{"id":243,"date":"2022-02-14T03:08:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T03:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lamplightproductions.com\/?p=243"},"modified":"2026-02-07T20:20:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T20:20:59","slug":"virtual-valentine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lamplightproductions.com\/?p=243","title":{"rendered":"Happy Virtual Valentine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happy Valentine’s day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying out Apple’s USDZ file format to create a virtual valentine augmented reality experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Click here to view the experience*<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

*requires ios 12 or later<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the Scenes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This project was initially going to be an interactive AR experience developed in a-frame<\/a>. However, after much searching it became apparent that it would have to be a marker-based experience which added more overhead to the experience than I wanted. Instead, I chose to create a simpler experience using Apple and Pixar’s Universal<\/a> Scene Descriptor (USDZ)<\/a> file format which, on the proper device, automatically uses Apple’s Quick Look<\/a> feature in Safari or Messages to render an AR experience complete with plane detection and object placement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Storyboard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The original storyboard included some interactions like tapping the box of chocolates to open it and tapping on chocolates to “eat” them. However, since I ultimately chose the USDZ format I reworked the scene to just include some looping animations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workflow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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My workflow for this project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n