The guys at Carnegie Melon have come out with a new video of their implementation of the Microsoft Surface table for gaming.
And here's a link to the project's website
bumping this up
It is definitely cool stuff. Still going to be a few years before starts to come to a price range where more can make use of this tech, but when it does, it is going to have an amazing impact on the game.
Agreed. I do think that they need to figure out a way to allow for physical dice rolls as well.
They mention adding manual input on the DM screen, but there has to be a way to make special dice that are readable by the table.
Rolling is just such an integral element of gaming in my mind that I don't think rendered dice images will cut it.
After all, with virtual dice you can't:
-stack them to indicate boredom
-place them all with either the highest value up to encourage them to land that way, or with 1's up to make them want to display something else.
-banish rogue dice to the bottom of the Crown Royal bag
-show off your skill at spinning each polyhedral shape
Yeah. I actually see the table as having two modes - either simply as an interactive battlemap for awesome visual effects, or as a full game table itself (as they are programming it to be) where it includes all of the rules and powers and so forth. Either one is a good approach, but the trick will be finding a way that each group can find a happy medium between the two to best suit them.
Here's another guy who has gone the battlemap route. I think it's the better route, especially given that they have used a projector along with a hacked Wii remote to create a multitouch tabletop display for MUCH less than a Surface table.
Yeah, that is viable enough that one of my friends has been talking about creating a setup like that for years - and since he just got a house with the room to do so, maybe the rest of the group can finally convince him to make it happen. :)Yeah. I actually see the table as having two modes - either simply as an interactive battlemap for awesome visual effects, or as a full game table itself (as they are programming it to be) where it includes all of the rules and powers and so forth. Either one is a good approach, but the trick will be finding a way that each group can find a happy medium between the two to best suit them.Here's another guy who has gone the battlemap route. I think it's the better route, especially given that they have used a projector along with a hacked Wii remote to create a multitouch tabletop display for MUCH less than a Surface table.
I'm so jealous! I love the idea of the projected map and the ability to reveal traps, hidden doors, etc and to have spell effects show up
CEO
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They mention adding manual input on the DM screen, but there has to be a way to make special dice that are readable by the table.
Rolling is just such an integral element of gaming in my mind that I don't think rendered dice images will cut it.
I watched a bunch of their videos and I am pretty sure that I heard that they were planning on implementing a physical dice rolling method into their system.
I totally wish that I do have this table for my Pathfinder game!
-Lisa
They mention adding manual input on the DM screen, but there has to be a way to make special dice that are readable by the table.
Rolling is just such an integral element of gaming in my mind that I don't think rendered dice images will cut it.
I watched a bunch of their videos and I am pretty sure that I heard that they were planning on implementing a physical dice rolling method into their system.
I totally wish that I do have this table for my Pathfinder game!
-Lisa
I heard that they experimented with getting the table to read real dice, but that it wasn't feasible with current technology because of the huge variety of dice out there, including tough-to-read numbers, non-standard number placement, odd color combinations, etc.
I wonder if it might be possible if they sold sets of dice specifically designed to work with SurfaceScapes.