HADO can best be described as virtual dodgeball. It is an e-sport and makes a combination between physical exercise and virtual gaming. with using Augmented Reality technology, a player sees the real physical space as well as a virtual playing field and ball. These are displayed in the Augmented Reality Headset that the player has during the game.

When a game of HADO starts, the player can throw with so-called 'Hadoken' balls. Also, players can defend themselves against attacks with with a shield. HADO is played on a playing field where each team has its own side. The matches of HADO can be played 2 against 2 or 3 against 3 and has 4 rounds of 80 seconds each. The team with the most points at the end of these 4 rounds is the winner. Watch a video of what a HADO match looks like here.

Besides a physically intensive sport, HADO is also a very tactical sport. with your team you can devise and determine a strategy. For each round you play, you get a number of points that you can allocate to your hadoken power-ups. For example, you can increase the speed or size of the balls you throw, decrease your recharge time or increase the number of shields you have. By tactically dividing these points together with your team tactically, you can thus gain an advantage over the opponents and thus determine victory.

HADO uses Augmented Reality technology. This is different from, for example, Virtual Reality. With Virtual Reality everything around a user is virtual. The complete environment is therefore replaced by a digital environment. This is not the case with Augmented Reality. Instead of replacing the entire physical environment with a virtual environment, AR technology only makes a small part digital. So in the case of HADO you still see the real physical environment in front of you, but you see a digital hadoken ball flying up and away from you. You have to deflect or repel these digital balls with the shield. Want to know more about the differences between VR and AR? Read our blog the differences between VR, AR and MR then go through.

HADO uses AR glasses developed in-house for this. These are wireless and lightweight glasses that don't get in the way while playing. There is no built-in processor in these glasses, as is the case with a Quest 2, but HADO glasses contain an Apple smartphone. The reason that this phone was chosen is because the camera of the Apple smartphone has a built-in depth sensor with which you can scan the depth of the room. This gives you the real feeling while playing that balls are coming at you and you can throw balls to other players. In addition to the smartphones that are in the AR glasses, a player also wears a bracelet with inside a smartphone. This allows you to fire the digital 'hadoken balls'. The matches can be started via an external tablet. This makes it extra easy for the race management or the operator to lead a race.

HADO is originally from Japan. In Japan, HADO is already embraced by a large audience and real competitions and competitions are organized (with serious prize money). In the Netherlands, HADO is slightly less well-known, but the sport is on the rise. There are various centers in the Netherlands (varying from sports centers to entertainment halls) that already offer HADO. And they all say the same thing: HADO is the sport of the future!