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ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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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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