Code[cAR]

Inspiration

This project was inspired by games which aim to make computer-programming concepts accessible to young children. Unlike past games, however, we used Augmented Reality to bring the user's instructions to life. By introducing younger people to code in a simple way, free from complex syntax, we hope to inspire people who would otherwise never be exposed to coding and to encourage them to consider a career in the software development industry.

What it does

The game uses the user's camera to create an augmented reality playing field, consisting of a car and a series of obstacles (walls). Users can use predefined functions to create a sequence of instructions which are then executed by an augmented reality car. The goal is to navigate the car through increasingly complex levels without hitting any walls. In addition, moves can be strung together and repeated using loop structures to reduce repeated work. The sequence of instructions is meant to introduce users to some fundamental programming concepts like line-by-line execution of code, using for loops, and calling functions.

How we built it

We used Google's ARCore and Unity to design the game, with code written in C#.

Challenges we ran into

AR collision detection (solved), creating an interactive move list (in progress), limited examples of ARcore.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building a working AR game as a team of two who had never done AR development before.

What we learned

Neither of us had used ARcore or Unity before this weekend. We were both new to Augmented Reality and mostly new to game development.

What's next for Code[cAR]

Clean up the UI, add more levels and movement possibilities (e.g. jumping), improve AR object placement. We also want to add a "three-star" system for levels, where to get the maximum score users have to beat the level using the most efficient code possible.