Project Name: MR Fossil

Track: Learning

Inspiration and Problem: Traditional learning mediums such as textbooks fall short of providing a comprehensive learning experience. Learning the history of life on Earth can be complex, and among kids and teenagers as there is often a lack of connection with the past beyond the page of the textbook. This leads some to find the topic dull, or to find the material too abstract to relate to. With the help of Mixed Reality, we aim to bring natural history to life and increase interest and learning retention in children and adults.

How we are solving the problem: Based on our research (e.g Piaget's theory on cognitive development) we found that playing games has a fundamental role in children’s development. With the help of Mixed Reality technologies and MR Fossil, the learning experience becomes more fun and enhances traditional learning methods. Users playing this game will be able to have hands-on learning experience using MR technologies. Our game offers the acquisition of new information, and also contributes to cognitive development and the cultivation of problem-solving skills as the user learns to use the tool and interact with the world around them.

Who is it for? For those aged 5-18 For kids ready for adventure For Meta Quest users seeking an extended learning experience through gaming For parents who want their children to have hands on learning experience For Educators aiming to improve their classroom activities and offer innovative learning experiences.

What it does: MR Fossil is a game designed to help users draw connections between the present and the past by discovering fossils. The Adventurer embarks on a journey through the history of life on Earth with Meta Quest 3. Being in the present time surrounded by rocks, the user explores how to use the tool on the scene. With the help of the tool, the adventurer discovers MR Fossil and his friends. Every finding unveils information about the fossils in the Cambrian Era, and as a result the game creates an opportunity to learn the history of life on Earth through the MR technology experience.

Why Mixed Reality? Creating a bridge between us and our planet's history requires us to explore the past while staying connected to the present. Mixed Reality provides the unique opportunity to ground ourselves in our real environment while bringing natural history to life, emphasizing that the past was once alive where we stand today. In our MR game, users deepen their connection to the space they're in, both through natural history and through physical play.

How we built it: MR Fossil was built in Unity specifically for the Meta Quest 3, using the Meta Presence Platform. We used elements of the Interaction SDK, including Hand Tracking; the Audio SDK (specifically, WitAI for text to speech); and the Mixed Reality SDK for Passthrough and Scene Understanding, using MRUK (Meta's Mixed Reality Utility Kit) to spawn rocks in the passthrough environment. 3D assets were hand-built and animated in Cinema4D and textured by hand in Substance Painter by our 3D designer. Ambient audio and sound effects were sourced from FreeSound and mixed in Reaper by one of our developers.

Future Work: Make the game location based, and give the adventurer more places to visit to explore new species that lived in certain time periods and areas. For example implementing a globe map that allows users to change location and learn about a variety of natural history.

Utilize Meta's Voice SDK and WitAI further by scraping fresh facts and information for players as the game expands.

Enhance accessibility by adding options for subtitles and for seated gameplay.

Adding a multiplayer feature enables users to play together, this will foster socialization and collaborative learning by connecting them with other adventurers.

Adding an option to choose different sub topics from natural history (i.e: Mesozoic Era, Cenozoic era, human archeological history etc.)

Implement a journal of discovered fossils to store facts about them and record progress.

General optimization and cleanup of the codebase to be more production-ready.

Challenges we faced: The initial challenge was to generate and decide the idea. We started to direct our focus towards a different domain in learning but we ultimately decided on historical education due to connection with the past and the Earth. Hardware problems such as the Meta Quest 3 having issues pairing with the devices on which we wanted to build the game. Meta Presence Platform helped us develop complex interaction quickly, but posed its own challenges. Because of the newness of the software, there are limited resources for help and documentation.

Setup

Download and unzip the repo. Make sure to install Unity 2022.3.17f1 with the Android Build Support, OpenJDK, Android SDK & NDK Tools, and Windows Build Support (IL2CPP) modules. In Unity Hub, click Add Project, and select the unzipped repository folder, and make sure to add it using the 2022.3.17f1 version. Click File -> Build Settings, and make sure the build platform is set to Android (if it isn't, select Android and Switch Platform). Ensure that the only scene listed in Build Settings -> Scenes In Build is Scenes/ARchaeology and that that scene is checked. Plug in the Meta Quest 3 to your computer, select the scene named ARchaeology in Unity, click File -> Build and Run and the project should build to the Meta Quest 3.

Hardware Required

• Meta Quest 3

Software Dependencies

• Unity 2022.3.17f1
• Microsoft Windows 10
• Meta XR All-in-One SDK (com.meta.xr.sdk.all)

Run

Once the project is built and sent to the Meta Quest 3, it should launch automatically. If you have closed it and want to relaunch it, navigate to the Applications Library, select the Unknown Sources filter, and launch the app named ARchaeology.

Shout-Outs

Team:

Dan Schmidt: Developer

Meredith Binnette: 3D Artist

Ramazan Yener: Project Manager

Shalma Wegsman: Developer/Designer

Yunting Zhao: Developer/Designer

Credits:

Audio: FreeSound

Stock Footage: Pixabay

Rocks: ondrasaur on SketchFab

Ammonite Fossil: Loïc Norgeot on SketchFab