Players wear special headsets to be able to see in the game

Players equipped with a wearable computer, headset and goggles can physically enter a real world game space by choosing to play the role of Pacman or one of the Ghosts.

A central computer system keeps track of all their movements with the aid of GPS receivers and a wireless local area network.

The Human Pacman was developed by Adrian David Cheok and his team at the Mixed Reality Lab, National University of Singapore.

Merging different technologies such as GPS, Bluetooth, virtual reality, wi-fi, infrared and sensing mechanisms, the augmented reality game allows gamers to play in a digitally-enhanced maze-like version of the real world.

Wireless updates

Combining both real and virtual elements, the game allows the human Pacman to 'see' virtual cookies with the aid of the special headset scattered on the street which the player can then 'eat' by walking through them.

The game as seen through the eyes of a player

In return, Pacman gets the ability to temporarily neutralise them and add to his virtual powers when he finds and picks up Bluetooth-embedded physical sugar jars scattered in the real world environment by a game coordinator.

The player's locations are also wirelessly updated to a virtual 3D Pac-world where online gamers can view their progress and participate by helping either Pacman or the Ghosts through text messaging.

Test runs were conducted on the university campus within a 70m by 70m game zone. With a four-player minimum, a typical game was played out in about 10 to 20 minutes.

Other institutions focused on creating similar games include the University of Southern Australia, which has developed an augmented reality (AR) version of the Quake game.