You may be shocked at how easy it may be to make a 3D gaming table at home.
Research teams at two top universities (UC Davis and SUNY Geneseo) put our a guide on making what’s called a Augmented Reality Sandbox, but to me looks like the prototype to a fully 3d gaming table!
Check it out! This thing looks pretty cool, and I’m sure it will get your table top gaming gears turning.
This was filmed at SUNY Geneseo, Feb, 2014.
More info on this technology is here.
Build your own augmented reality sandbox.All you need is: A computer with a good graphics card, a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera, a digital projector, and a box (with sand). Instructions, diagrams and software
Additional video with water flow (slight lag).
Hardware Requirements
An AR Sandbox requires the following hardware components:
- A computer with a good graphics card, running any version of Linux, or, alternatively, Mac OS X.
- A Microsoft Kinect 3D camera. The AR Sandbox software, or rather the underlying Kinect 3D Video Package as of version 2.8, supports all three models of the first-generation Kinect (Kinect-for-Xbox 1414 and 1473 and Kinect for Windows). All three are functionally identical, so get the cheapest model you can find. Note: The second-generation Kinect (Kinect for Xbox One or Kinect for Windows v2) is not yet supported by the AR Sandbox software.
- A digital data projector.
- A sandbox with a way to mount the Kinect camera and the projector above the sandbox.
- Sand.
Sure I’ve been joking a lot about playing tabletop games with holograms lately, but this takes the cake! I love how the computer detects the elevation changes and renders mountains or water depending. Now to keep all that sand out of our miniatures…
How soon do you think it’ll be until something like this replaces our tabletops? -MBG
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
