Gripper AR – ARKit Game (2017)

SHOWCASE / CASE STUDY

CLIENT:
TEDx / internal project

AGENCY:
n/a

DELIVERABLES:
• Interactive AR Demo for TEDx Event
• Gripper AR Application on iOS
• Marketing Materials

TECHNOLOGY:
• iPhone SE (x2)
• iPad Pro (x2)
• Custom Wand Controller
• ARKit for iOS
• Unity 3D
• Blender
• Adobe Creative Cloud

OBJECTIVE:
Initially, the objective of this application was to create an augmented reality demo for a TEDx event that would incorporate the event’s poster into the experience. Despite being a glorified tech demo, we received phenomenal feedback at the TEDx event, and decided to finish building out this augmented reality puzzle game so that could be used for any other brand or event activation at just a moments notice. This is achieved by allowing a completely customizable AR puzzle experience, including being able to use a photo from your device’s camera roll or take a photo on-the-spot to use as the puzzle image, as well as being able to personalize preferences for difficulty, music, theme colors, time limits and more.

SOLUTION:
Gripper is the first augmented reality application of it’s kind, being a markerless augmented reality puzzle game to be purpose-built around personalization. The initial tech demo version of the game was built shortly after Apple launched it’s dedicated augmented reality framework, ARKit, in the summer of 2017. ARKit’s release offered a major advantage over existing augmented reality frameworks at the time by allowing AR applications to detect flat surfaces like the floor or tables, and then anchor content to those surfaces, rather than having to anchor content to an image or QR code.

In Gripper, each game takes place in your own real-world surroundings, and utilizes movement of both your entire body and your smartphone / tablet within the space of a small room (known as room-scale in the VR/AR industry) to solve each puzzleboard. It’s a game made for all ages, and has a wide range of difficulty settings, along with other customizable gameplay elements like theme colors, music, time limit, and custom puzzle imagery. Through the use of your own existing media as the puzzleboard (or taking a photo in-game, or using the beautiful built-in stock imagery), along with it’s customizable aesthetic and gameplay elements, Gripper enables individuals to have a very personalized puzzle experience, while also enabling organizations to have an instantly self-branded AR application to engage attendees at events.

After setting up your customized puzzle in Gripper, the puzzleboard appears before you and scatters puzzle cubes throughout your room or environment. You are then tasked with using your Gripper, the on-screen grabbing device, to pick up the puzzle cubes and put them back in the correct place on the puzzleboard. If you can solve the puzzle, you’ll grab a key, and choose a virtual prize by opening one of the three treasure chests behind you. Virtual prizes include anything from a skateboard, to a plunger, to a wide-eyed sheep, and can add a humorous point of conversation to the experience by asking each player what prize they won. To encourage Gripper’s replayability, we included an intricate game-saving system, which keeps track of your progress through beating the different modes and difficulties. We also programmed in unlockable items, attained by conquering certain time or skill-based challenges, or otherwise collecting every prize available in the game.