Athens Underground: Project Plan

What is Athens Underground?

Athens Underground is the newest way to leave your mark on campus. The app allows the user to harness the power of augmented reality in order to leave virtual messages throughout their surroundings for other users of the app to discover. Anonymous messages will create the opportunity for students to express themselves in a whole new way to an exclusive audience. These user generated messages will appear in form of thought bubbles and will be available within any physical space.

Team Roles

(pictured left to right)

Bowen Yang: Engineer and Design Lead

The Engineer and Design Lead is responsible for maintaining and sharing a technical understanding of our VR/AR and the development of any hardware or software necessary in conjunction with the team.

Jay Horton: Presentation Specialist

The presentation specialist will ensure that all of the elements come together in order for the brand to be effectively communicated its message to any audience. This role requires collaboration with the Branding and Management Leads, as the consumer- facing content is perfected and presented in a compelling way.

Anna Rowland: Website Director and Content Management Specialist

The Website Director and Content Management Specialist is responsible for the creation of our product’s website that will be consistent with our overall brand. This role is also responsible for ensuring that all copy is consistent and well written- as well as aligns with with the website and all other promotional material.

Caroline Youngs: Branding and Management Lead

The Branding and Management Lead will ensure that the project tasks are completed on schedule, and as well as maintain brand consistency throughout every proposed execution.

The role requires that there is a consistent brand message as well as overall aesthetic that is represented through every deliverable that is created by our team.

Background Research

What is AR?

Augmented Reality (AR) tries to enhance preexisting reality. In order to work in tandem with the naked eye’s perception of reality, AR applications typically change the image through overlays or add to the image by incorporating 3D models. This technology works with both headsets and cell phones. The two most well known AR phone applications are Pokemon Go and Snapchat filters. Our group decided to work with AR instead of VR, because we recognize that AR reaches a much wider demographic due to its ability to be used on a cellphone. We were also more intrigued by the prospect of changing reality than creating an entirely new reality.

How to best to apply AR?

Application:

The best application for Augmented reality would be an app that uses AR as a technology, not as a tool. This would mean the foundation of the application is based upon AR and not adding AR to gain popularity. Along with this the app must be usable and simple. If the application is too complex then the consumer will sway away from it.

Investigation/Research:

Our medium of choice for AR would be to create a Unity application and to export it onto iOS. This would be easiest since we would only need an Iphone for testing, which is easily obtainable. Another benefit of creating the application for iOS is that it can be easily distributable. The other options would be an AR headset or glasses. Both of these would provide a more immersive experience, but it would be very costly (to gather the equipment) and the audience with an AR headset is small compared to those with an iPhone.

A very good introduction to Unity would be to run through a few tutorials on the Unity website. (unity3d.com/learn)

To use Vuforia, I believe going through a few introductory code such as this would be helpful.

After getting comfortable with the basics of Vuforia the next step would be to examine the example code provided on the Vuforia website. It would be best to look at the sample codes that are related to our product such as Smart Terrain, or the Penguin example.

Situational Analysis, Challenges, and Resolutions:

Strengths:

• Strong work ethics
• Elevated research and analytical natures
• Diverse talents
• Innovative minds

Our team does not lack in strengths. We have a wide range of skills and talents, innovative minds and the capacity to locate the answers to any problem we might stubble upon. Half of our team is proficient in the complex workings of app development knowing what it will take to actual augment reality, while the other half are the marksmen of marketing with the knowledge to strategically lure users to the Athens Underground.

Weaknesses:

• Ability to 3D model
• Altitude differentiation
• Establishment of a Unity to database connection
• Lack of time

Our weaknesses come from the newness of our new media. It is not yet common for computer scientist and programmers to learn in school the complex components involved in augmenting reality; how to differentiate altitude within GPS coordinates, model elements in 3D realistically, and then connect AR software to a database. We will have to be strategic about overcoming these obstacles. Most of the technological issues will be researched and solved by our developers Anna and Bowen. Also, due to the fact that our team is comprised of overachievers and lack much spare time, we will have to be deliberate to anticipate problems well in advance. We will work as a team to combat this issue.

Opportunities:

• Previous AR NMI groups
• Relatively new field
• Accessible faculty/ resources

Opportunities for our group are abundant. First and foremost, we are not the first group in the New Media Institute to tactical augmented reality. We have the resources and knowledge of past groups to aid in our endeavors, not to mention the skills of the New Media Institute’s accessible faculty. Also, the relatively recent emergence of the technology makes it easier to distinguish our product from the competition.

Threats:

• Abundance of social media platforms
• Time constraints

Threats come in many forms. Due to the amount of social media platforms that already exist, it will be difficult to create an unique brand identity that doesn’t play off the mediums that already exist. Also, the limited time frame of the class makes the workload more taxing.

Things to learn and perfect:

• 3D Modeling
• Altitude branding and differentiation
• Connecting unity with a database
• Exact branding and uniqueness

The resolution to these issues will be achieved through hard work and research.

Planned Deliverables

Fully functioning IOS app

Promotional Website

Case Study Book

Cohesive Marketing Campaign Plan

Project Timeline

January: Research

February: Project Proposal, Project Proposal Presentation

March: Wireframe, Project Website Early Draft, Blog Post Draft, Book Check-In, Wireframe Presentation, Wireframe Presentation Deck, Blog Post, Project beta

April: Project Website Rough Draft, Beta Presentation, Beta Presentation Deck, Booth and Stage Presentation, Operational Project, Project Website, Project Book

Bowen (Lead)

1. Wireframe
2. Project beta
3. Operational Project

Anna (Lead)

1. Website Early Draft
2. Blog Post Draft
3. Blog Post
4. Project Website Rough Draft
5. Project Website

Caroline (Lead)

1. Project Proposal
2. Project Proposal Presentation Deck
3. Beta Presentation Deck
4. Wireframe Presentation Deck
5. Book Check-In
6. Project Book

Jay (Lead)

1. Project Proposal Presentation
2. Wireframe Presentation
3. Beta Presentation
4. Booth and Stage Presentation

Goal

Create a new dimension for communication.

Objectives

Objective 1:

To create a fully functional augmented reality application for iOS and Android devices by March 30, 2017.

Objective 2:

To obtain 200 app downloads from University of Georgia users by April 25, 2017.