This is part 1 of the AR Scavenger Hunt Series
A scavenger hunt is a game that encourages its players to complete a series of challenges for a reward in the end. They’re great because they allow people to explore their world in a new way. Even better, some scavenger hunts can immerse you in a story line--like escape the room puzzles--where the user solves puzzles within a scenario (e.g. you’re solving puzzles to start the spaceship engine to bring you back to earth).
In other words, scavenger hunts have many of the same elements we look for in augmented reality: over laying content into the world to encourage exploration, and immersing users in a new world.
For example, a puzzle may be to find a spaceship image marker in the real world to enable you to space travel in the AR experience.
Applicability of AR
With augmented reality, the thrill of solving location based puzzles can be made portable, since the puzzles and effects can be replicated digitally. In addition, because it’s digital, you can create really unique effects that would be prohibitive in the real world. In short, AR allows you to experience a scavenger hunt that can be easily designed and shared between different people in different locations! It’s a great way to create shared experiences when you can’t be together.
More than a fun game, this scavenger hunt helps us to understand the power of AR. The concept of scavenger hunt has existed for centuries, but when combined with AR technology, the experience can be taken into the next level by introducing a virtual world on top of the real world, (e.g. scanning markers to solve a puzzle)--engaging users to walk and discover the real world. In addition, it demonstrates that AR experiences are about remixing and rethinking how things come together, as well as how these experiences can break out of the phone. The Lens is not enabled by new technologies, but by rather the creativity that binds them together.
For example, more than attaching AR elements to a pet, the pet can be a character in your experience!
Active Learning Questions
- What are other activities that encourage you to explore the world?
- What benefits can come from overlaying the world with digital content?
- Taking the first two questions together: what activities do you do today can be leveled up through AR?
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