The more I think about it, the more I actually want an app that can animate or add visual effects to my tattoo. After discussing my AR Tattoo idea last class and reading the comments under my Initial Concepts, I am fully on board with this idea. To me, tattoos are more than just a random image or artwork on your body. They stick with you forever. Many people have tattoos of things they are interested in, to proclaim their love and devotion to something. After watching the clips on Audio Tattoos, it really moved me. People were getting audio clips of deceased loved ones so that they can hear their voice whenever they scan their tattoo. Having the ability to give your tattoo a visual story or awesome vfx can be impactful on an emotional level as well as a great social topic.
Ideally, I would love to have the app automatically detect boundaries to add animation and visual effects to the tattoo, however, I would require more research into that area. After my recent research, I feel I have the ability to add simple VFX to a target image. Luckily there are plenty of tutorials online that show you how to set up an AR app through Unity.
Walter found an article for me that showcases almost exactly what I had in mind: https://www.cnet.com/news/comic-creator-gets-awesome-augmented-reality-tattoo/
Unity includes multiple free packages for AR development on iOS as well as Android. ARkit for iOS compatibility seems like my go-to package for developing this project. Initially, it may be easier for me to do simple image recognition with a preset photo target of a tattoo and add visual effects that may help tell its story. Using this preset photo allows Unity to recognize a target and play the media that is caused by this target’s trigger. To create visual effects for the tattoo I would have to create a VFX Graph in unity that holds the effects for the target.
Justin, I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog because I think your idea is really really cool. I know it’s a little bit different but this concept reminded me of tattoos of QR codes that direct you to a video or a song when scanned. The idea of making tattoos interactive is going to open up a whole new world. After reading your post, I thought about how you could literally turn this idea into a business. I’m not very familiar with Unity and I’m not sure how presets are made, but I think the idea of having an animation made specifically for your tattoo, and also knowing that it only works for your tattoo is more intriguing. What I’m trying to say is that if you are doing pre-made animations, something to keep in mind is to make sure it doesn’t just look like a snapchat filter- I think your idea has so much potential and is much more unique. I’m really looking forward to seeing your process.