Augmented Reality Social Media for Dungeons and Dragons

Two graduate students are creating a tool that will help you to build and load a 3D environment for your game in under a minute!

 

NEW YORK - Two NYU graduate students, Joanna Liu and Rivelle Levine, were doing their thesis research on tabletop gaming and realized a gap between the current gaming tools and players' dream tools. They set their minds to make a dream map-creation tool that is one step closer to the future vision of a holographic tabletop. The result is Cartographr, a social media platform that provides a more affordable and a more immersive experience for tabletop role-play gamers. Powered by Augmented Reality technology and shareable user-generated content, the app makes collaborative virtual world creation seamless by using intuitive drag and drop gestures, on the devices players already own. Users can manipulate complex digital 3D environments in real space with a single finger. They are planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign on Feb 26, 2021.

"I really appreciate the simplicity of the tool’s function. Being a person who is god-awful with computers, transitioning to online play has been so scary. I can see using this both in-person and during remote play sessions," said Max Hobbs, who is a D&D enthusiast and for the past 10 years has been a full-time, professional Dungeon Master.

Cartographr is designed for both in-person and remote gameplay. When players are in-person, the tool uses Cloud Anchor AR technology,  allowing multiple players to see the same virtual objects, at the same physical location, at the same time. Game-stores of the future can use this technology to create their own dungeon for players to visit and explore in-person. When players are remote, the experience is very similar to Roll20, but in 3D. Everyone can load the map on their own table and see changes in real-time. All players can also access features such as fog of war, dynamic lighting, distance tracking, and music integration.

Other cool game mechanics include: a single button to change from tabletop-sized miniature view to life-size in-person view, the ability to turn on and off dynamic grids for terrain, and the ability to transition from third to first person view.

“I would totally use this tool for in-person play. I was always drawn to LARPing (live action role-playing), but this is taking LARPing to the next level. Imagine playing this in the backyard and yelling to your friends that you found a secret entrance!” said Natalie, a graduate student who is a TTRPG hobbyist.

Traditional miniature artists are also excited about this tool because of its promise of scanning physical 3D minis into the app and a creator market that gives individual artists the chance to sell their 3D work in a groundbreaking, new way.

“Being a Game Master myself, I understand the struggles that players have and I really wanted to develop something that would enhance the narrative experience while not taking away from the imaginative play and magic in the theatre of the mind, “ said Joanna Liu, creator and developer of Cartographr.

Ben runs D&D groups for younger kids that have difficulties communicating effectively. “Half the time, the kids’ turn will come and they will say, ‘What should I do?’” Ben believes actually putting them into the environment where they can look around and experience the scene firsthand will really help to spark their imagination. “Instead of spending time asking what they can do, they can focus on what they are doing.”

The application will be available on both iPhone and Android for free when launched, plus an additional web-browser view.  

The Kickstarter campaign will give backers the opportunity to score some exclusive digital packages at lower cost and also some cool merchandise, such as a “mimic” T-shirt that would come to life with AR. Follow their Kickstarter at : www.kickstarter.com/projects/cartographr/cartographr-augmented-reality-tabletop-terrain-builder