Link to demo video (YouTube or Vimeo).
https://youtube.com/shorts/iTFSH7W7fVo?feature=share

Include a link to your public 8th Wall Featured Page
8th.io/6cgg7

Briefly describe your projects key features and tech stack used
In this project, the following key features are implemented: the ability to localize to a VPS location; support for up to two players to spawn “points” forming a circular, invisible track; the option to remove all points from the scene and reset their placement; automatic navigation of players’ cars starting from the first point and moving through each point in a loop; a pointer system to help players easily locate the next point; controls for accelerating and decelerating the car to optimize lap times; instant game restarts from the first point; and lap time recording, including the last lap and best lap times. Additional enhancements include spatial audio, which provides a natural-sounding engine “whoosh” as the car passes the player; particle emitters, which create realistic road dirt effects under the wheels; and “Hider” materials that enable occlusion, ensuring that if the car drives behind an object, it will be visually hidden from the player’s view.

What was the inspiration for your project?
Inspired by our last creation, "Highway Swayers," we envisioned what an ideal AR racing game that is fun and exciting would be like. It’s extremely difficult and impractical to allow players to steer their cars in AR, as they are locked facing their phone’s screen for context. We needed a simpler solution to ensure cars move in the right direction with less supervision and input. This led us to the idea of having cars drive toward designated points arranged in a loop, forming an invisible circuit. Acceleration and deceleration is essential in every race as it influence lap time therefore it was added as a core gameplay mechanic. Driving on an empty road is boring and that is where VPS shine to create actual physical obstacles to make the circuit more interesting and challenging. Decorating the scene allowed us to keep track of our AR scene as well. Since it was 8th Wall’s mission to encourage exploration of the world, we took on the harder challenge of including an additional player in the game. By using “Pointers” as a core mechanic, we made it possible to have up to two players’ cars added into the scene while sharing the same screen. This gameplay setup allows players to study the environment and strategically place their points to gain an advantage, making it easier to complete laps around the playground. Adding a second player was significantly challenging due to the need to interchange and ID all pointers. As a result, a two-player AR racing game—focused on point drifting—was conceptualized and created, offering both meaningful and strategic gameplay.

What prize is your submission eligible for? (pick more than one if it applies)
Real world VPS and spatial learning