Augmented Reality App Allows Children to Build Healthy Cities at the DoSeum

The Doseum: CityLab, a mobile AR application developed by INDE, is a game intended for children to discover the possibilities of creating healthy and balanced cities, as part of their interactive adventures at the DoSeum, San Antonio's Museum for Kids. The app uses Augmented Reality to create a unique 3D tabletop game that sparks kids' imagination and creativity in a fun and engaging way.

Photo from the opening event

Players can choose from different value card categories (health, nature, arts & culture, education etc.). Each card has a little symbol such as a bus, a bicycle and a house, and they all further represent actual values within that category, e.g. hospital, science center, art museum, school, university.

Kids can create their future city through the Augmented Reality cards, using the different value elements. As the value cards are placed on the table, the city comes alive when viewed through a smartphone or a tablet. Complex animations, sounds, moving humans and objects start appearing with the placement of each value.

Creating a healthy, well-balanced infrastructure is only possible by using one of each value category when building the city, the time limit for which is 1 minute 30 seconds. When the time is up, a flood comes and only a city with all values represented will survive.

Inde's special task was to implement Timothy Reynold's appealing low-polygon style visual art look – using the 3D models he specifically created for the project – into a working solution with corresponding animations and matching real-time rendering style for mobile technology.

The application is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with free download.