Rock'em Sock'em Robots is a two-player boxing game that was first manufactured by the Marx toy company in 1964. It features two robots that fight each other, using simple mechanical manipulation to allow the players to control their robot. The game is won when one of the opponents loses their head - the robot that is, not the player!

A number of different versions have been produced since then, and the game has sold in the hundreds of thousands, becoming something of a minor pop-culture phenomenon.

In 2000, a remake of the classic version was developed by Mattel, at approximately half the size of the original model. You can still buy this (at the time of writing) from Mattel's ecommerce shop.

Now Mattel are enabling a whole new generation to experience the Rock'em Sock'em Robots game, but this time via Augmented Reality on an Android SmartPhone!

Augmented Reality implementations on SmartPhones have actually been around for a while, but have tended to be somewhat basic graphics-wise, using floating tags to indicate points of interest. There have been examples using 3D graphics, but the limited processing power and display capabilities of mobile devices has made for a less than ideal experience... until now that is.

Mattel's AR Rock'em Sock'em Robots game features graphics that are more akin to what you would expect from a desktop Augmented Reality experience, and it enables a high degree of user interaction by using two phones to control the action - one for each player.

The game is the first incarnation of a sophisticated AR development system by chipset manufacturers Qualcomm, running on an Android 2.1 handset with a Snapdragon processor. This game has essentially been created to demonstrate the potential of this system, however it is not available yet commercially, sadly.

We will however start to see more engaging and graphically rich mobile Augmented Reality experiences like this start to appear over the coming months, as SmartPhone hardware and software continues to improve - so watch this space!

The Avatar i-Tag Web site (www.avataritag.com), developed in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing), features heroes, creatures and vehicles straight from James Cameron's much-anticipated film, Avatar, which is set for release in December 2009.

The Augmented Reality technology used for the project was developed by AR world leader Total Immersion. Each action figure, vehicle and creature in the 40-strong product line comes with a 3-D web tag, called an i-TAG, which consumers can scan using a home computers webcam.

Users take the corresponding plaque and hold it in front of the camera. A three-dimensional, animated representation of the figure will appear above the plaque on the screen. As the owner shifts the base or moves it farther from the camera, the size and perspective of the virtual entity also changes.

Adding to the experience, when a child covers one of the icons printed on the plaque, more information is revealed, or the elaborate onscreen creation is set in motion. For example, the Thanator rears back and then jumps forward with a ferocious growl and owners learn in a pop-up fact card that the creature has a massive, distensible armored jaw.

Further press:

"I have seen the future of toys, and it is Augmented Reality" says Daniel Terdiman on Cnet.com in response to the Mattel's i-Tag system, made possible by Total Immersion... more

Mattel’s Jason Horowitz talks to the L.A. Times about how the Avatar AR-enabled line of iTag action figures weds augmented reality and the fantastic reality of James Cameron’s blockbuster.  In this interview, Horowitz discusses how augmented reality expands upon the remarkable experience of the film.”... more

iMediaConnection elected Avatar Campaign as one brilliant Augmented Reality Campaign... more