Gravity Jack – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

March 19, 2018

World of Tanks AR Experience Rolls Out At GDC

We’ve been following Wargaming’s increasing love for all things immersive for some time here on VRFocus. Be it teaming up with a museum to tear down the wall (literally, in this instance) between the real and gaming worlds, or in more recent times as to how their new firm Neurogaming has been working to bring World of Tanks VR to life as as location-based virtual reality (VR) experience for one of two platforms that the company is working on.

Today though, the parent company and developer of the World of Tanks IP has revealed a new immersive app in celebration of the main videogame title hitting the all-important version 1.0 mark with a soon to come update. The app in question takes World of Tanks back into the world of augmented reality (AR) and into the heart of the action. Developed with support from Gravity Jack, and with the pair working “closely” with Google. Neurogaming have revealed at the Games Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, World of Tanks AR Experience. Utilising Google’s AR platform ARCore the app is being featured at the event as one of ARCore’s launch titles.

World of Tanks AR Experience - GIF “The World of Tanks AR Experience allows users to see a tank battle raging around them, anywhere from gigantic life-size to tabletop scale.” Explains Neurogaming in a statement. “The AR vehicle also dismantles in mid-air to show off some of its core components, allowing users to learn more about these historical vehicles. The app features photo and video social sharing functions.”

Support for the app is confirmed for Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy Note8/S8+/S8/S7/S7 Edge, Asus Zenfone AR, LG V30/V30+ and OnePlus 5. As well as on iOS with the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6x Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8plus, iPhone, iPad pro, and iPad 5.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Google on delivering this unique AR experience to millions of users around the world,” explained Matt Daly of Wargaming’s Special Projects department. “With the recent release of World of Tanks 1.0, we’re taking tank combat up a gear, and the AR app will let our players extend their in-game experience to real life.”

The app is available now on the Google Play Store. VRFocus will continue to bring you all the immersive tech developments from GDC throughout the week.

July 18, 2017

Bovington Tank Museum Is Using VR/AR For An Exhibit

Museums are homes to so many facets of the world’s history, but many don’t realize the efforts that go into recreating and/or acquiring the different items on display. If somehow a certain challenge to acquire a rare artifact is insurmountable, as was true when the Bovington Tank Museum was unable to obtain one of the three last surviving Sturmtigers, VR and AR provide an immersive alternative. Partnering with Wargaming and app developer Gravity Jack, the Bovington Tank Museum will have a faithful virtually-recreated Sturmtiger crashing through their walls via AR. The experience will be available either by a Google Tango-enabled tablet or Microsoft Hololens and users will be able to disassemble the tank, tour the inside, or even shoot one of its rockets.

Wargaming is responsible for the wildly popular game World of Tanks so they have a wealth of experience with digital tanks. Combine that with Gravity Jack’s VR/AR pedigree and Bovington Tank Museum has a one-of-a-kind experience for patrons. The experience will be available either by a Google Tango-enabled tablet or Microsoft Hololens and users will be able to disassemble the tank, tour the inside, or even shoot one of its rockets.

“Augmented Reality allows visitors to explore the SturmTiger in a way that is not possible with a physical tank,” said Tracy Spaight, Director of Special Projects at Wargaming. “Countless studies show the power of agency and presence in an experience as a means of enhancing learning and retention. We believe that AR technology will help museums connect with a new generation of museum-goers and bring history alive in a way that was not possible before.”

There have been other efforts to preserve history and inform through VR/AR, like the VR Timescope in Paris. This VR and AR experience, beyond just bringing history to life, allows museum patrons to interact with it in a way they normally wouldn’t be able to “primarily for reasons of public safety,” as museum director Richard Smith said.

Tagged with: Gravity Jack, Wargamming

July 17, 2017

World of Tanks Rolls Into Reality With Google Tango and Hololens

We began today on VRFocus with a Life In 360° focused on historical miltiary aircraft now we get our head out of the clouds and back down to earth for some ground-based machines of war.

We’ve reported several times on the efforts of World of Tanks developer Wargaming who have previously experimented with 360 degree video, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in tandem with various videogames in its World of… series. This has usually been courtesy of Wargaming’s ‘Special Projects Division’ which has taken on a number of partnerships with institutions such as museums, as Wargaming seek to not only be a gaming platform but use that to help educate on the realities behind their title.

World of Tanks screenshot 05 One of the museum partners is the Tank Museum at Bovington, found in the in the South West England county of Dorset. As part of the recent Tankfest 2017 event the Special Projects Division revealed a brand new experience featuring World of Tanks’ ultra-rare model the German-made Sturmtiger or ‘Assault Tiger’, part of the series of assault vehicles built on the design platform of the devastating Tiger I tank. Wargaming’s team, in collaboration with Gravity Jack, this time utilised support for both Microsoft’s Hololens head-mounted display (HMD) and Google’s Tango platform. Having the Sturmtiger roll straight into the museum before showcasing its movement, firing and gives both an ‘exploded’ and cross section view of what makes up the tank.

You can see a video of what visitors to Tankfest could enjoy below. VRFocus will bring you more updates on the latest uses of MR and the the Hololens and Tango platforms as we get it.