An XR Cross Platform Tool was created at the MIT Reality Hack: GhostBustXR
Our co-founder Jason Evans won at the MIT Reality Hack for Extended Reality (XR) technology. The event was hosted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston this past January 16th-20th, 2020. The event was the largest XR hackathon event to date and was attended by more than 400 diverse participants from over 40 countries.
Jason participated in the event as an individual and teamed up with other participants to solve a cross-platform integration issue. The created solution resulted with an extended reality framework that work across all XR device platforms including Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality.
Project Demo
Project Team
The project team included the following individuals:
Jason Evans
Chris Papenfuß
Sam De Lara
Joshua Widdicombe
Frank O.
The team was humbled to have had their GhostBustXR project selected for the Top 10 in Best of AR/ VR, Top 5 in Best of AR, and won the “Most Fun” category for the 2020 MIT Reality Hack.
Project Team Members: Joshua Widdicombe, Jason Evans, Chris Papenfuß, and Sam De Lara.
The GhostBustXR project team pictured prior to the final judging round for the MIT Reality Hack competition.
The GhostBustXR project team receiving the VR/AR award for the “Most Fun” category at the MIT Reality Hack.
Ideation and Cross Platform Integration
The GhostBustXR project began as a simple idea with the cross-platform integration goal across 8 device types in mind. The device types included Virtual Reality (Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, and Valve Index), Augmented Reality (Android, iOS), and Mixed Reality (HoloLens version 1, HoloLens version 2, and immersive Windows Mixed Reality headsets).
1st Person VR and 3rd Person MR/ AR Views
The GhostBustXR project advanced with 2 different viewpoints created for the game to be effective. The first view in Virtual Reality is a first-person point of view where the end-user is entirely immersed within the application.
The second view created for Augmented Reality (smartphones) and Mixed Reality devices (i.e. HoloLens) places the connected end-user in a third person perspective. These viewpoints enables connected end-users to effectively join in a multiplayer experience.
Multi-User XR Experience
Current experiences in XR technology can be isolating for an end-user. An example is the one end-user wearing a VR device while all their friends in the same physical room cannot see or interact with the person in VR. Our GhostBustXR solution eliminates that barrier as all end-users can now participate in the same connected game session regardless of the connected device type.
Next Steps
We see strong potential with the cross-platform connectivity for tapping into additional device end-userbases available for XR devices and traditional desktops, laptops, and smartphones. Stay tuned!
MIT Reality Hack Outro Video: http://bit.ly/2GThLwY
Tags: MIT Reality Hack, GhostBustXR, BioIntelDoc, BioIntelMed, BioIntelPath, BioIntelLab, H2i, ONRamp, Precision Medicine, Digital Health, HoloLens v1, HoloLens v2, Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Android, iOS, Desktops
