Inspiration
We were inspired by the Covid-19 Pandemic to create an application that allowed users to more fully understand how a pandemic spreads and how to keep yourself safe. We wanted to use Augmented Reality to create a platform that allowed users to interactively learn about the spread of pandemics and have an activity to do while stuck in quarantine!
What it does
The application allows you to enter an Augmented Reality Game to simulate the spread of a pandemic. Our goal was to create an application that had multiple levels and different power-ups, such as a face mask or hand sanitizer that helped combat the virus. The object of the game is to avoid the Corona Virus strains and stay safe through the pandemic. With each level, the player would gain a power-up that would help them stay safe. However, each level would become more difficult with a new scenario that helped the spread of the virus. If you got hit with the virus, the game would end and link you to a page displaying local areas to get tested.
How I built it
We built the game in Unity using echoAR to create game sprites through a cloud-based platform. We used the Android Build Environment in Unity to be able to run the application on our phones.
Challenges I ran into
Unfortunately for all of us, this was our first time using Unity at all! We first struggled with getting all of the downloads and getting Unity up and running. After that, we struggled with getting the AR objects to move. We struggled with using the echoAR documentation for coding in Unity. However, the sponsors at echoAR helped us debug through our issued and try to get the game up and running!
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We are proud of getting the AR objects to be able to move around through the environment. This was really difficult to do but we learned how to create new scripts to move the AR objects and get them to behave a different way.
What I learned
We learned so much more about Game Development and AR technology. None of us had worked with these technologies in the past! We definitely have a much greater respect for those able to program games using AR technology. Check out our Slides Presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JqRQQR0K86uMEH6fsoMl3gNxbdvocyf04X5wCOUy_ns/edit?usp=sharing
What's next for Pandemic Pandemonium
Next, we want to be able to implement more of the gameplay. We did not get to accomplish all the different aspects we wanted to cover. We will try to implement different levels and a certain ability to interact with the environment more. While we have a lot more to do, we accomplished a whole lot in 24 hours!
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