Embodied AI

THE BRIEF

Brainstorm lots of ideas for an Embodied AI
The EAI will be used in AR on a mobile device.
What is the nature of the character?
What is the nature of the overall experience?
Who is it for?
Define the idea using storyboards and UX
Prototype the idea in Unity

Young students can find it hard to learn a subject like geography, because there are so many countries, leaving the feeling overwhelmed or bored. Brightly coloured cartoon animations hold the attention span much longer and the interactivity with that character can be an educational opportunity. The younger generations enjoy using mobile devices, so an app like this could work really well.

THE IDEA

THE SOLUTION

To create an augmented reality app to educate children on geography. The embodied AI character is an enthusiastic parrot that teaches about different countries with a pirate personality. Captain Squawks leads the adventure in a fun and engaging way designed to hold children's attention. Bright colours, collectibles, progression rewards and mini games included to keep the player engaged.

As the player learns about different countries, they will be able to see the 3D model of famous landmarks appear in AR. The idea is to learn in small chunks, and the player can decide where to learn about next at their own pace.

This app is aimed at children of 6 - 12 years, but would be fun for players of any age who may want to increase their knowledge of geography.

The player can hangout with Captain Squawks and ask him questions. The response is generated by AI source ChatGPT in a child friendly tone with the delivery of a pirate! ChatGPT voice to text would be really helpful for young players who are also learning how to spell.

AR MINI GAMES

True or False

Captain Squawks asks a True or False questionand the timer counts down.

To answer, move the device left or select right to True or False.

True side will turn green and False side will turn red.

The buttons will also scale larger to indicate your selection.

Treasure Hunt

Solve the riddles Captain Squawks ask you by finding the correct item in your space.

Captain Squawks will give you clues if you get stuck.

Fun music plays while your search. Are you getting hotter or colder?

THE PROTOTYPE

The making of in Unity

On the phone AR point cloud scanning surface planes

Prototype model in AR

Visual scripting

Look at function makes the character look directly at the player
Lerp function makes the character move towards the player in AR space

Applying Open AI in C# and assigning the prompt:
"You are a parrot. Act as a pirate that loves to travel the world. You enthusiasticly reply to questions in a child friendly manner. Don't break character. Don't ever mention that you are an AI model."

Interface1- Chat only

Interface 2 - Chat overlay in AR

Interface 3 - Chat on 2D Sprite

Before this project, I had never opened Unity. Now I have the skills to create an AR experience and a character that can talk through AI.

Through this project, I've learnt how to identify a user problem and solve it through exploring character creation, augmented reality and the power of ChatGPT.