Lesson 3
Introduction
Augmented reality is the projection of digital information on the screen to supplement it with artificial elements and information about the environment. In other words, adding digital objects to the real physical world. Most are familiar with AR from the Pokemon Go game or masks on Instagram and Snapchat. Augmented reality technology can be used in everyday life the example augmented reality glasses. AR technologies can also be used in various fields, for example, in tourism for navigation and obtaining additional information, instant translation. Also in fitting clothes and furniture in online stores. In the field of education, this technology will help to visually see the processes and mechanisms from the inside.
There are different methods of using AR technologies. In this project, we use a marker-based method. It is easier to be recognized by the camera and gives a better binding to the place for the virtual model.
Unity is a game engine for the development and management of computer, console, and mobile games. With this engine, we will make our ar projection at home.
First, you need to install Unity Hub. Minimum computer requirements from the official website:
OS: Windows 7 SP1+, 8, 10, 64-bit versions only; Mac OS X 10.12+; Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04; CentOS 7.
GPU: Graphics card with support for DX10 (shader version 4.0).
Unity Hub allows you to manage installed versions of the Unity editor, create new projects and use ready-made ones.
Download and install Unity Hub following the instructions. Click download instructions.
Today we will make a very simple prototype of an AR application and we will be able to see what this technology is capable of. In the future, someone may want to study and develop this technology. The app will detect and track the image.
To do this, we need Vuforia. Vuforia with Unity provides a cross-platform SDK for augmented reality development with support for most Android and iOS devices.
Let’s start creating such an application. Click to download instructions. Here is a step-by-step photo instruction, follow it.
As a result, you will get:
Homework
Prepare a presentation. Each team will have to show an AR projection and present their house plan. Tell them why they chose this layout. What is the advantage of their layout? Students can use PowerPoint, videos, interactive whiteboards, blogs, and other multimedia. Various creative presentation methods can be used.