<s>
Far-Play	B-General_Concept
(	O
stylized	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
,	O
from	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
a	O
software	B-Device
platform	I-Device
developed	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Alberta	O
,	O
for	O
creating	O
location-based	O
,	O
scavenger-hunt	O
style	O
games	O
which	O
use	O
the	O
GPS	O
and	O
web-connectivity	O
features	O
of	O
a	O
player	O
's	O
smartphone	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
utilizes	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
,	O
an	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
smartphone	B-Application
application	O
,	O
QR	O
codes	O
located	O
at	O
particular	O
real-world	O
sites	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
phone	O
's	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
,	O
to	O
facilitate	O
games	O
which	O
require	O
players	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
close	O
physical	O
proximity	O
to	O
predefined	O
"	O
nodes	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
node	O
,	O
referred	O
to	O
by	O
the	O
developers	O
as	O
a	O
Virtual	O
Point	O
of	O
Interest	O
(	O
vPOI	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
point	O
in	O
space	O
defined	O
by	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
map	O
coordinates	O
;	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
uses	O
the	O
GPS	O
function	O
of	O
a	O
player	O
's	O
smartphone	B-Application
—	O
or	O
,	O
for	O
indoor	O
games	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
not	O
easily	O
tracked	O
by	O
GPS	O
satellites	O
,	O
specially-created	O
QR	O
codes	O
—	O
to	O
confirm	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
adequately	O
near	O
a	O
given	O
node	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
a	O
player	O
is	O
within	O
a	O
node	O
's	O
proximity	O
,	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
's	O
various	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
features	O
can	O
be	O
utilized	O
to	O
display	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
extra	O
content	O
overlaid	O
upon	O
the	O
physical	O
play-space	O
or	O
launch	O
another	O
application	O
for	O
extra	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
began	O
development	O
in	O
2008	O
,	O
emerging	O
from	O
a	O
collaborative	O
project	O
undertaken	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
University	O
of	O
Alberta	O
students	O
from	O
the	O
Computer	B-General_Concept
Science	I-General_Concept
and	O
Humanities	O
Computing	O
departments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
is	O
still	O
under	O
development	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
beta	O
version	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
testing	O
by	O
request	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
'	O
s	O
development	O
is	O
managed	O
by	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
interdisciplinary	O
professors	O
and	O
students	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Alberta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
relies	O
on	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
open	B-Application
-	I-Application
and	O
closed-source	B-Application
web	O
technologies	O
as	O
tools	O
to	O
create	O
,	O
and	O
enhance	O
the	O
users	O
 '	O
experience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Layar	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
recommended	O
client-side	O
frontend	O
for	O
delivering	O
game	O
content	O
to	O
the	O
player	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
available	O
on	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
iOS	B-Application
,	O
which	O
covers	O
over	O
91%	O
of	O
smartphones	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
is	O
not	O
a	O
requirement	O
to	O
play	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
games	O
,	O
the	O
application	O
does	O
supply	O
additional	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
functionality	O
;	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
also	O
includes	O
a	O
built-in	O
QR	O
scanner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Layar	B-General_Concept
or	O
a	O
QR	O
code	O
scanner	O
are	O
the	O
maximum	O
software	O
requirements	O
to	O
play	O
a	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
game	O
,	O
making	O
implementation	O
of	O
games	O
on	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
platforms	B-Device
relatively	O
straightforward	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
games	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
designed	O
for	O
play	O
strictly	O
within	O
a	O
mobile	O
phone	O
's	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
server	O
side	O
,	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
'	O
s	O
engine	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
an	O
Apache	B-Application
server	I-Application
which	O
manages	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
web	O
interface	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
mobile	O
and	O
desktop	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
website	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
Java-based	O
REST	B-Protocol
framework	O
for	O
managing	O
the	O
database	O
of	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
designing	O
AR	O
games	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
an	O
AR	O
game	O
itself	O
,	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
offers	O
little	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
of	O
explicit	O
shapes	O
or	O
patterns	O
for	O
games	O
to	O
take	O
;	O
instead	O
,	O
these	O
elements	O
are	O
left	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
designer	O
or	O
players	O
to	O
develop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Functionally	O
,	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
tracking	O
arbitrary	O
points	O
in	O
space	O
and	O
a	O
given	O
player	O
's	O
proximity	O
to	O
them	O
;	O
what	O
it	O
does	O
beyond	O
that	O
is	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
 '	O
and	O
players	O
 '	O
discretion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
website	O
contains	O
a	O
leaderboard	O
which	O
tracks	O
registered	O
user	O
's	O
total	O
scores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
players	O
can	O
share	O
their	O
adventure	O
progress	O
,	O
achievements	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
capture	O
of	O
vPOIs	O
on	O
Facebook	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
participate	O
in	O
the	O
locative	O
aspects	O
of	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
games	O
,	O
users	O
must	O
have	O
an	O
Android	B-Application
or	O
iOS	B-Application
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
and	O
access	O
to	O
wireless	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
can	O
participate	O
in	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
anonymously	O
,	O
or	O
create	O
and	O
sign	O
into	O
a	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
the	O
game	O
has	O
been	O
started	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
has	O
three	O
different	O
methods	O
for	O
capturing	O
nodes	O
:	O
they	O
may	O
scan	O
a	O
QR	O
in	O
the	O
physical	O
space	O
,	O
discover	O
a	O
node	O
through	O
the	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
camera	O
virtual	O
view	O
,	O
or	O
receive	O
a	O
link	O
in	O
their	O
device	O
's	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
player	O
is	O
utilizing	O
a	O
QR	O
scanning	O
application	O
that	O
has	O
a	O
built	O
in	O
browser	B-Application
,	O
they	O
will	O
be	O
required	O
to	O
log	O
into	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
through	O
the	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Layar	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
free	O
to	O
download	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
app	O
,	O
containing	O
a	O
built	O
in	O
QR	O
code	O
scanner	O
,	O
which	O
enables	O
its	O
users	O
to	O
participate	O
in	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Layar	B-General_Concept
permits	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
see	O
nodes	O
on	O
their	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
,	O
guiding	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
their	O
goal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
this	O
application	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
navigate	O
to	O
their	O
objective	O
with	O
map	O
provided	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
Maps	I-Application
 '	I-Application
API	B-Application
or	O
by	O
using	O
their	O
camera	O
—	O
Layar	B-General_Concept
overlays	O
a	O
virtual	O
image	O
onto	O
the	O
real-world	O
scene	O
presented	O
by	O
the	O
camera	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
also	O
play	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
games	O
within	O
their	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
's	O
browser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
visiting	O
on	O
a	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
,	O
players	O
will	O
be	O
presented	O
with	O
a	O
fully	O
realized	O
user	O
interface	O
,	O
permitting	O
full	O
interaction	O
with	O
the	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
capture	O
the	O
in	O
game	O
vPOIs	O
through	O
their	O
browser	B-Application
by	O
tapping	O
the	O
"	O
nodes	O
"	O
button	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
provides	O
two	O
game	O
modes	O
:	O
in	O
a	O
Virtual	O
Scavenger	O
Hunt	O
,	O
nodes	O
must	O
be	O
captured	O
in	O
a	O
specific	O
order	O
;	O
in	O
a	O
Virtual	O
Treasure	O
Hunt	O
,	O
the	O
order	O
is	O
unimportant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
currently	O
available	O
through	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
'	O
s	O
ultimate	O
goal	O
is	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
simple	O
,	O
effective	O
platform	O
for	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
locative	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
games	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
developer	O
tools	O
are	O
still	O
under	O
active	O
development	O
and	O
not	O
openly	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
that	O
are	O
developed	O
with	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
are	O
segmented	O
into	O
components	O
called	O
"	O
Adventures	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
has	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
implement	O
achievements	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
reward	O
players	O
with	O
extra	O
points	O
for	O
completing	O
certain	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
developing	O
a	O
game	O
for	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
site	O
requires	O
that	O
users	O
submit	O
a	O
game	O
name	O
,	O
game	O
description	O
,	O
and	O
game	O
story	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
additional	O
aesthetic	O
customization	O
,	O
fAR-Play	B-General_Concept
allows	O
developers	O
to	O
utilize	O
CSS	B-Language
to	O
customize	O
the	O
appearance	O
and	O
layout	O
of	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
