OtherSide has announced that it is researching Augmented Reality for use in Underworld Ascendant

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AR is different from Virtual Reality, in that it supplements your view of the real world rather than immersing you in a virtual world.In a blog post, OtherSide discussed the possibility of including AR for something like lockpicking. "Currently the player uses the mouse to turn a lock tumbler displayed on the laptop screen. In the AR version the tumbler would be floating a foot in front of the player, and they would use their hand to rotate the tumbler until they heard the satisfying click of the lock springing open. It’s a parallel game mechanic, but here made much more tactile."The blog post also reminds us that consumer AR devices such as the Microsoft HoloLens are still in development.OtherSide is also looking at the possibility of VR. "On our forum survey, over 40% say they have extremely strong or strong interest in this technology."The developer has not made a decision over whether to support VR yet, however the option is there. "In fact, we have been working with an Oculus Rift developer kit," the blog post says. "We’ve only spent a day so far experimenting with the kit on Underworld Ascendant, but already the prototype is running with full Oculus Rift support."That said, there are concerns over the limited availability of VR technology for the general public. "So even if we were to support VR, it is essential that the game play wonderfully well without VR.""We might put out a prototype with VR support to get more direct feedback down the line".

Matt Porter is a freelance writer. If you fancy reading endless Tweets about games and sports, follow him on Twitter: @Matt_Porter44