Tilt Five, the augmented reality startup, is all set to reinvent traditional Dungeons & Dragons-style games for contemporary users with its tabletop game system and augmented reality headset.
At tabletop gaming convention Gen Con 2019, held in Indianapolis the past week, the firm displayed the wand controller, the gaming headset and the game mat. Tilt Five’s co-founder and CEO, Jeri Ellsworth revealed the firm’s plan to begin a crowdfunding campaign in September. She went on to say that the first products will be shipped in December, and over the initial two quarters of 2020, there will be a higher product rollout.
Ellsworth refused to divulge the headset’s price. However, she guesses that it will be less expensive than standalone VR headsets present on the market.
As of now, the firm is partnering with 3rd party developers for creating content for the headset, but Ellsworth is endeavouring to gain new interests by developers. In reference to this, she delineated some advantages of the gaming system for gamers and developers, with the age-old tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons acting as general context.
For instance, Tilt Five can display variable content depending on player roles and a dungeon master sees the full board. He can also see the members of the questing party, who will be solely exposed to content apposite to them at that time. Also, physical game pieces can anchor 3D virtual content with which players can communicate, within the game space. Additionally, the system allows the use of remote play.
In the video, Ellsworth said that she could not get her friends to go over to her place and play with her at all times. She also stated that getting 4 or 5 people is difficult. She continued with her remark that she likes to call people and ask them to fire up the system. She would also like to play a new game with a stranger when her friends do not want to play it.
The gaming system makes use of far-eye projection technology, throwing light on a reflective surface like the game mat, which beams back 3D content to the user’s eye. On the other hand, Magic Leap One and HoloLens 2 are headsets that utilise near-eye projection in which light gets reflected off displays that are before the eyes of the user. Owing to the physical requirements, the technology makes way for an immersive tabletop gaming experience.
This is the second time Ellsworth has taken a shot at obtaining a far-eye projection AR headset to the market, thanks to Tilt Five. She came up with Tilt Five technology whilst working at Valve and kept developing through castAR, her former firm. On having closed a $15 million Series, a chain of funding and crossing its aims in its Kickstarter campaign, the firm collapsed because of financial issues. But Ellsworth and her partners could finally buy back castAR’s assets and restart as Tilt Five.
Tilt Five, besides preparing the Kickstarter campaign, has been promoting its product through social media. On a whole, the firm is transparent in regards to its technology, and it uses the chance to display HD projectors that beam content into the world.
