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RailsConf 2017: Whose turn is it anyway? Augmented reality board games. by Dave Tapley Board games are great, but who has time to keep track of what's going on when you just want to have fun? In the spirit of over-engineering we'll look at PitchCar -- probably one of the simplest games in the world -- and see how far we can go with web tech, image processing, and a bunch of math. Expect to see plenty of code, some surprising problems and solutions, and of course: A live demo.
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The video titled "Whose turn is it anyway? Augmented reality board games" presented by Dave Tapley at RailsConf 2017 explores the integration of augmented reality into the classic board game PitchCar. The presentation highlights the challenges of keeping track of game elements when playing board games, which can detract from the fun. Tapley discusses how he approached this problem by using web technologies, image processing, and mathematical principles to create an augmented reality solution. **Key Points Discussed:** - **Introduction to PitchCar:** - Tapley explains the rules of PitchCar, a simple flicking game where players take turns moving wooden disks around a modular track. It emphasizes the challenge of keeping track of the cars' locations when they go off the track or collide. - **Capturing Image Data:** - Tapley demonstrates how he captures images using a webcam through the WebRTC API, leveraging JavaScript for real-time data processing. He discusses his initial struggles and discoveries, specifically how the massive data strings from image captures can be handled. - **Real-Time Processing with OpenCV:** - The use of the OpenCV library is discussed, particularly how it can analyze captured images to locate the cars. Tapley describes transforming data from a data URI to a format usable by OpenCV to detect car positions. - **Augmented Reality Mechanics:** - The talk covers developing a mask for detecting colors corresponding to the player's cars, employing image processing techniques to differentiate between the track and non-track environments. Tapley highlights various mathematical transformations, such as the Hough transform, to accurately locate circular objects (the cars) in the image. - **Action Cable Communication:** - Tapley shares how he utilized Action Cable for real-time updates between the server and client to enhance responsiveness, making the game more interactive. - **Live Demo:** - Towards the end, a live demo showcases the system detecting cars and indicating their positions on and off the track with real-time feedback from the participants. - **Takeaways and Future Possibilities:** - Tapley reflects on the learning experience from creating this project and suggests that advancements in JavaScript frameworks would benefit future developments in AR and gaming applications. **Conclusions:** Tapley's presentation effectively combines technical insights about web technologies and image processing with the practical application of augmenting traditional gaming experiences. The integration of these technologies not only enhances gameplay but also demonstrates the value of innovative problem-solving in the tech development space.
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