Monday, November 17, 2014

ARIS Experience

When I downloaded the App I initially thought the game looked a little outdated, but it was able to work. I played the virtual tour game and went throughout campus to find various landmarks associated with the University. It was really interesting going through campus and taking the time to look at these landmarks and learn about them. I never have a chance to take the time and learn about these landmarks, but I am glad this game gave me the opportunity to go throughout campus and see these different landmarks. It gave me a greater appreciation for the campus and how much has gone into the University of Wisconsin. I felt like I had a tour guide in my hand and was able to learn about the campus and university. It think this could be utilized by the University and allow families and prospective students to use on visits to campus. It is a great way people to see the campus and important landmarks like Bascom, the Unions, and Camp Randall. It also allows the user to complete the game at their own pace, whereas a campus tour is a set amount of time. ARIS is a step towards virtual reality gaming and shows the potential benefits of developing virtual reality gaming. A campus walking tour may not be the most exciting game I will play using my phone, but it gave me an opportunity to walk around campus and get away from school and appreciate the Madison campus. It shows that gaming does not require a console and can allow people to interact with their environment and community.

1 comment:

  1. This assignment actually reminded me of another GPS-based game that was released a few years ago, called Ingress. It doesn't have the academic background or content, but like ARIS, it's based on interacting with location triggers in the real world, and due to Google's backing of the product, has far more polish. It'll be interesting to see if these kinds of games will be able to make it in to the mainstream in the near future.

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