Faculty of Science and Technology

RFID tags bring Pacman into the real world

Researchers in the Department of Communication Systems, based in InfoLab21, have been developing a new game which can be played by up to five players on mobile phones.

Unlike traditional mobile phone games, this game takes place in real space as well as on a mobile phone screen. Called Pac-Lan, in homage to the arcade classic Pacman, the game enables players to keep track of one another's position through images on their mobile phones as they chase one another round campus.

Dr Paul Coulton, head of mobile game development at Lancaster University, said: "This game is using a traditional mobile phone game in a different way by mixing the real and virtual world. Players move around in real space interacting with one another, their environment and their mobile phone."

Each phone has been programmed with a maze, which is based on a map of the University Campus. Players have to collect points from a series of Radio Frequency Identification Tags, which have been attached to yellow disks on lampposts around the University.

When a player collects their points by holding their mobile phone against the disc the virtual reality maze on each mobile phone is updated with the player's position. Each player shows up as an animated character (Pac-Lan or Ghost) moving round the screen. This enables a team of 'ghosts' to track the player down and catch them.

It is the first game in the world to use mobile phones equipped with Radio Frequency Identification Tags. RFID tags are small devices - like barcodes- which can transmit and receive data.

Mon 28 November 2005

Associated Links

• Computer Games of the Future - LU News article
• Department Of Communication Systems
• PAC-LAN - RFID-enabled mixed reality mobile phone game