I want to use my car as the target and when you hold up your device to it it will pop up certain info about the vehicle…point at tires it will show tire type etc…how do I start this project? Do i need to have the QR code or canit just start when I hold up the device?? HELPP
Hi there! Welcome!
So there’s two questions here:
- How do I start a project
- Can I use my car as a tracking image/object?
Let’s start by answering the first one: How do I start a project?
If you are using ZapWorks Studio or the Universal AR SDKs, you can start a project by launching the corresponding app/software. With Studio, simply open the app and click “New Project” from the launcher menu. Circled below. Universal AR I am less familiar with, but I imagine you can open whatever environment you use to code and hop right in.
If you use ZapWorks Designer, you will need to create a trigger (i.e. a QR code, deep link, or ZapCode) first. You can also follow these steps to create a trigger for a Studio or Universal AR as well so that you have a place to publish your finished project to.
First, go to my.zap.works and log in. Then, click the orange “+” button near the top of the projects list, circled below.
From the popup, choose which tool you plan on using. This cannot be changed later.
Next, select which trigger you want. For WebAR, use a QR code or deep link. You can add more triggers later.
You will then be taken to the project page. If you’re using designer, you’ll see a button on the top section that says “open designer”. Click that button to open Designer and begin your project. If you chose Studio, it will say “Download Studio”.
It should be noted that Enterprise customers have access to Image Recognition as a trigger, but you’d need to talk to the Zappar sales team about that.
Now, for question 2: Can I use a car as a tracking image/object?
At this time, ZapWorks does not currently support 3D object tracking. that being said, you can probably use Instant Tracking or world tracking as a workaround. Have the user line up an outline of your car (or other object) with the car you wish to “track”, similar to the workaround for placing objects on walls. As far as activating different sections of content at different points, you might be able to do interesting things with Raycasters and Trigger Regions. Because you’d be using instant or world tracking, I’d recommend using either Studio or Universal AR.
Hope that helps!
EDIT TO ADD: All experiences require a trigger of some kind to launch/start. This gives us a chance to ask the user for camera and motion permissions, as well as ensure they have the correct experience loaded. As mentioned earlier, unless you are an enterprise member, triggers are limited to QR codes, ZapCodes, and deep links/URLs.
Thanks for the reply.
So just to be clear I want people to walk up to my actual car then point their device and tap a certain place on the viewport of the device and information cards will display…
I see.
With things like world tracking you can still walk up to the car after it is placed, but unless there is images on the car to use image tracking with to call out specific details, you may struggle to get exactly what you’re after, at least with ZapWorks.
Ok so I got far and used my actual car and placed my ui elements and licked them to scenes and it works…NOW my other question is…How do I get to use it around the whole car? As if I was on the other side or infront of it??
Hmm. I think I need some clarification, what type of tracking are you using? And which tool-- Designer, Studio, or Universal AR?
As discussed above, Zappar at this time does not have 3D object tracking. Here is your issue. Let’s say you take a picture of your car from the side and there is enough of the image that the software can use to track your car then it will work from the side only once you move to the front of the car the image of the car has changed and it can no longer track. You also have issues with elevation (a tall person vs a short person and will the image still track).
I don’t believe there is a way you can walk around the car in real-time once you lose tracking that it. Real world tracking will not work because even if you set the target to the center of the car which way should it be pointing relative to the car. What I would do is have the option to have a menu to have the user select from e.g. the menu use have front car, left side, right side and back, then have directions to re-track a new image (front of car not the side of the car tracking image).
What I would do is create 5 separate projects (Front car, Left car, Right car, and back car) each having their own tracking image The 5th project connects them and provides the user interface to select the side the user wants to see. The user selects the front icon of the car which will load that project.
The other problem is that you don’t know from which part of the car a user will start using the App so you need to properly guide the user into the flow of your app.
For each tracking image I would take a pic of each side of the car then crop out the background. There might be enough of the car image to track. You want tracking images with a good amount of detail so it tracks well.
Not sure if Designer can link to a seperate project, maybe? I don’t use it that often I tend to use Studio.
I am sure there are other approaches but to me this would be the simplest solution. I would use Zappar Studio for this.
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I have a project idea where I want to use augmented reality (AR) to display specific information about a car when a user holds up their device to it. The goal is to have the AR experience automatically initiate when the device is pointed at the car, without the need for a QR code. However, I’m unsure how to begin this project and would greatly appreciate some guidance and assistance from the community. Is it possible to create an AR experience that starts automatically when the device is directed towards the car? Regards