Startup Innovis Labs is looking to bring technology used in many first-person shooters to the paintball and airsoft fields with Project Overwatch, a mobile app that will integrate GPS tracking features and voice chat into real world games.
Project Overwatch is currently seeking funding through Indiegogo with a $50,000 goal. Using Overwatch, players will attach their iPhones to paintball and airsoft guns and use the app to track real-time movement of teammates and enemies similar to the way minimaps are used in many military first-person shooters. Overwatch will utilize the live GPS radar as well as a voice chat feature that includes the ability to jam opponents' communication radar. Players can also fake out their location to lead opponents astray.
According to Innovis, the app can be used for paintball, airsoft and even indoor laser tag games and utilizes WiFi as well as 3G, 4G and LTE connections. Players can even participate in games using Overwatch without being physically present on the battlefield. A player somewhere else, such as on home on the couch, can connect to the app to view the map and give commands as well as hand out perks to teammates.
"We think Overwatch can bridge the gap between real world and digital gaming," 17-year-old Josh Moody, CEO of Innovis, told VentureBeat. "It's an in-game utility that connects gamers with the field around them. Whether I am going out in my backyard and playing airsoft with my buddies in a small field, or going out in the woods and playing on a very large field, it will work."
Moody and his father David, Innovis' COO, are collaborating with Ark. software firm, RevUnit and airsoft gun company Cybergun to create Overwatch. They applied to the ARK Challenge accelerator program and received $20,000 to work on the app through the program. The $50,000 raised through Indiegogo will go towards completing the app's development.
Stretch goals include additional game modes. Overwatch will be free to download, though it will include in-app purchase options for perks, such as radar jamming. The campaign will end on Jan. 27 at 2:59 a.m. ET and has currently collected just under $4,000 of its goal.
