Moving Minis on an iPad = Hello 5e?

[Aeolius]

I saw this article about an iPad game that recognizes physical game pieces on the touchscreen. I could not help but think of D&D minis on a battlemat.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKDwzZvybsg"]iPawn[/ame]

 

[falcarrion]

the real question is how is the game peice reconized?
On a microsoft surface it is reconized by fiducials on the bottom of the figures.I wonder if it is magnets?

 

[Kzach]

God no.

Can you seriously imagine the developers at WotC making an app like this? It would be in development for two years, beta for three, would only ever gain rudimentary features, would constantly crash and you'd have to subscribe to it for $30 a month.

 

[Aeolius]

God no. Can you seriously imagine the developers at WotC making an app like this? It would be in development for two years, beta for three, would only ever gain rudimentary features, would constantly crash and you'd have to subscribe to it for $30 a month.

Point taken. MapTool Pro, then?

 

[Fast Learner]

In this case the pawn is no different from a finger, no recognition required.

It's doable, though. I've spent some time designing a system that would work, but I'm not sure it's commercially viable.

 

[AeroDm]

Obvious problem is the size of any surface. No one wants combats limited to 5x7 and getting bigger gets expensive. The other limitation is that a huge perk of RPGs is that you can introduce anything you want. As soon as you rely on some tech (instead of your imagination), you're limited to what they've coded. If I wanted to be limited like that, I'd play WoW of FF#. So to the extent that this technology gets rolled into table top RPGs, I think it'll be very abstracted like an easy to use HP tracker or turn tracker--something universal but also not worth big money.

 

[IronWolf]

Screen size seems the first limitation, though it could be useful on an iCoffeeTable.

The other factor is putting the iPad down on the table amongst the food and drink as well. Something spills on the battlemat and it is just inconvenient. Something spill on the iPad and it has potential to be costly.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, the technology already exists, it's just a matter of software.

Reactable
Reactable – Reactable mobile

This musical device reacts to the placement of special tiles and produces sounds based on what tiles are where in relation to each other.

It ain't cheap, though. The full sized Reactable costs 9700€.

To see it in action, look for performances by Bjork on "Later with Jools Holland", like this one:


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHeX6yg95xU&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

 

[Aeolius]

It ain't cheap, though. The full sized Reactable costs 9700€.

It looks almost as entertaining as a hydraulophone