Question

Anyone have experience with Virtual Reality programs for caching?

Comments

I suppose you want to have some examples, consideration about how fun/difficult they are  or comparison of the tools available?

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Is ist a yes you want to hear or does a No also Count ? I never heared of such Caches, I just did some wherigoes. Can someone explain the VR/AR Caches using example Caches?

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Use the google Luke: https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=921

Answer 1

Hi,
what excactly do you want to know?
Real Virtual Reality, or do you mean the Augmented Reality trial period on geocaching?
I have placed one AR with the app "HP Reveal", a second one is in preperation.
I can give you some information on that, if you want.

I looked into the other option "Metaverse", however, I didn't get my idea to work with that one.

Comments

Is the second one with HP Reveal. Any comments about what works well and challenges

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I was looking at the Augmented Reality trial caches. Thanks for the correction.

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Okay. So I can give you a bit of advice regarding HP Reveal (just submitted my 2nd, after gloriously failing on the first).

HP Reveal uses "trigger images" and "overlays". Let's say you create a little animation (can be a short video or gif) and you want people to scan a picture which then "comes to life". This is what HP Reveal offers you.

There is an option to do a so-called "campaign", where scanning an image unlock a second one (or third, think of it like stages of a multi cache). If interested, I can provide you with information on the campaigns, it's not activated for every user. But you should first try out creating an "aura" (trigger + overlay that is).

A few more things to consider:
- using real life images (e.g. photos of a statue) has huge downsides. Make sure pictures are good, take different angles, consider different weather and: shadows. If shadows fall on your object it becomes almost impossible to scan.
- don't make it too complicated. Maybe give users one or two "stages" to train and get themselves familiar with everything.
- different phones have different cameras and therefore a different image distortion (that is angle of the picture). It works well with many phones, but some people may have problems.

As soon as my AR_cache comes live, you may find it here: coord.info/gc80gkm

It's in German, but anyone can play it (at least the first stages), by simply following the first link in the listing (leading to HP Reveal, then click "follow" and try scanning the pictures in the listing).
Now I have 8 indoor stations that can be solved at home (a digital image is less prone to real life conditions) and one simple graphic on a sticker outdoors.

If anyone needs more information just ask. :)

Cheers, clappy

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Thanks clappy. This is a great set of comments. I was looking at using some pictures taken in the field but this might be problematic.

I will have a look at setting one up in the next few weeks.

Did you use a computer program to create the auras or was it done on a tablet or phone.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

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Hi,

field pictures may work, if it is a structure that has enough unique features (but is not too detailed). A sign for example may work, a statue or special rock will probably not work very well. Also visit the place in different weather, at different times of the day to make sure there are no shadows (e.g. of a tree) that blocks part of the area that is being scanned.

I would also suggest that you test the whole AR Cache experience with as many phones and at as many times (of the day/weathers) as possible.

The auras were created in the browser version of HP Reveal (studio.hpreveal.com).
If you just want to overlay a picture (maybe the final co-ords), this is pretty simple.
If you want to have an animation, this has to be created seperately (you can do basic animations in powerpoint (exports as video), or you create a more advanced .gif or video file).

So I did all on a computer. :)

HP Reveal is a lot of learning by doing. Especially when it's out and suddenly nothing works on other people's phones anymore... :D

Answer 2

Hi there,

I just did the Cache "AR_Geocache a Realtà Aumentata[GSG18]" https://coord.info/GC7R3A9 it is based on METAVERSE. I had contact with the owner and he did just an english version. Maybe you could ask the owner directly for feedback.

Answer 3

Yes, have been successful on three and quite confused by one more. They did have two different platforms, so can be confusing. Some require you to go to the coords and others you can play anywhere. You should not have too high expectations right now. They can be fun, but are not particularly sophisticated. We are rooting for them since most things improve with experience.

Answer 4

I am yet to find one (was meant to do our first at a mega on the weekend but a sick child put an end to that). I have built one in metaverse, but it's unpublished (I went to put the cache out and found a puzzle cache already in that location and I havent bothered to fix it since).

What exactly do you want to know?

Comments

What I would like to know is if there are any user guides which I can use to start learning about these programs. Any suggestions?

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I've only tried metaverse out of the 3 compliant examples mentioned by geocaching (the others being HP reveal and TaleBlazer). I didnt manage to find much in the way of caching related guides (it was all still very new when I built mine) but metaverse do have a number of youtube videos that were useful as basic tutorials.

Answer 5

Yes

(and other words to make up the 12 character minimum reply)

Comments

I understand that the question may allow a Y/N answer, but i propose to be more constructive than that :-)

Answer 6

Yes, I have solved some augmented caches