AR Sandbox

January of my sophomore year of high school (2018), I was taking AP 2D Studio Art and overheard some teachers talking about wanting to build an augmented reality (AR) sandbox to use at our school district's middle school. The sandbox they wanted to build would make use of software originally developed by UC Davis and uses sensors to map out the sand’s terrain and then project a lively updating elevation color map with contour lines and simulated water onto it. They were working on plans to build the actual sandbox itself and buy some parts (such as an Xbox One Kinetic to use as a sensor), they just needed someone to help with the software. My art teacher, knowing I liked technology, offered to let me work on it during class and submit it as part of my art portfolio so for the next month or so, that's exactly what I did.

My Contribution

The first thing I did was read through all the documentation for the software itself - which took longer than it should have since it was my first time reading documentation (I was 15). Next I had to choose an operating system, and I ended up using Linux Mint. This decision ended up having a lasting impact on me as this was my first introduction to what is now my favorite pastime/hobby: Linux. I then spend a lot of time helping order parts and set up/calibrate the software to get everything to a working state. After the administration was done building the physical box, I set up some key-binds for middle school teachers and, after taking some pictures for my art portfolio, helped load the box onto a truck. I then spend the afternoon of my school day at the middle school setting things up. My sister, who was in middle school at the time, ended up using it just a few weeks later and to my knowledge, the sandbox is still in use over 4 years later - gotta love Linux.