TM Visualization
An Augmented Reality application built to help the students in Applied Science explore the concept of optical isomerism in a visual way.
Category
Interactive Design
Client
Lau Poh Nguk
(Applied Science Lecturer from Temasek Polytechnic)
(Applied Science Lecturer from Temasek Polytechnic)
Links
Date
21/08/2020
Screenshots from the app
Introduction
The objective is to create an AR app to visualize the molecular structure of transition metals to aid the students in Applied Science in exploring the concept of superimposability.
Project Description
The project was designed in Unity using Cinema 4D, and Illustrator. The final product is a single page app with a collapsible tab. The app uses the phone's camera to look for AR codes, which displays the corresponding model upon detection.
Research
The first steps taken were to research about Augmented Reality platforms and dev tools, then proceed to study and understand the struggles the students are facing. After settling on Unity as the development platform and Vuforia as the Augmented Reality package, work then started on building the app.
Alpha
Our alpha version focused on solving the project's main objective. Processes like modelling molecules were automated and workflows were set in stone to facilitate rapid prototyping of the app. Internal testing was done very frequently, along with weekly meetings with the client to discuss various issues or to suggest changes.
Beta
Our beta version focused solely on organisation and optimization. Rough scripts were ironed out in this process and compiled into one larger script where applicable. Materials were redone and all the models and prefabs were given proper names using a naming system. A controller script was planned and developed, which replaced the hand-edited prototyping workflow with an automated system.
Release
The initial release was sent to a closed group of testers while the last few things were being polished. All the versions past the initial release uses semantic versioning to properly keep track of changes and updates. Post-release work like polishing the documentation and creating a portfolio takes priority at this point.
Results
The app was successfully developed, fulfilling all the initial criteria and included even more. Our client was extremely pleased with the results and the feedback from the closed group of testers were positive.
Conclusion
The dev team believes that more testing would push the app further, which is a sentiment the client and testers share. However the app was developed during the COVID-19 period where testing required a tedious planning process and was time-consuming in general.