Augmented reality (AR) is on a roll thanks to Pokémon Go. AR is the technology behind Pokémon Go that allows people to see an “augmented” version of the real world by populating the screens of smartphones and tablets with interactive characters or objects. Augmented Reality, as Pokémon Go proved, can be really fun to play with. However, the technology could also be really terrifying.
There’s a video game called Night Terrors that is being developed by indie game developer Novum Analytics. Just like Pokémon Go, the game fills a smartphone or tablet’s screen with 3D objects. But instead of adorable Pikachus, you get creepy poltergeists, vengeful ghosts, and angry demons.
The scary part of the game is that you’ll be playing it inside your house, at night, wearing headphones.
Think about a game where you can star in your own horror movie or video game. Night Terrors understands your environment thanks to its smart scanning system, and is able to exploit that information to create a realistic augmented reality horror experience.
This game changes the way you look at your house, apartment, or familiar environment.
Night Terrors controls what you see, hear, and where you’ll go. The camera and microphone feeds are analyzed and processed in real time in order to create terrifying sounds for the game. Photorealistic elements populate the screen in order to blend ghost and demons into the environment and not make them stand out.
The game play is simple. Save the girl and survive. Figuring out how you’ll be able to do both is where the challenge begins.
Games have long evolved from the 2D world, and Night Terrors is proof of that. In the past, cartoon heroes dominated the video game industry but now, thanks to technology, games allow people to experience what’s it like to be inside of them. An infographic entitled “The Influence of Comics & Cartoons on Gaming,”discusses in great detail how video games have evolved from console platforms to what they represent today. It was mentioned that “what was once (video games) relegated to narrow strips of land in regulated corners of the world have now exploded,” which, of course, is partly thanks to the aforementioned AR technology. Indeed, smartphones have become personal gateways to immersive game play, and titles like Night Terrors have set the benchmark higher for realistic horror games.
So far, Night Terrors has garnered massive support from the gaming community as well as horror fans. If you want to help raise money for the game, go to Night Terrors’ Indiegogo page