The AR Block is a complex and innovative cube that is designed to teach young children cognitive recognition of shapes and colors.

The main idea for this AR Block came about in the midst of a lecture from a representative from United Way. The representative explained that one of the key aspects of learning that children need to know before entering elementary schools is the recognition and recreation of basic shapes. We decided to create something to do just that. Our first idea was to create an interactive environment in which children could experience and experiment with shapes and colors. This idea would take a VR (Virtual Reality) headset and a VR coding engine, both of which are expensive and impractical. Continuing off of the idea of a simulation, we decided to enter the realm of AR, or Augmented Reality.

In this simulation, children would use an App on an Android Phone to view the real world around them. Following this concept, we decided to create a cube that the child can hold and play with in their hands. This cube has a unique laser-
etched and hand-painted design on each face that the Android app can recognize and interpret. When the app sees one of these designs, it displays an object in 3D.