San Antonio based tech start-up Merge VR is bringing back the Eighties, in augmented reality, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
VP of Creative Jeremy Kenisky says it has turned the Eighties staple the Rubik’s Cube into a hologram, vastly increasing the challenge of solving the time honored puzzle.
“Now we have this thing called the Merge Cube, which allows to hold holograms and digital objects in our hand,” she said. “So, the idea of now being able to solve that Rubik’s Cubs in virtual reality or in augmented reality seemed like a no brainer.”
Kenisky says there was always some smarty-pants back in the eighties who would solve Rubik’s Cube in, like, ten seconds and then return it to you with a smirk. He says they need to try Merge’s augmented reality cube.
“There is only one way to solve it using the traditional cube,” he said. “But this way, we can start changing colors and making all sorts of interesting things that extend Rubiks, and allows you to have more interesting game play.”
Merge, which is located in the downtown tech district, aims to bring the technology of virtual and augmented reality to games, saying the goal is to make is ‘fun, safe, and easy for everybody.’ Merge, with its creative designs, has rapidly become a leader in development and marketing virtual reality technology.
Kenisky says the technology Merge uses allows the user, using special equipment, usually a phone or VR goggles, to look at a common looking device and have it transform, in this case into a Rubik’s Cube.
“Its super light, its like a stress ball,” he said. “Essentially, whenever the device you’re holding in your hand, like a cell phone or an iPad, when you look at the cube that you are holding, it transforms into something else, and it changes what is physically in your hand.”
IMAGE COURTESY: MERGE VR