Locus

Locus is DPS Dubai’s navigation application that will help you get to your selected destination from any point in the school.

The black box in the top half will be the image rendered from your phone camera.

The orange line is the path that directs you to your class. It is visible as a real-time rendering as well as a minimap projection.

How to Use Locus

Functionality

Scan the QR code closest to you so the app knows your location.

In the dropdown menu at the top of the screen, select your destination.

Click start journey and follow the line on your screen and the minimap at the bottom.

Precautions

Try not to shake your phone abruptly as this can disorient the phone’s accelerometer.

While scanning the QR code, ensure that you’re standing exactly in front of it and are not pointing at it from an angle.

Once the code is scanned rotate your phone vertically downward to prevent rescanning. Then, move sideways.

Make sure the screen doesn’t timeout.

As you start nearing your destination, start looking out for the selected class as there may be an offset of approximately 1-2 meters.

Troubleshooting

In case the app loses track of your location, scan a QR code at a nearby staircase and input your destination again.

Development

Locus was built using the Unity Development Engine and was coded primarily in C#. The modules used for Android were AR Foundation and ARCore. After a scale model of the school was replicated in Unity, navigation targets were assigned to each class. After scanning the QR code, a line is rendered from the user’s origin to the destination selected by them, thus enabling indoor pathfinding.