Upcoming Season of Archer Will Have Interactive Augmented Reality Game

The 8th season of animated TV show Archer will be back on the 5th of April 2017 and will be integrating an interactive augmented reality game in each episode. Viewers can download and install the companion augmented reality app designed so they can play along with their iPhone or iPad at certain designated areas on the TV screen. The objective is to solve a case as the latest season will find Archer inside a heavily film noir-inspired world that is actually taking place inside his head while he is in a coma. Hints will show up on the screen but there will also be augmented reality triggers found on Archer social media pages, billboards and ads which can trigger the events.

There have been attempts at interactive TV shows before, one of the most notable series is Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future back in the 1987 which let children shoot at the enemies on the TV screen via toy weapons/vehicles made by Mattel. It relied on detecting the simulated aberrant refresh rates on the screen that are found on the enemy’s body which flashed at a different timing than the old tube screens. Now 30 years later, interactive games are a lot more advanced than just blinking lights on a screen with augmented reality and users will be able to experience it first hand while watching Archer.

The unfortunate part, however, is that the Archer private investigator app seems to be only for iOS devices for now with no word on whether an Android version will surface before the April 5 premiere.