Dewinkler interactive text app

Interactive Text Application in Unity3D

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by August DeWinkler, Urban Designer, Multimedia Artist

for Florida Atlantic University’s Master of Fine Arts Degree

in Media, Technology, and Entertainment

course Creating Interactive Culture

date completed December 7th , 2015

Abstract

This paper will examine the components and process to create an interactive text

experience App in Augmented Reality. The idea is to use topic headings as outlined in the

course syllabus for Creating Interactive Culture, which are: Sonic Frameworks, Performative

Frameworks, Spatial Frameworks, and Linear Frameworks. Text sheets will be created to

display these compounded words so that the App will be able to find them and display a

graphic that is specifically targeted to each sheet individually.

The goal is to familiarize one with the applications and processes to create the App, as

there are extra steps required to output a project of this magnitude. This paper will go beyond

the steps given in a normal tutorial or instructional manual, therefore let it be recognized that

this is not a tutorial. It is a composition explaining the steps and process as required to create

Augmented Reality Apps with Android Studio, Unity3D, and Vuforia. This will also help to

document the process, as in a checklist of processes; because leaving out one part could be

detrimental to the entire project.

When the design of the application is complete, Unity 3D will then compile it, or

“package it” in Unity 3D terms for it to run on Android devices. Furthermore, for the sake of

this research, the content of this App can be modified or replaced to suit the users needs or for

just simple experimentation to see what the programs can offer. In fact, let me encourage it;

as creating personal visual content is really the only way for one to see and to experience the

personal nature of this kind of App creation.


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Outline

1. Background of Unity3D, Vuforia with Android on Samsung

a. Historical Context of Unity 3D

b. Historical Context of Vuforia

c. Samsung Phones and Tablets as the Interface with Android Studio

2. Setting Up

a. System Configuration and Requirements

b. Software Accounts Unity3D Pro and Vuforia

3. Starting with the Image Targets

a. Creation with any image editor

b. Testing the Track able Target in Vuforia

4. Project Creation in Unity3D

a. Importing Vuforia into the Project

b. Creating Licenses for the App with Vuforia and Unity3D

5. Applying the Graphics

a. Setting up the Image Targets

b. Attaching the Prefabs, Animations, and Scripts

6. Packaging the App

a. Build Settings

b. Android Studio

c. Player Settings

7. Closing Remarks

8. Works Cited


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1 Background of Unity3D, Vuforia with Android on Samsung

Historical Context of Unity 3D Unity3D came into existence in 2004 after its developers failed at making a successful

game named “GooBall.” What, they realized is that their game engine to produce the game

could be refined for an open source market. Although the founders Nicholas Francis, Joachim

Ante, and David Helgason aspired to be game designers they became game developers aiming

their game engine to independent developers that did not have the resources to put together

their game concepts. Therefore “Unity was created with the vision to democratize game

development and level the playing field for developers across the globe” [1].

Historical Context of Vuforia Vuforia was a product from the famous company named Qualcomm, which has been a

major player, and innovation company that is responsible for the very first cell phone call and

for many other “Quality Communication” items that they have invented over the years. Hence

Qualcomm is a derivative of Quality Communications. On November 3, 2015 Qualcomm sold

its product named Vuforia to PTC a tech company that helps “manufacturers transform the

way they create, operate and service product for sustained competitive advantage.” [2]

Samsung Phones and Tablets as the Interface There are several devices and configurations that can produce augmented reality

Applications, but I have chosen Android Studio as the SDK for loads to Samsung Products. As

a bonus to creating these applications with Android and Samsung it is possible to create

applications in Virtual Reality as they have partnered with Oculus Rift. Once the Android

Studio SDK has been set up it runs behind the scenes and creates all the components

necessary to produce and place the APPS on the Android devices.

2 Setting Up

System Configuration and Requirements As of the writing of this paper. December 7,2015 ; the current version combination to

produce augmented reality apps with Vuforia is their version 5 as it is compatible with Unity3D

version 5.1.3. There is always a lag time between the latest release of Unity3D to that of what

Vuforia can support. It is very important to note that for the beginner, once a project is

started, it should remain in the started version of the software.


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Software Accounts Unity3D Pro and Vuforia

It is important to have a licensed version of Unity3D Pro to produce the applications to

Smartphones and Tablets. Although Unity3D does have a “Free” version, it will not produce

the additive enhancements required for Smartphone deployment. Currently Vuforia offers a

basic deployment package that works very well for trials. You will need to create an account

with them to upload your images, as this is the key component to the entire process. Vuforia

will be able to monitor usage and impose fees when certain limits are reached. In order for the

image to be recognized in the application it is required to place a license key under the Vuforia

supplied Augmented Reality Camera; otherwise the App will not work.

3 Starting with the Image Targets

Creation with an image editor program. I prefer Adobe Illustrator as I like working on all of my canvases at once, but any image

editor will work. The secret to getting an excellent image for tracking is to have non-‐

symmetry of inked areas on a sheet of paper. Images can be done in color or black and white.

Below is an assortment of images that can be tracked by the software that were used in this

project.


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Testing the Track able Target in Vuforia

Once your account is created in Vuforia you need to upload your images to a database,

be sure to log into the Developer Portal. There will be able to do several things; first you will

monitor just how track able your image is by uploading it to the “Add Database” button and

running the tracker on it. This can be found under the Developer | Target Manager tab. Once

complete you can download your Dataset for importing into Unity3D. Later you will return to

the Vuforia Developer | License Manage Tab to receive the License Key that you will add to the

Augmented Reality Camera inside Unity 3D.

This image shows the

Augmentable tracking

via the yellow markers.

It received a rating of

five stars, which is

excellent for tracking.


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4 Project Creation in Unity3D

Importing Vuforia into the Project As a reminder, this paper is for the individual that already has a good understanding of

Unity3D, and its aim is only to highlight the key components to make a successful augmented

reality application. I like to start with a fresh new project in Unity, but you can start with a

sample project and just replace some of the information and sometimes it may work, but why

gamble with that because then you might have to start from scratch all over again. Remember

when I said that it was important to stay in the version of Unity that you start your project.

When using a template you do not always know what version the template or sample file was

used to create the project. Unity often deprecates codes, functions, and scripts for each of its

releases, which will prohibit project upgrades.

So for the new Unity Project, you will need

to download the Vuforia 5 SDK Package and then

import it into your project under the tabs: Assets |

Import Package | Custom Package. Download the

Vuforia Unity Package on their Developers website

as shown on the right. Additional information can

be found under the Library tag.

Creating Licenses for the App with Vuforia and Unity3D When using the Vuforia components in

Unity you will need to use their AR Camera so that

a license key can be added to it. First save this

scene as a “AR Scene”, delete Unity’s Camera and

add Vuforia’s AR Camera as it can be found in the

newly imported file folder named Vuforia. In that

will be a prefabs folder and at the top is the AR

Camera; just drag it into your scene it can be

aligned with the images later. Copy the License

Key and paste it into the Vuforia Behavior Script.


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5 Applying the Graphics

Setting up the Image Targets There are many kinds of Augmented shapes that can be created, but for this project I

used the image target. From the same Prefabs folder you will find the ImageTarget, drag that

into your scene and place it at position 0,0,0. Scaling is an issue with a lot of Unity Users. It is

said that it defaults to one meter. Which does seem to work logically, especially when you add

a first person controller as the human scale gets imported at 2 meters or around 6 feet. I set up

my sheets in Illustrator in inches and the came in about the same size. Unity works best at a

large scale, so I place a zero after the imported scale it matches up. In other words my sheets

were standard letter, 8.5” x 11”. I made the scale 110 and it seems to work fine as a readable

target. You will need to import the dataset from when you downloaded it from Vuforia. This

is different then the Vuforia Unity Package.

Attaching the Prefabs, Animations, and Scripts Next you want to add the track able image that was downloaded from the Vuforia Data

set. Import it from the tabs: Assets | Import Package | Custom Package as you did for the

Vuforia extension. Click on the ImageTarget object that you placed at position 0,0,0 and go to

the “Image Target Behavior (Script)” in the dataset field you should see the name that

matches what you placed in Vuforia and select it. Below it you will click that button and you

will see the image name that you uploaded to Vuforia and select it. It is possible that your

scale might have reverted back, so just change it to an appropriate viewing size by adding at

least a zero to the end of it.

Now you can either create something on your Image Target, or bring a premade model

onto it, such as one with an fbx extension. The trick here is to scale it proportionally to the

ImageTarget, as the ImageTarget must remain in view for the model to respond to it when the

App is running. I have experimented with objects that are larger than the image target and

they hold up well. I have also experimented with backing away from image targets by about

five feet and they hold in place. When the device camera is too far away the objects just

disappear from the image target. Sometimes you need to move into the image target for your

object to show up, but once it locks into place it will hold as long as the image target is in the

field of view of the device camera.


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6 Packaging the App

Build Settings To get the Application to run on your Android or IOS device, you have to have the

extended Unity3D license. It is usually part of a Pro License, but if you purchased a Student /

Commercial License then it might be an Add-‐On service, as was the case for my purchase. It is

possible to run the App with the free version but there are limitations and you cannot have a

Pro license or you are subject to the additional add on fee to push you App to an Android or

IOS device, I have the Unity3D Pro and had to purchase the Android Pro Add-‐On in order to

get the Apps to work on any of my Android devices. Since it is also possible to use Vuforia for

Virtual Reality with the Samsung Galaxy Note Smartphone, I chose the Android Pro Add-‐On.

The next part is to get the project file ready to compile the application to the Android

Device. Please note, I am not discussing IOS Devices, as there are other steps involved in that

process. So to begin, click the tabs: File | Build Settings, there you will see at the top of the

screen a section named “Scenes in Build.” Make sure your current scene is selected or the one

that contains the AR components. If you are an advanced user then you know to place all

scenes in hierarchical order for access. The Platform should be Android and there is no need to

edit any of the Android components just to the right.

Android Studio Hopefully you have compiled Apps to android before and have placed the appropriate

links in the Unity Preferences that will allow Android Studio and Java to work behind the

scenes. If not, you have to have downloaded and installed Android Studio SDK and the latest

Java SDK. Detailed instructions for Android Studio can be found here:

http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/android-‐sdksetup.html

All you need to do is install Java on your computer and let Unity Know where it is in the Unity

Preferences under the External Tools Tab. It will be looking for the SDK folder.

Player, Other, and Publishing Settings These are the hidden settings, as I like to call them because they are what will make

your App work or not! It was very frustrating to me at how intricate they were and the

instructions were very hard to find to enable all the right steps for the push to my android

device, but once you figure it out it gets easier to keep plugging in the App’s right information.


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There are three main points here and the rest are just customization, but what is needed first is

under the Player Settings tab and that is a company name. Make one up, but if you plan on

posting to the Play or Apple stores you will need it for your Developers Licenses and later for

those huge profits that you will pay income taxes. Below that line is the App Name that is the

one that will be displayed in the “Stores” and most importantly on your tablet or smartphone.

The next big step is under the “Other Settings” tab to the Player Settings and in section

Identifier; you need to add a line for what Unity calls your Bundle Identifier. It is suggested to

reverse type your company’s website, then the app name. After that is a version number, I

increment these when really big changes take effect. Skip the next one and just go to the

minimum API level, as this is the version of android that you want to be able to build to. I

usually do not go that far back because older phones and tablets do not support the camera

being used in game Apps.

The last big step is under Publishing Settings in which you give your App a Keystore identifier.

I have been giving each app a unique identifier, which holds a code in file folder on your

computer. So, where it says “Create New Keystore” it will take you to a place on your hard

drive. Mine are located in file folder appropriately named “Unity_Keystore.” There I am

placing the App names as file folders. I do give all my Apps the same Passwords as I can barely

remember my own bank password so I just use a generic one for all my Apps.

7 Closing Remarks

Hopefully this document has provided enough information to get an Augmented

Reality Application up and running for your particular project. If not, there are ample

resources available especially in the Learn and Community Sections on the Unity Website. I

have found that I can get the base done, that is the object and its recognition to the image

target relatively easily. But it is when I start adding other features like interactivity,

animations; advanced scripting that makes unity go haywire. It is important to make

incremental saves of your Unity Project so that you can revert back to something if things just

do not work out. I had to do this to my class project as I was trying to add an old script that

used to work in a previous version of Unity; but it would not work in the version that I was

currently using. In fact it corrupted the file the project would not work at all!


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To back up your Unity Project File, do this with Unity not being open. Go to your file

directory and just copy the file into the same folder. I like to see it with the same name and

with the word copy next to it. That way I know that I have a duplicate of it, I also like to put

revision letters or numbers next to the name so that I can identify steps in my creation process.

I like to keep my build files outside of my project settings as these happen in increments.

When I am done I will just delete all of the earlier ones as they can take up a lot of memory. It

is only necessary to keep the most recent builds as long as there are earlier versions of your

Unity Project to return to if needed. One last tidbit, I recently started to create master

directories by Unity Version number as a way to keep a placement of Unity Projects. It is

possible to upgrade your Unity Project but it may not be successful, so I will copy the project

from one Unity Version File and place it in the newer Unity Version File; then when I open up

the file in Unity’s newest version I will now if it worked or not. If it didn’t, then I can keep

working on the file in its original version, as that is still intact in its original place.

Works Cited:

[1] "The Leading Global Game Industry Software." Unity. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://unity3d.com/public-‐

relations>.

[2] "PTC Adds Product & Service Advantage | PTC." What-‐we-‐do. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

<http://www.ptc.com/about/what-‐we-‐do>.

[3] "Pre-‐order Unity 5 and Get Unity 4 Today!" Unity. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <https://store.unity3d.com/>.

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