Augmented Reality & Camera Features

The AR stack uses ARKit on iOS and ARCore on Android via Expo's native modules, with WebXR fallbacks where supported. The camera, accelerometer and depth sensors combine to anchor virtual content to real-world surfaces with centimetre-level accuracy in good lighting.

AR distance measurement lets a player point the phone at the playing area, tap the jack, then tap each boule; the app overlays a measurement line and reports the distance in centimetres. It is a coaching and learning tool, not a substitute for an official measurement (which requires calibrated callipers), but it is fast and surprisingly accurate — typically within 1-2 cm at competition distances. Multiple boules can be measured in sequence and ranked closest-to-jack.

AR-overlay rules tutorials project a virtual jack and boule sequence onto the player's actual terrain, walking through scenarios — "this is the throwing circle, this is the minimum jack distance, this is what a foot fault looks like". Beginners can practise the rules on real ground with virtual props, and clubs running try-petanque sessions can use the same module as a teaching aid.

Boule and jack detection uses an on-device computer vision model to recognise boules and the jack in any camera frame. It powers the measurement tool's auto-tap, makes the slow-motion analyser smarter (highlighting which boule the player threw) and feeds the replay module by tracking trajectories.

AR replay records a short video clip with embedded 3D trajectory data, then lets the user replay the throw from any angle by moving the phone — the boule's path is rendered as a glowing arc that can be inspected from above, behind or alongside. The slow-motion shot analyser captures at the device's max frame rate (240 fps on recent iPhones), then plays back with a frame-by-frame scrubber, optional grid overlay and side-by-side comparison against a reference clip from a pro. All processing is on-device for privacy; clips can be optionally shared into the social layer.