Next killer app Osmo: connecting ipad kids games to reality

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According to foreign media reports, recently unveiled platform Kickstarter Osmo through the integration of simple hardware and advanced computer vision technology, the puzzle, alphabet cards and everyday objects into an ipad game controller. It allows children addicted to the ipad to use the tablet to play a real-world classic game, known as the ipad's next killer app.

"Everything we do now is amazing. "Pramod Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Tangible play, Pramod Shama the company's Osmo gaming equipment," he said.

In the industry's view, it does have the potential to redefine how children play games and learn with mobile devices.

Osmo Introduction

To be exact, Osmo is an accessory that brings the real world to the ipad. The device itself contains a white base for placing the ipad lengthwise, and a small red clip that covers the ipad's camera. After they have been placed, the reflector inside the small clip will turn the camera's perspective to the desktop area in front of the ipad-about the size of an ordinary magazine opening. Osmo is using the area to play games.

Osmo is available with two packaging games with additional accessories. One of the puzzle games based on Chinese tradition--its seven-piece panels of various shapes can be combined into countless shapes. Osmo version of the puzzle game is the same, and the original place is that it needs to match an ipad application to play.

Osmo's camera reflector allows the ipad to recognize objects in front of them, thus extending the game to the real world.

The specific mode of operation is that the application will display the shape on the screen, and then the player will have to mix the shape in front of the ipad accordingly, and each successful combination of the ipad emits a beep. Application will gradually increase the difficulty of the combination.

Another game words is essentially Osmo version to see the words. It consists of two different colors of letter cards and an ipad application, which offers both single and dual-player games. Words's ipad app will show you a picture and tell you the number of letters you want to guess. You just use an alphabet card to put a word in front of the ipad and the app will automatically start checking to see if the answer is correct.

Words is a simple game, but it shows some of the techniques behind the Osmo operation. The player casually placed the guessed word, whether or not neatly placed in a straight line, regardless of whether the letter card in the same direction, Osmo can quickly identify them.

And the real magic is the founder of the third game newton--show that it does not need any other accessories. All you need is a blank sheet of paper, a pen and an ipad app, and you can play Newton.

Osmo's Newton game is controlled by drawings and even real-world objects.

The goal of the game is to redirect the Falling orb on the ipad screen so that it hits other objects on the screen. The special thing is that you are not redirecting on the screen, but on white paper. Draw a line and the ipad app will automatically present it in the game. Draw another line and you may be able to get the ball to hit the target. Adding a real object to the paper-the key, the pen, and so on---osmo automatically scans its contours and renders it on the ipad screen. This is a combination of augmented reality and graffiti, which makes the game very interesting.

Idea: Using classic games to connect the ipad with the real world

He revealed that one of the inspirations of developing Osmo was his five-year-old daughter. She's been holding the ipad all day, so she wants to help her embrace the real game and give her the opportunity to become more sociable and play with other kids. At the same time, he also realizes that for kids who use the ipad, some traditional toys and games are starting to lose their appeal, such as Lego blocks.

Puzzle has centuries of history, and Osmo is trying to reshape the intellectual game against the mobile age.

Tangible play therefore wants to combine the two. The team has a destination to start around the reality of the classic game to develop, and give the game more fun.

Over the past few months, tangible has been testing osmo in several schools. Watching children play with it and get feedback from their teachers helps the company shape its vision, according to the said.

Development challenges

Another inspiration for the development of Osmo is the former job of the new one. Before setting up the company, he worked for Google for 7 years, and some of his duties include participating in Google's book-scanning program. That's when he starts thinking about what you can scan and how to bring real things to virtual space.

This is not really easy to achieve. Osmo must be suitable for different lighting conditions, different kinds of tables, and countless ways of placing objects. Traditional image processing technology does not do this, so the game will not work, unless you insist on the children must be placed in a neat letter card, to play in the white background, as well as the imposition of other kinds of unrealistic restrictions.

Since the children would not arrange the alphabet neatly, everyone's living room table was different, Osmo had to work on computer vision.

Serge Belongie, a professor at Cornell University and computer vision expert Sochi Bérongis, helped tangible play solve some of the problems. He explained that

"We also use statistical machine learning methods and advanced image feature extraction techniques to accommodate the various patterns we need to detect in the real world, from the arrangement of letter cards to the shapes of puzzle." In this regard, the method we use is data driven. ”

Looking to the future

Osmo has two points that are particularly impressive. First of all, it was designed to be very good, from the cradle itself to the packaging, to the lack of a lot of guidance on the game (encourage children to explore the play).

Osmo is designed to use magnets to prevent children from losing their red mirrors.

He credits all these design decisions to the co-founder Jerome Scoller (Jérôme Scholler), who worked as an engineer at LucasArts, and points out that their goal is to develop and experience children's games that match Apple's products. The company succeeded in doing this.

Osmo also has a lot of games applied to more games, even more than the traditional game category experience. He said his team had "at least 50" other game ideas based on Osmo hardware. For example, let children create music by controlling objects in the real world, turning their watercolor paintings into digital animations.

The company does not yet have a clear commercial plan, he said. Perhaps it will make money either through hardware sales or paid applications, or in parallel. Osmo is currently booking on Kickstarter for $50 and will mention $100 when it officially starts retailing later this year. The company's fund-raising target is 50,000 dollars, and it is believed that it will soon reach its goal.