will still have a way of interacting with their pets through  
this system."

The researchers behind Mice Arena are currently perfecting the game  
so that both pet and owner have an equal chance of winning. They hope  
to have a fully functioning prototype ready by November 2006.

Eric Siegel
New York Hall of Science
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(718) 699-0005 x 317




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