GlanceAR

AR news reader built with Unity and Vuforia

A mobile AR app that shows real-time news headlines when you scan a target image. Built as a final submission task during a 4-week college AR/VR training program.

---

Why We Built This

At the end of a 4-week AR/VR training program at our college, our team was given a final submission task: build a working AR application that goes beyond the usual "scan and see a 3D model" demos. We were asked to come up with something practical, so we landed on an AR news reader — a real use case that felt relevant and achievable within the scope of the program.

As part of the team, I focused on designing the UI, planning the user flow, and testing to make sure everything worked smoothly.

---

What It Does

• Scan a target image with your phone camera to activate the AR experience
• Displays 3 news headlines with source and timestamp
• Filter news by category: All, Tech, Business, or Sports
• Refresh button to get the latest headlines
• Smooth splash screen animation on startup

---

Demo

Screenshots

Splash Screen — App startup animation	AR View — Live news headlines overlaid on the target image
Category Filters — Switch between All, Tech, Business, and Sports

Working demo

_{▶ Click to watch the demo on YouTube}

---

Tech Stack

What	Technology
Game Engine	Unity 6.0
AR Framework	Vuforia SDK 11.4.4
Language	C#
API	NewsAPI
Platform	Android

---

Project Files

glanceAR/
├── Assets/
│   ├── Scenes/
│   │   └── MainScene.unity            # Main AR + splash scene
│   ├── Scripts/
│   │   ├── NewsAPIHandler.cs          # Fetches headlines from NewsAPI
│   │   ├── NewsDisplay.cs             # Renders news cards in AR
│   │   ├── CategoryManager.cs         # Category filter logic
│   │   ├── SplashAnimator.cs          # Splash screen animation
│   │   ├── SplashManager.cs           # Splash lifecycle control
│   │   ├── ContentAnimator.cs         # Card animation effects
│   │   ├── ButtonPressEffect.cs       # Button press feedback
│   │   ├── RefreshButtonController.cs # Refresh button handling
│   │   ├── SpinnerRotate.cs           # Loading spinner
│   │   └── ExitApp.cs                 # App exit handling
│   ├── Images/                        # UI icons and assets
│   ├── Resources/                     # Vuforia configuration
│   └── StreamingAssets/Vuforia/       # AR target database
├── Packages/                          # Unity package manifest
├── ProjectSettings/                   # Build and player settings
├── docs/                              # README screenshots
└── README.md

---

How to Run This

You'll Need

• Unity Hub with Unity 6.0
• An Android phone with USB debugging enabled
• A free NewsAPI key from newsapi.org
• A free Vuforia license key from developer.vuforia.com

Setup

git clone https://github.com/harsh-space/glanceAR.git

1. Open Unity Hub → Add project from disk → select the glanceAR folder
2. Open the project — Unity will auto-import packages from Packages/manifest.json
3. Open Assets/Scenes/MainScene.unity

Add your NewsAPI key:

• In the Hierarchy, select the GameObject that has NewsAPIHandler attached
• In the Inspector, paste your key into the Api Key field

Add your Vuforia license key:

• Go to Window → Vuforia Configuration
• Paste your key into the App License Key field

Build for Android:

• File → Build Settings → Switch Platform to Android → Build and Run
• Connect your phone via USB with USB debugging enabled

Target image: The AR database is already included — no setup needed. Just print or display this image to trigger the AR view:

_{Point your phone camera at this image to activate the AR experience}

---

My Role in This Project

Within the team, I contributed across two areas:

UI Design & User Flow

• Designed the news card layout and category filter buttons
• Defined the end-to-end user flow from splash screen to AR view, focusing on clarity and minimal interactions

QA & Testing

• Tested edge cases including no internet, slow connections, and varying AR tracking distances
• Identified and helped resolve issues with data rendering and UI state updates

---

Challenges I Faced

Cards drifting from the target
The news cards weren't staying in place. Found out I had attached them to the wrong parent object. Moving them to the ImageTarget fixed it.

Category buttons not updating content
The app was fetching new data but not showing it on screen. Separated the data fetching code from the UI update code, which made debugging much easier.

---

What I'd Improve

• Error messages — Currently nothing shows if the API fails. Would add friendly error messages.
• Better code organization — Would split the code into separate files for API calls, UI updates, and AR management.
• Offline mode — Would cache headlines so the app works without internet.
• Multiple targets — Would make different images trigger different news categories.
• Loading indicator — Would add a spinner while fetching news instead of just freezing.