Augmented Reality - 3D Virtual Pinball with BAM and Kinect 2
I recently decided to build a virtual pinball and included a Microsoft Kinect 2 as part of the build, watching the videos online really sparked a lot of interest in me and others joining the discussion.
BAM is a software for Windows allowing perspective calculated for viewer eyes position in Pinball machine using the Kinect 2 device released by Microsoft for the XBox game console.
Using the BAM software, illusions of 3D rendered arcade machines will certainly fool the eyes of many arcade enthusiasts.
In this entry, I offer a bit of information that I wish I had known before taking the plunge, followed by a few examples that I found inspiring.
As soon as my Kinect 2 device arrived in the mail, installing it to my build was a matter of minutes. The setup was quite stress-free, all that was left to do was a bit of calibration which proved to be hardly troublesome, yet crucial to minimize wobbling caused by tracking errors.
Many options are also included in the Future Pinball software allowing you to change the render as well as matching the ambient light of your room. I would suggest positioning the pinball machine in a somewhat dim-lit spot where the ambient light would reflect the render of the machine.
To minimize any pixelation, I opted for an OLED playfield with a resolution of 2160p120. Blacks were deep with seamless motion. You could improve further by adding a front glass to the playfield, I also found sinking the screen lower into the front box to be ideal to complete the illusion. With all said and done, the bottom of the OLED playfield came to life in a seamless optical illusion. So far, fooling most of my friends into thinking they were playing a real machine was a piece of cake. Admittedly, the build was definitely expensive for a virtual pinball cab, but the feeling of having any cabinet at your fingertip certainly fills the bill.
If you wish to pursue such a project, here are some videos that could get you started, or rather inspired.
BAM is also available for Virtual headsets.
