Tuesday (1/8)

Intro Lecture - pdf here.

Virtuality-Reality Continuum (example of mediated virtuality)

Projections of AR versus VR

Review some cool handheld AR examples and other things to think about.

Form teams.

Getting Settled (Due 1/10)

• Every Student: Know the Field
• Familariize yourself with items 1-6 on the Resources page.
• If you'd like to explore AR Game Dev on the Hololens play at least 4 games and apps found here. Play at least two from the first list (professionally developed apps) and at least two from the second list (developed by the community). Here's a nice review of the top four Hololens games at Slant. An interesting Portal demo.
• If you'd like to explore AR Game Dev on mobile devices, open App Store on your phone and search for augmented reality and/or check out some cool stuff using Google AR https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/ar . Play at least 4 games or apps that seem different from each other.
• Make your first blog post summaring your first impressions of using the Hololens.

Thursday (1/10)

Team discussion about Hololens or Mobile AR apps and games they played - 5 minutes. Then teams share out major findings with class 5 minutes.

Class discussion about Resources 1-6.

Foundational Milestone (Due 1/15)

• Every Student:
• Continue studying Resources items.
• Play at least 4 more Hololens experiences. On the blog write up your thoughts and lessons learned from played each one.
• Post on the blog 20 ideas that 1) use the affordances of the Hololens, 2) are in scope for the quarter and 3) are extremely engaging and gripping to experience.
• Every Team
  • Rough prototypes. Get something simple working in Hololens. Isn't supposed to be final game idea. Could be anything you think could be compelling. For example ghosts are coming out of picture on wall floating toward find player who can't hide.
  • Post rough prototype video, screenshots, name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Tuesday (1/15)

More AR Examples:

Sunglasses scene from They Live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgAwdixodjw
Esquire and Magazine AR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRceOYbrVzc
Instrumental Use of AR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRJaHZH9lo
AR Kitchen Hell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSfKlCmYcLc
Shifting Time: camilleutterback.com/projects/shifting-time-san-jose/
Social AR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iQdkK89hRc

More Generative / Procedural Art:

Augmented Reality Art: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kJF3GQF3YI
More AR Art from James Alliban: https://www.youtube.com/user/jimalliban/videos
James Alliban's blog: http://jamesalliban.wordpress.com/
Book waterfall from window: boingboing.net/2012/03/30/building-spilling-books.html
River of wolves: kostasvoyatzis.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/99-wolves-installation

Foundational Milestone Presentations and Discussion

Yin and Yang Cycle (Due 1/22)

Each team develops 2 simple toy prototypes:

1. One toy is as purposely messed up as possible. Interpret "messed up" however you want, but it has to do something with getting something working on the Hololens. That is the "Yang" toy.
2. Then you need to make the "Yin" toy. It should be NOT as messed up as possible and be presentable to your grandparents and grandchildren and impress everyone ever alive.

Don't forget that the goal is to make 2 SIMPLE AR TOY PROTOTYPES. They don't have to have strong, definitive game designs yet at all. But they will probably have some kind of mechanics (verbs the player performs). However the context, challenge, and art/sound content don't have to be present (it's awesome if these are present but not necessary). That being said, the folks who have those roles should help shape the toy prototypes so that they could potentially have some super sticky and clear contexts, challenges, and content. Crapwork that needs to get done:

1. Take a 20 second video of each toy and upload it to YouTube or Vimeo and link to it on blog.
2. Take 2 screenshots of each AR toy in its current state and upload it to blog.
3. For each prototype post its name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Thursday (1/17)

Explanation of Iterative Loop Development

Teams work on Yin and Yang Cycle.

Tuesday (1/22)

Yin and Yang Playtests, Presentations, and Discussion

First Iterative Loop (Due 1/29)

Class selects the most evocative, compelling, and in-scope toys from Yin and Yang. Teams iterate on them to better leverage the tech's affordances, increase emotional engagement. Post first iterate loop prototype video, screenshot, name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Thursday (1/24)

First Iterative Loop workday

Tuesday (1/29)

First Iterative Loop Playtest, Presentations and Discussion.

Second Iterative Loop (Due 2/5)
Focus on engagement and clarity. Experiment with core prototype to make sure you're trying all possible versions of the idea. Don't be shy or meek. If you have a ball shooting from player's face into basket, try 40 balls shooting from face to 5 baskets, or reverse the scenario and put basket on players face so they catch balls. etc. Be bold. Post first iterate loop prototype video, screenshot, name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Thursday (1/31)

Second Iterative Loop workday

Tuesday (2/5)

Second Iterative Loop Playtest, Presentations and Discussion.

Third Iterative Loop (Due 2/12)
Focus on playability. Can the player jump right into the fun? What is the most interesting 5 seconds you've had with the game? How could that 5 seconds be twisted, stretched, and built upon to make other amazing gameplay seconds? Post first iterate loop prototype video, screenshot, name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Thursday (2/7)

Third Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (2/12)

Third Iterative Loop Playtest, Presentations and Discussion.

Fourth Iterative Loop (Due 2/19)
Exaggerate positive and negative feedback. Make the game feel really good. Communicate clearly and strongly to the player what is happening. Make the player feel completely gripped by the action. Post first iterate loop prototype video, screenshot, name, description, instructions and roles to blog (each team need do this only once).

Thursday (2/14)

Fourth Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (2/19)

Fourth Iterative Loop Playtest, Presentations and Discussion.

Alpha Iterative Loop (Due 3/5) Game is festival-worthy. Entire loop is in. Is clear, fun, and gripping for 30 seconds.

Thursday (2/21)

Review Festivals and Conference to submit games.

Best practices for submitting to venues.

Alpha Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (2/26)

Alpha Iterative Loop Workday

Thursday (2/28)

Alpha Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (3/5)

Alpha Iterative Loop Playtest, Presentations and Discussion.

Prep for wrap up. Get everything ready for final push and polish.

Beta Iterative Loop (Due 3/19). Game is festival-winner. Entire loop is polished. Every second is super clear, fun, and extremely gripping for 60 seconds. Games become showcase pieces for the Hololens (games Hololens owners show friends to show how amazing and fresh the technology is).

Thursday (3/7)

Beta Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (3/12)

Final Sprint Checklist for Beta Builds (Due 3/19)

• AR Game is completed, polished, and give players a one minute experience of awesome gameplay.
• Ready for submission to the App Store, Android Marketplace, and indie or art game shows and festivals
• Take a 1-minute video each AR toy or game and upload it to YouTube or Vimeo and link to it in blog.
• Take 10 screenshots of each AR toy or game in its current state and upload them to blog.
• Game name, description, instructions, and roles posted to blog.

Thursday (3/14)

Alpha Iterative Loop Workday

Tuesday (3/19) Final Exam TBA

Alpha Playtests, Presentations and Discussions of AR Games

Plan for Next Steps. Submit to festivals and conferences. STAY IN TOUCH WITH TEAM AND SCHRANK. You will get these into festivals.