timeboARd

About timeboARd

timeboARd is a native iOS application designed to revolutionize how teams catalyze and catalog brainstorming sessions using Augmented Reality. Acting as a version control system for ideas, the app allows users to capture physical whiteboard content and transform it into a permanent virtual 3D model stored in the cloud. Users can anchor this digital canvas with minimal interaction, preserving architectural diagrams, course notes, and creative concepts without the loss of information that occurs when physical boards are erased. Key features include a time-machine interface that enables users to step backward or forward through saved versions of a session, reviewing the evolution of ideas in real-time. The platform supports collaborative workflows where multiple individuals can contribute to or edit a digital board. Developed as a HackHarvard 2017 project using ARKit, Google Cloud Platform, and Facebook API, timeboARd addresses the technical challenge of vertical plane detection within AR environments. It is tai

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anthonyanader

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Vision

We're Git for brainstorming through the medium of Augmented Reality

Wanting to change the way teams catalog brainstorming sessions, we developed Time Bo[AR]d, a native iOS app, that enables users to collaborate, share and upload a series of 3D whiteboard sessions through Augmented Reality. Users then have a time machine like ability to flip and step through a versioning view of all saved virtual frames in real-time.

Problem Solved

Space is limited -whiteboards must be ~~erased~~. With Time Bo[AR]d, users can anchor the canvas with only two taps and a catalog their whiteboard into a virtual 3D model that is stored in the cloud. We help save important architectural diagrams, ideas, course notes which can later be projected and edited individually or collaboratively.

Who is this for?

Anyone. Anyone who engages in group activities and brainstorming sessions. Engineers, Students, Professors, Marketers, Advertisers, Analysts, Managers and much more.

Challenges & Roadmap

ARKit does not support vertical plane detection. There was no way to set vertical virtual anchors using the framework itself; so we wrote the code for it, from scratch. This portion of the work took the majority of the time as it required knowledge of mathematics, planes, and geometry.

The majority of us learned Swift over the weekend. We had never worked with Xcode or the Swift Programming language. Due to time constraints, we had to compromise on some features. Our next update will include seamless collaboration for two or more members real-time editing and working on a board simultaneously. This portion of the application will be the primary focus of our next release.

Technologies

ARKit - iOS 11 introduced ARKit, a new framework that allows us to easily create unparalleled augmented reality experiences for iPhone and iPad.
Google Cloud Platform - We enjoyed using firebase as our database solution. Looking to integrate more Google components in the future.
Facebook API - Facebook Login & Account Kit. We enabled simple login or account creation with Facebook, phone number or email. No more passwords.

Contributors and Maintainers

There are no formal contributing guidelines at the moment as things are still in the early stages and we might find a better approach to design and architect the app. Anyone is welcome to contribute whatever they think will be helpful to improve this project. If you would like to contribute, feel free to create an issue or submit a pull request and we can go from there.

Devpost Submission

YouTube Demo