BlocklyAR: A Visual Programming Interface for Creating Augmented Reality Experiences

Vinh T Nguyen,Kwanghee Jung,Tommy Dang

doi:10.3390/electronics9081205

Vinh T Nguyen, Kwanghee Jung + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9081205

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Journal: Electronics	Publication Date: Jul 27, 2020
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Texas Tech University

Abstract

State-of-the-art tools for creating augmented reality (AR) applications often depend on a specific programming language and the deployed target devices. The typing syntax of a program is error-prone, and device dependency makes it difficult to share newly created AR applications. This paper presents BlocklyAR, a novel web-based visual programming interface for creating and generating an AR application. This tool is intended for non-programmers (young learners and enthusiasts) who are interested in making an AR application. The goals of this tool are: (1) to help young learners and enthusiasts express their programming ideas without memorizing syntax, (2) to enable users to perceive their expressions, (3) to enable learners to generate an AR application with minimal effort, and (4) to support users by allowing them to share newly created AR applications with others. BlocklyAR uses Blockly for creating a palette of commands and AR.js for transcribing commands into AR experience. The applicability of BlocklyAR was demonstrated through a use case where an existing AR application was recreated by using our tool. The result showed that our tool could yield an equivalent product. We evaluated the visual tool with the help of 66 users to gather perspectives on the specific benefits of employing BlocklyAR in producing an AR application. The technology acceptance model was adapted to assess an individual’s acceptance of information technology.

Highlights

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that expands the physical world with additional digital information such as sounds, images, and models [1]
The growth of AR applications can be attributed to solutions that focus on contextualizing information
S56 indicated that, “This would be very useful for training for kids and starters”; this comment is aligned with our initial intention of making

Summary

Introduction

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that expands the physical world with additional digital information such as sounds, images, and models [1]. The growth of AR applications can be attributed to solutions that focus on contextualizing information (e.g., annotating different parts of a physical object [2], displaying artifacts at a given place [3], and aligning virtual objects with the real world [4]—that is, automatically positioning an object on the detected table or floor). The background component defines a basic color background of a scene It takes two inputs as color and transparency. Geometry: This is a universal component to define the shape of an entity The input of this component can be either data defined by users or primitive shape (which is described in the Primitives category). The translated code from the geometry block is "geometry =’buffer: boolean; primitive: input_value; skipCache: boolean’"

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