Inspiration
TraverseAR was actually intended to be developed as a prototype of a project I'm is starting with another team for a class at Rochester Institute of Technology. It was decided that if Chris and myself could manage to get even a poor example of what I wanted to build done in 36 hours, I could continue to develop it for the long-term project. If we couldn't get a working demo, I would have to return to my team with a fair measure of the likelihood we could develop this technology for our client alongside the rest of the production.
What it does
TraverseAR might be thought of in its current state as a multiplayer treasure map. There is a static image that has been mapped to a 15" x 15" square of flat surface (like a table). Each player places their phone flat on the table and sees a small piece of the image. They can move their phones around to see more of the picture, working together to figure out what that mapped image is.
How we built it
Chris focused on hybridizing and managing Unity's matchmaking services with an end goal of ip-connection lobbies for the demo. I was responsible for writing the script to accurately track mobile phone movements using the technology present inside of the phone (accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.).
Challenges we ran into
Tracking fine movements accurately with just the accelerometer inside of a mobile device is no easy task -- there's a reason this sort of tech isn't really present anywhere. It's either too sensitive and jerky, or requires unnaturally rough movements to trigger a response. On the other side of development, building around and into Unity's multiplayer functionality was significantly more difficult than we expected, despite that being their suggested route.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We almost hit a working prototype of the connection service and the phone was moving , if not very well.
What we learned
Chris relearned how to ice skate, and also had his first experience with Unity development. I had never worked with Unity's tools for Android or iOS. Collectively we learned that making something we know doesn't exist because of technological limitations might not be the best hackathon project.
What's next for TraverseAR
Now that I'm a bit more familiar with the work that it will take for this technology to be usable (and feel good), I can return to my team and we can work on Plan B. I might still work on TraverseAR over the next week or two to try and get it to a more functional state, but as it stands now the idea is unfortunately unachievable.
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