Latest Gameware News
VIRTUAL MONSTERS UNDER THE BED?
Mixed-reality environments bring digital creatures to the bedroom floor!
Imagine a dazzling mixed-reality experience in which children can build animated virtual creatures which behave in a realistic way, that interact with one another and compete in challenges that are set for them. Gameware Development has created just that with ‘ZOOKS’, an online-community based software product with features that enable children to watch their creations come to life and compete on the bedroom floor, rather than just in a virtual environment or TV studio.
“Building and racing the Zooks enables children to discover the fundamental rules of physics and engineering – without realising they’re learning!” says Jeremy Cooke, CEO of Gameware Development. “The software blends physics, artificial intelligence and 3D graphics, but is simple to use and has a child-friendly interface that is as easy as clicking a mouse.”
The Zook software allows users to run contests at home by using web cameras to augment real-world backgrounds with 3D images of user created Zooks and competitions. The software interfaces with the image from the camera, to give the on-screen appearance of a contest taking place in the room. Once the camera is set up, background objects can be defined, and the ‘Competition Creation Pack’ used to build assault courses, mousetraps, marble-runs, hurdles and other contraptions to challenge the Zooks.
“Zookers can also build virtual competition environments or ‘Zook-ilands’” says Jeremy. “Competitions between multiple Zooks in these environments can be recorded and played back in full 3D, with interactive camera controls including pan, tilt, zoom and cut. The user is generating all the content, and also has the final say over how it appears.”
Zooks is a broadband product which Gameware hopes will have global appeal. Jeremy wants to see Zook gaming sites all over the world, each with a local community, look and feel.
“I see international Zook competition being set-up like Formula 1 racing!” says Jeremy. “National teams of children will create a squad of Zooks to compete in international competitions, with a ‘constructors’ championship’ for competition builders and a ‘drivers’ championship’ for the best Zooks in different events. International competition heats will be hosted by different nations’ Zooks websites, with the contests themselves being given local flavour.”
“We would encourage each country’s site to have regional leagues and national competitions and to produce leader boards. This would maintain ongoing interest and aid selection of the best Zookers to go forward to compete at an international level,” he added.
The entire ZOOKS content is user-generated, and individual trials and contests can be recorded and shared with millions of other users by uploading to the ZOOKS website, which will also feature message boards, knowledge sharing, and online trading where children who have created particularly good Zooks can exchange them for more raw materials – ‘Zook clay’, or, as Jeremy describes it, “digital putty.” The sites will also feature a rating system allowing Zookers to rank one another’s creations.
“CBBC has pioneered the BAFTA nominated and 2006 ’Prix Jeunesse’ award winning UK site for the BAMZOOKi TV show that has attracted over 2 million downloads of the Zook kit in the UK alone, and we are confident that the enhanced features of Zooks will facilitate the transformation from UK TV show into global phenomenon,” says Jeremy.