Things that get me Excited when using Augmented Reality Apps

I’ve been playing with Augmented Reality for quite a long time now and have tried hundreds of augmented reality apps built using different AR platforms. I’ve played a lot of games and tried out many different types of apps.

There are some things in AR apps and games that I personally prefer having and those what make the AR experience more fun for me to engage with. Of course, this is totally subjective and what I enjoy having in an augmented reality app, doesn’t necessarily means that you’ll enjoy it in the same way or those are necessary to deliver a great AR experience.

In this blog post, I want to share with you those exact things. It’s not a complete list, but I did spend time trying to explain the reasons behind each one in-depth. I hope you enjoy reading this article, so without further ado, let’s start.

I Enjoy watching and interacting with the New and Unfamiliar

When I start playing AR games, I was excited even just seeing a square 3D model placed on a surface. After that over-enthusiasm sunk down, things changed.

I found that get more excited seeing virtual objects that are uncommon, rare or better, not available in the real world.  The reason for this is because the content felt very much coexisting in the real world, and therefore the emotional impact of seeing such objects was much more profound.

This is the reason why I got so excited when I saw those creatures from Holo: Monster Battle AR moving on the game board.   Suddenly, on a boring afternoon, some cool-looking creatures have invaded my home. I got the same feeling when I’ve played AR Dragon and Follow Me Dragon.

I had a chance to meet and play with entities that I wouldn’t be able to interact within the real world.

Now it doesn’t mean that those 3D virtual entities have to be characters. I remember spawning a photo of Mona Lisa in my room. This got me excited because that act created a new reality where I get to own the famous photo in my own room. For a brief moment, my mind starts diving and thinking about that reality, and that moment was really strange and exciting to me.

On the other hand, seeing human brings just standing there and dancing, a dog barking or cockroaches walking on the floor didn’t do it for me. I was more excited to encounter the different and unfamiliar in my reality than the common and known.

If you do use common objects in games, try to make them look different than they look in reality. I remember when I visited Geneva, Switzerland. I was walking in the street than I came across that big broken chair in the middle of the street. What amazed me is that in front of me there is that 39 feet high chair standing on only three legs.  Now, for me it doesn’t matter if this is a real statue or a virtual one, I would be excited by that view with either. So although that object is something that I was already familiar with, its proportional size and non-conforming physics behavior make it exciting to look at.

In many ways, viewing 3D objects in augmented reality is some form of art and I can understand why artists are so interested in this new medium.

It doesn’t mean that you should limit yourself for only uncommon virtual objects, posture, sizes, etc. However, by designing the AR scene or character behavior with uncommon characteristics can help deliver a more impactful experience on users who play your game. What I like in non-realistic game in general, is that the game designer has more creative freedom for creating crazy ideas that result in unknown expectation from the player’s side, because everything can happen.

Physical Interaction with Virtual Content

There are tons of AR apps where users can just add virtual content to their world and watch it. Most of these apps are really boring, and just giving users the option to put virtual objects, even if animated, doesn’t make it exciting.

What’s really make a difference is when you are able not just to see the virtual part of the scene, but actually interact with it. That very first touch on the screen (or preferably using hand gesture), helps finalize the bonding of the virtual with the real world. It’s like seeing something that it’s not real, and feeling that you need to touch it in order to feel that it’s real. In the future, we will have the option to “feel” the virtual, but as for most of us with common AR-supported devices, that interaction is VERY important.

I also see AR art getting to a point where it encourages interaction, not just observant.

Now, games by their definition are interactive. However, I’ve seen some games that use on-screen controls to interact with the character, rather than employing direct touch-controls. Some controls are obviously useful to achieve certain interaction,  and these are fine. However, when you do have the opportunity to make that “contact” between your own physical hand with a 3D object, make sure you make it. For example, feeding a cat food with your hand, and petting it. Grabbing an object by touching it and dragging it around, using gesture to change the object size and location, etc.

That type of bonding can even occur when you use facial expressions that are recognizable by the app and lead to a “reaction” by the virtual entity.

You know, one of the reasons I enjoy using the Merge Cube so much is because of that direct and physical interaction with the virtual content. This is one of the main reasons I got hooked so badly and just wanted to experience everything this platform had to offer.

By the way, the interaction doesn’t have to be directly with your hand and the virtual object using touch, you can do it using a physical accessory or virtual element. For example, when playing an AR pool game and hitting the ball while controlling a virtual pull stick, or holding a cat using the Merge Cube by holding the Merge Cube in your hand and the cat holding into the cube.

We expect things to react when we physically interact with things around us, that same thing, if applicable, should be implemented in your AR app as well. This specific topic leads many companies to develop haptic technologies for XR and we expect to see many types of haptic controllers that will help us achieve the same things I’ve discussed here in this section. So it’s not just having the option to control the virtual object with your own body parts, but feeling its build and texture, heat, weight, etc. The idea is to apply physical properties to virtual entities and make them feel more real.

Making character React and Aware of my Existence

In AR, the real world and virtual content are essentially two different and separated layers. The ability for the virtual content to match camera’s perspective, attack to surfaces and change based on the mobile device’s camera location is what makes it blend so well into the real scene.

When I come home, one of the things that I get excited about the most is when my cat come and greet me. I am excited that something in the house is aware of me and giving me that attention. Furthermore, I like to interact with it back, pet it, giving it food, and show love.

When I am interacting with a world that is partially virtual, I would be excited if some of those virtual entities, would be aware of my existence, same as my cat does.

Interaction does help of course but having the other side react and be aware of your existence further lessen the game between those two layered worlds.  In AR, your phone’s camera or AR glasses are your eyes into that layered virtual world. By design, you view the scene in the first-person perspective.  To make a character look into your eyes, its eyes have to look into where the scene main camera is, and this is where your eyes will meet.

This distinct type of bonding is essential for certain AR apps, like pet simulators, first-person shooters, god simulator and horror games, etc.

This is done so beautifully in the game ARrived and this is probably one of the most memorable moments that I had in this game.

Tihs is the reason why I enjoy playing AR games with characters that are aware of me rather than playing a game where I am just the viewer.

Games that make use of a large space

I like when games take good use of plenty of space in the environment when the gameplay feels up the living room.

It doesn’t mean that a game with a small footprint is destined to be less good. It’s just that I get more excited when the game becomes a more prominent part of the environment.

I think the main reasons for this is that the virtual takes relatively more part of the environment and I get more of that mixed reality experience. The problem with some of those larger-scale AR games is that they require more play space. This is one of the reasons why we don’t get to see many large-scale games like W.AR Augmented Reality and LightStream Racer.

Some developers that do opt for a larger space, intend to use the vertical space (larger gameplay space volume) in their games, like AMON, and Ghosts ‘n Guns.

It would be great to have more large-scale games, especially ones that are played outdoors. Now with companies launching their AR Cloud technology and ARCore and ARKit offering shared experiences and persistent features, we’ll get to see more games tailored to be played in the outdoor space.

Multiplayer Social Gameplay Experiences

I mostly play multiplayer games. I mean, if I had to choose to play a game, generally speaking, I would prefer a multiplayer game. I thought about the reasons why since I started playing multiplayer games, I found most wanting to play these type of games.

I think that the main reason is that I enjoy the social experience. When I play multiplayer games on the PS4 with friends, I enjoy our conversation not less than I enjoy the game. Sometimes I just log-in to have a chat with them and I have friends from all around the world, online friends I mean.

I also enjoy being able to play with other people together and I enjoy the competitive aspect of games, where I know that the other player that I play against is a real player. There are much more emotions being involved ins such a game. If I make a mistake I feel bad because I have a responsibility when playing in a group of people.

I am not surprised that the most popular games in the world are multiplayer games or have a multiplayer mode as one of their game modes. For example, Fortnite, Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto V, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Seige, PlayUnknown’s Battleground, League of Legends, Rocket League and others.

When I come home and launch a multiplayer game, it’s like I just joined a social gathering.

In AR there are some multiplayer games, but AR definitely lacks these type of MP experiences. I expect developers to put more focus on local multiplayer experiences that might be mixed with online features. Although on paper, these type of experience can be really fun, it’s up to the developer to find the right gameplay formula to excite people to meet and play together for the sake of playing a particular game. I mean, without this, the game just won’t achieve success. The game has to be exciting enough to make people want to meet their friends in a specific place in order to play the game.

Having said that, I am eagerly waiting to try these type of local multiplayer games. I just think that they need to also involve some sort of single-player gameplay, so people who don’t have the option to play with others at some point, can still continue playing on their own and progress.

I like humor and Cuteness in AR Apps and Games

I like playing games that don’t take themselves so seriously and love having the gameplay mixed with humor. A perfect example of that type of game (a non-AR game) is Borderlands 2. I had so much fun playing this game because of its hilarious moments.

I did play quite a few AR apps and games that were funny and amusing, including AR Chief Trump, Rocket Cows, Take that, Elf!, Happy! AR, Sing AR Fight,  Boogie AR and others.

It doesn’t mean that a game needs to make you laugh, more like amuse and entertain. For example, Sing AR Fight gameplay with its music was cute and adorable. Watching kamikaze cows flying in the air Rocket Cows was a very entertaining experience.

To achieve this, developers can use funny-looking characters with funny faces and behavior. Of course, it’s not for every type of game, but if you do have an option to add some cuteness and humor to your game, by all means, do so.

You know, one of my favorite moment playing Guns Royale in AR was seeing the funny character faces when they start shooting each other, it was hilarious.

You can create those “funny moments” not just with characters but with visual effects, 3D object design, voices, music, textual notifications, etc.

Summary

These are just a few things that make me personally enjoy when using AR apps and playing AR games. Maybe one of your apps is going to benefit from one or more of the things that I’ve mentioned here.

When I open the App Store searching for new apps, I always cross my fingers and hoping to find one of those apps that I personally would have wanted to use.  There are also many other aspects to an AR app that make me enjoy using it compared to other apps.

Had I to develop such an AR game or app, I would definitely find ways to incorporate some of those mentioned elements in my app or think about app ideas that can take advantage of one or more of them.

If you are a developer, I hope that you’ve found this article inspiring and I hope that this ignites some ideas. Thanks for reading and see you soon.