[2017] Extending a Standard Tablet into a Gaming Platform with Projected Parallax Layers

Abstract

Computer games are considered an important entertainment medium. In addition to engaging gameplay, there are many other factors that attract the audiences to the games. The visual presentation is considered as an important factor and many technologies such as virtual reality (VR), stereoscopy, and autostereoscopy are some of the approaches that are used to enhance the visual presentation of games by providing 3D depth that is not available in typical 2D raster displays. Though stereoscopy and autostereoscopy approaches have been used in commercial VR and 3D display products, one of the huge drawback of using the devices is that many users, especially in the older demographics, reported vertigo, nausea, and cyber-sickness during the usage of the devices. To counter those issues, it is possible to refine the stereoscopy/autostereoscopy technology, or use alternative approaches that can provide the perception of 3D and depth to the visual presentation with less strain on the eyes which is the focus of this research. An implementation of a visual projection approach using a clip-on hardware extension on standard tablets to create a gaming platform that can display physical parallax effects for enhanced depth. In addition to developing the clip-on hardware, a number of games were developed on the platform, and a number of techniques on developing content on the platform are described.