The goal of the thesis is to conceive, design and develop a new game concept and gaming platform, able to exploit the capabilities of recent Ambient Intelligence and Internet of Things technologies. In particular, the thesis explores the domain of immersive games, where players act, react and interact with an augmented environment, in order to fulfill their mission. Augmentation and immersiveness may be obtained through the adoption of IoT devices, both wearable and environmental. Players may have different roles, i.e., active or strategic, and their interfaces should be customized to the role. The two main contributions of the thesis are the conception of the game structure and rules, and the design of a suitable system architecture for supporting it. State-of-the art IoT devices, sensors, and actuators are used to build a working prototype of a subset of the gaming platform.
The main phases of the work include:
- game conception and design
- system requirements for supporting game features
- design of the system architecture (computing nodes, sensors, interfaces, network connections, ...)
- selection of needed components (both IoT and gaming devices)
- software developement, for the various computing nodes in the system architecture
- assembling of a prototype gaming space
The selected game is an immersive version of the Laser Game, in which on-line activities mix with on-the-field gaming experience. IoT devices involved in the prototype encompasses commercial devices as well as DIY solutions like Arduinos in 3D printed guns and targets. The game has been realized with the Unity 3D game engine for both the online and on-the-field parts.
