Anki, a consumer robotics and artificial intelligence startup that programs physical objects to be intelligent and adaptable to our physical world and designed to solve problems, is now coming to life with a robotic toy car game called Anki Drive.
On June 10, 2013 Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced Anki Co-founder, Boris Sofman, who showed off Anki’s new real-world video game. In the debut, Boris explains how they are using IOS devices and the IOS platform to bring artificial intelligence and robotics into our daily lives.
In their second demo, Anki places people in charge of the cars, so that we would be able to see how the mechanic works. The people in charge of the cars raced each other, shot each other down and also drew in other cars with tractor beams.
How it works
Each player needs an IOS device and the Anki app. With the app you are able to not only play, but also feel the device vibrate and hear the sound effects in sync with the cars on the track. The sound effects and vibration help you hear and feel when your car is shot. On the track, you are able to visually see your car shot because it will begin to slow down and the car lights will begin to flicker.
Release Date
Anki Drive goes on sale in the Apple Store for $199 on October 23. The kit includes a mat and two cars. If users want additional cars, each car costs $69. The app is free and players are able to win additional game capabilities for the cars the more they play the game. These additional capabilities include land mines to throw and rail guns to shoot.
This will be Anki’s first product, since they are a startup, so it will be hard to know whether the game will play out as they hoped. They do want people to test out the gameplay before the release and their hope is that they are able to fix any weird bugs that may appear.
Anki’s video game ideas sound pretty neat and I expect that as their business grows they will produce better and cooler games. What is your impression of Anki Drive and what are your thoughts regarding what they are trying develop within the video game industry?
