CapitolaVR, as described on their website, is a digital agency all about action. They “don’t talk, but prototype” and have built relationships through this ideal with clients such as Samsung and Ford. Via email, CapitolaVR’s Head of Digital David Robustelli shared a new development that was the result of the team charging forward with a fresh idea for augmented reality.
“At CapitolaVR our interns always have a window of time working on their own ideas as long as it fits CapitolaVR’s rapid prototyping strategy,” says Robustelli. Essentially the interns can brainstorm different things, if senior developers get involved, they can be worked on a bit more extensively. “For this particular case, they wanted to see if they could make a new HoloLens application in just a few days.”
The starting goal was to create an AR program that was easy to use for people not very familiar with HoloLens. Robustelli says the team wanted something based on physics to create a sense of realism, but also have a futuristic aesthetic to it. The combination of simple gameplay mechanics, the potential for cool visuals, and an example of how spatial mapping works with HoloLens led the team to a golf game.
When it comes to setup, you place the glasses on and set waypoints in an open space. The tool the team developed can then build tracks around those points, taking into account the surrounding obstacles. Once things are in place, you’ll see the course on the HoloLens. You use one hand to aim where you want the ball to go and then you tap your fingers together to shoot. The farther out you aim with your hand, the harder the shot.
This game is in the very early stages of existence, so there are no tentative dates for release. In the video we were shown, they have a functional AR program based on a cool concept so it’ll be interesting to see how this app and those like it evolve.
