Aggrogate

Canon Shows Off Augmented Reality Gaming, Makes Chris Look Silly

I cover a lot of different consumer technology products, and they all usually have their own groups of brands. You don't expect Nintendo to go into HDTVs, you don't expect LG to go into digital cameras, and you don't expect Canon to go into futuristic video games. However, when I attended the CanonEXPO yesterday, that last option is exactly what I saw. Tucked into a corner of the expo was a video game demonstration kiosk for Canon's "Mixed Reality" system. It's a little bit virtual reality, a little bit Playstation Move, and a whole lot of looking like a character from The Lawnmower Man.

Chris and I were invited to play a "game" where we created a cartoon character in virtual reality, using head-mounted displays to watch our creations float before our eyes while we manipulate them with our hands. I sat down and held the display over my eyes, keeping it aligned so I could see through the virtual glasses. They were almost completely clear, but could show computer-generated images on top of the regular view thanks to a small screen and a prism.