AR Entertainment Mobile Game

Concept Development

We sketched 3 different early concept designs before we reached the final concept (Appendix 1). After receiving feedback from users on these three different concepts, it was decided to further develop the third concept, a Survival AR Game. In the case of the Virtual pet app, we thought it was an insufficient concept to attract the attention of male young adults. In the case of the Virtual Furniture Design App, although it meets the needs of users, it is not enough to encourage people to do social activities, and we felt that it was not suitable for turning a house into an entertainment space. For the Survival AR game, we thought development is necessary as the concept is quite similar to the existing games.

We decided to design a multiplayer game in which the player must cooperate with other players to win together. Since a concept like a zombie apocalypse is not unique, we had to find another concept. Through the app, we wanted to design an entertainment app that allows users to experience things they can’t in the house. After I watched a movie called ‘Jumanji’, we were inspired and decided to create an AR board game.

When players play online due to their locations and different structures of the house, we thought it would be impossible to display an AR object in the same position. So we tried to turn this issue into an advantage by letting AR objects appear in a random place. This may be appropriate to encourage players to be more active around the house. For example, players are given a challenge that they need to find a raccoon that stole a board game. It will appear in one of the four player’s houses.

features

It is an AR board game that players need to collaborate with other players to solve the given challenge successfully. As they need to move strategically together, a voice chat feature will be added for easier communication. Also, it will double up the enjoyment as the players can chat about anything.

Another element was needed to encourage players to engage in social activities. We thought that the Story feature was suitable as it allows players to share images. During the game, players can take a screenshot of what the player is currently seeing by simply pressing the camera button. It will let them share the moment with others.

To encourage players to engage harder to solve the challenge, we thought that players should be rewarded. We felt useful items that can be used during the game should be given to the players. So we decided to hand out ability cards that can influence the game. These ability cards will be given out to each player when they solve the challenge successfully.

Challenge Description

1. Lion, Tiger or Bear
– Players have to hide or run away from the animal for a given amount of time to survive.

2. Snake
– A snake attacked, one of the players need to find a medicine

3. Hippo
– Hippo is taking a bath at home. As the water tap stays on and keeps the water flowing, the house starts to fill with water.

4. Lemur, raccoon or monkey
– An animal stole the board game. To continue the game, players need to capture and retrieve the animal.

5. Insects (e.g. Spiders)
– The insects began to net the house. To escape, you have to find the torch and burn them.

6. Piranha, Crocodile or Shark
– Sinking house – Players need to climb to the highest point in the house and survive the given time. If the water hits the player’s mobile phone, the player fails to challenge.

7. Bats
– Find the bats that are hiding in the house and drive them out

8. Cannibal flower
– The foot of one of the players is caught by cannibals and is about to be eaten. Find an axe and rescue the player

9. Elephants or Rhinoceros
– The animals break through the wall and run around the house. Players need to move around the house not to get hit by the animals. (Appendix 5)

10. Hunters
– The players need to set up traps in the house to catch them. The players need to be careful not to get caught by the hunters while gathering materials for the trap.
– Within the allotted time, players must avoid the hunters’ eyes and report it to the police. The players have to survive until the police arrive.

11. Monkeys
– The animals are messing up the kitchen. The players need to induce the monkey to leave the house.

12. Wolves or Hyenas
A bunch of animals walk around the players. Players need to find a torch and survive for a given time. (Appendix 4)

13. Zebra
Only one of the many zebras has a different pattern, players have to find it and tap it.

14. Parrot
– Parrot calls for rescue on behalf of its owner. Relying on the parrot’s horse to rescue its owner.

15. Bird
– Players get a map that tells them where the treasure is from the bird’s ankle. Players have to interpret the encrypted map to get to where the treasure is.
(Players need to collaborate to solve quiz)

16. Parrot
– To call for rescue, find a parrot and send a recorded speech.

Challenges are intended to encourage the players to move around the house rather than sitting in the room and watching a movie or TV. Players will be asked to collect weapons or resources, survive, solve a quiz, or take action. Various animals will be displayed so that the players do not get bored easily. Following are the list of challenges that will be given to the players.

Link to Miro board
https://miro.com/welcomeonboard/WXdjUHg3M3E0dGt1NHRTUVQ3N2M4YlREeWVHYW9aMm9Tc0x0T2RqNnl2U2N5NTdmMDNTUUlralZOUDFTZGJBZXwzMDc0NDU3MzQ5NzY4Mjc3MzMy?invite_link_id=612983752933

User Interface

Link to the UI Design
https://xd.adobe.com/view/aa54b8a7-0d17-4b5a-b708-ef4b14143c45-ff07/

How a user interacts with the app
https://www.youtube.com/embed/QN5Lsk6dzYY

AR Game

Adobe Aero was used to produce the AR Game, but the prototype could not be made as planned due to the problem that the program could not apply both horizontal and vertical anchors at the same time. Due to the problem of Adobe Aero not being able to apply horizontal and vertical anchors at the same time, it was impossible to move an AR object up, down and sideways at the same time. As a result, it failed to implement the effect of filling the water.
We also planned to design a system that swaps from day to night, but we couldn’t achieve it as Adobe Aero doesn’t support such a system. To solve these problems, we thought that the program used to build the prototype should be changed to another one. If the project is given more time, we would like to build the prototype using a new program to accomplish what we couldn’t achieve with Adobe Aero.