EX-Ray Vision: Winning AR/VR @ The Armed Forces Jam 2023 From The perspective of Danny Tapia

Augmented Reality ,Digital Marketing ,Mixed Reality(XR) ,

EX-Ray Vision: Winning AR/VR @ The Armed Forces Jam 2023 From The perspective of Danny Tapia

September 14, 2023

(Audio) Ex-Ray Vision- Winning AR-VR @ The Armed Forces Jam 2023 From The perspective of Danny Tapia

Introduction

My journey at the 2023 Armed Forces Jam kicked off on an ordinary day at the office. While taking my lunch at around 1 pm on a Friday, I happened to come across a LinkedIn post from 302 Interactive, an AR/VR game and experience studio I’d been following. They were promoting the Armed Forces Jam, a game jam hosted by Indienomicon, scheduled for later that same day at 6 pm in Orlando. Despite being relatively new to the game development world, having delved into XR development and programming just a month prior, I recognized this as a golden opportunity to expand my knowledge and connect with others who shared my ambitious development goals. So, I hastily packed my things and prepared for the game jam.

Upon Arrival

Upon arriving at the event, I entered a research building at the University of Central Florida, which was hosting the game jam. I purchased my admission tickets and was pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces from 302 Interactive and other tech-related events I had attended in the past. I greeted those I knew and introduced myself to new People. Before diving into the event’s activities, I took a moment to take my first photo of the event in the mirror.

Danny Tapia W/ Tapia 4 Services Selfie @ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Following this, I settled down and immersed myself in the presentations given by the event coordinators and sponsors. They shared their motivations behind organizing the jam – to provide opportunities for developers, designers, and more to create something meaningful, develop games, and network with like-minded individuals. After their inspiring words, they unveiled a list of challenges and cash prizes for teams that could complete these challenges within 48 hours. Determined to make the most of this opportunity, I formed a team with people I had met at the event, including Ricky Elia, a digital media student at UCF, and Jeremiah Garcia, a game designer, programmer, and Twitch streamer. We decided to collaborate with Dr. Jose Neto, a cybersecurity and blockchain CMMC certified professional, and two others: Noah Sherkaw, a high school STEM student, and Jay Rosen, a researcher at the University of Florida. Together, we embraced Dr. Neto’s idea of creating an AR multi-platform experience to identify, pinpoint, and visualize access points using a WiFi Pineapple to perform an RT scan and convert the data into a JSON file for Unity integration. Despite the daunting challenge, we were all in, and the EX-Ray Vision Team was born.

Danny Tapia W/ Jeremiah Garcia & Ricky Elia @ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Day 1 – The First 24 Hours

As we reconvened at the Armed Forces Jam on the following morning, we were greeted with a table of breakfast foods. After fueling up for the day ahead, I met up with my team to begin our development. On the previous day, we had decided to divide our efforts into different aspects of the AR experience. Initially, our focus was on figuring out how to convert the JSON file into a visualizable format but once that puzzle was solved, each team member concentrated on their specific department to contribute to our overall goal – creating a working prototype.

Dr. Neto led the charge in setting up development for the Microsoft HoloLens and guiding the team in the right direction. Noah and Ricky began developing Unity scripts to visualize the JSON files in Unity, while Jeremiah took charge of designing icons and directing the UI’s look. I worked closely with Jay to visualize the web JSON file using JavaScript’s three.js library. By the end of the day, we had each achieved half of our goals, learning new skills every step of the way.

Danny Tapia W/ Magic Leap Headset@ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Magic Leap Developer W/ Ex-Ray Vision Team

Danny Tapia W/ Jeremiah Garcia @ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Danny Tapia W/ Ricky Elia @ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Danny Tapia W/ Noah Sherkaw @ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Danny Tapia W/ Dr. Jose Neto@ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Danny Tapia W/ Jay Rosen@ Armed Forces Jam 2023

Day 2 – The Last 24 Hours

We arrived early on the next day, ready to tackle the final 24 hours of the event. The pressure began to mount as many of our programs felt incomplete, and technical difficulties arose during the first few hours of the day. However, each department gradually resolved these issues. Jay successfully completed a web-based visualizer for the software, while Noah and Ricky managed to visualize it in Unity. Dr. Neto set up Unity with his HoloLens 2, and Jeremiah and I rounded things off by finalizing the user interface and presentation materials.

Our journey was not without help from event resources such as Unity engineers, Magic Leap developers, and fellow programmers and developers who generously assisted us. As the time approached for presentations and judging, we put the finishing touches on our project and submitted it on itch.io just before the 4 pm deadline. While waiting for the results, we indulged in a delicious burrito feast offered at the event. The tension was palpable as each team presented their projects, with ours being the fourth in line. When the moment arrived, we made our presentation. As we awaited the results, we couldn’t help but feel nervous yet hopeful.

Ex-Ray Vision Team Presenting to Judge @ Armed Forces jam 2023

Ricky Elia Setting Up @ Armed Forces 2023

tasty Burrito from Armed Force Jam 2023

The announcement came, and to our astonishment, the announcer declared that “Ex-Ray Vision” had won the challenge, earning us a cash prize of $500. Ecstatic and in shock, our team went up to receive the honor, a moment captured in a memorable photo. We returned to our seats, discussing how surreal it felt to emerge victorious among so many other talented developers. Our multi-platform network visualizer triumphed, making it a truly unforgettable experience.

Ex-Ray Vision Team Winning AR-VR @ Armed Forces jam 2023

The Wrap-Up

As we wrapped up the weekend’s event, the team reflected on how it had been an incredible experience beyond just winning the challenge. We had come together as a cohesive team and worked collectively to create a remarkable solution. We expressed our gratitude to all those who had contributed to the event’s success, including Indienomicon, OMG Labs, 302 Interactive, the Air Force, Navy, and other military branches, Unity, Magic Leap, as well as all the sponsors, supporters, staff, faculty, and volunteers.

As the event concluded, we saw potential opportunities to continue developing our project beyond the event and possibly turn it into a real product. Only time will tell where this journey will lead us, but one thing is for sure – the Armed Forces Jam was an unforgettable milestone in my developer journey.