CampusLens

Inspiration

We’re driven by campus community, playful discovery, and shared experiences—building a uniquely SFU platform you won’t find on any other campus.

What it does

Lets users place custom 3D assets at precise locations across campus. Anyone on the platform can discover and view those assets in AR on site.

How we built it

PostgreSQL + PostGIS for geospatial data, Express.js backend with TypeORM, and 8th Wall for rendering AR elements. We used Docker instead of Supabase to host our database locally.

Challenges we ran into

8th Wall’s environment blocked our use of WebSockets to external services, limiting multi-user state and presence features. Balancing cross-platform web access (including iOS) with AR capabilities forced several pivots in tooling. From the front-end: switching back and forth from 8th Wall to A-scene (for the use of .glb files). From the back-end: wrangling with the large dataset into Supabase, then into a database hosted on Felipe's device shared on the local network.

Accomplishments we’re proud of

High-accuracy placement on campus by leveraging SFU Abacus geospatial datasets—improving beyond raw GPS and achieving ~1 m accuracy in our tests. Learning a lot under 24 hours!

What we learned

A ton of AR fundamentals, plus how to wrangle large geospatial datasets. Practical devops: tunneling and deployment workarounds when standard hosting couldn’t meet our data/permission needs.

What’s next for CampusLens

Migrate core AR to Unity with a web integration layer for accessibility. Broaden device support (e.g., Meta smart glasses with a compact side display). Ship a campus pilot, expand social features, and keep pushing accuracy and persistence.

What it does

Allow for students to leave their mark on campus without the environmental consequence of printing paper! Students and event organizers can use AR-assets to advertise, create art, and be a sensation on a virtual space in the campus community. A little easter-egg that you were here carved on the columns now moved to a magnificent structure you can show to others through the lens.

Prize Tracks:

• ColorStack Most Portable Project
• CSSS Rube Goldberg Challenge
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Enactus Challenge
• Blueprint Social Good Track

Built With

• a-frame
• ar.js
• css
• express.js
• gemini
• html
• javascript
• ngrok
• node.js
• postgis
• postgresql
• three.js
• typeorm
• typescript
• vercel