Description as a Tweet:

Understand,Explore and Visualize!

Inspiration:

Till date, several studies have been conducted which prove the power of visual aids in eLearning. And there are some interesting results drawn from them. Such as, learners respond to visual information faster as compared to text only materials. Also, visuals help improve learning tremendously and on multiple levels. Hence, around 65% of the population comprises visual learners.Thus using Augmented Reality to provide the visual experience to student with affordable devices(mobile devices) and ease-of installation.Since most of the educational augmented reality apps requires a QR Code or an images to visualize the objects thus limiting it's scope.I wanted to develop an app that could bring the augmented experience without any additional material.

What it does:

The projects is currently focused on children of age group 5-10. It provides an UI to select different categories like animals, plants, shapes etc which a student want to visualize in the real world using augmented reality with mobile devices. Other than visualizing it also includes audio such as sounds of different animals and pronunciation of different objects. It also provides facts and information regarding the particular topic selected.

How we built it:

The project is built in Unity using AR Foundation and Echo-ar API to provide a real-time Augmented Reality experience through an Android device using ARCORE. 3D models of different categories were added to Echo-ar cloud and the API provided by them was integrated with the AR Session Origin Object using an Echo-ar prefab to establish a connection between Unity and Echo-ar cloud. UI for the project was developed from scratch using the Unity UI objects. C# scripting was used to provide functionality to buttons,enhance user experience. Audio sounds are also added such as sounds of different animals and pronunciation of different objects.

Technologies we used:

  • C/C++/C#
  • Misc

Challenges we ran into:

Learning how to use Unity 3D to develop UI and AR Foundation to develop Augmented Reality experience was challenging on its own, but the challenges amplified when I had to attach different scenes using buttons as it requires the understanding of Unity Objects and scripting in C# which I lacked, also the use of Echo-ar with AR Foundation required understanding of Unity 3D configurations.

Accomplishments we're proud of:

I am proud to tackle such a prominent area with a very practical and convenient solution that really nobody would have any excuse not to use; convenient to use and more accessible, I am confident that this can help students having difficult in understanding through text and letting them explore and learn visually. Finally, I am incredibly proud for learning so much and for actually delivering on a product in the short amount of time that I had with the levels of experience I came into this hackathon with.

What we've learned:

I learned how to use Unity 3D, configure it for specific devices,manipulate and use different GameObjects and their components, use ARFroundation and XR toolkit.Also how to integrate Echo-ar cloud with Unity 3D. Adding different 3D models in the Unity scenes and develop UI with Unity objects.

What's next:

The scope for the project is immense as it's currently focused for children of age group 5-10 but different levels could be added based on the educational background thus it could provide quality learning material with ease of installation and availability over affordable devices. Also different learning activities like games and quizzes can be combined with augmented reality experience thus nurturing creativity among students. Monitoring Learning Progress of the students and providing valuable feedback would help them work on their weakness.

Built with:

I used Unity 3D and it's framework ARFoundation with Echo-ar and C# for developing funcnality.

Prizes we're going for:

  • Best Documentation
  • Best Venture Pitch
  • Best Mobile Hack

Team Members

Harshit Chopra

Table Number

Table TBD