Though beloved all over the world for his role in Star Trek as Hikaru Sulu, George Takei is also an outspoken political activist whose work on social media to raise awareness of various social issues has garnered a great deal of attention. Takei is using that platform to launch a new augmented reality (AR) app called House of Cats.
The app sets out to combine two of the most popular bits of the internet – cats and politics, along with integrated AR features inspired by apps such as Pokemon Go.
The app, and George Takei himself, are both open about the aim to rile up the current occupent of the White House, and this intent is obvious with the reveal of the primary character in the app, known as ‘Trumpy Cat’.
Users can bring Trumpy Cat out of the White House and into the real world, provide him with crazy dialogue to say, which is either pre-assembled based on tweets written by Donal Trump, or users can assemble their out outrageous phrases.
Users can watch Trumpy Cat prowl around the Oval Office and interact with other characters who represent his family, friends and enemies. By tapping on the presidential seal, users can activate AR mode and put Trumpy Cat in the real world, and use their smartphone microphone to make Trumpy Cat say anything they like.
Users can create and share videos of themselves or their friends interacting with Trumpy Cat, and there are a number of built-in skits and jokes that play off recent news headlines to offer a satirical, and hopefully amusing bent.
“House of Cats is fun, it’s engaging, it’s interactive, and it’s fresh, and there will always be new, timely political humor to enjoy. Best of all, everyone can participate! Laughter is powerful medicine, and it’s impossible not to laugh at the bright orange animal who lucked into a job running the United States,” added Takei. “I’m talking about Trumpy Cat, of course.”
The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, priced at $0.99 (USD), with a premium subscription version planned for later in the year. For future news on House of Cats and other upcoming AR apps, stick with VRFocus.
via Mint VR