Assignment 3 Report

1 year ago by Ninoy

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Introduction

The idea of this app is to add interest to the traditional classroom through AR technology, using a chemistry class as an example.

Description

When the user opens the application, the camera function is enabled. After scanning a photo of a chemical instrument into the camera, the corresponding diorama will appear. Below each model there is a button which, when tapped, brings up a description of the instrument. Currently this button simply displays the name of the instrument when clicked. More detailed information can be added in the future.

The application is aimed at students and teachers of traditional courses, especially those taking online courses. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, online classes have become very popular. The use of AR technology not only adds interest to offline classes, but also allows students who take online classes to learn more visually about instruments that are not directly accessible to them. This application can be used not only for chemistry classes, but also for the presentation of any other courses, like dynamic physics models. Models that can be displayed in 3d form are much more useful for students to understand than a simple plan on a PowerPoint presentation. Teachers don't need to prepare all kinds of physical models and bring them to the classroom before the lesson, which also reduces the school's financial expenses.

To use this application, all the user needs is a webcam, which can be used to recognize photos. Most of today's laptops and other devices originally come with their own cameras.

Interaction Design

The interaction designed in this application is a button that can be used to display text. For example, Alice is a student who is taking a chemistry class online. The lesson is about learning different chemical instruments. The teacher provides them with the app and some pictures of the instruments, and after Alice scans the pictures into the camera, a diorama of the instrument and a button appear on the screen. When she clicked on the button, a description of this instrument appeared on the screen. The text description will not appear on the screen until the button is clicked. The student could observe the model without an occlusion first and then view the introduction.

Technical Development

The interaction is designed as a button that enables the basic functionality of displaying text when clicked. Firstly the text part is hidden. In the button's functionality options it is set to enable "show text" when clicked. The user will initially only see the diorama, and when the button is clicked, the textual introduction will be presented.