Show HN: A full AR helicopter action game built as a Snap lens I built a complete game using Snap's AR platform in about 6 weeks. I'd been intrigued by Snap's AR ambitions and wanted to kick the tires on their platform. The YouTube video description contains a link to the Lens: https://ift.tt/3nYHo5b... How to play: - Joypad y axis moves the helicopter along the ray pointing from the camera. You can therefore tilt the phone up to fly "up". - Altitude is also controlled by aiming the phone. The helicopter tries to match the altitude of a point that is fixed in front of the camera. So you can move up by aiming up or by actually lifting the phone higher. - Joypad x axis strafes. - If you lose track of the helicopter, a blue arrow will appear after about 5 seconds. - Blow up enemies and try to stay alive :) How it works under the hood: - Loads of JavaScript. Lenses are surprisingly programmer-friendly. As a non-artist, this is great. Almost everything can be driven completely by code, although most creators opt to use pre-made components with minimal scripting. - The game uses a custom physics engine with OBB-based collision detections that I wrote from scratch. Snap now has integrated physics that seem to be based on PhysX (i.e., the same as Unity's) but this was released well into my development process after I had already rolled my own. - I opted not to use environmental mesh reconstruction because it is performance intensive and gives dubious results on lower-end phones. When I started development, it was only enabled for Lidar-based phones but is since available everywhere. - I instead detect horizontal planes using an API that Snap hasn't really documented. I found a snippet of code in their API docs and opened up the Lens Studio .exe to find the names of the other plane events I needed. - Planes are used to create collision boxes that extend to the floor so the helicopter can bump into furniture. - AI-controlled enemy helicopters plot routes using a heightmap generated from the plane data to avoid colliding with obstacles when possible. Takeaways: - This has arguably become my favorite AR prototyping platform. Much faster idea-to-PoC iteration time than anything else out there. - The platform is surprisingly full-featured. - The Lens Studio Editor is remarkably polished and, despite some bugs here and there, is very stable. - The deployment story is second to none. Deploying to the phone involves a single click and is done over the Internet (no need for any tethering or wireless pairing). - Debugging on-device is still challenging (all you can do is log a few lines) but I was assured that an actual debugger is coming soon. - Economic viability: unfortunately, it is not really possible to directly monetize lenses. Most creators contract with brands to create branded lenses. Future plans: - I'll definitely be keeping an eye on Snap's ecosystem. - No plans for any more full-fledged lenses but I do have some ideas for prototypes I'd like to try in anticipation of commercially viable mixed reality HMDs hitting the market soon (e.g., Meta's Project Cambria). - I may update the game with a tutorial mode and a co-located multiplayer mode (co-op play or PvP) provided I get the necessary support from the Snap dev team. Hope you enjoy and are inspired to dive into AR if you haven't already :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_1dJ_x7vXw January 26, 2022 at 01:27AM
Women Pioneers at Muni: Adeline Svendsen and Muni’s First Newsletter By Jeremy Menzies To close out Women’s History Month, here’s a look back at one woman whose work to bring Muni staff together in the late 1940s created a legacy that lives on to this day. Adeline “Addy” Svendsen was founding editor of Muni’s first internal newsletter, “ Trolley Topics .” Adeline Svendsen sits at her desk in the Geneva Carhouse office building in this 1949 shot. Trolley Topics was a new venture when it started in February 1946. As Svendsen wrote in the first issue it was created, “to bring a little fun, a little news, and a lot of good will to all our fellow employees in the Railway.” Just two years prior in 1944, Muni merged with the Market Street Railway Company, expanding the small municipal operation into the largest transit provider in the city with hundreds of employees, vehicles of every shape and size, and dozens of facilities scattered across town. The newsletter was meant to help unite ...
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