H.: Surprise Grabber: a co-located tangible social game using phone hand gesture

Social network games (SNGs) are among the most popular games recently. Different from the asynchronous and online based SNGs, we present Surprise Grabber to see how tangible gesture interface could benefit the synchronous co-located social game. In Surprise Grabber, users control a virtual grabber’s moving in 3D game to catch the gifts by using their camera phone. An efficient code running on the phone detects hand motion, delivers results to Serve PC and provides feedbacks in real time. Distinguished from online SNGs, all players stand together in front of a public display. The main results of the pilot user studies showed that: 1) Gesture interface was easy to catch up and made the game more immersive; 2) Occasionally inaccuracy in hand motion detection made the game more competitive instead of frustrating players; 3) Players were eager to share their experience by talking while playing; 4) Players ’ performances were obviously influenced by the collocated playing social atmosphere; 5) In most cases, players ’ performances became better or worse at the same time instead of random results