Students Jennifer Bell, Emil Judin, Kevin Bruno, Lars Gohde, Sebastian Dreschmann and Marius Maucher developed the game as part of a project in their third semester. In FLOAT, players can explore an imaginative world of floating islands inhabited by mystical creatures, the Pookis. These creatures react to gestures and invite players to solve puzzles, create new islands and maintain the balance of their world.
Prof Dr Uta M. Feser, President of HNU, congratulated the team on their nomination and wished them every success at the Games Festival in Warsaw: "FLOAT is an example of the innovative strength of our students. The combination of creative game design and social benefit shows how applied science is practised at HNU - practical, interdisciplinary and with international appeal."
The Head of the degree programme, Prof. Michael Hebel, adds: “FLOAT is a prime example of design-based research in game studies. The students have not only developed a technically sophisticated game, but have also shown how games as a medium can have a social impact.”
Virtual gestures, real effect: controlling the game
FLOAT is controlled via hand tracking on the Meta Quest 2, a virtual reality headset. Eleven primary human hand gestures - from the fist to the open hand - are intuitively integrated into the gameplay. Players wear a wristband that measures muscle impulses. The myoelectric data is analysed using AI and translated into usable movement patterns. The data is then anonymised and securely transmitted to the medtech start-up MyoMod, which uses it to develop smart prostheses. The aim is to use playful interaction to create an AI-supported data pool that facilitates or even automates the customisation of prostheses.
Myoelectric hand prostheses are state of the art, but are very expensive, costing up to 80,000 euros. The reason: expensive technology and lengthy individual training in specialised laboratories. As a result, more than 30 million people worldwide are dependent on mechanical prostheses, which are cheaper but significantly more limited in terms of functionality and suitability for everyday use.
Further milestones for the FLOAT team
The project already attracted attention at Gamescom 2024: the team presented FLOAT to the Bavarian Digital Minister Dr Fabian Mehring, among others, who was impressed.
Just recently, the FLOAT team also won a state-of-the-art XR headset from Finnish manufacturer Varjo Technologies worth 16,000 euros - the second university in the world to do so. The well-known XR Youtuber VoodooDE VR also reported on the project in a video.
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