TEP Talk: Mario Kart Re-Inspires Our Augmented Reality Dreams
With the feeling of competitiveness still coursing through our veins the day after Super Bowl LV, we decided to challenge our Technology Enterprise Park (TEP) community members to a friendly race of Mario Kart – with a twist.
Instead of the traditional race played out on a screen via a video game console, on Monday afternoon we converted the TEP lobby into a go kart track in order to physically (and virtually) race remote controlled cars equipped with built-in augmented reality (AR) cameras. In layman’s terms, we used the latest version of Nintendo's Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which combines AR technology with conventional RC cars, to turn the hallways of TEP into an actual race track. The technology uses image recognition to keep track of the course layout and add in additional race opponents. As for the drivers, players were able to view the action from a “third-person” perspective in real-time when steering the remote-controlled vehicles through the custom track.
And much like the original Mario Kart, the newest version drew lots of attention – and did not disappoint! Attendees enjoyed some friendly competition and lots of laughs each lap while vying for the coveted first and second place trophies – Mario and Luigi in their respective go karts.
Though the competition was fierce, there were still two clear winners. First place went to Dwayne Cesar, a manufacturing technician at VERO Biotech, with a time of 50.256 seconds. The title for runner up was held by Brian FitzHarris, a metrologist (AKA, a “fixer of all things broken”) at the same company, with a time of 58.494 seconds.
While racing through the lobby of TEP was a much needed afternoon break, seeing the way augmented reality could be used in a new, unprecedented way sparked conversation on how that same technology could help employees at work. Cesar, for instance, mentioned that AR training simulators could be used for onboarding employees at their new jobs. And he’s not alone in his thinking.
John-Patrick Floyd of Accenture said something similar during our Harnessing the Power of AR/VR Showcase last summer, where attendees discussed the future of AR/VR:
“I have heard about AR/VR a lot in the training space. For instance, how Delta uses it to train flight attendants on plane layouts. It’s also used for customer experience, which is something we do at our hub.”
In general, the use of AR has grown exponentially over the years. We’ve seen it more recently in our shopping behaviors and discussed it at length during a previous Show and Tell event we hosted. But are we actually closer to having mass adoption of AR in the workplace and in our personal lives?
Well, we certainly hope so! Back in September, we shared updates on Facebook’s focus and investments in AR, which include research into how the technology can work in the real world (via glasses).
Additionally, Vuzix has been making augmented reality goggles for commercial application for a while now. However, during CES 2021, they promoted their new Next Gen Smart Glasses that will be less “noticeable” for the everyday wearer – and released soon!
How could AR help you at work? Let us know in the comments below!