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User flow
Here's a useful strategy for thinking through a basic AR Flow, Scene. Put simply, in this section, write
what the user sees. Writing in the first-person, using I rather than you or he or she, tends to be the most
effective way to pre-visualize your users experience. Input options: Input options are the options
available for interaction in any given scene. You'll need to know when some input options are available
in some scenes but not others. User Action: what does the user do to move within a scene or move from
one scene to another? There's no universal answer. It comes down to what best serves your particular
experience. Icon Key. Last but not least, do your future self who favor by writing a key that explains what
all these icons mean. This flow from the presentation of the initial scene to the available input options to
the audio cues, and finally to the user action are all things you need to understand and plan out before
you actually start creating your AR experience.
Working with technical limitations
As we discussed in previous lessons, AR still has some technical limitations. For instance, you probably
won't be able to include many photo-realistic assets into your AR experience. Most photo-realistic 3D
characters enter what's called the uncanny valley. This is when digital characters appear almost but not
exactly like real things, causing a feeling of erroneous in users like it's not quite right in some
undefinable way. Instead, think about how you can use the art design of your experience to create the
effects that you're looking for. Choosing to use cartoonish designs or lighting can actually make the
experience feel more realistic to the user, as opposed to when you attempt to mimic the real world too
closely and fail. A cartoonish lion can still create immersive augmented reality. An uncanny photo-
realistic lion that falls short, cannot.
If you build it, they might try to break it
Any interactive designer will tell you that many users have one thing in common. They will eventually try
to do something that they know they aren't meant to do. In a video game, this could be trying to run
outside of the boundaries of a level or skipping directly to the final level. In an AR experience, this will
usually take the form of interacting with the digital assets in ways that are not intended to. One of the
most common ways users do this is by trying to walk straight into a digital object. For instance, let's take
the example of the lamp on your coffee table. At some point, you might wonder what would happen if
you moved your phone directly through it. AR assets are not solid in the real world, and there's nothing
to prevent the user from doing this. The good news is that users are usually aware that they are going
outside the established parameters, and are actually expecting you to provide them additional value by
building an entire world inside of the lamp. If you have the time and resources and think it's a funny
Easter egg, then build a world inside the lamp. Otherwise, there's no need to build for behavior that
doesn't add anything to your experience. Generally speaking, it serves as a good metaphor for how
users will engage with your content, which is a good thing to consider before designing your app.
The Android OS is everywhere
Over 85 percent of phones around the world run on the Android operating system. At the beginning of
2018, ARCore was already available on 100 million Android-powered smartphones. ARCore demands a
lot of processing power so not all older Android models have the necessary specifications yet. However,
as the past decade has shown us, technology evolves rapidly around desirable systems and features.
Robust processors and innovative visual processing units called VPUs are being integrated into new
smartphone models as we speak. These cutting edge mobile processing units will enhance important
ARCore functionality as the toolset progresses. Because Android is the world's most widely used
smartphone operating system with an estimated two billion units in 2017, the potential user base of
apps built on ARCore is a healthy incentive for developers.
How low-light conditions limit AR on mobile
AR is still a new and emerging technology, particularly for smartphones. There's a lot that the AR Core
platform can do, but let's take a moment to learn about some of its current limitations. So just like your
own eyes, AR needs light to see. In order to find those feature points and planes, your phone's camera
and other sensors need to be able to grab a good picture of what's actually located in the world around
you. This means that in dim or dark environments, most Augmented Reality devices will struggle to
properly understand your environment, and therefore be unable to properly render the experience. Low
light conditions are a problem for every AR tracking system that exists today. The key to these
technologies is their ability to orient themselves by seeing and understanding the real world. To do that
the real world needs to be well lit and visible. This will require advancements in camera technologies,
and computer vision, but in the meantime, developers should be conscious of this limitation.
How simple surfaces challenge AR
AR is constantly trying to find interesting and distinct feature points to see, track, and remember for
orienting the device and digital assets in augmented experience. This means that the software will have
more trouble with something plane like a white wooden coffee table than it would with a knotty
wooden table with a coffee mug on it. Distinct texture is important for providing the contrast needed to
create feature points. To put it simply, the more differentiation there is on surfaces and a given space,
the better AR apps will function.
Preparing your tools
To get started with an AR workflow, we're going to look at some of the preliminary actions you should
take before getting into the nuts and bolts of creating with AR Core. The first is preparing your tool set.
Some AR assets can be 2D but the vast majority of assets used for AR are three dimensional. Some great
tools for creating 3D models are programs like Maya, ZBrush, and 3DS Max. These tools are for
professionals, so it's normal for first time users to feel a little intimidated. There are entire courses
taught about each and professionals spend years mastering their various features and capability.
For the purposes of beginning with AR Core, we recommend starting with Google Poly, a repository of
3D assets and designs that also include models built by users all around the world. With Poly, you can
choose from a vast library of ready to go 3D assets and simply download them to use in your AR Core
experience. Taking this root means you can get your first AR Core experience off the ground quickly
without having to hire or train a 3D developer.
Outlining: drafting your design
As we explained in our discussion of user flows in the last section, it's important to outline your
experience in advance, so that you can iron out as many potential issues as possible, before you start
production. These plans can take the form of storyboards, sketches, or texts outlines. It's really a matter
of whatever will work best for you and your team. As a general guide, we recommend creating an
annotated design document. In this case, a design document refers to a thorough outline of the app or
experience you'd like to build. This should include a list gathered from your user flow of all interactions
you want your users to engage with, what sort of user interface your experience will use, and how your
objects will be placed in space. As you build this document, it should grow with input from your sound
designers, 3D model specialists, and other specialized members of the team. Make sure the document
contains all of your 3D assets you plan to use for your experience. By the end, everything from the
moment a user opens the experience, to the moment they close it down, should all be planned out in
detail. Even if you're a team of one, you will still benefit from this sort of forward thinking road map.
Building the team to execute your vision
As you begin to scope and plan your ARCore
experience, you may discover that you need people with advanced skills to
help you execute your vision. When your budget allows for it, it's usually more time effective
to hire a professional for this. These are some of the positions
you'll want to consider for bringing an AR experience to life. Software developers have coding
experience and computing knowledge. You may need to fine tune some of
the more generalized concepts and help you build some of your more
specialized ideas from scratch. However, be aware that top level
software developers usually charge fairly significant fees. If you can't find what you need in poly,
and you don't have the capabilities to
design a model from the ground up, then it may be time to call
in a professional 3D artist. This will allow you to build
a unique asset for your own content, and a person to work through possible
changes you need to make along the way. Depending on how specific of
an experience you want to build, and who you want your air experience to reach, you may need to hire
even more specialized
designers to help you realize your vision. Texture artists can enhance the work or a 3D designer by
creating unique textures
which essentially are skins for 3D models. That way, you can even create
more realistic effects.