QuickTips
How to use Behaviours and Forces in Augmented Reality
Video Transcript
How about we start adding some movement and life to our Augmented Reality creations?
I’ve built this scene and I’ve added a Space Shuttle to the very front of it. What I want to do is I want to make that Shuttle take off when I tap on it. So, to make this work first of all tap on the object to select it once, and then in the top corner you’re going to press the Behaviours button.
Now from here you want to add a new behaviour and when you tap on that button you’ll notice there are a few preset options and one of them says Tap & Add Force. That means when I tap on my object a force will be applied and my object will move in which ever direction that force is going. There are lots of different options here which open up lots of creative possibilities for your own objects and animations in Reality Composer.
When you add a behaviour to an object for the first time you will need to turn on Dynamic Simulation for that object. So tap on Update and the object will behave just like it would do in the real world. I’ve now got a couple of panels on the bottom of my screen and from here I can choose the amount of force I apply to my rocket (so I can make it go higher or lower) and I can also check which object this will apply to.
If I choose a different object I could add that force to any object on my scene – or multiple objects. But for this I just want the rocket. Well, I’m happy that my Force and my Tapping Target are both on the Space Shuttle I’m now going to press the AR button and the Play button and at this stage it’ll place the objects in the real world and I can more it around. But when I tap on that rocket it’s going to go flying off into Space. Well, not quite – it kinda bounces and then falls down on mine. But perhaps you can adjust your own force to make it a little bit better?
The possibilities for forces and animations in Reality Composer are huge.
How to create an Augmented Reality Book Review
Video Transcript
Let’s have a look at how we can use Images to create some Augmented Reality experiences based around real world objects – in this example an AR book review.
In Keynote I’ve made a really simple template for a book review. You can download this here.
I’m going to open up Reality Composer now and I’m going to create a new project. I’m going to choose the Image as my anchor point this time and when it opens I’m going to delete that blue shape on top. I don’t need it so I’ll tap on it once to select, then again to delete. Then you’re left with a placeholder for an image. Tap on there once to select it and then in the Inspector on the right hand side you can choose your source for the image. This will open up the Files browser and I’ve downloaded an image of my book cover which I’m now going to select and it’ll drop it straight into Reality Composer.
This book is now actually far bigger than the real book would be so when I tap on the object I can adjust the Physical Width and Physical Height sliders in the Inspector. Get these a bit closer to what they ought to be in order to make your experience even more realistic.
Then I’m going to swipe up to show the Dock and I’m going to drag Keynote over as a popover window. With my book review on the screen I need to tap and highlight all of the objects to make sure they’re grouped into one single object. Then I’m going to tap and hold and when it’s selected I’m going to slide it across into Reality Composer and let go on top of the book. From here I can adjust the scale of this object to make it match the book underneath. I can obviously zoom in and out and rotate but we’re working on a flat plane this time so you don’t need to worry about rotating through all 3 axis.
Finally, once we’re happy that everything is lined up and at more-or-less the same scale we’re going to press the Play and the AR buttons in the top of the toolbar. When it realises that my actual image (which is the book cover) is in the shot it’ll then snap into place and anchor itself to the cover. That means however I move the book, or the camera on the iPad, I’ll get that Augmented Reality experience right over my book.
There are so many ways you could use this in your classroom. Imagine making a display board of pupil work come to life. The book review is just one idea.
How to create Head Tracking Scenes
Video Transcript
Let’s have a look at how we can use Reality Composer to create some Augmented Reality content linked to our faces.
To start with I’ve used Keynote to draw these very stylish and fashionable sunglasses. I’m going to swipe this page away for now and open up Reality Composer. Now, as long as you’re using a device with a TrueDepth camera, (so one that has FaceID), you can create a new document with the Face as an Anchor Point.
Tap onto here and you’ll get a new document – a new workspace – with a face mask in the middle. There’s a speech bubble in the top corner, but we don’t want that for now, so you’re going to tap on the bubble once to select it, and then tap on it again and press delete.
At this point I’m going to drag up from the bottom to show the dock, and I’m going to slide the Keynote window over as a popover window. I can now see Reality Composer and Keynote so I’m going to tap on my sunglasses once, and then I’m going to tap and hold to select them and lift them off of the page. I can now slide my finger across and drop it straight into Reality Composer.
From here I can adjust the position and size of my glasses. On the right hand side in the Inspector I’ve also got a Scale option so I’m going to make the sunglasses a bit more of a normal size and then position them above the bridge of the nose. So when I tap on the arrows I get three different colour arrows, one for each of the X, Y and Z co-ordinates I can tap and drag to move the object around, or rotate them by using the circles.
When your glasses are in place and looking good you can go to the top corner and press the AR and Play buttons. This will get rid of all the interface from the program and it’ll just show you wearing your very stylish new glasses!
It’s a bit of fun making some novelty summer sunglasses, but imagine using it in the classroom to recreate your favourite book characters, such as Harry Potter with his glasses and lightning-bolt scar. Or perhaps you might even have a role-playing exercise where you dress up as different characters using Augmented Reality. It’s great fun!
There really are so many possibilities for using the Face Anchor in Reality Composer and I’d love to see what you come up with. So if you make anything interesting share it in the comments down below or tweet it to me on Twitter @JacobWoolcock. I’d love o to see what you’re making in Reality Composer!
Use Snapseed to create photographic clones of yourself on your iPad
Video Transcript
Here’s something fun to try on your iPad with your pupils, why not Clone yourself to make multiple versions of you in a photograph? Here’s how:
First up we’re going to open up the Snapseed app and then tap to import your first picture. I’m going to take all my pictures using the Hands-Free Selfie guide I posted a few weeks ago and I’m going to make sure I don’t move my camera at any point – so the background will be the same. I’m going to choose my base picture, import it, and then press the Pencil to add an adjustment.
From here I’m going to tap onto Double Exposure. In Double Exposure mode I’m going to press Open Image and then I’m going to select the second picture. This will be of me in a different position but sat around the same table. At this point you might notice that the picture is kind-of half transparent and you can see both as ‘ghostly’ images – that’s not what I want.
Go to Transparency and move it to 100% so you can only see your new picture. From here you’re going to tap onto the Edit button at the top and then go to View Edits then you can see the second layer with the Double Exposure on it. Tap on there and then you can mask a shape around the area that you want to keep on that particular layer.
I’m going to carefully use my finger to mask out an area around my person and then hopefully when you press Done you’ll see both images on the same photo, side-by-side. Of course I can repeat this process as many times as I like by tapping on to the Edit button and then Double Exposure and then importing a new photo.
I’ll do it one last time so you get the idea. Make sure you’ve got your transparency up to 100%, so that it’s completely opaque on top of your original image, and then when you press Edit and View Edits you can tap onto that second Double Exposure and again you can use the masking tool to mask around the area you want.
It really does create a very interesting effect and it’s very easy to do!
Oh, and if you’re wondering who won the game of Monopoly Deal? It was me, of course!
