Julieta Griguol - ToyCircuit

An AR game for mobile that teaches electrical circuits to children

The goal of this project was to design and develop an interactive multi-sensory augmented reality application to improve learning performance of students, using Unity software.
Our proposal consists of an AR story-based application to teach children from 5 to 7 years old electrical circuits and their components in a more interactive and effective way by integrating audiovisual and tactile stimuli.

Academic project
Role
User experience
AR development
Script coding
Video editing
1 month
Teamwork

Problem statement
Learning electrical circuits can be difficult, boring, and dangerous for 5-7 year olds. In addition to the sustainable issues about e-waste, more than a 70% ends up in landfills, traded, or recycled improperly. The metals in e-waste can be recovered and recycled but this process can come at a great challenge since electronic products can contain more than 1,000 different harmful substances.

Research

After selecting the topic, we did a research on electrical circuits, early childhood education, user interface for kids, and services that exist related to this area. We conducted an interview with a kindergarten teacher to learn about pedagogical aspects, educational dynamics, children's motivations, behaviors and interests. Finally a benchmark on existing solutions.

Arriving to define the different circuits to use, and rules and regulations for designing the digital platform for children.

Concept

The concept consists of a mobile game guided by a robot character. Initially, the child selects a toy, prints it along with the AR markers, and assembles it. He scans with the cell phone camera to see it in augmented reality, then selects and scans the components, checking which ones are correct for the specific electrical circuit to learn. He finally positions them on the toy and connects them by drawing the wires with his fingers on the screen.
This sequence has videos with the history of the chosen toy that will provide feedback on each action performed.

In addition, the child learns that knowing about electrical circuits is useful for solving real-life problems through the narration of each of the toys, such as turning on the lights, turning the motor and listening to music.

Interaction map

Multi-sensory experience

We decided to gamify teaching because children learn more easily and get more engaged when they enjoy and have fun.
The game primarily involves vision, it has a sound experience, and stimulate the sense of touch which is relevant for the age range.
Each touch interaction has a different type of visual and audible feedback.

Level selection

The kid can choose the toy he would like to build, each toy has different levels from simple circuits to more complex ones that will be unlocked with the progress.
When the level is selected they can download a PDF with the toy and markers molds to print.

The toy

The toy is printed and crafted with home materials like cardboard, the pieces have fittings to ease the built.
The main marker which is larger belongs to the toy. It holds on it the different component markers.

AR experience

By scanning each component marker they watch and learn what is it used for and if it is adequate or not for the current circuit.

In the second part, scanning the toy they can visualize the augmented reality model, which is transparent for enabling the visualization of the components inside of it. By taping 2 components it draws a wire between them for making the system work and solve the problem presented in the narration.

Development

The project is built in Unity 3D for Android with Vuforia technologies to provide Augmented Reality experiences.
The UI was designed in Figma, and the functionality was done with scripts: to change scenes, modify components, detect markers and create lines. In addition, we used Unity’s video player to display the videos of the storytelling designed in Photoshop and MP3 files for the sounds contained in the audio source.

Watch it in action

We made this video in just a morning, we took the shots at the university with the functional prototype and I edited it in 2 hours. Record time!
It shows the interaction of the game including the original sounds.

Takeaways

This project was a really challenging for me, I was an entire week studying how to code in C# for Unity to be able to select the components and draw lines between them. In class they don't teach us to code, but I knew I could do it, I have to tell you that I failed a lot but I keep trying learning from YouTube tutorials, downloading similar projects and analyzing the code till I I achieve it. I was so proud!
It was exiting working with a technology I had never worked before, and I discover I enjoy. I had a lot of fun and a great team, we supported and believed in each other abilities.
The AR experience mixed with a game is an engaging way to understand complex concepts playing and experimenting while decreasing risks.