A re-creation of the classic Frogger comes with a difference - it uses real cars driving down 5th Avenue, but the frog is still virtual.

This year is the classic Frogger's 30th birthday and to celebrate Tyler DeAngelo.took an old arcade machine and added some up to date techiques.

In case you don't remember how Frogger works, all that happens is that you have a simulated flow of traffic on a road and you have to get a frog to cross the road. It is all a matter of timing as the frog's jumps to avoid getting splatted by a big truck.

How could this be brought up to date?

With the help of a video camera and some tracking software, the movement of the cars on the road can be made to correspond to real cars on a real road  - the very busy 5th Avenue in this case. So as the website says:

Real cars. Real time. Fake Frog.

So can you dodge the real traffic? If not, the game has a fall back to computer generated traffic in a "classic mode".

All of the hardware was placed in an original Frogger arcade machine which was placed on the street for passers-by to play.

If is worth contemplating the road travelled from the difficulties of implementing the now-trivial Frogger game on 8-bit hardware to the AI/Computer Vision amusement that is Fifth AVE. Frogger.

The creators are trying to get the game included in the Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. If you think it's a worthwhile item post to facebook.com/americanart and let the Smithsonian know what you think .

What next?

Space Invaders with real invaders?

Donkey Kong with a real ....

More Information

Fifth Ave. Frogger

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