Quidditch is a team sport played by witches and wizards from atop flying broomsticks. There are two teams with seven players each, broken down into four different positions. The team is composed as follows:

The Beaters

The Beaters' job is to use their club to hit the Bludgers toward opposing players in an attempt to disrupt them in their flight, and to protect their own team from being knocked off their broomsticks by a Bludger.

The Chasers

The Chasers' job is to score points for the team by throwing the Quaffle through one of the ring shaped goals at the end of the field. Each goal is worth 10 points.

The Keeper

The Keeper is like a goal keeper in Soccer. He protects the goals from Chasers trying to score with the Quaffle.

The Seeker

The Seeker's job is to catch the quick and elusive Golden Snitch. Upon catching the Snitch, the game is ended, and the successful Seeker's team is awarded 200 points.

Four balls are used to play Quidditich. They are:

The Quaffle

The Quaffle is a round ball with three hemispherical indentations. It can be used to score points when thrown through the goals.

The Bludgers

Bludgers are hard round balls with minds of their own. Bludgers will magically fly around the field trying to knock unaware players from their broomsticks. Bludgers can be deflected with a Beater's club.

The Golden Snitch

The Golden Snitch is the most sought after ball in Quidditch. Small, and agile, the Golden Snitch flies around the field trying to elude the Seekers hot on its trail. When the Golden Snitch is caught the game is over, and the team who captures it is awarded 200 points.

Objectives and Resolution

The objective of the game is to score the most points. Scores with the Quaffle are awarded 10 points each, and capturing the Golden Snitch awardes the capturing team 200 points. The game is over when the Golden Snitch is successfully captured.

Bringing Quidditch to life via virtual reality is now possible using state of the art real-time 3D computer simulation, IMAX projection technology and virtual reality hardware such as head mounted displays, motion capture, and motion control. The project can be split into two seperate development stages. The development of the software used to create the virtual game environment, and the construction of the stadium to present the game.

Software Development

The development of the software for the stadium would be very similar in scope and process to that of a computer or video game. Due to the unique nature of the site, production time will be longer as the team takes time to aquaint itself with the systems of the stadium. The overall production time will be in the three to four year range, and should try to be completed in time for the release of a Harry Potter movie or novel, to take full advantage of cross-marketing opportunities. Development time could be shortened significantly if hardware and software partners such as Microsoft, Apple, or Nvidia could be brought into the development cycle. Such partners can bring their own resources to the table, speeding the development of library and API systems used in game engine development. If such a partner can be found, production time can be cut by a year or more.

The game engine will be developed off a prexisting API to cut development time. Good choices in this area are available from Microsoft (DirectX), Apple (Core API), NetImmerse, and other commercially available game engines. Selection of an API should be based on its ability to take advantage of high resolution 3D acceleration cards from Nvidia or ATI, the ease with which rendering effects can be achieved, and the availability of partner support. Likewise a commercially available physics engine can be used, such as the Havok engine, or the engine can developed from scratch. The physics required for the game will not be overly complex due to the 3D "magical" nature of the event to be simulated, thus real-world accurate physics will not be required.

Two display engines will be developed to match the displays required for the athletes, and for the spectators. Both will process 3D simulation information but their focus will be different. The players' system will focus on speed and stereoscopic capabilities, sacrificing visual fidelity if necessary to achieve performance. Commercial video cards with dual screen capability should suffice for this. The display system for the spectators will need to be more robust however, focusing on visual fidelity. Due to the high resolution display necessary for an IMAX presentation, the highest performance video cards must be used. Good choices should be available from Nvidia. State of the art commercial cards should suffice due to the limited number of objects needed to be rendered at one time, but should more power be required, workstation class video cards can be bought for a few thousand dollars. The production routine will not be influenced either way as no special programming will be required in the event a different video card is used.

Player interaction in the game will be achieved via a motion control broom system coupled with simplistic motion capture techniques to capture player arm and hand data. Motion control brooms similiar to the technologies used in theme rides such as Star Tours, and military aircraft simulations, will provide the haptic feedback necessary to fully engross a player in the virtual world. HMDs (Head Mounted Displays) will provide stereo optic vision for the players. Motion capture cameras will be situated in the "broom rooms" where players' will play the game to capture motion capture data from small reflectors attached to the athelete's arm joints and hand. This basic arm orientation information will be enough to create a real-time inverse kinematic simulation of the player's hands and arms for use in determining collision and manipulation information in the engine.

Spectators will be treated to IMAX quality digital imagery, and theater quality surround sound. Similiar in construction to most motion control theme park rides that use IMAX technology, a small theater of thirty seats will be constructed facing a large IMAX screen. On the screen spectators will be treated to the daring exploits of Quidditch players created with cinema quality 3D rendering engines. Additionally "picture-in-picture" windows will be displayed showing the current ball carriier, a view of each team's Seeker, and a display showing the virtual representation of the box seats in which they sit. As the game progresses the virtual representation of the crowd will change to reflect the general interest level of the fans. Sound levels in the theater will be monitored, and if crowd noise is high the crowd in the virtual world will become more excited and start getting out of their seats to cheer the players on. Also the noise of the crowd will be piped from the theater into the virtual world so when players zoom by they can hear the noise of the crowd. Likewise player shouts can be heard by the crowd as they could be in the real-world.

Stadium Construction

The "Stadium" will be a series of theaters setup at a central location in a theme park or other entertainment venue. The decoration of the Stadium will follow the Harry Potter theme, and will be dressed to appear as a Quidditch tournament as the films have depicted them. In addition to the IMAX theaters the location will have a Harry Potter themed restaurant, gift-shop, arcade featuring Harry Potter video games, and snack bar. All locations in the venue will feature footage from games being played at that time.

Retail Synergy and Branding Opprotunities

Concurrent to the grand opening of the Quidditch Stadium, other retail products should be released to fully take advantage of the retail and marketing synergy that can be developed from such an event. Products such as Harry Potter Quidditch outfits, and collectable Quidditch brooms, can be cross-marketed with a consumer grade 3D Quidditch game for X-Box, or Playstation 2. Also the games can be televised to further promote branding and develop a desire in the consumer population for Quidditch merchandise. Finally a Quidditch sports website can be developed (similar to ESPN but for Quidditch) which can publicize the players of the game, post team wins and losses, and provide a vehicle for crossmarketing Harry Potter merchandise on-line.

Beyond the Stadium and Quidditch

Beyond a single stadium, Warner Bros. the current holders of the Harry Potter property could build many small stadiums at theme park locations across the United States and abroad. These stadiums could be networked together so teams from all across the globe can participate in tournaments for honor and prizes. Once the virtual reality system is fully developed for the Quidditch Stadium the same engine and development pipe-line can be turned toward the creation of other virtual sports for entertainment venues not suitable for the Harry Potter brand. This engine could be further refined and upgraded through the development process to create the next generation of virtual reality sports experience.