Summary
The AR Dinosaur Game is a location-based augmented reality (AR) game developed to promote outdoor physical activity and social interaction among children, especially those with chronic illnesses. The game features two modes: a single-player obstacle race and a multiplayer egg-collection challenge. Players navigate real-world spaces using their smartphones, avoiding virtual dinosaurs or collecting virtual eggs while physically moving outdoors.
Built in Unity with ARFoundation and a Flask-based LAN server, the game tracks performance data such as finish times and collected eggs. The single-player mode emphasizes speed and precision, with a leaderboard to encourage repeated play. The multiplayer mode fosters teamwork and cooperation in collecting as many eggs as possible within a time limit.
A field experiment with 89 primary school students showed that children with access to the game were significantly more likely to go outdoors during free activity periods. Although no statistically significant gender differences were found in performance, trends suggested boys favored the competitive racing mode while girls engaged more in the cooperative tasks.
The project demonstrates AR's potential in encouraging physical play and social engagement. Future development aims to improve assets, enable online multiplayer, and fully integrate the game into the broader DINO platform.