Santa Clara, California
At this week’s Augmented World Expo in Silicon Valley, Pantomime Corporation’s cross-platform Pantomime Playground apps offered the highest performance networked virtual worlds. Interactive virtual worlds ran across iPads, Macs, PCs, and Androids over WiFi networks at 60 frames per second, providing the only physically realistic interactive multi-user scenes at the show. The apps, are available to beta testers now.
The Augmented World Expo showcases the state of the art in virtual and augmented reality technology. However, the vast majority of virtual reality systems presented provide only a single user experience. The rare networked experiences ran over internet at lower speeds, making little attempt to achieve physical realism.
Pantomime Playground experiences typically included three desktop and laptop computers and three or more handheld devices reaching in and interacting in physically realistic worlds, seamlessly, at 60 frames per second with no apparent latency.
Pantomime Playground was also one of the only systems at AWE enabling users to reach in and interact in virtual worlds rather than just view them. Pantomime’s patented solution allows users to reach in and effect virtual worlds with ordinary tablets and smart phones, using only their built-in gyroscopes and accelerometers. The cross-platform software — shown running across iPads, Androids, iPhones, Macs and PCs — turns each screen into a moving portal into the shared virtual world. Users holding a mobile device in their hands see an identical device moving in the virtual world. They can interact with objects and play games with other players by swinging a device like a paddle, throwing virtual objects, and walking it through the scene balanced on virtual surfaces. Visitors to the Pantomime booth could interact with other players, score on a soccer field, and join cooperative and competitive games. Each player could see the other VR portals – a Windows laptop, an iMac, a MacBook and mobile computers as they interacted in the scene.
Unlike the many systems at AWE that require special headsets or glasses, Pantomime’s software could be enjoyed by millions of consumers using computers and mobile devices they already own. Moreover, Pantomime’s robust solution requires no camera or vision processing. A typical augmented reality experience at AWE uses a camera, special markers in the scene, and vision processing, which often means users have to print a special target first and can’t turn around 360 degrees. Pantomime needs no advance setup and lets users turn freely in any direction.
Family Playing in Shared Virtual Worlds on Tablets, Phones and Computers
“High frame rates, physical realism and sharing are central to the magic of virtual and augmented reality,” said Pantomime co-founder and CEO David Levitt. “We’re proud to apparently be performance leaders in networked, physically realistic worlds. The fact that our solution lets the average consumer participate is even more satisfying.”
Pantomime Playground is available in beta test now, and will available later this month at Apple’s online App Stores.
About Pantomime Corporation
Pantomime Corporation was founded in spring of 2014 by virtual reality pioneer Dr. David Levitt and Don Hopkins, a core developer of The Sims. The company won Launch Silicon Valley Tech Challenge World Cup in Digital Media/Mobile. Its patents for methods to reach into virtual worlds with mobile devices began granting last year.
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