Google imagines games using Glass being simplistic and easy to pick up on the go.
Google recently posted a video of five demo mini games using Google Glass technology to encourage developers to make games for Glass. Each game demonstrates a specific use of Google Glass technology.
Google Glass is an iteration of wearable technology with an optical head-mounted display with the hope of creating a ubiquitous computer for the mass market. Google Glass users can send messages and call others like a smartphone, and it has a camera, touchpad, and can map head movements. All five games use Glass sensors to interact with virtual objects. In Tennis, the player uses the gyroscope and accelerometer for head tilts to send a tennis ball back. Balance also uses the accelerometer for the player to balance shapes from falling. For anyone who doesn’t feel embarrassed by talking out loud to Glass in public, [I]Clay Shooter[/i] uses voice recognition to shoot clay pigeons. Match also uses head movements to pair objects. Players move their hands in front of the Google Glass camera to slice objects in Shape Splitter.
The presentation of each game is very short, and each game is simple. Google intended all five games to be “visually simple and straightforward to play.” Its vision is to make games that are for people with a few free minutes to jump into a game shortly. Google Glass users can jump into games by using voice actions. Google hopes to “minimize the time it takes to go from intent to action” with voice recognition.
With the Oculus Rift and Google Glass, new technology has the potential to deliver new experiences in gaming. How Google or other developers will use this technology is anyone’s guess right now, but for now it looks like Google Glass games will be designed as quick distractions.
