SPACES
The objective for Spaces was to develop a quick AR utility that allows any level of users to plan and model an environment within their home within seconds of downloading the app
Project Detail
George Brown 2022
Special Topic Augmented Reality Final Project
September - December 2022
Role
Ideation
User Research
User Interface Design
Prototyping
Duration
4 Weeks
Research
I conducted a competitor analysis to inform my ideation on the current market of AR-based decorating and planning applications. From my research, I was able to identify a gap in an AR planning and mapping solution that wasn’t centered around e-commerce or complex commercial 3D floorplans.
Wireframe
I started by wireframing with my main focus on functionality and usability. I wanted to ensure that the user experience was at the heart of the application experience, especially for users just picking up the app for their first project.
Prototype
I wanted to incorporate a way for users to add their own personal items into AR, such as paintings or decorations. This would be an integral feature of the app, giving the ability to allow users to plan out spaces using specific items they own, or plan to purchase.
Spaces would allow users to scan items with their camera or simply add items from photos in their camera roll, and use them in Augmented Reality.
I developed the application in SparkAR where I did most of my testing to see what would work best in order to give the user full control.
Spaces would incorporate a simple control scheme allowing users to easily manipulate objects with touch gestures and make it easy to switch between and add new objects.
It was important for me to allow users to have access to a wide range of models and images to use, and not just what is easily scannable.
Spaces would integrate royalty-free and stock work from sources such as Unsplash and Sketchfab, as well Spaces’ own models and images in the most common item categories.
After developing a prototype I created a demonstration to showcase what an average use of Spaces would look like. The demo showcases the simplicity of adding and manipulating models and images in AR.
This project brought to light a lot about the development process of an AR application, and some of the hurdles you can come across when transitioning from idea to implementation. The ideation and research process was both fun and challenging, as with such an open-ended brief there was a lot of room for creativity. This allowed me to take advantage of the opportunity to work on and actualize my own ideas, and what I would want out of an application like this. I was able to put myself into the user's perspective and do my best to encapsulate and predict the potential needs.