Hybridising the Tabletop

Project partners: University of Nottingham, Twisted Narrative

Researchers from the University of Nottingham collaborated with tabletop Role-Playing Games company, Twisted Narrative, to investigate gameplay experience in a mixed physical and virtual environment. 

The collaboration established that existing remote play tools were not fit for hybrid round table interactions. Remote players had difficulty ‘fitting in’, understanding table layouts and following the conversation with limited camera options.

The project team developed a new platform for round table interactions that addressed these issues. Loosely based on online systems such as tabletop simulators, the new platform is made hybrid with a real physical table and a unique telepresence system that uses a 360 camera to allow remote players to look around the table and engage with other players whilst also having a physical presence.

The collaboration developed a unique hybrid mapping approach using a document camera to allow pen and paper maps to be presented on both the physical and virtual tables, as well as mapping tools like dungeon alchemist, or other tabletop management systems to integrate directly with the new system.

A study undertaken as part of the project discovered players’ attachment to their physical artefacts – minis and dice in particular – and the team developed a pipeline for trivially scanning and digitising minis to be used in the virtual table (alongside the real minis on the physical table).

Through observations of play, the team also uncovered the need for non-gametime agency for remote players – participating in actions like setting up the map, moving minis and joining in out-of-character chat really helped with their sense of presence.

The outputs of this collaboration have responded to the real-world needs of tabletop role playing games, enabling players who had previously been unable to participate due to social, geographical or accessibility reasons the opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of gameplay. 

Twisted Narrative is planning to use the new platform to engage with their community of thousands of game players around the world.  The project also has wider implications for using a hybrid system in other round-table interactions.

Hybridising the Tabletop is one of seven projects supported by the XR Network+ Prototyping, Impact and Acceleration (PIA) funding call. Researchers at UK universities were awarded up to £10,000 to develop new ideas and complete existing research related to VP between September 2023 and March 2024.

Categories: Games, Research, Technology