App Description
AR Golf: The Putter’s Challenge is a AR application designed to strip away the complexities of traditional golf and focus on the most satisfying part of the game: the putt.
Objective: To navigate a golf ball into a designated hole using a virtual putter.
Motivation: Traditional golf is often seen as an "elite" sport—it requires expensive memberships, heavy equipment, and hours of travel to a physical course. My goal was to democratize the sport, allowing anyone to practice their short game or have fun regardless of their location or budget.
Target Users: Casual gamers, golf enthusiasts who want to practice indoors, and individuals who lack the time or resources to visit a physical golf course.
AR Features: Designed for Accessibility
To make this app truly thrive in an AR environment rather than just being a 2D game on a screen, I made several strategic design choices:
Hyper-Focused Scope: I specifically chose to develop only the putting mechanics. In full-scale AR golf, long-range shots often get lost in the distance of a room. By focusing on putting, the action stays within the user’s immediate physical space, making it much more immersive and manageable.
Intuitive "Direct-Hit" Interaction: Instead of using complex UI buttons to set power and direction, the user interacts with the ball using physical movement. This makes the game incredibly easy for anyone to pick up and play instantly.
Implementation Issues & Solutions
Developing for AR presents unique challenges, particularly regarding spatial awareness and physics. Here are two major hurdles I faced:
Issue A: The Scaling Problem
The Difficulty: Initially, the golf ball and the hole, they appeared microscopic and were almost impossible to see or interact with on screen.
The Solution:By testing various ratios, I found a "sweet spot" where the assets are slightly larger than real-life scale. This adjustment makes the game feel more "playable" on a small screen while still maintaining the illusion of being in the room.
The Difficulty: Initially, the golf ball and the hole, they appeared microscopic and were almost impossible to see or interact with on screen.
The Solution:By testing various ratios, I found a "sweet spot" where the assets are slightly larger than real-life scale. This adjustment makes the game feel more "playable" on a small screen while still maintaining the illusion of being in the room.
Issue B: Depth Perception & Missing the Ball
The Difficulty: One of the biggest hurdles in AR is the lack of true depth perception. Players often found it difficult to tell if their club was actually behind the ball or passing right through it, leading to a frustrating experience where they would "swing" and miss.
The Solution: By ensuring the club and the ball cast clear, high-contrast shadows on the ground, players can use the "meeting point" of the shadows to judge distance. If the shadow of the putter touches the shadow of the ball, the player knows they are aligned.
The Difficulty: One of the biggest hurdles in AR is the lack of true depth perception. Players often found it difficult to tell if their club was actually behind the ball or passing right through it, leading to a frustrating experience where they would "swing" and miss.
The Solution: By ensuring the club and the ball cast clear, high-contrast shadows on the ground, players can use the "meeting point" of the shadows to judge distance. If the shadow of the putter touches the shadow of the ball, the player knows they are aligned.