8thWall WebAR and Gaming
Developing WebAR with 8thWall
What is WebAR?
WebAR stands for Web-Based Augmented Reality. WebAR experiences use your surroundings, and play from your web browser on either your phone or computer. In this article I’ll discuss the benefits of WebAR, and showcase our demo project. WebAR has a multitude of use cases; in this demo we chose to focus on creating a game controlled by your mouth.
Mouth controlled endless gameplay!
Driving deeper customer engagement
Augmented Reality experiences combined with gamification generally have a higher overall dwell time (This article cites an average of 5 minutes for their use case). The success of WebAR games are tied to their fulfillment of the three pillars of Self-Determination Theory: Competency, Autonomy and Relatedness. Competency is the pillar which relates to gameplay: when a WebAR experience has a goal and clear feedback it motivates customers to stay and improve. Autonomy is about seeing the decisions you’ve made in your life reflected in the game. This pillar is strongly supported when you see your own face or room in the game. Finally, Relatedness has to do with sharing a game in your social circles. Sharing is made easy with screenshot functionality, in addition to the low barrier of distribution of a web-based game.
Low barrier of distribution with WebAR
Because WebAR is hosted on a website, anyone with the link can play, and no downloading is required. This increases the likelihood for experiences to “go viral” because sharing the experience is as easy as copying the link. Customers can play on their phones, tablets, or on their computers and the experience seamlessly blends between those platforms.
What are some of the features of WebAR?
Turning your head back and forth rotates the play field – see it from any perspective!
There are multiple templates for WebAR experiences. This example uses face tracking. The playfield is attached to your head, so when you rotate your head the playfield moves with it. In addition, facial tracking technology tracks every point on your face, which is how the game registers mouth controls. Besides face tracking, there are also floor tracking templates. With floor tracking, you can create an experience where 3D models appear to stand on your floor and be in the room with you.
How can this be used with your brand?
We can create a game or interactive experience which uses visuals related to your intellectual property or products. The demo showcased in this article could be modified so you’re controlling a 3d model of your latest car. We could make an experience similar to this with images of food from your menu that you “eat” by opening and closing your mouth. These are just two examples of many, you can check out some other WebAR experiences here.
Where can I play this?
This demo app is available right here –Play the Game.
Petricore is excited to combine our expertise in gaming with our knowledge of AR to continue to drive further user engagement! Please contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to work with us.
