During the Disney fan event, D23 expo, an augmented reality (AR) Star Wars headset was announced. Lenovo and Lucasfilm have been rumored to be working on a new piece of hardware, however there has been little so far to back that up. Although there was not much news shared in regards to the headset release date, we now have an idea what type of games will be available for it. The headset will pair with your smartphone to bring the games to life.
The first game they announced was a holochess game. Holochess, for those not familiar, is a board game seen in the films that project “chess” pieces onto a physical board. The footage shown off which put animated, holographic creatures on top of a table. Another showed a battle where miniature AR rebel characters faced off against an AT-AT.
Using augmented reality to bring this to your living room seems like a no brainer for the new hardware. Another game teased is Jedi Challenges, which will have you wielding lightsabers. Although no game footage was shown off, a teaser for the game can be found below.
Given the prominence of both Disney and Lucasfilm, this is one of the highest profile dips into augmented reality gaming. If the games are successful, it will provide a shot in the arm for augmented reality. AR games have been tricky to develop because they require a clever use of the technology rather that elevating the game beyond just a gimmick.
