Super Chicks

Space invaders inspired game with real robots and mixed reality!

Comment

Inspiration

Space Invaders in 3D, real robots, and passthrough XR headsets.

What it does

Super Chicks: Escape is Space Invaders with 3D movement in mixed reality. The game uses a real robot that is controlled by augmented joysticks which the player controls through the passthrough headset.

"You were hired as damage control by the top-secret Super Chickens experiment. The Super Chicks are incredibly dangerous and explode when they land at high impact. Dodge incoming Super Chicks with the Joysticks and shoot them out of the sky to prevent them from destroying the planet!"

How we built it

Using the Robot Operating System (ROS) and Unity's ROS-TCP-Connector, we were able to enable two-way communication between a Lynx R1 headset and a Locobot WX200 differential drive robot. Using Unity, we created augmented joysticks that are polled reclusively and subsequently generate a vector that propagates over a TCP connection to the robot wherein it is received by a node that actuates the physical motors.

Challenges we ran into

Maintaining a transformation between an AR headset and a moving object, like a robot, is challenging. The headset we used, the Lynx R1, did not expose raw video data, which is required for creating the computer vision algorithms needed to track the robot in 3D space. Because we could localize the Lynx R1 to the Locobot, we were unable to generate augments relative to the robot's location.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Augmented joysticks allowed the robot to be teleoperated while including visual feedback to the end-user.
  • A full passthrough AR game

What we learned

  • How to use some really cool XR tech!
  • That people think robots combined with XR is awesome

What's next for Super Chicks

Super Chicks: Escape has the potential to grow into a transmedia IP with games, comics, and shorts. In the near future, the game will include assets that are on-chain (allowing players to collect power-ups, unique Super Chicks, and cosmetics), additional game modes, and multiplayer functionality.

One thing that our team is excited about is the potential for partnerships with cheaper, more accessible hardware which would allow for people to play the game in their own homes. Devices can be attached to animate (your friend) or inanimate objects which would allow players to play totally new Super Chick minigames.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates