Parked Here

Inspiration

My main inspiration behind developing Parked Here was to make it easier to find the location of my parked car in huge open parking spaces. In such parking spaces, everything looks identical at the first glance. I wanted a solution that was easy as well as a little fun. I came up with the idea of a hovering marker over the car's parking spot. This is similar to how video games like Need for Speed display available cars in various locations around the city.

What it does

Parked Here makes it easier to find your parked car in open parking spaces. After parking your car, all you have to do is point the camera at your car, and tap on the screen to place a parking marker on that spot.

Once you're ready to find your parking spot, the map view will help guide you in getting closer to it. You can then point your camera at the open space and you'll find the marker you placed earlier hovering at the location of your parked car.

How we built it

I built this project using Android Studio. This is my first project based on ARCore. I have used the Geospatial API of the ARCore to set the parking marker at the exact point tapped by the user. Also, Google Maps SDK is being used to show the navigation path when the user is away from the parking spot. The project is using a combination of Kotlin and Java languages.

Challenges we ran into

Since this was my first project based on ARCore, there was a steep learning curve. Moreover, VPS is currently not available at my location in India hence, it was quite difficult to test the app and make sure everything was working with pinpoint accuracy. I've tried my best to rely on GPS instead and develop a functioning demo of the app.

For the final version of the app, I asked one of my friends in Canada to download and use the app on his device. Since VPS is available in Canada, the app worked perfectly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I managed to develop a functioning demo of the app even with VPS being unavailable in my current location.

What we learned

I'd been meaning to develop an app using ARCore for a while now. This challenge finally gave me an opportunity to do the same. I learned a lot of things about how ARCore works and how the Geospatial API unlocks a ton of possibilities to use AR to build things that can actually help people.

What's next for Parked Here

I plan to make significant improvements to the existing UI & UX inside the app. I have a few ideas for making the app easier to navigate for the users. Also, I plan to add AR directions to the Parking Marker instead of using a map view.