Mixed Reality Pong is a mixed reality version of the classic "Pong" game. The aim of the game is to score goals by hitting a virtual ball over the other end of the game area protected by the opponent player. The game counts the goals the players have scored, and they can agree to play either for a limited amount of time, or until either of them has scored a certain amount of goals.

The players can play the game with their hands or other real-world objects.  The game physics simulate the behaviour of a real ball, except that the virtual ball doesn't slow down at all.

The computer is completely hidden in Mixed Reality Pong. The system runs on a normal PC, but the input is handled only by a web camera capturing the playing table. The output is handled by projecting the computer-generated image onto the game area. No specially marked objects are required, so any objects with enough contrast to the background can be used in the game.

Mixed Reality Pong started as a technological experiment, but it has proven to be an enjoyable game, both for kids and adults. Mixed Reality Pong is written in C and C++, and runs on Windows platform using DirectX. The game also uses Allegro game programming library and a video capture library by Perttu Hämäläinen.

Presentation in UIAH Media Lab Spring 2001 Demo Day (Flash)

Mixed Reality Pong Demonstration Video: 
360x288 Medium quality QuickTime 6.9 MB
240x192 Low quality QuickTime 2.3 MB

The video was filmed at NIC 2001 Conference.

Mixed Reality Pong was featured at Berlingske Tidende, the biggest newspaper of Denmark in their article concerning NIC2001. The article has disappeared from their web site, but here is a local copy

Mixed Reality Pong Images, photographed at UIAH Media Lab Spring 2001 Demo Day: