Air New Zealand develops augmented reality board game to promote the country

The Shire comes to life in Air New Zealand's VR board game Fact Or Fantasy, Game Of New Zealand. — AFP Relaxnews

You could call it the board game 2.0. Air New Zealand has teamed up with a "spatial computing company" to create a digital multiplayer game that allows players to explore New Zealand in virtual reality.

To be clear, there is a physical game board. But Fact Or Fantasy, Game Of New Zealand also comes with VR headsets and is enhanced with augmented reality technology, blurring the line between the digital and physical world.

The aim? To entice players to visit New Zealand.

Players meet an animated Hobbit; watch a giant kauri tree grow before their eyes; get splashed by a breaching whale; and get a bird's eye view of helicopter bungee jump.

Throughout the interactive game, players compete for golden eggs by answering quiz questions.

"What we wanted to do was reinvent the traditional board game. It's a travel quiz game and it's comprised of the digital world augmented with a physical gameboard: Nobody else has done that," said Geoff Suvalko, of Thoughtfull Design in a promotional video.

The game, one of several conceptual, experimental projects from Air New Zealand, uses the Magic Leap One virtual reality headset which layers digital objects onto the real world.

– AFP Relaxnews