Getting Started with OUYA (2014)

Chapter 8. The Future

Technology is changing the world. Devices and sensors that facilitate interaction between man and machine are becoming more widespread. This holds true in the world of video game consoles, too.

This chapter will deal with some of the latest innovations related to the OUYA game console.

Distribution Systems

Major developments in the field of OUYA have been made in recent years. Among these innovations are Nuidroid and Arduino, which have a clear and well-defined potential to interact with the OUYA console. OUYA is a console that will evolve over time in the same way through the interaction and input from its users, allowing further changes and new features to be introduced.

Virtual reality – using Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display. When it was in the conceptualization stage, as a Kickstarter project, large companies such as Epic Games and Valve were interested in its initial development. OUYA is currently working to adapt stereoscopic devices for use with the console.

Oculus Rift

The CEO of Oculus Rift, Brendan Iribe, is planning to work on mobile platforms, but as of now, the company is focusing on PC platforms. Actually, the Android port is already under active development.

For more information on and advances in the Oculus Rift development process, go to http://www.oculusvr.com/.

One of the best discussion threads on the topic of Oculus Rift OUYA integration can be found at https://developer.oculusvr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=952.

There are multiple guides that show you how to integrate Oculus Rift with Unity. The following are some of the best ones:

· http://www.academia.edu/5169019/Oculus_VR_Inc_Oculus_Unity_Integration_Guide

· http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/198219-How-to-work-with-Oculus-Rift-and-Unity

Arduino – the peripheral interface

The purpose of integrating OUYA with Arduino is to gain the ability to leverage the opportunities presented in physical computing, as shown in the following figure:

Arduino and Unity3D

Arduino hardware presents the option to create peripheral devices or "gadgets" that can be used to increase the interaction with a user.

Through the use of Arduino-based hardware, we can create free hardware and gain the ability to create gadgets that can integrate with Unity3D, which is a system that has helped the growth of the console.

For more information, visit the following web pages. They contain a lot of useful pointers to use Arduino:

http://blog.arduino.cc/category/languages/unity/

The following link explains the serial connection system for Unity3D programming with Arduino:

https://github.com/kirillrybin/Arduino-Unity3D-Serial-Connection

The following link leads to a downloadable PDF file on connecting Arduino to Unity. It is called Merging Physical and Virtual by R. Yagiz Mungan:

http://www.gardensandmachines.com/AD41700/downloads/Unity_Arduino.pdf

The following thread further talks about the details and is full of talented developers who have been working on integrating Arduino with Unity3D:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/45477-Unity3d-Arduino-(Read-serial-in-Unity3d)

Leap Motion

Leap Motion is a peripheral device that can recognize the gestures of the hands and fingers, allowing us to implement a computer program's commands, as shown in the following screenshot:

Leap Motion

For more information, visit https://www.leapmotion.com/.

Nuidroid – 3D recognition for OUYA

Nudroid is a 3D motion sensor, similar to the kinect device that works with Xbox 360. The creator of this project is a Russian company, 3divi, that develops a sensor called Nuidroid, which is targeted at Android devices.

The Nuidroid sensor and OUYA

This device has the possibility to recognize body movements and perform facial recognition. Also, you can tailor additional peripherals to extend the functionality of the recognition, as shown in the following screenshot:

Nuidroid's motion recognition

This is the official website of the company: http://www.3divi.com.

The first ever 3D gesture recognition used in OUYA can be found at http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?1555-First-ever-3D-gesture-recognition-on-OUYA-(Nuidroid-middleware-demo).

OUYA – the Free the Games Fund campaign

The developers of OUYA have started using the Kickstarter platform again; this time, they are using it to fund new games. The difference is that they aim to boost the funds raised by the Kickstarter campaigns by matching the raised funds.

This new approach seeks to motivate developers to direct their efforts to produce high-quality content for the OUYA console.

In the Free the Games Fund campaign, the steps shown in the following screenshot must be performed for projects to have a chance to win and be part of the million dollars that OUYA will distribute among the gamers whose Kickstarter campaigns reach a minimum of $10,000:

The video games shown in the following screenshot are funded by the Free The Games Fund campaign:

The contest started on August 9, 2013 and will run until August 9, 2014. All the campaigns run by the developers must finish in that span of time.

A condition applied to all the projects that are given the award is that the game must be an OUYA-exclusive title for a period between one and six months, and the value of the prize must be proportionate to the time period.

OUYA will match the value obtained in each campaign up to a maximum of $250,000. This implies that there will be at least four winners.

The matching funds will be paid out as follows:

· 50 percent: This is paid when you provide a functional beta

· 25 percent: This is paid when your game launches on OUYA

· 25 percent: This is paid when the exclusive-to-OUYA period ends

More information is available on the official site at http://www.freethegamesfund.com.

Summary

This chapter shows you new technologies that, directly or indirectly, affect the world of video games, the virtual reality, and even the OUYA console. Among these are Oculus Rift, Arduino, Leap Motion, and Nuidroid.

In this chapter, we also mentioned the Free the Games Fund campaign that seeks to motivate developers to produce new titles for the OUYA console.