ARt Glasses
My Role
Conducted extensive research, crafted information architecture and user interface design, developed AR assets, and initiated multiple workshops for gestures to simulate an AR glasses experience. Produced a customer-facing promotional video. Carried out feedback sessions with peers and instructors.
Duration
3 Months
Tools
Figma
After Effects
Premiere Pro
Photoshop
Blender
Illustrator
Team
Susannah Ellis
Feature Highlights
Enhanced Experience- Falling flowers
This feature is designed to immerse visitors fully in the artistic scene, enhancing their sensory reception and emotional connection.
By incorporating falling or floating flowers, the visual effect can be customized to the user’s preference, creating a dynamic and personalized experience that enriches the overall ambiance, allowing each visitor to connect with the exhibit in a meaningful and impactful way.
Enhanced Experience- 3D walk “through” the art
Visitors can explore paintings in a flat 3D perspective, viewing one section at a time. By breaking down the artwork into manageable segments, it enhances comprehension and appreciation, especially for young people and general audiences without an art background.
This innovative approach makes the elements of the art piece more accessible, fostering a deeper understanding and engagement with the artwork.
Similar art or other pieces by the same artist
This feature offers a cohesive and enriching experience by allowing users to slide through a collection of related works using a grab gesture. The related pieces can be from the same artist, similar styles, or to be connected through thematic elements.
By exploring these related pieces, users can gain a broader perspective and greater insight into the artistic themes and techniques.
Exhibit Information
Artwork recognition through the AR glasses triggers a title display, enhancing the traditional viewing experience. By selecting the title, users can access detailed exhibit information, including artwork descriptions, author details, and related works.
This innovative approach allows users to access contextual information effortlessly, expanding their knowledge and deepening their understanding of the artwork.
Problem Statement
Solution
Museums thrive when they facilitate the sharing of experiences, knowledge, and emotions among a diverse range of visitors. To align with this philosophy, we designed augmented reality glasses that can be widely adopted by art museums nationwide, providing an immersive and engaging experience for all visitors.
Increase engagement
Offering an alternative engagement method, the museum experience becomes more appealing, encouraging visitors to stay longer.
Intuitive
For those new to AR technology, the learning curve should be minimal. Onboarding steps are streamlined, ensuring the device is user-friendly for first-time users.
Accessible
The technology is designed to be accessible and enjoyable for speakers of other languages, children, seniors, and people from diverse backgrounds. Features include language options, closed captioning, high-contrast type, and a clutter-free screen.
Supports the museum exhibit
The design does not overwhelm. By keeping visual clutter down, we maintained users’ awareness of their surroundings. The use of ARt Glasses does not interrupt the experience of other museum-goers when in use.
Final Experience
Simple and intuitive, the interface design is meant to follow common patterns for interaction while keeping the amount of clutter in the view as small as possible so as to not interfere with the art.
ARt Glasses Customer-facing Promotion Video
Gestures
Gestures to be used during the experience are designed to be simple and based on intuitive movements. We referenced Hololens to understand current best practices. By restricting the number of gestures that need to be learned to operate ARt Glasses, we created a more immediate experience, limiting pain points for the user.
- Any other gesture should be intuitive to how you would interact with an object (You see a scroll bar - can pull the scroll)
- Hand-ray/target dot to show what you are selecting if not right in front of your hand, plus highlighting the object
- Brief tutorial at the beginning to learn the main gestures
Select
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Home
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Grab
Research
Why AR Glasses?
Smart phone
- Familiar with consumers
- No extra check in/out logistics
- Usable by multiple users simultaneously.
- Requires people to take the time to find and download an app
- Less immersive experience
- Could drain battery
- Might have extra data cost
- Handheld is less accessible
- Concern over one's device blocking someone else view
Tethered Tablet
- People understand how it works
- Can be used by groups
- Easy to clean
- Immediate
- Might have wait time
- Less immersive experience
- Potentially dated and boring feeling
- Handheld is less accessible
- Concern over one's device blocking someone else view
Headset
- Higher immersive experience
- Cool Tech
- Immediate
- Adjust the width and height
- Bulky(ish)
- Potentially high learning curve, can require troubleshooting
- Expensive
- Check in/out logistics
Glasses
- Sleek, less bulky
- Cool Tech
- Immediate
- Immersive experience
- Potentially high learning curve
- Might not suitable for people who wear glasses
- Tech is not quite there
- Check in/out logistics
Audience
Overall audience: Attendees of the Henry Art Gallery.
Most museums cater to a large section of users. While ARt glasses ought to meet as many users' needs as possible, we designed the experience based on specific audiences we discovered during our research phase.
The Museum Connoisseur
Primary Audience: Regular museum-goers, familiar with traditional exhibits but new to AR technology, seek an immersive yet straightforward art experience without a steep learning curve.
The Tech Enthusiast
Secondary Audience: Tech enthusiasts visiting primarily for new experiences, view museums socially, value easy-to-learn technologies, and prefer not to feel embarrassed while using them.
“I think having too many options/elements in the frame can be overwhelming as well. Simpler can be better - more impactful.”
Features Priority Matrix
All features
Workshops
We conducted multiple workshops to enhance our project understanding, focusing on familiar gestures, workflow prioritization, testing information architecture, and interface design. These sessions provided valuable insights, leading to a more refined design and fostering in-depth discussions for better comprehension.
Information Architecture
The information architecture outlines the user's journey from the start of the experience, including a brief tutorial and various interactions such as help screens and audio-guide style descriptions. By developing a step-by-step user flow, we created a series of steps that define the user experience.
Focusing on limiting steps with a heavy learning curve and the number of button selections needed while still creating a full immersive experience.
Design Process
Check in Logistics
Built to reduce pain points caused by waiting in line, our check-in and out logistics ensure the devices are able to stay safe while creating a straightforward process for the user.
What I learned
Through thinking about how to define and find a solution for an abstract problem or virtual product, I trusted in our design process and followed our research, creating a solution that captures many of our goals. Through workshops, critiques, and discussions, I gained the insights needed to advance our project. This highly collaborative process taught me a great deal during my navigation through this complex problem.
I consistently aimed to prioritize the user in my design, crafting the AR project with empathy and inclusivity to not just enhance the museum experience but also innovate art interaction. Moving forward, the next phase involves developing interfaces in AR software to actualize this vision.
