Manifest Reality Case Study (AR)
On-Campus Research
The Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is an art museum that has exhibitions inside the St. Patrick’s Building and outside of the building at various campus locations. As media production and design majors, we are tasked with building engagement with other students to promote more interactivity with our partners. There are possible factors that could explain the low interactivity among students. The first factor, the recent return to a more synchronous model of courses and lack of connection with newer students who started courses asynchronously. The second, Lack of Awareness to the Gallery’s Physical Existence (Current staff, students & Future students, Staff. The third factor, Difficult to Locate (at the edge of the campus).
To appeal to the younger demographics, we decided to develop a virtual reality program and prototype an augmented reality application to not only engage with students but to improve the ease of access to the museum exhibition. There are many arguments against the versatility of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) we wish to address along with the timeline of the project throughout the year. My work along with my teammates in the production of this project addresses how the development of mainstream technology could increase student awareness of the Carleton University Art Gallery and ease the access of its contents.
Review
In the proposal there were a few arguments such as the availability of VR to the common individual and the requirements needed to run the software. We were also told to improve the justification of the design decision to create a VR/AR experience such as elaborating more on the anticipated quality of immersion of our project. How is it going to have a good effect if users are just viewing static information about the artwork. Other research has shown that it’s costly and at risk to health. “It is a costly technology that requires a lot of time, money, and training. There are risks to health and safety from used headsets, and simulation sickness.” (Vanek) Lastly, there was concern about the scale of developing VR/AR applications and the time needed to bring a deliverable product.
According to TeamViewer, AR is only 25 percent virtual. This lessens the effects of motion sickness and dissociation. AR will also provide more accessibility for users who may face deafness and provide more portability.
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Design
Based on our target audiences, we created the application to have a storyline with a comical design. We decided to have the wireframes created on Figma. Thereby creating a simpler way for my teammates to help pitch in their ideas, have properly detailed work that professors could grade, and the idea that the prototype could be converted into a fully working application. I always make sure I ask questions first so that I can see the objectives, target audience, and costs. In my project, Manifest Reality, we had simple objectives and due to our passion, I along with my other teammate went above and beyond. Due to this we received lots of feedback that the project was too large. Not only was there an augmented reality prototype, but we had also created a working virtual reality model. To solve this, half of the team worked on the VR model and the other half worked on the AR model. The AR model was scaled back due to the tools we currently had so that the team could finish work and meet deadlines. So, the solution was to identify objectives and design by looking at all the different tools available as well as the manpower to use them. The only conflict that arose was if there were any worries that we would not finish by the deadline. Those were resolved by giving the team proper updates, milestones, and guarantee to finish a week before the deadline.
Wireframe
When the wireframe was created, my team members were often worried about the difficulty and feasibility of developing a mobile app. Certain AR software was researched such as Google’s AR Core and Adobe Aero (currently only compatible with Apple). Similarly, a decent smartphone was needed to initialize AR software to run on both a PC and smartphone. A decent amount of knowledge was also required to implement immersive UI and effects. Smartphones use mainly Java or Swift for coding and as most group members didn’t have knowledge of these coding languages an easier solution was needed. The next idea was to use unity and research proved there was a way to create an application by just using the software. However, system requirements were again an issue, more time was wasted. The only teammate capable of running the software was already preoccupied creating the VR program. The next plan was to create a working prototype of the application using prototyping software such as Figma or Adobe XD. Figma was chosen as most were familiar with its functions. Following Vanek’s step for effective VR, the same was applied to AR. We developed a wireframe implementing storytelling, emotion, and art.
High Fidelity Wireframe
For the color scheme we chose to have a simple layout that adhered to the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards or above.
Neutral Colors: Pale Blue, White, and Grey
Primary Colors: Blue & White
Accent Colors: Orange & Black
The app was also designed to suit IOS 16 before configuring to android. The UI and art were made to capture the attention of kids to make it family friendly and safe for work. While using Figma, there came across a point where it would be impossible to make a working prototype with all the intended features. Figma has limited animation capabilities and most features could only be mimicked. This means, if there was a scene or button that had 3 different states or effects, only one could be selected. So, interactivity had to be kept one straight direction, taking away some immersion for the user. More and more functions would also make the final prototype buggy as well as difficult to read and discern certain commands.
User Testing
The exhibition of the product was also a learning experience as we worked through the issues of presenting the final products on different systems other than what they were created on. In the exhibitions, we also learned users were attracted mostly by creative UI and Art. A clear storyline was noted in the applications, however this only kept user attention after the user’s attention was caught by the art and different functions. The AR application also proved to be a good substitute for the older audiences. Kids seemed to be interested in the different art used in the AR prototype, but further user testing is still required. In the future, the VR program will work on more immersion with the current issue now is aesthetics and static art. The AR program will shift to development either using programming software or unity and the current prototype serves as a good model. Overall, the combination of a VR and AR model proved to be effective in increasing awareness.