CONCEPT

This project documents a prototype for BoxCity, a location-based Augmented Reality (AR) game that aims to strengthen neighborhood connections and reveals cardboard box consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. With AR, players use their shipping boxes from online shopping deliveries to build box stacks in their neighborhoods. Different from social play in existing location-based games (LBGs), asynchronous social interaction is proposed as an alternative approach in response to social-distancing measures. This game is designed to fulfill players’ desires of social connectedness, public space recreation, while fostering awareness about consumption levels in different neighborhoods.

We envision this game to be an experience where virtual and physical worlds intertwine. When the player receives a package, he/she will be able to input the package information into the game, including approximate dimensions, types of goods (food, cosmetics, electronics, etc.), and brands. The player can also pick a desired texture from the system texture library and customize how the virtual box is rendered. Then the virtual box will be saved to the player’s box repository in order to be later added to the neighborhood stack.

In order to add the box to the neighborhood stack, a player needs to walk to the designated location of the stack shared by all neighborhood members, bringing the phone with him/her. By navigating the neighborhood with the game open, players can intuitively see from their phones that the AR box stack overlays the urban environment. Once the player arrives and opens the game, he/she will be able to see the existing pile of virtual boxes in the real-world environment added by other players.

TECTONIC SYSTEM

STORYLINE

USER FLOW

UNITY IMPLEMENTATION

We implemented our prototype in Unity. It shows navigation of the city in AR and the box stacks that people might build in their neighborhoods. 

(Jump to 30s to see the Unity implementation)

IN DIFFERENT CITIES... 

This project documents a prototype for BoxCity, a location-based Augmented Reality (AR) game that strengthens neighborhood connections and reveals cardboard box consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. With AR, players use their shipping boxes from online shopping deliveries to build box stacks in their neighborhoods. Different from social play in existing location-based games (LBGs), asynchronous social interaction is proposed as an alternative approach in response to social-distancing measures. This game is designed to fulfill players’ desires of social connectedness, public space recreation, while fostering awareness about consumption levels in different neighborhoods.

L: metropolis;      M: small town;      R: a mix of different living densities