SERIOUS GAME WITH
AR – FI CONTENT

The ARvatar serious game came into the world when the FI-content project consortium and our company joined forces. The aim was to raise awareness on air pollution and other environmental issues by using concepts of Augmented Reality.

The challenge was to develop a specific enabler (SE) that uses SLAM algorithm for markerless tracking applied to Augmented Reality in serious gaming. In addition, a specific enabler had to be developed that offers features and functionalities for creating and deploying AR applications.

Because the issue of protecting the environment has the relevance of common good and affects people from all walks of life, the app developed using SEs had to be easy to use, with an intuitive user experience design and the ability to gather real-time data.

One of the most important concepts in creating the ARvatar serious game was to provide participants with an interface that offered rich and engaging user experience and presented them with all the relevant information to achieve their goals.

The ARvatar game was built on top of FI-Content – FIWARE specific enablers developed by ARVRtech, namely ARTool and SLAMflex. The ARTool SE provides Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions that offer features and functionalities for creating and deploying AR apps using a simple and intuitive drag & drop interface and no programming knowledge.

The solution we created enabled the use and visualization of real-time environmental data within the pervasive game ARTool platform through the integration of the ekoNET IoT Service.

The ARvatar can be visualized through Augmented Reality once the appropriate markers are detected. Thanks to the SLAMflex SE developed by us, the visualisation of ARvatar with markerless tracking was also enabled.

ARvatar is modified and influenced by the environmental measurements received in real time (such as the temperature and CO2 concentration). After the ARvatar is visualised, the player can start the game. For example, the player can guess the real values of CO2 concentration and the temperature on the basis of the ARvatar appearance. These changes in ARvatar relate to the score and position of the gamer. The closer the players get to the correct result, the more points they receive.

In a nutshell, the ARTool SE offers Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions for deploying and creating AR applications.

FIWARE is an open initiative created to enable a sustainable ecosystem around the integration of recent Internet technologies. As a result, FIWARE provides Generic Enablers to developers and SMEs.

These FIWARE enablers for the ARvatar game are on top of the FI-content, while ARTool and SLAMflex (Specific Enablers) were developed by us based on the project requirements.

The Augmented Reality FI-content application works on all types of smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android).

The project helped to expand access to the FIWARE Media & Content Lab, where live demos and other extraordinary content at FIWARE Media & Content Enablers were available for further development and integration. New FIWARE Enablers could also be created.

Regardless of the end user, if the desirable information is presented in an appealing way, it may encourage people to see it from a different perspective. They can start changing their everyday habits as they become more ecologically aware and driven to sustainability.