Merge Cube: Unique Little Cube for AR Gameplay
Do you want to play VR and AR games but find most of the headsets and devices meant to allow playing such games steep in price? Well, with an affordable price tag, unique design, a great gaming mechanism and huge value for money Merge Cube seem really a hard to beat gaming device available on the market.
While for the initial years of gaming wearables, VR mainly ruled the market, AR gaming through fun to use little cube-like Merge Cube seems to be a great promise. Besides helping you to interact with AR games in a handy way Merge AR just fits any palm. Months after it made big news with CES 2017 presence bagging a few awards, it is finally available in the market.
Merge Cube compatibility
Let us first ensure that Merge VR headset has nothing to do with the Merge Cube. The Merge Cube is fully independent and can work with any VR or AR headset and smartphones. Obviously, the VR kit from the same brand would be a lot cheaper and affordable and would offer a complete solution for playing VR and AR games. The best thing is all the gaming apps loaded in it comes as compatible with both iOS and Android platforms.
Merge VR headset delivers both VR and AR game playing. The only thing you need to play AR games is to adjust the headset by removing a few things from the headset front. In fact, this is to ensure that the camera lens of your phone device can get an open view of the reality outside.
How Merge Cube works?
Now coming to the Merge Cube, it is basically a small palm-held device which is built durable with a soft surface and lightweight material. On each side of the cube, you can find hieroglyphics like codes that turns into holographic images just the way we decipher QR codes through an AR app.
It is basically a small cube preserving a load if AR contents that can be viewed and interacted with through the respective headset or smartphone app. For the content of your choice you are automatically guided to the respective app page on the app store, and thus you can actually download games that you want to play based on the contents displayed on the cube.
This cube interface displaying AR contents is referred as Miniverse. It basically relates to various apps totalling around 15 in numbers. While a vast majority of them comes as free to play games a fee of them costs a few dollars. This sounds great from the perspective we judge value for money for AR gaming cubes. But as far as the contents are concerned, it seems to have the very limited capacity.
All you need is to hold the cube in the line of your eyes against the visor, and you start seeing the AR contents opening right in front of your eyes. The respective app also comes with a tutorial to help you use the Magic Cube to its full potential.
A fun-filled world of AR gameplay
The cube can use the world around you from time to time and can actually turn anything in your surroundings as the intended object you see on the screen. For instance, just by chopping your veggies on the platter you can actually act as cutting a large piranha into pieces. Another game can help you navigate through the canyons riding in a spaceship.
If you have a game player in you who always look for most futuristic gaming experience through wearable and stand-alone gaming gadgets, the Merge Cube can add immense value to your game playing experience. While we know, AR gameplay is something that subtly mixes the world outside with the gaming actions directed by the digital interface, this little cube with its codified AR gaming contents can actually deliver more fun experience than ever expected. No wonder in the fact that, it already reached the pinnacle of popularity with massive sales figure in a short time.
Final verdict
Is Magic Cube a perfect AR gaming companion? Can it beat most other gaming devices designed and built for AR game playing experience? No, it isn’t. In spite of delivering really unmatched AR gaming experience, it has several limitations. The foremost of such limitations is that it comes with limited AR contents amounting only just 15 in total. There are few small glitches like a little unease in making your vehicle moves steadily on the screen.
But in spite of all these shortcomings, it is the cheapest AR gaming accessory as of now with a rich gaming experience guaranteed easily with just a tiny cube. For the first time, AR gaming made so affordable thanks to this Magic Cube.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.