CREATURE COTTAGE - Augmented Reality Experiment
After the launch of the acclaimed Pet Lab VR game in May of 2018, the company experimented further with virtual pets that same year, combining Pet Lab’s universe with augmented reality this time around.
Having been among the first developers to work with Microsoft’s groundbreaking Hololens in 2015, we were keen to revisit AR 3 years on, this time on phones. A team was formed to explore possible applications with the available phone-based AR technologies at that time (2018).
The result was a project called Creature Cottage, a successful combination of real world physical objects (custom made cardboard boxes) and virtual characters. Even though the experiment was deemed a success, commercial applications in this genre wouldn’t be viable for another few years, as AR capabilities of this level require high-end phones, which did (and still do) not overlap with a young target audience.
For the time being therefore, Creature Cottage remains what it is, an tantalizing look into the future of toys and virtual play, awaiting the moment where high-end AR capabilities of phones become more widespread.