As you can tell from reading my posts, I’m more of a board gamer than a video gamer. Don’t get me wrong; I really do enjoy playing video games (and you can’t take my iPad from me), but I still prefer sitting around a table with a bunch of people and moving physical bits around. (As Daniel Solis put it, “My favorite game console is a table and chairs.”) That said, I also love the ability to play games like Carcassonne , Ticket to Ride , and Ascension against opponents from not just around the country but around the world.

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Nearly two years ago I wrote about some experiments to simulate OLED screens in board game tiles, and then at the beginning of this year I reflected some more on the future of board games taking into consideration technologies like the iPad and the Microsoft Surface table. I think that as board game companies have been finding ways to make the transition to digital games, it’s been interesting to see what clicks and what doesn’t — what feels like playing a board game. It’s great when the digital version is able to track things that are cumbersome to manage physically, but there’s also a tradeoff when you lose the physicality of the bits and pieces. And even though the iPad’s larger screen certainly feels closer to playing a board game than a tiny smartphone screen, you’re rarely going to have four people crowded around an iPad on the table, playing a board game together.

Those are, as it turns out, the same issues that inspired Christophe Duteil and Valentin Lefevre to form ePawn and create a new digital game peripheral, the ePawn Arena. The Paris-based ePawn was formed last fall for the purpose of developing the Arena, which is a display screen that incorporates real-time motion-tracking technology, allowing you to move physical pawns and pieces on the surface of a screen as part of a digital game.

Here’s a little teaser video showing some of the Arena’s capabilities:

This Monday I had the opportunity to speak with Duteil (CEO) and Lefevre (CTO) via Skype, and they shared about the company and their new device. Of course, I had to settle for a video demonstration, but they’ll also be making an appearance at CES 2012 in Las Vegas in January to show off the Arena and its capabilities.

Here’s what the Arena is, in a nutshell: something in between a Microsoft Surface table and the Last Night on Earth” href=”http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/10/last-night-on-earth/”> Last Night on Earth with your pals in three different states, and the screen can recognize where all the zombies are cropping up to get you. On the other side of the coin, the motion-tracking tech could be used without a screen, to track movements on a traditional board (using tagged pieces) on an iPad or a computer:

Ok, yes, you might make the argument that all of this is totally unnecessary and that a virtual representation of a pawn or game piece is just fine. You’re right — as far as having a game that works, you don’t need any of that. But for that matter, you don’t really need nice components for any board game for the mechanics to work — graphics, images, fancy miniatures are all just surface details, right? But those surface details are what you become immersed in the game. Picking up a figurine and moving it around on a surface is part of what we think of as playing a game. Like it or not, our brains are wired for tactile play. Just look at Visit ePawn’s website for more info, and be sure to check out some of their other prototype videos.

If you’re attending CES in January, be sure to look for ePawn and check out the Arena. Sadly, nobody’s offered to watch my kids and fly me out to Vegas for a few days, so I’ll have to wait a bit longer to see it in person.