philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

How The Future Group Is Redefining Live Game Shows With Mixed Reality

Lost in Time, which ran a pilot test season in Norway, featured real-time special effects combined with real-life contestants who competed for prizes. The audience at home could also compete in the same challenges in a virtual way on iOS and Android, blending of primetime TV and mobile entertainment.

The first season of Lost in Time just aired in Norway. We used Norway as a soft launch market to see how the technology would work. Are people participating? Are they enjoying it? It’s been fun to see, because we were estimating that maybe five or 10 percent of viewers would play along. We ended up seeing 45 percent interactivity for the last show. It started at about 20 percent, and with each show more people would participate. They found out that experience gave them something extra.

The games are designed within a traditional free-to-play model, but we don’t have any in-app purchases. It’s free to play, but with meta-features for sharing and retention, so players can play throughout the week and earn virtual currency that they then sink into the live broadcast for a chance to win real prizes.

GamesBeat: That’s happening in real time, then, whereas most people would be used to seeing computer-generated characters inserted in post-production. Why is it more important to be able to do it live?

Einarsen: It allows for more interaction with the characters. It’s the same thing you see in Lost in Time. If I touch a physical prop live, it’ll blow something up in the virtual world. If we were filmed now, using Frontier, you could interact with a character right here and everyone would be able to see it on the screen. It allows for a more immersive AR experience.

See the full story here: https://uploadvr.com/future-group-game-shows-mixed-reality/