I am working on project related to Philippines government information like NBI Clearance and I was thinking about one future idea.
Instead of normal website only, I want make interactive touchscreen kiosk where users can learn application steps, required documents and process with simple 3D UI.
Most people use Unity or web apps for this.
But can Unreal Engine also be good for this type of project?
I don’t need high-end game graphics. I only need smooth UI, touchscreen support, videos, animations and maybe QR code integration.
Has anyone here used Unreal Engine for public information kiosk or similar non-game application?
Hey. Your question should be “what is the best tool for this job”. Starting with a solution in mind and trying to justify it is not the way to approach this. Why is 3D needed for this task? It doesn’t sound like it’ll bring much to the user experience, in fact, it sounds like it’ll get in the way. Users tend to appreciate seamless and intuitive experiences that don’t make them have to figure things out. You can design beautiful and efficient user experiences in 2D. Adding 3D to the solution is only an option if it will deliver the content better. Like a 3D product viewer.
for a public info kiosk unreal works fine: UMG touch input is solid, the media player handles fullscreen video and slides, and you dont need the game graphics horsepower at all, everything is widget based. QR code is the annoying bit, no built-in decoder, a small plugin or a web widget covers it.
the limitation nobody warns you about is the platform side. on a public touchscreen people hammer alt tab, the windows key, ctrl alt delete, and they will walk out of your fullscreen app in seconds, then there is nobody at the terminal to get back in. windows lockdown is the harder half of a kiosk project, not the UI.