Category: Mobile Gaming

VR game to be created by IBM’s Watson

The supercomputer is going to be converting an anime from a book series into a huge multiplayer online game.

The Japanese division at IBM has now turned its attention to creating a VR game out of an anime called “Sword Art Online: The Beginning” with the assistance of its Watson artificial intelligence supercomputer.

The project is meant to turn the book series into a virtual reality multiplayer game available online.

The team at IBM is using Watson’s cognitive computing, in conjunction with the cloud service from SoftLayer, as a part of a partnership with Namco Bandai. They intend to be able to test the new VR game in Tokyo, in March. In order to be able to play the virtual reality game, players will need to wear VR headsets so they will be capable of viewing the world in the role of their 3D avatar. In this way, the player doesn’t use a controller in order to participate in the game. They actually become the controller.

The VR game will support the HTC Vive, while it also looks as though Occulus Rift and SlashGear will be supported.

Aside from some introductory basics, there hasn’t been much in terms of details that have been revealed, so far. Moreover, at the time of the writing of this article, IBM hadn’t provided an immediate response to comment requests.

The anime, in question, Sword Art Online, was first launched in 2012 and was based on a 2009 light series of Japanese novels. The story includes a considerable focus on virtual reality and opens up a tremendous opportunity for multiplayer role-playing games (RPGs).

The series that will become a VR game first ran in 2012 in Tokyo, but it has since streamed on Hulu and Crunchyroll. In 2013, it arrived in North America, where it is also now available on Netflix. At the Mobile World Congress (MWC), IBM announced that it would be bringing the IBM Cloud together with the Apple Swift runtime package. The goal result is to have a enterprise app development based on cloud tech, that would function with Swift. The MobileFirst platform can also be leveraged by customers, meaning it’s possible for them to use hybrid app versions for managing mobile from one platform.

QR codes make Family Day activities possible in Canadian library branches

The quick response codes had been worked into activities for children on the holiday Monday.

Family Day is a holiday celebrated in several Canadian provinces, in which schools, many businesses and government offices are closed, giving families some time to spend together in February, and library branches in Ontario’s Chatham-Kent region decided to use QR codes to make that quality time a bit more fun.

The Chatham-Kent Public Library branches have used quick response codes to use tech to enhance activities.

The QR codes were found at several of the library branches and were used in a tech based quest. This activity was available to all who wanted to participate and could be enjoyed on a drop-in basis, without any type of advance registration needed. The point of this technology friendly activity was to design a game that employed readily available mobile devices in a way that would help to make the library more fun and relevant to young members of the community.

The barcodes were used in an activity called the QR Codes Quest, which worked like a scavenger hunt.

QR Codes - LibraryThis is not the first time that QRcodes have been used in a scavenger hunt style activity, nor is it even the first time this type of thing has occurred in a library environment. However, it does show that the use of mobile devices and quick response codes is becoming increasingly commonplace in this type of environment.

The Quest was available from 3pm to 8pm at the Highgate Branch. The Ridgetown Branch held it from noon to 5pm. This gave locals a chance to drop in at the time that was most convenient to them and take part in the activity with their families.

The use of QR codes is growing when it comes to this type of activity because they are extremely easy for people to use, they rely on technology that is easily available and they are quite inexpensive for the libraries to be able to obtain and implement. Barcode generators are easy to use and it the only costs associated with printing them out are from the paper and ink.