“It is great to see this important research being done around 3D gaming quality, and I hope that in the future, the work can extend to fringe technologies like virtual reality”- Palmer Luckey, Founder of Oculus
This past week, the iGO3D initiative has been working closely with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to get the computers ready for Fan Expo 2012. We have a whole new respect for what it takes to put on a LAN party, and the preparation work continues. Thanks to all the juice that these gaming computers require (while being simultaneously played in stereoscopic 3D mode), we have already blown the circuit breakers in one of the university’s computer labs and had to call in UOIT’s electrician over the weekend to get things working again. In classic Murphy’s law form, the running joke is that if we blow the power circuits at Fan Expo, we’ll just tell people that “3D gaming is for the truly power hungry gamer, and isn’t for just anyone”.
This is in the name of research, of course, and the students have been tirelessly gaming in Battlefield 3 all hours of the night on our dedicated iGO3D server to help pick the best competition modes, tweak the study, and work out and run through the logistics for the show. We can’t share the specs of how the design has been crafted yet, but the competition promises to be a lot of fun for everyone involved, and the more gamers participate, the greater their chances of taking home some great prizes. While there is some advantage to scoring high, you don’t have to be a great BF3 player in 2D or 3D for great chances to win. We estimate participation will range from 30 minutes to a max of an hour per entrant depending on how long they want to game. So if you are in the Toronto area, join us at Fan Expo on Thursday through Sunday this week, and visit iGO3D booth #1251!
iGO3D is funded in part by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and Ontario academic and game development institutions.