KIT724 Assignment 3 - AR
1. Introduction
A fun and novel way to learn alphabet letters for preschoolers via augmented reality application, that allows kids to learn quicker in an interactive manner through seeing the objects in 3 dimensions. Overall, the kids would enjoy the AR alphabet.
2. Description of the application
Learning the alphabet is necessary for reading and writing for preschoolers. At this age, the kids don’t require flashcards, but they would learn best through playing, hence this software helps preschoolers learn the alphabet with interactive 3D objects, for instance, A for an airplane, C for a car, and much more. Each letter associated with the virtual 3D object model can make the learning activity fun and easier, leading to grabbing kids’ attention perfectly. Consequently, they would enjoy learning naturally and observing the letter quickly because they are often attracted to shiny, colorful, and moving objects.
Buying a whole set of printed alphabet letters together with associated physical objects for each letter is costly (problem 1), so the traditional learning interface is designed in 2D printed alphabet only like books or flashcards which are less visualization (problem 2), and not easy to manipulate the characters of the objects (problem 3).
To solve problem 1, AR alphabet software is developed with the emergence of AR technology to corporate learning alphabet letters with the virtual 3D model object helps kids to learn best when they are provided learning with numerous multisensory experiences (Rambli et al. 2013).
To solve problems 2 and 3, the objects in the virtual 3D environment are colorful. In addition, 3D animation is used to manipulate the realistic characters of the objects like the airplane is designed to fly from one destination to another, which improves visualization, and enables the kids to start to pick up on the letter names.
3. Interaction design
The kids tend to be hyperactive so they would not prefer to sit in one place, listen and repeat the alphabet letters. By nature, they love playing fun stuff and when they play, they would participate progressively in learning, thinking, and gaining knowledge. Playing requires interaction between kids and the software like clicking on the next button on the main menu to decide whether to learn about animals or vehicles as they are curious about what happens next when they interact with the button.
Grabbing engagement and enjoyment during the learning process requires corporate fun and playfulness elements in the software (Alyousify & Mstafa 2022), for instance, presenting the airplane 2D flash card close to the camera, and the virtual 3D airplane model will pop up which results in arousing excitement and emotions in kids. The 3D airplane model, on the other hand, is not only colorful but also moving, it is moving from left to right over the flash card. Shiny colors and moving objects in 3D attract kids’ attention, consequently, they will engage actively in the learning alphabet and remember “letter A is airplane”.
Below is the storyboard to illustrate the use case of the interface design.
4. Technical development
The software is developed with the Unity development platform and Vuforia targeting desktop webcams, and the Unity scripts are written in C#.
As soon as the application launches, the vehicles and animals’ kid books are displayed together with the Next and Exit buttons.
- Clicking on the Next button to load the A letter screen, following showing the airplane image target closer to the camera, the 3D airplane model will be projected on the airplane image target.
- Clicking on the Next button using the hand finger to load the C letter screen, following moving the car image target closer to the camera, the 3D car model will be projected on the car image target.
5. Description of 3D Models
The project utilizes free assets on the Unity store and several images on the internet to speed up the development.
| Thumbnail image | Image name | Purpose of usage |
| Kindergarten books | The main menu of the program where children can select to learn for Vehicles and Animals | |
| Airplane | Airplane target image | |
| Car | Car target image | |
| Low Poly Free Vehicles Pack
| Car 3D model | |
 | Civil Transport Aircraft | Airplane 3D model |
6. References
Alyousify, AL & Mstafa, RJ 2022, ‘AR-Assisted Children Book For Smart Teaching And Learning Of Turkish Alphabets’, Virtual Reality & Intelligent Hardware, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 263–277.
Author, AS n.d., WK2-Alphabet Fun AR by Kid Castle Educational Software Co., Ltd Shanghai, AppAdvice, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: appadvice.com="" app="" wk2-alphabet-fun-ar="" 1445398471="">. </https:>
Civil Transport Aircraft | 3D Air | Unity Asset Store n.d., assetstore.unity.com, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: assetstore.unity.com="" packages="" 3d="" vehicles="" air="" civil-transport-aircraft-194516="">. </https:>
Flashcard alphabet c is for car vector image on VectorStock n.d., VectorStock, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: www.vectorstock.com="" royalty-free-vector="" flashcard-alphabet-c-is-for-car-vector-8269837="">. </https:>
Garcia, F 2019, 7 Augmented Reality Apps Teachers Will Love, blog.edmentum.com, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: blog.edmentum.com="" 7-augmented-reality-apps-teachers-will-love="">. </https:>
Low Poly Free Vehicles Pack | 3D Vehicles | Unity Asset Store n.d., assetstore.unity.com, assetstore.unity.com, viewed 17 September 2022, < https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/vehicles/low-poly-free-vehicles-pack-228368>.
Rambli, DRA, Matcha, W & Sulaiman, S 2013, ‘Fun Learning with AR Alphabet Book for Preschool Children’, Procedia Computer Science, vol. 25, pp. 211–219.
Stacie 2021, Children’s Book Review: The Pop-Up Guide Vehicles and Magnetology Animals by Maud Poulain, Sincerely Stacie, viewed 17 September 2022, https://www.sincerelystacie.com/2021/09/childrens-book-review-the-pop-up-guide-vehicles-and-magnetology-animals-by-maud-poulain/
Twinkl.co.th, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: www.twinkl.co.th="" resource="" t-ar-90-aeroplane-quick-look="">. </https:>
Vector illustration for learning to write letters English with... n.d., iStock, viewed 17 September 2022, <https: www.istockphoto.com="" vector="" vector-illustration-for-learning-the-alphabet-for-children-with-cartoon-images-gm1332427730-415276255="">.</https:>