Unlocking Imagination: My Introduction to AR

My group’s capstone project is an augmented reality storybook companion app. The purpose of the app is to engage new readers in a new paradigm of reading through an interactive experience. The cornerstone technology that my team’s capstone project is built on is augmented reality (AR). It allows stories to come to life with tales unfolding in the world around the reader. The experience is meant not only to increase engagement but also increase reading comprehension and retention.

How We Used AR

Augmented reality was used in the following ways to augment our vision to reality (he he he, see what I did there?)

1. Animating Stories: We are developing the application primarily through Unity, Vuforia, and Blender. These platforms allow us to create 3d models of characters and superimpose them on markers in the real world. The software also has allowed for floating text to be rendered next to the models. Finally, we’ve added animation to further enhance the readers experience.
2. Spatial Audio: As a stretch goal of the project, we are looking at integrating spatial audio into the project. This will allow for narration, background audio, and event driven audio which in turn will create a more immersive environment. Adding these components will also add to the inclusiveness and accessibility of the application.
3. Interactive Learning: As another stretch goal, we are considering adding interactive puzzles to the experience. For example, if the book is Goodnight Moon, then the reader will be prompted to select the object that is referenced in the story. This can then cause an audio event to trigger as well as cause the object to pop out in the z axis.

Areas For Improvement

Although working in the AR space has been a fun and creative process, it hasn’t been without its pitfalls. The following are areas for improvement that I’ve found in going through this capstone project:

• Improved Tutorials: As newer versions of Unity are released the tutorials in the Unity learning pathways and documentation do not keep up. This leads to frustration and increased opportunity costs when attempting to learn a new software/ language.
• More Intuitive Interactions: The interactions that I’ve so far come across in learning AR through Unity are mainly done through pressing buttons to rotate and transform game objects. Ideally, I would like to see these interactions more closely resemble the ways that someone would interact with the object in the real world. For example, grabbing and flipping the page rather than pressing a button to turn the page.

Conclusion

Augmented reality is the beating heart of our capstone project. It has allowed us to strive to bridge the gap between a digital learning experience and one in real life. Through embracing the technology, we hope to reinvigorate a love for reading in young users. Our vision is to create an application that shape a future that is more engaging, entertaining, and informative.