Augmented Reality Immersive Experience
Project Overview
The HXDI Master's students at CSULB partnered with Pando, and non-profit on a mission to restore community to the heart of education with programs that bring about positive, on-the-ground change.
My Role
Project Manager, AR Designer, and Partnership Lead
Timeline
September - December 2022
The Problem - A Documentary
The LA River will rake up 2,500 tons of trash in 2022 alone...
Where does that trash go?
Interviews
My team and I interviewed 12 people, each with different backgrounds, thoughts about Long Beach's pollution, and education on the Long Beach Breakwater.
Synthesizing
Based on our interviews, there were several themes that came up. Here are our findings:
Long Beach residents
Thoughts when thinking of the beaches of LB include: neglected, trash everywhere, never considers going in the water due to pollution
Believe a way to solve ocean pollution is through education
Research on Augmented Reality
Because so many people we interviewed believed education could potentially help the problem of ocean pollution, we wanted to dive deeper in what that could be. We learned about the future of AR and its possibilities.
"AR/VR technologies are a promising addition to the “edtech” space due to their immersive nature, ability to share information in new and engaging ways, and potential to offer virtual experiences that can mitigate barriers from cost or distance."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2020/09/07/gen-z--the-future-work--play/?sh=57a2ade4142e
Design Challenge
Project Statement
¹ In 2022 alone, it is estimated that 2,500 tons of trash will be removed from the Los Angeles River. The Long Beach Breakwater, while important for the economic well-being of the city and safety of coastal homes and businesses, captures regional pollution from the LA River, contributing to long-term environmental damage and negative influence to the cultural image of Long Beach.
This project creates an immersive experience sharing the environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of the Long Beach Breakwater. It educates on the history, detrimental consequences, and call to action for beach communities will be empowered to catalyze change by engaging with local organizations such as Surfriders and Agalita.
¹ See LongBeach.gov for more information on performance measures
Target Users:
Long Beach Residents
Residents that interact with the beach or the outdoors
Different education on the Long Beach Breakwater
Gamification
When thinking of a design for an immersive experience, we wanted to make sure we were making it as accessible and easy to use as possible. We thought about creating a scavenger hunt where people could walk along the beach, but we thought about those coming to the beach, and those who might not be able to walk far.
Poster Designs
We decided to create a tour with posters and an audio guide to educate people on the Long Beach Breakwater, and why it is so important to get involved with the local community on beach cleanups and such.
3D Model Twin
We used Twin Motion to describe to our stakeholders how our AR design would work.
Designing the AR Experience
I used Meta Sparks Studio to create our immersive experience, because I knew that most people probably have and use Instagram, so it would be easiest for our users.
AR Demo
This also includes sound, but it unfortunately does not play on Dribbble!
Testing Day
We spent a day going out to test our immersive experience. Our thoughts were, why post this on a pole when we can be a walking pole ourselves! We walked around the beach and 2nd street where we stumbled upon small business owners and lots of World Cup watchers.
Our Impact
Here is the data we received from showing our AR experience. What I am most impressed with is the average time opened. This shows that people were interested throughout the experience, and probably learned something new!
Feedback
We were lucky enough to receive some great feedback from people, and it will allow us to think about what our next steps could potentially be. The main challenges we faced was the timeline and resources, but I learned new programs and skills which I am excited about!
