SkiAR Moon is an app that I came across while browsing to find some interesting AR apps. AR Moon is kind of a weird undefined app. It’s collection of several very short AR experiences, at least this is the best way I can describe it.
Some of the AR experiences are locked behind a paywall and four of them are free. The When you start the app you are greeted with a stage selection screen. Stage 1 is called “Watch the Moon”, which allows you to observe the moon with a variety of moon skin and watch the twelve constellations around you. The last option is quite nice because it renders the entire screen with a night sky atmosphere and you get to move in it and see the twelve constellations very clearly.
In the seconds part, you get to watch the Milky Wait system. The third party is called “ET alien”, and in the last part, you just get to see some beast 3D animated models that you can have some basic interactions with them by taping them.
Some of the experiences are observed as you pass through portal doors. It’s a really nice effect, but it doesn’t come even close to the same portal door experience in Alice in Wonderland AR quest. You can use this app just to get a glimpse how it is like walking on the moon, just don’t expect the gravity to suddenly change 🙂
The music in this app is really nice and gives you the amazing feeling of wondering about our universe, how amazing it is, is there life out there other than ours?
When I played the first stage the moon, my experience was diminished due to the low-res textures. I think it would be amazing if the moon had high-res textures, it would certainly enhance the immersion. I think there are lots of creative common high-res moon photos the can be used to create this. The same goes to other planets in other stages. The portal door images used high-res images and they looked nice.
I didn’t but the other parts, but according to the app’s page on the App Store, the other stages features: Moon Landing, Fairy (watching the moon with change’s at the mid-autumn festival) and Alie (evidence of aliens coming to the moon).
There is also an option to records a video of your experience without the UI—nice.
Conclusion
There is no much to this app, to be honest. It lacks real educational value, it’s more like a nice presentation of ARKit capabilities using the cosmos as its theme. The music is nice and it has some nice moments, but overall the AR experience felt unpolished, uninteresting and undefined—skippable.