Task 1 : Trending Experience

23.09.2024 - 21.10.2024
Michael Chan Henn Loong / 0363611
Experiential Design / BA of Design (HONS) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 1 & Exercises

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LECTURES

Week 1

In week 1 Mr. Razif gave us a brief explanation on what to be expected for the rest of the semester through the MIB and letting us know what will we be learning and using throughout this whole journey.

Sir also told us to install unity for our future classes. We also learned on how and where to get our Vuforia license.

Fig 1.0, Vuforia License Key, 20.10.2024

After that Mr. Razif gave us a lecture on what are AR, MR, VR.

Augmented Reality (AR)

-Combines real and virtual objects

-Enhances the physical world

Mixed Reality (MR)

-Enhances within the physics of the physical world

-Gets to interact and manipulate with virtual object

Virtual Reality (VR)

-Computer generated world

-Sense of presence 

And we were told to launch google on our phone and try out the 3D AR(life size) animal we searched 

Fig 1.1, Dinosaur 3D Experiment, 20.10.2024

After that we had a lecture on what is marker based and marker-less and also gone through the design components in class and lastly stopped at our first task of the week by Mr. Razif which is the exercise shown below in the exercise section.

Week 2

During Week 2 we learned about what is Experiential design, User mapping and journey map. So experiential design is basically a multidisciplinary approach resulting in meaningful and engaging experiences of users, customers or participants. It combines elements of design, psychology, architecture, storytelling and technology to create how people engage with environments, products, services and digital platforms. It is to touch emotions, make people engaged and leave them with the memory of it.

People might misunderstood that UX (User Experience) and XD(Experiential Design) but they actually refer to a distinct concept with various focuses as shown in the image below.

Fig 1.2, UX & XD, 20.10.2024

After that we learned about user mapping, its a process that helps designer to understand the users, normally tools like empathy maps(as shown below) are used to know what the users feel or think or even what they really need, user mapping can really help designers make more precise decisions on their design product based on what they get in the map. 

Fig 1.3, User mapping, 20.10.2024

Other than user mapping we also learned about Journey mapping, it helps designers see how a user interacts with a product or a service across time and what to do about it – what pain points to correct and what opportunities to improve the experience. A journey map details out the phases a user goes through and thus the designers can optimize for higher engagement. Together, these tools and techniques underline the significance of creating design with a user centered focus, where everything we build is meaningful and seamless. 

After the lecture by Mr. Razif we also had a small little exercise in the class creating our own journey map trying to think in the users perspective analyzing what are the pain points and creating solutions for the problems. I think it's a great activity as we get to know how does the journey map really works and I think this method can be utilized in our future projects and work.

Fig 1.4, User journey map, 20.10.2024

Week 2 

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Affordances - Are normally used to help users know what they can do without having to use any pictures, labels or instructions. 

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INSTRUCTIONS

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTLsyhIhCL7Xxa8WSkujwwNmR0dE_axo/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

Exercises-

Week 1: Imagine the scenario in either of the two places. what would the AR experience be and what extended visualization can be useful? What do you want the user to feel? (Kitchen and Gym)

So the chose to use kitchen and gym in this exercise as I love cooking and just got back to gym lately so I've got more inspirations and ideas from these 2 comparing to the shopping mall.

Gym-

Fig 1.0 , Gym , (29.09.2024)

So in the Fig above is what AR I can think of to add into the gym session. I think  The AR system can display graphical or textual information about how many sets the next exercise requires, what is the weight, how many repetitions have to be done, and diagrams illustrating the muscles to be built.

and also show relevant measurements including heart rate, calories burned, reps completed, and progress towards objectives are displayed to the user as holographic widgets right in front of us. The delivery of feedback in real time enables the utilization in real-time operations.

Kitchen-

Fig 1.1 , Kitchen , (29.09.2024)

So in Fig 1.1 is the ideas I have for the kitchen I didn't really use a real life image but an AI generated one, so from my pov I think if the AR can place recipes right on the out countertop with a moving view of instructions, ingredients, and timers would be great and will be much more easier for us. Suppose a cartoonish virtual cooking assistant helps the user to point where the ingredients must be placed, what advice is given at the moment, and even watch over the cooking time.

The AR system overlays the main area with the message of which of the tools/appliances to use for each step. When the user selects an ingredient, the AR system provides contextual and real-time nutritional impact on the choice, or it will recommend a better choice or how it fits within the user’s diet. If the AR system can access the pantry inventory would be cool too so that it can propose recipes that can be prepared from the stuff at hand or remind a user that we are out of certain products.

1. Garden of Focus

 

Goal: Combining time management with a chill plant visual experience.

Audience: People looking for productivity and stress relief, especially for people who loves plants

Experience: As the users focus, the plants grow and acts as a reward for the users who stayed focus

Advantages: Simple and effective in supporting focus and relaxing 

Disadvantages: May feel repetitive due to the simplicity and limited contents

2. Ocean Explorer 

Goal: An educational and relaxing journey passing through the ocean learning information regarding marine life.

Audience: Kids, Teens, Educators interested in marine biology

Experience: Players gets to move underwater interacting with marine creatures to learn facts about them like their diet habitats or ecosystem role.

Advantages: Educational, fun, relaxing

Disadvantages: Potentially repetitive, lacking competitive or a goal for the users to pursue.

3. Sky Gazer

Goal: Provide users like children with a meaningful and relaxing experience to learn about constellations like their names, myths, etc..

Audience: Students, children, users interested in stellar

Experience: In Sky Gazer, users explore a calm virtual night sky, clicking on constellations to learn their names, myths, and facts, creating a peaceful and educational stargazing experience.

Advantages: Atmosphere, ease of development, educational

Disadvantages: static environment, low interactive

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REFLECTION 

In the midst of all of this, developing an AR technology and user experience know how has been such a really valuable experience for me. However, the user journey map was particularly helpful in introducing me into problem solving as the user would do. As I was learning Unity it was exciting, but also a bit challenging and I was proud when I was able to take what I learned and make that into an AR experience. Mr. Razif’s explanations were thorough and he taught which made for smooth and engaging learning process. Moving forward I’m feeling more confident in being able to create meaningful AR experiences for users.