Big Shot Mobile Game Draws Athlete and Fan Closer

Putting a face on Augmented Reality for Big Shot mobile game.

Drake and Rhianna (Work): We just need a face to face You could pick the time and the place

Big Shot Basketball allows sports fans to meet NBA athletes "face to face" in Augmented Reality. ePlay, the creator and publisher of Big Shot, wanted a completely unique experience for fans. ePlay asked Big Shots, that's what the mobile game players are called, if they wanted standard head shots or custom selfies to appear as 3D avatars representing NBA players in the game. Big Shots get to pick the time and place and "how many more shots until you're rollin'?

ePlay has been doing research and development on how to add selfies to 3D augmented reality models for 16-months. The company looked at what Samsung is using in their AR emojis, worked with NBA players on look-and-feel and the kinds of things they would like to see in the game. Big Shot is at the cutting-edge of Augmented Reality technology and some of the things the company wants to do it can't - because the technology is not on phones yet!

The focus, no matter the sport, is to draw athlete and fan closer together. To make it feel like you met Lebron on his walk through your neighborhood and you get a chance to take a selfie. Lebron will want you to know about his "I Promise Schools" initiative and take a selfie that reflects his character on and off the field. ePlay is collecting selfies from NBA players so that fans can appear alongside their favorite players and even contribute directly to NBA player charities.

Of course, after Big Shots take a celebrity-selfie, Lebron is added to their Big Shot Roster and is automatically entered into challenges where on-court performance determines the number of points earned in the game. Big Shots can add players from their Roster to various challenges manually and continue to contribute, collect points, and unlock features and challenges while their drafts score points on the court.

The public beta version allows users to pick from a couple of hair styles, t-shirts, pants and shoes to customize their avatar. The athlete models are limited in the beta as well. ePlay is working on Advanced Avatar Customization that goes even further. Beta testers have already told us they want sneakers (lots of sneakers), to replace their face with selfie, and other advanced features. Big Shots have asked for NBA logo jerseys and more.

Coming updates:

• Female game character

• New swag and sneakers

• Team-wear

• Expanded Maps

• Big Shot Meet Up in Augmented Reality

• Selfie 3D Avatars

• McCormick Roster Tips

• Big Shot Rob Horry 3-point Challenge

Are you a Big Shot public beta user - a Big Shot? Let us know what sort of features you want to customize for your in-game avatar - bigshotbeta@mobovivo.com