“While each of the Slapdown Games is a great deal of fun, there is significant science behind what we have produced,” said Andrew Plimmer, CEO of HIT Lab NZ Ltd. “We have combined some of the most advanced computer vision techniques with artificial intelligence, game mechanics and interaction design, to create an incredibly compelling user experience.”

Drift – Gaming Has Changed
A wickedly addictive new augmented reality gaming experience, Drift creates exhilarating drift racing circuits that users can slide around at breakneck speed. Gamers race around barrels to set new lap records by using the touch screen to control direction. Tracks vary depending on the angle the user sets to view the Slapdown card, so they control the layout and the difficulty of the tracks.

Splatter Bugs – You’ve Got a Bug Problem
In this augmented reality application, the user’s world has been infested by cockroaches. After taking a picture of the Slapdown card with the iPhone camera, a roach hole appears and little critters begin to swarm out. The faster the user eradicates them, the better their score. With bonuses for trick squashes, gamers can enjoy the twisted pleasure of squishing these nasty little critters. But, it’s not easy; with each level, they get faster and smarter.

Other so called “augmented reality" apps available for iPhone don’t provide accurate scale, location or a true real world perspective. Slapdown Games are the first and only vision-based augmented reality applications that give a very real sense that the virtual objects in the games actually exist in the user’s current physical environment. The bugs in “Splatter Bugs,” for example, look like they are really running around, right in front of the user’s eyes.

Augmented Reality for Advertisers
While each of the new Slapdown Games has incredible gamer appeal, the augmented reality capabilities of the applications also provide marketers with an alluring new experience they can incorporate into their advertising strategies.

“Our vision is that, soon, there will be certain brands consumers will expect to “play with” wherever they see them – on packaging, billboards, at train and bus stops, for example,” said Plimmer. “With our technology it is possible to launch experiences like shooting hoops in 3D against a billboard using a mobile phone. It’s a fun way to spend the time waiting for a bus, and provides a good experience for both the user and advertiser. We are experts at taking a marketing message and creating a fun mobile experience around it. We have recently worked with global brands like Fanta and Ford to create unique branding campaigns, and have some exciting new projects underway.”