Tango - Teaching Geometry with AR

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. Even though it is possible to develop an app with this idea now, it will become more fun and interactive as time goes on and Google Tango becomes more aware of not only the shape of the space around it but also begins to understand the objects found within that space.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Idea

Make an app using Google Tango which helps people learn geometry by using the physical space of their environment and augmenting that space with visual aids to help understand the principles of geometry.

Classroom Use

Imagine being in geometry class and not only learning about points, lines, planes and angles on paper but also by seeing and playing with those ideas in physical space via augmented reality.

The Google Tango app could be used by teachers in classrooms to augment learning and understanding of concepts covered during the lecture.

Other Use

This app would also do well with adults and children that want to learn outside of the classroom. As in many of the educational apps already on the market, this app could provide content that covers many of the principles someone would cover in a classroom setting. The user could explore and learn in a self-paced manner.

Checkout the video

While this video from 2010 is not using Google Tango, it will give you an idea of how augmented reality can be used to teach geometry. Also it's not in English, but you'll soon see that doesn't matter.

Tango - Escape Room - Update

Project Status: Getting closer, but not yet Tango enough
Original Post: Tango - Escape Room

The Tango Idea

If you you haven't checked it out yet, and you are interested in Google Tango even in the slightest, I suggest you checkout my original idea for making a Tango escape room experience here.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

Google Escape Room

Checkout the awesome escape room that people actually made, yes in real life, to showcase the usefulness of many Google products and the possibilities when they all come together. This is the short version in English:

The Extended Video

When they held this escape room event they actually live streamed it to YouTube. The video is forty-five minutes long and in French, you speak French and have forty-five minutes to kill right, lol. Don't worry, you can turn on the auto-generated English closed-captioning if you want to but it's not a requirement to still find this fun and interesting.

Here's the full video, minus the first 50 seconds of nothingness that I trimmed off for you, "Je vous en prie":

Next Step

Since the focus of this video was to showcase Google products, let's take it a step further and incorporate as much of this as possible using and showcasing Google Tango as laid out in the original idea here.

Tango - Escape Room

Project Status: App Idea
Update: Getting closer, but not yet Tango enough

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. Even though it is possible to develop an app with this idea now, it will become more fun and interactive as time goes on and Google Tango becomes more aware of not only the shape of the space around it but also begins to understand the objects found within that space.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Backstory

In the last few years you many have noticed lots of escape room adventure locations popping up. If you haven't been to one or haven't heard of them I suggest you search for some in your area to see what I am talking about.

Basically the idea of an escape room is that you start out locked in a room and must find a way to get out. The main door is locked and a series of puzzles must be solved for you to progress through a story-line and find a key or combination that will let you open the door to exit. Often within a given time limit.

You are often given some vague plot and it then becomes your job to find clues within your environment to solve several mini puzzles to as you progress through the plot and eventually, hopefully, make your escape.

The Idea

The goal would be to transfer a similar experience to your own room.

The Obstacles

The most difficult part of making a game like this work would be making it dynamic enough to work in nearly any given environment.

Masking Tango's Limitations

With devices overheating very quickly and compounding drift errors over time, longer games are not the best use cases for Google Tango at this stage in its life cycle. That's not to say that it isn't going to get better over time, but right now we need to develop apps that will work well for users today.

One clever way to overcome these kinds of problems is to mix up the gameplay so that extended periods of scanning and tracking the environment would not be common. As the users stumbles across some useful clues they can break away from augmented reality play and into what would be similar to mini games. Taking the known clues and solving puzzles not in space but in gameplay on the device. When they solve the mini puzzle, or when they choose to leave it for later on, they can pop back into augmented reality and begin exploring the environment again.

Summary

The difficulty level for developing this app is quite high right now, but it's nothing that a small team couldn't handle within a few months and then expand on over time. Eventually, as computer vision becomes more integrated into Google Tango and the average developer is able to identify objects in space on the fly, this will only get better and better.

Update

I recently came across a super cool Google escape room event. It's not quite Tango but it is all about what this project is. Check out the update and the video here.

Tango - Augmented Reality Maze

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run, though it would be much more fun with multiple devices synced together playing at once.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Setup

I have always found maze running in real life to be quite interesting. If you aren't quite sure what I am referring to here yet, think about those hay bale mazes that kids play in, or those huge hedge mazes that you always see at castles in the movies.

The Idea

I would love to make an app that used Google Tango to build a dynamic maze over the user's current environment. It would start out using the space it can see around it to dynamically draw the maze and then the maze would develop as the user walks around to explore new space.

The Mechanics

Real walls seen in the real world would correspond to walls within the augmented reality game. The app would draw more walls in a walk-able maze pattern between any space the user walks through when it is large enough to do so.

When users either accidentally or by attempting to cheat cross any of the virtual barriers the game will guide them back somewhere close to the point where they left the maze so that the game may continue.

The barriers which the maze is composed of could either be very high or relatively low. A more difficult game would include barriers so high that the players​ could not see over them. On the other hand, an easier type of gameplay would allow users to see over the walls and around the maze near them.

It would then be quite simple to add in obstacles and goals within the maze. For example; the player could be searching for one specific exit marker. Once able to touch the exit the current level of the maze would be completed.

Changing from one level to the next could happen in an elevator type of motion. Meaning that the current level sinks into the ground and the next level scrolls down over the user's environment as the player levels up. Each level could have a unique look and feel such as hay bales, stone walls, green hedges, neon glowing and so on.

Many choices could be made with this type of game format such as allowing users to save games to continue later on at the same location, setting timers for the players to beat when solving the puzzles (although this may encourage running and overwhelm the current version of Tango), including different types of barriers either to choose from or as different levels to complete and so on.

As some games have the ability to provide hints when players begin to get stuck or frustrated, in this game you could do something fun like showing footprints where the player has been and maybe even fading them out over time so that it is easier to see which tracks are the freshest.

Summary

Overall I think it would be a lot of fun to see a virtual maze dynamically built in my current environment. Then I could get a lot of exercise trying to move around to find my way out of it; hopefully with nothing scary chasing me around.

Tango - Rubik's Cube

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. It would also require permission to use the Rubik's Cube game concept or ability to adapt the idea so that it does not infringe on any copywritten or trademarked material.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Idea

I think it would be cool to make an augmented reality app for the Rubik's Cube, and I know that has been done quite a bit before but this idea puts a slightly new twist on the game. You would want a few different modes for the gameplay so that the user can choose the best one for the moment.

Normal Apps

One mode would be like any old Rubik's Cube app you have seen before. It would have the cube displayed center screen with the ability to either swipe parts of the cube to solve it, use two fingers to change the orientation of the cube and it would also have some simple controls displayed to each side of the cube which allows you to accomplish the same results.

Augmented Reality Versions

Another mode would be the augmented reality mode you would probably expect to see, which is to display the cube somewhere and of some size in the user's environment. The user would have the ability to walk around and see the cube stay in its given place within the environment. There would be the same set of controls provided in the first mode but with some added physics to allow the user to manipulate the cube with respect to the environment. For example; maybe they would have the option to pick it up and place it somewhere else, or to pinch it and change the size of it.

The New Twist

One thing that I think hasn't been done before, and something such as Google Tango could be used to provide, is the ability to walk inside the cube and solve it from within. Imagine if you had an augmented reality Rubik's Cube in your environment and were solving it on your Google Tango device. Then when you got close enough to it you could pop inside of it. If the cube was very small it would be resided to a very large size.

It could even do things such as snap to the size of the room you are in, giving the impression that you were shifting the walls around to solve the puzzle. The point being once inside no matter which direction you look you will want to see several of the surfaces in order to keep the game interesting and playable. The controls could be pretty much the same as before. You could either touch and swipe a section to rotate the pieces and solve it, or you could tap controls near the edges of the screen.

Summary

The simple idea is to use Google Tango to allow players to solve a Rubik's Cube from the inside, something which as far as I know has not been tried before. I have tired to contact Rubik's Cube to obtain permission to make this app but have not heard back from them.

Tango - Real Life Tron Game

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run, though it would be much more fun with multiple devices playing at once. It would also require permission to use the Tron game concept or ability to adapt the idea so that it does not infringe on any copywritten or trademarked material.

If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Setup

If you aren't already familiar with the movie Tron or any of the many games developed in reference to it then be sure to check out some YouTube videos of Tron gameplay so you will understand what I am talking about here.

The Idea

I think it would be really neat, and quite simple for a developer (or team) to build, a Google Tango app that allows a player or multiple players to have a real life Tron like experience.

Basically you open the app to start the game. Then as you physically move around your space a trail is drawn where you have been. In true Tron game-like fashion, this trail would be a vertical semi-transparent glowing solid colored plane. If multiple devices are available for simultaneous play then each player would have a uniquely colored plane of their own.

A player loses a life or loses the game when he/she physically crosses over where a player has been before, designated by the glowing trail, even if this is where he/she has been.

The object of the game is to outlast your opponents, virtual opponents if no other players with devices are available, by getting them to collide with your or his/her own trail.

Adapting gameplay to real life

Traditionally in versions of the game you are on a motorcycle that is always moving and in a confined space. This means that players will always eventually run out of space and collide with someone's trail.

For this to work in a real life setting, using these devices to augment reality, some creative choices will be required to ensure the game is both playable and fun. The developers must make decisions on whether the game size will be confined or not and how to handle situations where a player is boxed in but does not physically keep moving. By camping out a player could live forever, meaning some penalty or game mechanic must be implemented to keep players moving or to kill them off if they decide to stand still.

Making it awesome

So far as I was describing this idea you might have imagined a player walking around holding a Google Tango device, or a group of people doing this. Similar to how you see in the following Google Tango Pac-Man like game:

Yes, this will be the most likely use case of course, but imagine if you will having a way to mount these same devices of the handlebars of bicycles. Don't believe Google Tango would work from a bicycle mount? Then check this video out my friend because it has been done before.

Summary

There you have it, another Google Tango app idea. Relatively easy to develop but I would imagine it requires getting permission to use the Tron concept.

Tango - I Spy

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. The development skill level is quite a bit more difficult than previous app ideas posted here on this blog. If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Idea

The gameplay is based off of the child's game often called I Spy. The app would see/scan/learn the room the player is in and use computer vision to secretly select objects within the environment. The game is to have the player try and guess which object the app is thinking of, much like the child's game often played in real life. Not only would this app potentially be fun to play, it could be used to help train computer vision neural networks.

Gameplay

When you open the app the game may take a second to acclimate, this is basically how Tango works now as it often says "Hold Tight," only with the added process that the app will have to try and use computer vision to quickly see an object in the field of view that it recognizes.

The very first object selected by the app each time it opens will likely be super obvious and easy to guess, which will serve several purposes. For one thing, the quicker it can find an object the faster the game will start. This saves from having to have the player scan large portions of the room before playing, We know that the player will naturally move the device around and we can scan the room during gameplay. However; if no objects are visible or recognizable right away, we may need to ask the player to slowly look around a bit with the device until this is solved.

Another benefit of this quick and easy recognition is it will help us to understand our player. If he/she is not able to quickly guess an obvious object within a small field of vision, then we will know to keep the object selection and gameplay easy for him/her as it is likely this is a child or someone that would have a hard time guessing in general. On the other hand, if he/she quickly identifies the object we will know that we can safely step up the difficulty when possible.

The app will need to provide a hint to start the player off such as, "I spy something red." The player can walk/look around and touch objects to guess if they have found the correct object that the app is thinking of. When wrong, more hints may be provided over time to help guide the player. If they player is having a hard time the app could even use visual feedback to show if the player is getting "warmer" or "colder" as the device is moved around.

Hints could be basic like "look down," "try higher," or more complex like "it is shiny," "it may be wooden," or "the object is soft and fuzzy." Furthermore; if it happens to be a pretty common object that the app understands clues could be something like this, for a door for example: "you use it," it swings," or "it's closed."

It is possible to do a little machine learning here. At the end of each round we could let the player point out if any hints were misleading or flat out wrong. Of course we could playfully apologize while noting that we are a simple minded AI character that he/she is helping to teach, promising to try and do better in the future.

When the correct object is selected the app could continue with the next object or by allowing the player to think of an object. Reversing the roles is quite a bit higher of a challenge for the developers but could always be added later on as a feature to the game.

Training Computer Vision

By reversing the roles, allowing the player to pick objects, we now have a nice opportunity to train our neural networks and make our computer vision results better over time.

There are several creative ways to allow the player to provide hints to the app, as it now must guess the object. One way is that we could start out by allowing the user to pick from a dynamic color palette specific to this environment. Essentially saying "I spy something the color..." by tapping this selection.

After that point the app could lead the player to objects is wants to guess and provide the player with three options to always select from being something like: yes, no or I don't know. "I don't know" could be worded many other ways but it's basically the option for what you are asking or guessing doesn't make sense, so please try something else or clarify. The app could continue to select objects or pose questions for the player to answer such as "Is it food?" The questions would always be geared towards a yes/no answer and would often teach us something about the object in question.

Other ways of interacting that allow the player to select objects would be to use speech recognition or providing a keyboard and an input box, but typing doesn't sound very fun in this game format and we are already making our workload hard enough without having to deal with speech recognition for what would often fall into the same three categories of yes, no or I don't know.

The Development

While this would be a really fun project to work on or be involved with, it is way over my skill level at the moment. Hopefully though someone will read this and take off running with the idea. Good luck to you and please keep me posted with the progress. Right now I am simply following tutorials and trying to get anything working with Tango. Let me know if you would like more clarification on this idea, I often tend to rattle off parts of an idea that make sense in my head but I lose people along the way by leaving out major portions of the inter-workings. 

Tango - Magic Apps

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Setup

Alright, so this isn't actually so much of an idea as it really is an idea for an idea. Basically every time I show someone my Google Tango phone and what it can do they are mesmerized by it. They have no idea what is going on or how it works. It takes showing a few apps off and explaining the mechanics to them before it finally starts to click.

The Idea

What I'm thinking would be really great right now, especially since almost no one knows what Tango is, is to make some magic apps. Now I'm not big on magic or slight of hand in general and I don't think we should be trying to deceive people, but I think Tango could be used for some quick funny gags.

I haven't thought about this enough yet to give you a solid example here, maybe I will and will post one later on for you, but I wanted to give you the idea to get you thinking about it for now.

Imagine using your phone running a Tango app and the other people looking at your screen have no idea that this is a Tango enabled device. Imagine how you could use that opportunity to amaze them by surprise and then jump into explaining what Tango is and how it works.

Tango - Elephant In The Room

Project Status: App Idea

Requirements

This app would require a Google Tango device to run. If you are looking to buy a Tango device check out this post which links to the newest devices on the market.

The Purpose

I'm thinking about building a Google Tango app about an elephant in the room. Sort of a little game, which will be more about me learning how to write a Tango app than it will be about making a fun app/game.

The Idea

Basically you would open the app and look around your room. After a quick look at your environment the game may begin. What will happen is an elephant will be hidden in your room. Your job will be to hunt around and find it, touching on it once found.

Sort of a Where's Waldo type of search, except for an elephant and in real life (augmented life?).

I think it would start out super simple to find, like a gigantic obvious one with some very visible texture. Once you touch it, it will hide again, but the difficulty factor will change based on how well you are doing. Over time it can get smaller and hide better, better even so once it learns the mapping of your environment. The textures can blend better with the room to make it even harder to spot.

Bells and Whistles

If I could get it working, I would have the elephant be a playful character to interact with. It would act like a big puppy.

If someone is looking around too fast and the Tango sensors can't keep up, I would alert the user to slowdown, telling them they are scaring off the elephant by moving so fast. In this way finding creative solutions to handle the current limitations of Tango.

Update

I took a little time and started to work on this project. So far I have been able to place the elephant in the room. The cats are from the tutorial I used to get the app running, lol. Enjoy.