1. Preparation for the EXPO

a. Create Methods

Provide documentation and visuals of the applied methods and reflect on their impact.

We used creative methods to shape an emotionally rich game:

• Culture + Value + Game Collage: Explored emotional contrasts (life vs. legacy) using art and symbolism.
• Game Sketching: Tried different player roles; chose AR in a museum for stronger emotional impact.
• Concept Convergence: Refined the central dilemma (cat vs. painting) with philosophical depth.
• Future Culture Worlds: Visualized emotional consequences of each choice to extend impact beyond gameplay.

b. Process Documentation

Upload visual documentation of your process and prototype with reflections on your Cultural Game Jam process

Ideation Wheel: Combined Equality, Rhythm/Art, and Cultural Aesthetics for our theme.

Culture Safari (ArtWalk): Collected inspiring visuals to set the mood and tone.

Reflections & Brainstorming: Developed deep design questions about empathy, heritage, and moral choices.

Game Concepts: Explored multiple ideas, leading to Ashes or Breath, an AR based moral choice game.

c. EXPO Preparation

Provide a summary of your EXPO presentation (the game prototype, concept, and idea; the interplay of EU values, cultural heritage, the cultural game jam theme, and your game design; any accompanying materials or spaces used/created for the EXPO)

Game Summary: Ashes or Breath—an AR game about choosing between saving a cat or a painting during a museum fire.

EU Values & Culture: Integrates Equality, Dignity, Freedom, and cultural heritage as the heart of the dilemma.

Game Jam Theme: Reimagines the future through ethical choices, not just aesthetics.

EXPO Setup: Includes an AR demo, visual storytelling (poster), sound design, and physical space mimicking a museum gallery.

2. Implementation and Challenges

🛠️ 2.1 Technical Description

Our game Ashes or Breath consists of two core components: an AR-based “Museum Scene” 🏛️ and a VR-based “Rewind Room Scene” 🔄.

In the AR scene (MuseumScene) 🏛️, we utilized Scene Mesh to detect and reconstruct the real-world floor. We applied a marble texture to enhance realism and simulate the look of a traditional museum. The Mona Lisa painting 🖼️ was initially intended to be anchored to the wall mesh provided by MRUK (Mixed Reality Utility Kit), but due to environmental constraints and recognition accuracy, we placed it approximately 1 meter from the initial player position instead.

A virtual cat 🐱 roams the space, randomly switching between "Walk" and "Idle" animations. When the user interacts with the cat using their RealHand, it triggers a "Meow" animation along with audio feedback .

After approximately 50 seconds, when the introduction sound finishes, the museum scene suddenly catches fire, featuring flame particle effects and fire sound effects . If the user either grabs the painting or cat and then interacts with the door handle, the scene transitions to the RewindRoomScene. These interactions are stored as flags and passed to the next scene.

In the VR scene (RewindRoomScene) 🔄 , the system uses these flags to determine which of the eight interactive memory bubbles are visible. Each bubble represents a possible consequence. When a bubble is grabbed, an image and narrative text are displayed in the virtual space using Canvas and UI, allowing players to reflect on their earlier choices.

Players can interact with the door handle again to return to the post-fire MuseumScene, enabling them to revisit decisions and explore alternate timelines. This loop can be repeated infinitely ♾️, encouraging deep narrative exploration and decision-making.

❓2.2 AR challenges and Solution

Challenge: Inaccurate or inconsistent wall mesh detection using MRUK, especially in environments with limited or irregular vertical surfaces. 

Solution: Instead of anchoring the Mona Lisa painting to a detected wall, we placed it at a fixed position (~1m from the player) to ensure reliable and consistent rendering across different spaces.

Challenge: Maintaining realistic environmental immersion in a dynamically reconstructed AR space.

Solution: Used Scene Mesh floor detection to apply a marble texture to the detected ground plane, simulating a high-quality museum environment.

Challenge: Ensuring interactive reliability between virtual characters (e.g., the cat) and user input via hand tracking. 

Solution: Integrated Meta XR Toolkit’s RealHand tracking to trigger responsive animations (e.g., Meow) and sounds when users interacted with the cat.

3. Evaluation and Insights from EXPO

We gathered 8 valuable responses for our games.

3.1 Critical Thinking

• Many participants agreed that the content of the bubble truly affected their emotions and made them rethink their choice.

3.2 Empathy and Moral Sensitivity

3.3 Feedback

Almost all participants love our games. The average rating score is 4.00/5.00!

3.4 Future Work

1. Some users reported a lack of instructions, making it unclear how to interact at certain moments. In future iterations, we plan to incorporate more guidance and instructional cues within the AR scene to improve usability.
2. Some users felt that the content of certain memory bubbles was unbalanced or unreasonable. We will refine the narrative design to ensure that the dilemmas are more logically coherent and present more balanced choices.