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Create An AR World Experience

Introduction​

In the last article we have created the first XR-mod experience, in this section we will create an AR world experience from zero to one.

What is the AR World?​

In short, the AR world is a virtual world, or call it the earth Clone Project. We use computer technology to clone the earth and digitize all the physical objects on the earth. Then the digital the earth is matched one-to-one with the real the earth. We can see the enhancement of the digital earth to the real the earth through XR headset.

The AR World layers

We are in the pre-change phase, so cloning the entire the earth is difficult for us. Although we cannot clone the whole earth, we can clone a small part of it, such as buildings, shopping areas, parks, and landmarks.

Copyright @Snapchat, AR World of landmark

Prepare​

Tools​

Before starting to create AR experiences, the following software and development kits must be installed:

Content Dev-ToolsXRMOD tools chain
  • XRMOD API
  • XRMOD IL code
  • XRMOD Simulator
  • XRMOD Handheld AR
  • XRMOD Package tools
  • XRMOD Engine Setgings
  • XRMOD Render Assistant
  • ARFoundation (ARKit/ARCore/ARKit FaceTracking)
info

How do I get a development kit?​

How to create a Unity project?​

Mapping Physical World​

tip

If you don't know how to mapping the world, you can click here to read more.

Create An XRMOD Project​

Introduction​

Before starting to create, you need to understand the XR-MOD project directory structure. When we use PackageTools to create the structure as follows:

ARWorldCase
    ├─Artwork
    ├─AutomaticGenerated
    ├─Configures
    └─Scripts
      ├─Editor
      └─Runtime
NameDescribe
ARWorldCaseProject name for the XR-MOD project
ArtworkStore and manage art resources, you can create subfolders for classified management
AutomaticGeneratedWhen building the package body, such as MOD dll, AR function configuration files, etc. are automatically generated and are necessary configurations
ConfiguresAutomatically created when the project is created to cache the configuration of the AR function. After the project is created, it cannot be deleted, otherwise an error will be reported
ScriptsThe location where all the code of the project is stored
EditorIt is only used in the Unity Editor, generally stores auxiliary resource scripts such as the quick configuration panel of the project, and does not participate in runtime construction
RuntimeStores the runtime code of AR projects, more scripts can be created to implement more interesting logic
caution

XR-MOD will not automatically load the resources in the AR experience package, and the script needs to load it by itself

Start Creating​

Through the previous introduction and preparation, we have a clear understanding of XRMOD Engine, and then we will lead you to create the first XRMOD Engine project. First, we open the XRMOD Engine project builder through Tools->XRMOD->Package Tools Editor, as shown in the following figure.

Open Package Tools Editor
tip

If you don't know how to use Package Tools Editor, please click here to check.

  1. Create a project by right-clicking in the project area and selecting New Project from the popup menu
  2. At this point, another interface will pop up, as shown in the following figure.
  3. Select the BLANK template to create, then typing the project name and project storage location on the right
  4. Click the CREATE button in the lower right corner to start creating the project
Create Blank Project

Import Assets​

  • Art Assets
    Import your own art resources and store them in the Artwork folder.
  • Map Data
    Download the mapp data from our cloud, then import to our XRMOD project; Put it to Artwork/Mapdata.
info

If you don't have a Mapdata folder in your project, you have to create one yourself.

Create ARMap Visualizer​

danger

If your compture is Apple Slicon version,you can't saw the ARMap Visualizer. Because our framework does not currently support Apple Slicon, we will release a supported version in the next quarter.

  1. Create a new scene;
  2. In Hierachy to create a new Empty GameObject and rename to ARMap;
  3. Script for adding a new ARMap component via the AddComponent button. When the script is added, we will automatically create an ARSpace for the ARMap and set the ARMap as a child node of the ARSpace;
  4. Drag and drop our map data into the MapFile field of the ARMap script;
  5. Drag the ARSpace in the scene to the Artwork/Prefabs folder of the XRMOD Project in the Unity Project Panel to make it a Prefab.
tip

We recommend that creatives create a new scene to build the ARMap.

Align Virtual Object​

danger

If your compture is Apple Slicon version,you can't saw the ARMap Visualizer. Because our framework does not currently support Apple Slicon, we will release a supported version in the next quarter.

Now we pair the virtual object with our point cloud data.

  1. Drag and drop virtual objects into the Scene
  2. Expand ARSpace to see ARMap GameObject; place the virtual object inside ARMap GameObject, which becomes ARMap sub-object.
  3. Adjust the position of the virtual object to align with our point cloud for the position (you can align it as you like over here).

The virtual object is now aligned with the point cloud so that we can see the virtual object appear at the specified location once we recognize the collected space.

Finally save our Prefab edit results by selecting ARSpace -> Inspector -> Overrider -> Apply All.

Localizer Event​

danger

If your compture is Apple Slicon version,you can't saw the ARMap Visualizer. Because our framework does not currently support Apple Slicon, we will release a supported version in the next quarter.

Currently as soon as the ARMap is loaded, our virtual objects are shown, which is obviously not the effect we expect. The correct effect should be to recognize the space and then show the virtual object.

And how should I do it? Do I need to write code?

We don't need to write code, we just need to set the active state of the ARMap sub-object (our virtual object) to False.

Select ARMap and find ARMap component in Inspector, find Event in ARMap component click + in the lower right corner to add a reference slot, drag and drop our virtual object into it, then select Function, function set to GameObject/SetActive and set its value to True.

Then set our virtual object Active to False.

Finally we need to save the results of our Prefab edits, which can be done by selecting ARSapce GameObject in the Inspector and choosing Overrider-> Apply All.

Configuration experience​

In the previous step we have already created all the necessary resources, next start the configuration, set XR-MOD Project Properties:

  1. Set the Device Type of XR Algorithm to Handheld AR
  2. set XR Algorithm to Immersal
  3. Add Programmable
  4. Keep all default
info

To learn more about attribute feature blocks, please see the following links:

Collection Objects​

All configurations have been completed. Go to the Contents section, then go to Prefabsfolder and drag-and-drop ARSpacePrefab to Contentsarea.

Loading Asset At Runtime​

With the above introduction, we know that XR-MOD will not automatically load our resources; next let's write a simple script to implement it.

tip

XRMOD provides both C# and visual scripting, and you can choose either one for implementation.

Double click through YOUR_PROJECT->Scripts->Runtime->YOUR_PROJECTMainEntry.cs to open our script.

  • Then add two lines of code inside the script's OnLoad function.
  • Comment out any functions that you don't need to use first.
ImmersalTestMainEntry.cs
using System;
using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using com.Phantoms.ARMODAPI.Runtime;
using com.Phantoms.ActionNotification.Runtime;

namespace ImmersalTest
{
    public class ImmersalTestMainEntry
    {
        //XRMOD API
        internal static API ARMODAPI = new API(nameof(ImmersalTest));

        private GameObject ARSpace;

        public async void OnLoad()
        {
            //Use this for initialization. Please delete the function if it is not used
            var tmp_ARSpacec = await ARMODAPI.LoadAssetAsync<GameObject>("AR Space");
            ARSpace = GameObject.Instantiate(tmp_ARSpacec);
        }

        // public void OnEvent(BaseNotificationData _data)
        // {
        //     //General event callback. Please delete the function if it is not used
        // }

        // public void OnUpdate()
        // {
        //     //Like Unity Update method. Please delete the function if it is not used
        // }

        // public void ReleaseMemory()
        // {
        //     //Release Memory after AR close. Please delete the function if it is not used
        // }
    }
}

Build​

Now that we have all the configuration done, next we need to build it into an experience package.

  • Create new scene with short-key Ctrl+N or Command+N, we don't save the current scene
  • Switch to Build section
  • Set the build platform and platform group and compression format according to your desired platform
  • Click Build AR-Experience button to trigger build process
danger

Build Platform and Platform Group must be consistent, otherwise an error will occur.

Deploy​

Our sdk provide many plans. Broadly divided into two categories:

  • Online plans
  • Offline plans

The process of deploying XR experience for these two plans is different, and we will explain the different deployment modes in the two models below.

The online plan is relatively simple, just go to the XRMOD Cloud back office and login to your account to deploy.

  • Create a new App if app don't exist
  • Create a new Project if project don't exist
  • Upload your XR-Experience package to your desired platform
  • Click the Show in file browser button to go to the XR experience package directory after your XRMOD project build.You will see the following files:
NameTypeDescription
focusexample.arexperiencearexperienceAll experience inculded, e.g. 3DModels,Textures,Scripts
focusexample.jsonjsonARExperience file detail and all contents information
buildlogtep.jsonjsonBuild detail

We just need to upload YOUR_PROJECT_NAME.arexperience and YOUR_PROJECT_NAME.json files. build.json is the project build log file, so we do not upload it.

info

desired platform means the platform you choose when building.
Now you can upload your build assets to the XRMOD cloud.To learn more about XRMOD Cloud click here for more information.