#Mystery house game publisher how to
#Mystery house game publisher series

* get face data and calculate camera FOV based on eye distance. The camera zoom is calibrated to ensure that the player doesn’t need to move too close to the screen to effectively zoom in on objects. The closer together the eyes are in relation to the camera, the further away the user is–hence the more zoomed out from the environment (with the opposite true for zooming in). To zoom in and out of the environment, the Intel RealSense camera tracks the distance between the player’s eyes. To make this possible, he implemented a system whereby once the player crosses a certain lateral movement threshold, the field of view begins to shift in that direction around the space, with the movement accelerating as the player’s view moves toward the edge of the screen. Lum wanted players to be able to explore the environment in 360 degrees-to turn left and right, and even look behind them.

The red reticule is controlled by the movement of the player’s face, which is tracked by the Intel® RealSense™ camera. The directional movement of the player’s face is reproduced by the reticule on-screen.

For lateral and vertical movement, the Intel® RealSense™ Camera F200 tracks the movement of the face-specifically the nose-allowing the player to intuitively look around the environment.

#Mystery house game publisher series

The game requires that players visually explore the environment, locating and collecting a series of items. In Mystery Mansion, the player takes the role of a spirit trapped in the mansion, looking to solve the mystery of its own death. Controlling the game with the head alone, as if it were somehow detached from the body, inspired Lum’s idea of a ‘disembodied’ ghost as the game’s central playable character. This led to his decision to work on a game that would be controlled exclusively with face tracking.Īfter searching for a game theme and mechanics that would correspond with the necessarily simplified UI, Lum decided on a first-person, hidden-object game in the style of a point-and-click adventure. The inspiration for Mystery Mansion came from Lum’s search for a way to use the capabilities of the Intel® RealSense™ SDK other than for hand gesture-control. Optimizations and Challenges Face Tracking The Mystery Mansion* splash screen, presenting its central, haunted-house theme.

#Mystery house game publisher how to

In this paper we’ll discuss the challenges encountered and the code Lum used to address them, including how to accurately calibrate the game’s UI for different players, and manage the movement and manipulation of objects in the environment with the intentionally limited control scheme.

However, the face-only approach posed a number of development challenges during Lum’s quest to implement intuitive controls and to create a satisfying user experience with a bare-bones UI. The game took first place in the Pioneer track of the 2014 Intel® RealSense™ App Challenge, with its innovative, experimental approach drawing the attention of the judges.Īs a self-described storyteller, Lum aims to “enhance that suspension of disbelief-to get audience lost in the story and the world I’ve created.” Mystery Mansion is remarkable for its exclusive use of face tracking for the user interface (UI), which results in a highly immersive experience. Mystery Mansion* is a spooky, hidden-object adventure game from veteran game developer Cyrus Lum. No ongoing support or updates will be available. The Intel® RealSense™ SDK has been discontinued.