'Dungeons & Dragons' Comes to Life Thanks to Augmented Reality

Someone has used the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual as the basis for an amazing new augmented reality project.

Augmented reality is a relatively new technology that uses phones and computers to add virtual reality creatures or characters into the "real world." The most popular example of AR technology is Pokemon Go, which uses both GPS technology and smartphone camera technology to place Pokemon in the real world.

However, augmented reality can be used on a lot more than just Pokemon. An Imgur user named Venerus recently posted some promising work on bringing the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual to life using augmented reality.

Venerus and an unnamed partner has animated multiple creatures from the popular tabletop game using the Unreal game engine. They then pair each monster with a different flat token that pulls into the monster into the real world when paired with a phone or another compatible camera device. You can check out examples of their work below:

Progress on an augmented reality monster manual

The token design is perfect for D&D, which usually uses miniatures to represent different monsters and characters. Players can move the tokens every turn and then watch their monsters come to life via augmented reality.

The two designers have also constructed landscape feature and buildings that can also be plopped down on the table to instantly create a full battlefield on which a Dungeons & Dragons encounter can take place.

As Venerus admits, their process isn't without a few technical glitches. The monsters disappear whenever the token gets partially covered up and the tokens look a little....bulky. However, this is still a very impressive start to a project that could potentially change the way tabletop gaming is played.

Tabletop gaming has slowly incorporated more and more technology in recent years. Character sheets can now be stored and edited on programs like D&D Beyond and some DMs are building landscapes and dungeons virtually and then displaying them on televisions or monitors embedded into custom-built tables. These new tokens are just another way that technology is catching up to a traditionally analog style of gaming.

If you're interested in seeing where this project goes, you can sign up for a mailing list here. Hopefully, we see more projects like this in the future!