Projection mapping is a very flexible technique that adapts videos and images to real physical surfaces. S-ARKADE brings it to another level adding real physics and real-time interaction realizing Spatial Augmented Reality that can be experienced by anyone without wearing AR or VR headsets.

Any kind of projector can be used in both indoor and oudoor locations.

Indoor short-throw projectors are the best way to have a big image with a short distance from the wall.

Have a look at this video showing how to set-up S-ARKADE in  a living room.

The calibration step has been greatly simplified so that you don’t have to use any of the projector’s options to distort or keystone the image, instead everything happens inside the S-ARKADE Editor that you can run on any PC or on a Tablet.

In S-ARKADE you have full control on how your game scenario is built, so that it “maps” your real physical space. 

Creating a scenario for a game is a fun and creative process, where you can choose different backgrounds and styles, special effects and the game-specific elements such as bonuses, traps as well as editing game rules.

Here is a sneak peek:

S-ARKADE games are not usual games, they are designed to take advantage of the spatial augmented reality concept using projection.

What is fun on a wall?

What is different than projecting a game from any other console?

Immersiveness and blend between physical and digital is the answer: having real gravity affecting game objects so that they can bounce on your furniture, liquids falling off and filling spaces between a shelf or a frame hung on your walls… and you and your friends firing off projectiles to beat each other in the ultimate Party Game.

Yes we are talking about ARCADE game mechanics, that is why we have designed GAME PACKS inspired to various themes, especialy from 80s and 90s games.

In WALL-E-ROIDS you are in the classic deep space scenario, fighting for your life (and your score!) in an evil asteroid field.

Not only asteroids are to be encountered through multiple waves: enemies, threats and dexterity challenges of every kind and, of course, bosses are around the corner (well.. literally!).

The game is built for continuous joyining of multiple players and supports up to 10 players with more waiting their turn in the queue, with customizable ship sizes for larger scenarios projected on house facades.

Different game modes are possible and can be mixed to create a compelling party game experience.

Collaborative Mode: fight together to clean your “wall” from every asteroid and enemy wave.

DeathMatch: fight with each other, or in teams, to obtain supremacy.

Dexterity: save your ammo and engage in precision flight avoiding asteroids to conquer special energy orbs that appear in dangerous locations.

The RAIDERS is a series of platform games to be played on vertical walls in order to take advantage of the gravity.

Your character, belonging to a team or as a solo, must capture the flags and bring them to his base in order to score points.

This is a highly addictive game all about climbing, using ropes and grapple to reach higher platforms (that is: your furniture!) avoiding traps and using ballistic weapons to help the team reach its goal.

While ROOM RAIDERS is set in a tropical settings of adventure films, with rocks crumbling and volcanos erupting, NEON RAIDERS is set in a sci-fi enviromnet and has different weapons and mechanics, teleports, energy traps, lasers and machine guns, all of which you can position where you want through the editor.

PONKANOID is a future pinball game set in an abstract circuit world resembling the aesthetics of TRON.

The name reveals a mixture of PONG and ARKANOID inspired mechanics, where every player (within its Team) uses his energy paddle to push the ball into its goal.

This game really leverages the structure you build around your objects, the ball bounces in quick and predictable ways and the paddle can spring to accelerate the ball or steal it: skills must be built to master this game!

The Arkanoid part comes in with random bricks popping up and special power ups (gunfire to destroy the other paddles or divert the ball, magnet to capture it) and the game is enriched with bonus stages and other dexterity challenges.

With TABLERACE you can project a racing track for super cars and play on a horizontal surface, like a table, the floor or the ceiling (why not?) .

Place some everyday object on the table (a bottle, an apple, a book) and draw your own track, see it for yourself!

Horizontal games open up so many possibilities like: strategy games and fantasy roleplaying, have a look at the game packs we are working on!

Here is the list of the packs we are working on with different designers.

Some of these are into STRETCH GOALS and will be included in all the pledges if reached. The famous game titles mentioned are used as inspiration for the gameplay and mechanics, all the artwork and development is done by S-ARKADE team and partners.

S-ARKADE takes advantage of the flexibility of projection, so you can create a game scenario everywhere light can be beamed!

At the core of S-ARKADE you have a full projection mapping application, so the system can be used to create themed digital decorations for your own spaces.

What about Birthday parties, scary Halloween and joyful Holiday displays or some audio-reactive music visualization? All of these experiences will optionally allow user interaction!

S-ARKADE is a software application that you can run on your existing Windows PC or Apple Mac and consists of an Editor and a Player.

The Editor is a GUI application that connects to the Player (on the same machine or another through wifi / ethernet) in order to configure the projection as well as configuring the games and starting them. Various builds are available: PC, Mac and upcoming Android and iOS.

The Player is the graphical engine, installed on the personal computer, that runs the games and outputs them through the projector.

Projector

Any kind of projector can be used with S-ARKADE, since all the warping and calibration of the image is done by the software.

Projectors come in many configurations and their main specifications are the output resolution, the lamp power (measured in ANSI Lumen) and the lens throw-ratio, that defines how big the image can become depending on the distance.

We recommend short-throw projectors (with throw-ratio of 0.5 meaning that from 1 meter the size of the image is roughly 2 meters) as they can be used to create bigger image indoor.

As for lamp power, all of our tests and videos (indoor and outdoor) where done with Optoma short-throw projectors with 4000 ANSI Lumen and full-hd (1920×1080) resolution.

Controllers

S-ARKADE works with any kind of PC or Mac compatible gamepads or controllers (Xbox and PlayStation are compatible). Every game can be played also with our mobile controller application that offers the possibility for everyone to join the game (also in public events if enabled) and have as many players in-game as the game supports.

Here are some quick interviews of our causal testers, some were invited to try our system, someone just stopped by during some outdoor event.

Michela: “I never experienced such a game, lights and effects turn the room in something completely new and immersive. I enjoy playing and watching as well!”

Matt: “I don’t play videogames usually, stopped here by chance and tried the Halloween shooter game. I am surprised this is possibile! A new form of interactive street art.”

Mark: “After years in front of small screens, this is a game changer,  my kids love it!”

Lorenzo: “I am a PS gamer, not so much in arcade games, but the concept of a projected augmented reality opens so many possibilities to create new games. Love the tabletop idea the most!”

Some words about us and our company TABULA Natural Interfaces based in Italy.

My name is Stefano Baraldi and I am the entrepreneur and senior software engineer who founded TABULA Natural Intefaces back in 2010 after completing my doctorate.

I worked on early prototypes of multi-touch tables and created FaçadeSignage in 2006,  one the first projection mapping software in Europe, which is still empowering shows and exhibits all around the world.

After 12 years of projects in immersive experiences and exhibits I dedicated part of my team in prototyping interactive projection mapping with a focus on gaming.

Today the S-ARKADE core team is composed of me and Francesco for the coding and Geremia as lead technical artist. We collaborate and coordinate with other game designers and studios in order to bring new games and experiences to the platform.

We are partnering with other independent game studios such as Trinity Team! 

This italian game studio is the creator of “Slaps and Beans” series (crowdfunded on Kickstarter!), featuring Bud Spencer and Terence Hill and “The Darkest Tales“, a dark and twisted action-adventure 2D platformer. We are collaborating in co-designing and co-developing S-ARKADE games.

PLAYER PACK  is a license for home users, you can use it in your own space (indoor or outdoor) as you do with your gaming gear or console, with friends and family. That’s the kind of license that comes with any home entertaining device.

ENTERTAINER PACK  is a special application version and license for business owners.
Any business who wants to use S-ARKADE at their commercial location (like a bar, a shop, a disco, a restaurant, a paid event …) to entertain their customers, must choose this option.
Owners of this version will also have priority access to new games (also created for multiple projectors and bigger crowds) as well as the option to order custom and skinned games. So if you are interested in playing with your logo, using particular 3d objects, this version allows the installation of customized games.
Cost of skinning and customization will be evaluated case-by-case.
Let me say that the lifetime license for business is a real rarity in the software world today, exclusively for Kickstarter.