weather widgets

Intro and Description

This project contains 5 AR widgets with information about the date, time, and weather.

It uses image tracking with the images from the VuforiaMars_Images database, and each widget appears on top of a different image when the image is detected.

The first widget, which appears with the astronaut marker, is a clock which shows the current time. The next widget, on the drone marker, shows the current date

The next (oxygen marker) is a wind sock which displays the wind speed and direction. Another widget (fissure marker) has a thermometer which displays the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, and a water beaker which displays the humidity.

The widget for the mars marker displays the main weather condition (sunny, cloudy, etc) as text and as an icon. There are 9 different possible weather conditions and the user can cycle through them using the left and right arrow keys. Here are a few examples:

Video

Here's a link to a video of the project in action: https://youtu.be/H6fmSxv2h-I

Code

Source code: https://github.com/zaynabj/cs428proj1

Instructions to build and run:

First you need to install Unity

  1. Go to https://unity.com/ and download and install UnityHubSetup

  2. Open Unity Hub and click on Installs, and then click Add

  3. Click the download archive, and click on the Unity 2019.x tab

  4. Find Unity 2019.4.1f1 and download to Unity Hub. Install Unity, documentation, and the build support for your machine

Next you need to install Vuforia

  1. Create a free developer account at https://developer.vuforia.com/

  2. Open Unity 2019.4.1f1and create a new 3D project

  3. Go to https://developer.vuforia.com/downloads/sdk and select "Add Vuforia Engine to a Unity Project or upgrade to the latest version"

  4. Opening the downloaded file should take you to your Unity project where you can import Vuforia

Finally, to open and run my project in Unity:

  1. Go to https://github.com/zaynabj/cs428proj1, select Code, and in the drop down, select download zip. Once downloaded unzip/extract it.

  2. Open Unity Hub, go to the projects tab, and select ADD. Inside the git repository, there is a subfolder "cs428proj1-master" - select this folder

  3. In Unity, if the scene doesn't open automatically, open the scene "project 1 date and time" (it is inside the assets folder)

  4. To run it inside Unity press the play icon

You will also need to print out the image targets which can be found here:

http://www.evl.uic.edu/aej/428/20files/4%20mars%20markers.png

http://www.evl.uic.edu/aej/428/20files/2%20more%20mars%20markers.png


Credits

The image used for the date and time models is by Claudia Meyer on freeimages

https://www.freeimages.com/photo/spring-bloom-1375020


Discussion

I believe these types of widgets will likely become popular once AR glasses are popularized and people are wearing them regularly. Although all this info is easily available on a phone, many people, myself included like the idea of physically being able to see it around them, without having to pull out a phone. It is more convenient and, as you can see in my project, the widgets can also be personalized and aesthetically pleasing. They also do not have to be dependent on certain image targets. They can be voice and/or motion controlled to allow the user to instantly view the information they want, wherever they want to see it.

In addition to the date, time, and weather info implemented here, we could have similar widgets for other kinds of useful information people would typically look up on a phone. This could include sunrise and sunset times, air quality, traffic info, news headlines, calendar info, and to-do lists, all displayed graphically and in 3D, using text, icons, images, and animations. The calendar and to-do lists are especially useful because they can allow the user to view and edit their calendar or tasks using motion and/or voice controls without ever having to take out their phone. As AR technology becomes increasingly powerful, it could even have the power to replace phones entirely. After all, if the technology is powerful enough, we could build an AR “phone” but with lots of extra 3D features that can be build using AR.

Other types of information we could display with AR widgets are:

· We could display the user’s texts, emails, social media notifications, etc.

· If a contact is calling it could display their profile picture or video if it is a video call.

· Simple google searches, especially image searches