Creating Engaging Augmented Reality (AR) Games for Events
TL, DR
AR is an opportunity for companies and brands to engage with their audience, activate them through an event they are interested in, and offer them a memorable experience to take with them from the event. In this article, you will learn the critical aspects of designing AR games for events as an overview of the technology, game design, accessibility, and analytics.
Among many uses of augmented reality, its capability of combining digital and natural environments is beneficial for events. People love new inventions and get excited when interacting with a computed and natural world.
The first approach towards building a compelling and exciting AR game that an event can host is to consider that the objectives are well understood by the makers and audience alike. Define what are your aims and objectives in developing a particular AR game.
Some key factors include the age, gender, and technological skills of your audience and participants. The design of your game should be usable and accessible to access if you want it to be the highlight of the show.
Different aspects, like storytelling, good graphics, and an enhanced interface, will make the audience love the game. Regarding the technical aspects of these AR games, you must choose the most appropriate AR platform to make the game, introduce advanced features, and ensure reliability.
AR is the new future, and when brands use these games for their marketing and advertising, they can attract many young consumers.
Creating Engaging Augmented Reality (AR) Games for Events
Over the last few years, Augmented Reality (AR) has surfaced as one of the most promising technologies that create immersive experiences. One of the fields where augmented reality has emerged as a prominent innovator is the area of events, including conferences, trade shows, festivals, and many corporate events.
AR is not just a form of entertainment. Still, it is an opportunity for companies and brands to engage with their audience, activate them through an event they are interested in, and offer them a memorable experience to take with them from the event.
In this article, you will learn the critical aspects of designing AR games for events as an overview of the technology, game design, accessibility, and analytics.
What is Augmented Reality and its Impact on Events?
Augmented Reality (AR) is a broad term that depicts real-world elements superimposing digital data onto real-world contexts through gadgets like smartphones, tablets, or smart glasses. Although VR is an entirely artificial working environment, AR enhances the natural working environment and helps users interact with digital objects that appear natural to them.
Among many uses of augmented reality, its capability of combining digital and natural environments is very beneficial for events. People love new inventions and get excited when interacting with a computed world and a natural one.
Such interaction may increase students’ participation and innovations, improve learning, and help them develop positive emotions towards the event and its aims.
Main Factors to Designing AR Games for the Given Events
1. Define Clear Objectives
The first approach towards building a compelling and exciting AR game that an event can host is to consider that the objectives are well understood by the makers and audience alike. Define what are your aims and objectives in developing a particular AR game.
This could be to inform the attendees about a new product, to remind them of a brand, take attendees traffic to specific booths or simply to entertain them. Unique goals should direct every game design and development concept to make it easy to achieve the event’s purpose and bring value to its organizers and participants.
2. Understand Your Audience
The most critical aspect of creating an AR game designed to tickle their fancy is the audience. Some key considerations here include the age, gender, and technological skills of your audience and participants.
For example, a game suited for the high-tech audience at a technology convention might have more complicated interactions with AR and gamification aspects than a game made for the general audience at a music festival. These things highly impact the audience traffic.
3. Select the Proper Kind of AR Game
Different kinds of games can be applied at various events; each one may have a unique feel of event experience. Some popular types of AR games include:
- Treasure Hunts or Scavenger Hunts: this kind of game where people navigate the event’s space and use their smartphones to locate and pick up virtual objects placed in the space. You can use these games to popularize different areas in the event space and get people to visit various event sections.
- Interactive Quizzes and Challenges: If you want the attendees to be informed about a certain topic or product, you can introduce quizzes and challenges in your events. For example, an AR game can be set up where participants answer certain questions or complete some tasks to receive a gift. People of all ages will be interested in playing such a game.
- AR Escape Rooms: A game that has a virtual maze and the participants need to cross all the hurdles to come out of that maze and get out of the room can be an interesting one. Such a game is suitable to address team goals and can be modified to correspond to different topics and goals.
- AR Face Filters and Effects: These filter games are not complicated yet immensely entertaining. Thus, severe AR face filters and effects can complement any event. Through free downloadable applications from the users’ smartphones, users can choose a fan that will suddenly appear on their face, a hat, a mask, or makeup for a photo taken that can be posted immediately on Facebook or Twitter. It can be sort of a photo booth situation where they can get those pictures with some crazy background as well.
- Brand Activations: AR games can also drive people’s attention to products or brand activations. These games let the attendees try the products on, see products in new dimensions, or even engage with the brand characters.
4. Usability and Accessibility
The design of your game should be usable and accessible to access if you want it to be a show-stopper and a success. It must be designed and made very simple to play. The game should be compatible with different devices, including smartphones and tablets, and this should be done without installing special applications.
The interface design should be straightforward, with simple instructions and a few steps so anyone can access it. Another feature that can make your game impressive is the needs of disabled users so that everyone can enjoy the game.
5. Design Experiential Marketing
Games are not tangible products that can be attracted by their shapes or physical attributes. Its graphics and design will make it a hit, which gain the user’s attention. It is possible to use high-quality graphics and animations of real-life scenes and feelings backed with sound effects.
It should have incentives to elicit the exploration model such as hidden items and objectives that would challenge the players to go on. You can also add the elements of storytelling to make the players have a goal that keeps them interested in finding out how the game will end.
Technical Aspects of Augmented Reality Games for Events
1. Selecting This Right AR Platform
There are many development platforms for AR games, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Some of them are ARKit for iOS devices, ARCore for Android devices, Unity with Vuforia, and WebAR for browser-based AR.
You need to be highly considerate while selecting the platform, targeting specific features, and making it user-friendly for all participants.
2. Leveraging Advanced AR Features
You can create a genuinely engaging AR game by leveraging advanced AR features such as marker-based AR, where you can apply markers in the form of images to define the kind of AR experience the game offers.
Markerless AR can be used with the help of the device’s camera and motion sensors to identify the physical world context and insert virtual objects into it.
This makes it possible to have more freedom while designing the games since one has to cover all features. You can also use Location-based AR by coordinating locations. This is especially right for extra or recreational sports or fun activities that may warrant coverage of a large ground area.
3. Ensuring Reliable Performance
In AR games, reliable performance is critical because, during events, there are crowds of people, and the environmental conditions may hinder the games’ performance.
This can be done by fine-tuning the game by optimizing its performance. Make sure it has passed all the tests under different conditions, and providing tech support at the event itself.
Conclusion
Designing Augmented Reality games for events is an great strategy used to improve an event’s quality and make it enjoyable, attract more attendees, and meet the set goals of the occasion.
You should be able to comprehend the overall concept of the application, have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with the use of attractive and engaging designs for the application and take into consideration different features and possibilities that the application is capable of.
With this, you can create memorable and effective AR games which will have the desired impact on the targeted audience.
As AR technology advances, the ways to develop events also become more distinct, which can help provide new opportunities for further improvements in this field.