Virtual Tour
Role //
Interaction Designer, Prototyper
Duration //
November 2022
Tools //
Rapid Prototyping, AfterEffects, Aero
Collaborator //
Evie Lacomb
An augmented reality tour that informs prospective students and family about student life and individual programs. The tour serves to combat the shortcomings of existing tour options, creating a more engaging and personal tour experience.
Problem Space
Due to technological restraints, the current prospective student tour at Carnegie Mellon is broad, focused on what’s on campus, and limited to the knowledge of the student tour guide. In this project, I explore how to use Augmented Reality to enrich the tour experience, looking at how to design interfaces to inform and delight users on useful information and stories.
Systems Map
Through a systems map, we looked at the different levels that we were designing for and understanding if our interactions were accessible for multiple groups of people.
Systems Map
Process
For our prototype, we looked at how we could add digital interactions to TechSpark, CMU’s largest maker-space. We thought about how we wanted users to move through the space—what order should information be presented to users?
Storyboarding
Thinking about how we wanted to introduce interactions into the space, we thought about we can add technology to the tour to make it most engaging and intuitive for the users.
Original storyboard
Lo-Fi Prototyping
To get an understanding of how the interactions would look in VR, we prototyped with state-of-the-art rulers and printed designs in place of virtual interactions.
Lo-Fi prototypes of interactions
Main Interactions
The main interactions that we created for the tour were:
1. Sparky, our virtual tour guide
2. Learning more about the machines
3. Piecing together a project
Sparky, our virtual tour guide
Picking an object
Piecing it together
Project Reflection
This project was interesting since it was my first time thinking about how to utilize a space as an interface—interfaces do not need to be limited to the screen. By thinking of the room as an interface, users are more engaged with the space around them. Through Lo-Fi prototyping, I was able to understand how useful seemingly simple ruler and paper prototypes are to think about how intuitive an interaction is.