superstAR
is a music-themed, augmented reality "escape room" ending in a projection-mapped display. Solve clues to get instruments and gather up your band!
đź”—project website
đź”—Maryland Today: "Summ-AR Immersion"


Players will guess music-related trivia questions by finding their answers through the nearby "window"


In the recording studio, users must sing at the correct volume level for a certain amount of time to unlock the password


Users must unlock a code phrase by lining up words on the tablet with words in the physical space


Projection-mapped finale


concept planning

Malaya Heflin - Programmer, Producer
Arti Dhareshewar - Artist
Fiza Mulla - Sound Designer

Tools: Unity, C#, Arduino, Madmapper

"superstAR" was developed as part of the Immersive Media Design New Works Incubator at the University of Maryland, College Park. It was chosen by judges to be publicly exhibited on September 7 and 8 at the 2023 NextNow Fest, an annual on-campus arts festival, where it was experienced by 100+ participants.
It is an immersive, "escape-room" experience based primarily on augmented reality interactions. There are 3 sections, each themed around different musical genres: jazz, EDM, and pop. Players travel through each room, solving clues by using a tablet and other technology to interact with their physical environments, helping them earn an instrument from each section. This culminates in a final projection-mapped display where players can see the instruments they've collected along with their winning trophy.

Individual Contributions
I led all technological elements used to make superstAR, developing the following features:
  • Implement AR image tracking and recognition
  • Implement general game functionality
  • Design and implement UI
  • Process sound input with Adafruit Circuit Playground & Arduino code, which is then used in conjunction with a C# script to produce resulting output in Unity
I also created the following art assets:
  • superstAR logo and animation
  • EDM character
  • Misc. elements (ex: music note frame)
 Team Contributions
  • Use game design skills to ideate various clues and puzzles
  • Design and implent the finale projection-mapped display using MadMapper
  • Arrange props and lighting to make each section more immersive
  • Create planning documents, including concept art, initial sketches, project timeline, and task distrubtion
  • Playtest and present progress regularly to incubator team
  • Facilitate two-day showcase at arts festival