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[project-exergaming2018]

Mentor Meeting - 17/09/18

Just a general catchup with Peta. We talked about what we’ve done so far, and what she expects from us in Week 10. She is going to be playtesting whatever we have at that point.

I also got a tablet to test my app build on.

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Testing in Unity

I followed the tutorial about making markerless AR app and I have got the pet to display in AR on the screen.

I used a script that tracks the gps location of the user. It was made by Matthew Hallberg and he has allowed people to use and modify his script. Script located at http://wirebeings.com/markerless-gps-ar.html

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Animations

I’ve made a start on a walk and run animation for my character. At the moment, they’re only blocked animations; I was trying to get the main poses right before adding detail. And I’m also still figuring out how the rig works. I’ve only ever done biped animation before so this will be another challenge for me as I don’t have any experience with quadruped characters. I found some reference images to help me.

Walk

Run

The walk and run animations would ideally play when the player is moving around with their device, and I would like to have a few animations when the player is idle or interacting with the character. Some ideas are:

1. Sitting wagging his tail with his head tilted and tongue hanging out.

2. Sitting and begging with his paws up

3. Chasing his tail

4. Laying down for a nap

5. Laying on his back for a tummy rub

6. Sneaking (walk lowered body)

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Model Selection

The 3D model I’ve decided to use for my prototype is the Cody Dog model and rig. I got this rig from Highend 3D, under an MIT license. The creator of this character is oyvind. I chose this character because cute animals appeal to kids and there are many kids who I’m sure are always asking their parents for a dog. Now the child can have one without the noise, mess and costs involved. I will probably texture him a light or dark brown colour.

Character downloaded from https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/cody-rigged-dog-character-for-maya

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This is a tutorial about making a markerless location-based GPS AR app with Vuforia and Unity.

Problem with markerless AR is that you can’t get closer to the object you’re trying to augment. So this tutorial uses the user’s GPS location to get closer to the object. Matthew created a script which takes the user’s start and current positions in order to move the augmented object closer to the unity camera. This gives the user the effect of actually getting closer to the object. If I’m able to implement a mechanic like this in my game, I think the kids would really like it; they’d be able to physically see themselves walking towards their pet and not just see it at one size and location on the screen. It would make the pet experience seem a bit more realistic.

Video uploaded to YouTube by MatthewHallberg, February 15 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6djed8e4n0

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This is a quick tutorial about making a marker-based augmented reality app. Matthew Hallberg created an app called Trump AR, where you play as the president of the United States. You have to save the country by building walls and slaying zombies.

The video talks about using Unity with the Vuforia to create a simple marker-based AR game with joystick controls. This is a beginner tutorial, which is great for me as I only have a little bit of experience using Unity and have never worked with AR before. It describes all the required programs and files you’ll need to download to be able to make a character move on the screen.

The joystick control part isn’t relevant to my game design because the player isn’t supposed to be able to control the character’s movement, but learning about Vuforia and how AR works in Unity is helpful.

Video uploaded to YouTube by MatthewHallberg, March 28 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khavGQ7Dy3c&t=90s

Trump AR app (available on the App Store and Google Play) created by Matthew Hallberg and updates to the app done by Tushar Purang

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Another tutorial on creating an AR app in Unity using Vuforia. It's a step-by-step guide, which is very helpful for me being new to Vuforia. It’s basically all about setting up image targets and tracking images.

Video uploaded to YouTube by Playful Technology, February 28 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtiUx_szKbI&t=9s

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Mentor Meeting (03/09/18)

We had our third mentor meeting and met with Thea Blackler for the first time. We spoke about her work and then each shared our proposal ideas with her.

Peta checked in with me about whether I wanted to make a mockup prototype or just do the animations. I've decided to do a prototype; I’m told this is ambitious, but I really want to test myself and learn more about making a mobile app because it’s something I haven’t touched on before.

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Character ideas

Some more realistic looking characters - these might be too realistic for the type of game I want to make? They’re cute, but not the exact style I was thinking of for the game.

Models are from the Free Character Rigs section on Highend 3D, and can be used under MIT license.

Pengu 1.0.0 for Maya by datta_mayukh

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/pengu-for-maya

Mortimer the Mouse 1.0.0 for Maya by Nicholas Havas

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/mortimer-the-mouse-for-maya

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Character ideas

Other cute cartoony characters. I think these would be appealing to young kids, however since I’m only implementing one character in my game, I want a character to appeal to both boys and girls. These may not fit that condition.

Models are from the Free Character Rigs section on Highend 3D, and can be used under MIT license.

CrazyFrog 0.1.0 for Maya by karthikrigger

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/crazyfrog-for-maya

ntMonkey 1.0.0 for Maya by Nelson Teixeira

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/ntmonkey-for-maya

Pierre - The Llama 1.0.0 for Maya by Ashwin Inamdar

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/pierre-the-llama-for-maya

Cartoon Turtle Character 1.0.0 for Maya by netwave

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/cartoon-turtle-character-for-maya

Tubbs 1.0.0 for Maya by Raveen Rajadorai

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/tubbs-for-maya

Krag 1.0.3 for Maya by Doug Hines

https://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/krag-for-maya

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Proposal Update

My original proposal

The game would let the kids care for their own virtual pet, without the mess, space and resources required for a real pet. The user will open the game on a mobile device (iPhone) and see their pet in AR. In order to care for their pet (buy food, water, clothes, toys) they’ll have to do some form of exercise. I’m still figuring out how I want to track exercise, whether it’s the number of steps, distance travelled, heart rate (I’ll do some research). The amount of exercise they do depends on how many in-game dollars they get. For example, five-star jumps might equal five in-game dollars, which buys a hat for the pet.

Updates:

- Peta said I don’t have to have a full prototype completed; she’s happy for me to work more on the design side. So I could potentially submit a variety of characters and animations that I would’ve liked to make a game with. At this stage, I’m still deciding if I want to make a prototype or just submit characters.

- I want to make it so that to exercise the pet, the user themselves has to exercise, so it kind of gives the user a purpose to exercise.

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Common Sense Media

Best Preschool TV Shows

Sesame Street, Timmy Time, Angelina Ballerina, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, Dinosaur Train, Henry Hugglemonster, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Octonauts

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-preschool-tv-shows#preschoolers

Best Animal TV Shows for Kids

Jim Henson’s Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, Jungle Junction, Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies, Megaminals, Pingu, Shaun the Sheep, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Backyardigans, The Wonder Pets

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-animal-tv-shows-for-kids

Note:  These are deemed best by adults not children, but still some good info. I’m not putting the complete lists here, I’ll only pick out some.

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Top Best Animals for Kids and Families

Credit:  YouTube channel - Hand Play TV - Animals Learn for kids

Uploaded Feb 2017

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What animals do kids like?

Top 10 animals voted by the audience of FunKids

10. Panda

9. Meerkat

8. Tiger

7. Rabbit

6. Koala

5. Guinea Pig

4. Monkey

3. Penguin

2. Cat

1. Dog

Note: This is a UK site and I couldn’t find an exact date; the first comment was from 2014 so this information is a bit outdated, but it gives me a starting point.

http://www.funkidslive.com/blog/the-official-top-10-animals-voted-by-you/

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Workshop 20/08/18 - Feedback

What is the brief summary of the project?

We have been asked to create a game for children aged 4-6 that is intuitive, fun and engaging while encouraging physical activity.

How are you responding to the brief?

My idea is a virtual pet simulator. Users will be able to pick their pet and will have to buy food and other accessories to look after their pet. In order to buy things, the user will have to exercise their pet which is achieved by the user performing exercise themselves. Essentially, exercise is the game currency. The more exercise a user does, the more game currency they’ll obtain.

What is the innovation?

The brief itself states the innovation involves the design and development of an active gaming experience for preschool children.

My idea isn't in any rights original; there are so many different virtual pet simulators currently in the market. I think the innovation lies in that it expands on the idea of the Tamagotchi. Users still have to look after their pet, but they actually have to get up and move themselves to exercise their pet.

The group we shared with said that the innovation for my idea is in the development and t4esting of characters with the target audience.

What are you doing next?

Before the next meeting with Peta, I’m researching which characters kids aged 4-6 relate to and currently like. I would like to have some concept art and start some kind of design document.

What is the biggest challenge you foresee?

My biggest challenge will be building the actual prototype - the programming side. I am an animator so I have basically zero knowledge when it comes to programming. I brought this up with Peta and she would be perfectly happy if I didn’t build an actual prototype, instead focus on character development and animations. She’s ultimately left it up to me; if I want to make a prototype I can but she’d be happy with the characters.

We were paired with the Horror in VR group. They listened to each of our project ideas and then we listened to their idea (working as a group).

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Workshop 20/08/18 - Hypothesis

Forming A Hypothesis:

Context: Exergaming for young children

Problem: Children don't get enough exercise and too much screen time

Question: How to create a fun and engaging gaming experience where exercise is a side effect?

Hypothesis: Does a game make a child want to exercise more than traditional methods?

Is this testable?: Yes

Testing the problem and hypothesis with stakeholders:

Q. Could health issues be a problem for some children given the   exercises we decide to implement?

Q. What exercises do you find fun? (For Children)

Q. What most impedes a child's engagement with exercise?

Q. What are the current modules for dealing with said impediments?

Q. What gaming experiences do you find fun? (For Children)

Q. Do you see any problems or limitations on a large group of children   exercising together?

Refining The Hypothesis:

Hypothesis: Having the opportunity to exercise via an exergame, would a child be willing to participate in physical activity where they generally wouldn't with traditional exercise methods?

Hypothesis: To create an environment where children continue to remain engaged through experiencing new scenarios during play.

Validating Hypothesis:

For refined hypothesis 1. Ideally, we want kids to have high engagement with the game, and a middle ground between high and low exercise.

For refined hypothesis 2. Ideally, we want high levels of engagement paired with gameplay which contains new tasks to keep the engagement high.

Validating and Balancing Innovation:

1. Test how much the target users enjoy the game characters vs how much they engage with them.

2. Test how fun the game is vs how much exercise users are doing while playing.