In this project I've tried to explore how Square Gift Cards could be enhanced in augmented reality using Meta Quest Pro with colour video passthrough. Of course it will take the emergence of outdoor AR glasses for this to become practical, but currently mixed reality headsets allow us to experiment and figure out what might work.
Think of it this way: slowly but surely people are moving away form physical credit/gift cards, cash, receipts, etc to handling all of that on their smartphone. But what if you didn't even need the physical smartphone anymore? What if it's all digital? What role would Square play then? How could it have a presence in augmented reality? This prototype is intended to explore those questions.
The app uses the Square Gift Cards API and Square Gift Card Activities API to create gift cards, activate them, load them with funds, and redeem those funds. Those are obviously very dry, technical things to do, so it has been enriched by adding 3d models on top of the gift cards which visualize and dynamically respond to the changing of the balance on the gift cards.
From a business point of view, it seemed important to investigate what kind of new opportunities this new medium might offer to entice people to use gift cards, thereby increasing revenue of the companies bold enough to deploy new technology early to gain an edge in a competitive landscape. It's always hard to attract attention, so this kind of project might help in marketing stores deploying it.
Technically the app is built in Unity, using 3d models from Sketchfab and CGTrader modified in Blender, combined with Meta's Presence Platform (specifically the Passthrough and Interaction SDKs) on a Meta Quest Pro. OpenAI's DALL-E 2 was used to created the texture on the gift card. The app is distributed as an .apk for testing, because Meta Quest runs Android under the hood.
The prototype could relatively easily be expanded into a multi-headset/glasses experience in which store employee and customer sync up and each experience the same augmented reality, for a completely new type of integration between the in-person experience and the virtual experience. The store employee might get some additional admin options such as loading a card with balance, which the customer would not have. Such a thing is easily achieved in a purely digital experience.
Hopefully this type of experience can also result in a reduction of the need for physical gift cards being produced, resulting in the consumption of less plastic and paper. And, also very important, bring a bit of joy and amazement to people!
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