Location-based gaming will probably become a lot more popular in the coming years as more and more mobile phones feature built-in GPS capabilities. But iOpener Media from the Netherlands has already gone a step beyond, working on bring real world objects into virtual environments. Imagine this: you’re racing the world’s best F1 drivers on your PC or HDTV screen in a race that’s actually really happening at that moment somewhere in the world. Incredible to imagine, but that’s exactly what iOpener Media is working on.
By pulling GPS data in real-time from racing events, and pumping it into compatible game consoles, you can sit and race the best drivers in the world from the comfort of your living room-in the same rice they’re currently driving. iOpener Media has received funding from the European Space Agency and claims it’ll have its first games on the market by this September, as soon as they find suitable partners to develop on top of their technological platform.
Interestingly, GPS data is not quite accurate enough for iOpener Media so they use something called differential GPS (DGPS). DGPS uses a network of fixed base stations to correct any margin of error in a GPS location and is highly precise. iOpener Media also uses location info European EGNOS network, and can eventually pinpoint a location to within 2 meters. Oh but wait, real world cars are outfitted with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that measures acceleration, angle, and yaw of an object. This further narrows down the accuracy of the cars location to within 30 centimeters.
via bbc
