The challenge:

Mobile Mixed Reality Games are complex applications

 Mixed Reality (MR) combines the real world with a virtual counterpart and creates an immersive and interactive real-time environment.The possible applications are limitless. In the gaming area, MR offers unique opportunities. Unlike traditional video games, these games are not imprisoned onto the screen but interact with the real world. They incorporate real locations and objects into the game and thus create a potentially much richer gaming world and experience.

Our vision:

An easy way to create Mobile Mixed Reality Games

Despite their mobile nature, authoring for such games so far has been mainly done in desktop-based development environments. To create truly location-aware mobile games that combine digital with real content, however, we see a strong necessity for mobile authoring tools that can be used whenever and wherever a game designer desire. Only this way a true unity between the two worlds can be achieved that deeply immerse the players in the game.

The mobile tools are combined with a web-based auhtoring environment that helps structuring all game data, managing media, specifying game logic and publishing the game.

The TOTEM auhtoring tools support a variety of different games, from slow-paced location based games to action-packed multiplayer augmented reality games. Examples for such games are two of our showcases, Tidy City and Portal Hunt.

Our innovation:

Mobile gaming and authoring platform for everyone

TOTEM develops new innovative authoring tools, enabling users to create media-rich content for location-aware Mixed Reality games by:

• Creating easy-to-use yet powerful mobile and web-based authoring tools for the creation and modification of Mobile Mixed Reality Games (MMRGs) and gaming content both for non-expert as well as for expert users.
• Developing the tools and infrastructure necessary for the deployment and playing of MMRGs consisting of a MMRGs client software based on MPEG4, a game server, a multimedia database and a system for managing context data in ubiquitous environments. 
• Supporting scripting of game logic elements for completely defining a diverse range of MMRGs including tracking data, game artifacts and interaction methods.
• Staging a considerable amount of MMRGs in order to increase knowledge about game design and usability related research questions and to feed back results into the technical parts of the project.

Our service:

Enabling location-aware applications  

Mobile Mixed Reality Games have a huge potential and can be easily adapted to satisfy the demands of different application areas and target groups.

Potential use-cases that are supported by TOTEM tools:

• Exhibitions, fairs or festivals
• Team building and company outings
• Advertisement campaigns
• Educational contexts
• Cultural heritage
• Tourist and visitor information
• Family activities
• Rapid prototyping of game ideas

Typical end-users might include:

• Event agencies
• Museums and galleries
• Schools and universities
• City offices
• Professional game developers and game designers

Commercial licenses for TOTEM tools and games are available. Non-commercial use is free of charge. 

Furthermore, we offer theoretical and practical workshops about the creation of Mobile Mixed Reality Games, special gaming sessions as well as tailor-made games and authoring solutions.

Our advantage:

Experience and synergy