Virtual Reality ‘Ghost Tours’ Haunt Mobile Devices

By Thomas Spychalski

Have you ever noticed that as interesting most ghost tours are, even just for history and information purposes, it is never as fun as it could be if some ghosts showed up?

To solve this possible void, a game company called Haunted Planet Studios uses mobile devices and GPS technology to make your next historical experience a bit more creepy.

Here is how it works:

Besides needing to have a device capable of running the app, you will also need to be in one of the the two supported locations. You can choose between Scotland, where you can do the Falkland Ghost Hunt or Dublin in Ireland, where you can dare to brave the Viking Ghost Hunt.

A video example of the Falkland Ghost Hunt can be seen  below:

People seem to enjoy it, although the headphones might get a bit bothersome, would be better if the headsets were wireless.

The games were created by Mads Haahr who believes that the experience simulated by the games have improved since the initial releases in 2010:

“We now have an incredibly evocative experience.

When people talk about augmented reality, they normally think of visual overlays and often forget about audio. We’ve spent a lot of time on our visuals but also on creating technology to drive the audio side of the augmented reality experience. The net result is that people really get immersed in our games.”

However, if you are curious to try this form of virtual paranormal exploration, you might have to go to some pretty exotic location as Haunted Planet’s focus is on locations like theme parks and small parts of city’s, where the games are easier to manage:

“Our current offerings are location-specific, so our target markets are companies and organizations that operate particular sites that people visit, such as historical sites and theme parks, or perhaps a particular area in a city. We like to use historical characters in our games to help blur the boundary between the real world and the game world. This also means games can be historically accurate.”

Expect to hear more about Haunted Planet and their virtual ghosts tours in the future as the company plans to expand throughout 2012.

(Via Silicon Republic)

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