As a personal research project I audited a set of educational AR apps. I was interested in ways this technology could help students understand difficult concepts. 

Collaboration was another point of interest. AR enables people to work together, manipulate 3D models and solve interactive puzzles. This creates more engaging learning experience..

I reached out to tutors, to identify opportunities for AR to help with their daily work. It was my first AR project in Unity, and as it turns out a great way to become more proficient with 3D development tools.

I led two need-finding interviews with PHD-level tutors (Math and Chemistry), looking for a way I could get the most out of AR.

We identified a few areas of their curriculum where 3D models are an improvement over images. However, limiting the app to specific topics would be too constraining for their needs. They needed a flexible system that could detect the current subject and provide additional context. This led me to AR-marker based design.

I created storyboards and a low-fi prototype in Maquette. Then I exported it to Unity and ran it on TiltFive glasses.

TiltFive’s support for multiple glasses and it’s use of a tabletop board made it very interesting option for my project.

During research I simulated a marker-based interface, where scenes change based on the textbook page.

I invited tutors from the need-finding sessions and asked them to use the prototype, following the test scenario.

Switching lessons by AR-markers, picking topics from tags was natural and easy to understand. Ideally tags could be generated by text recognition only. Markers could simply be a text-book pages, requiring no preparation on the tutor's side.

3D displays are great for visualizing scale, something that usually is left to imagination. However AR is not as useful or interesting for text-only entries.

Ability to move 3D models around, zoom in, zoom out would be helpful. Window-based interface was something that has not occurred to me during the prototyping phase. This would make the experience more hands-on, which helps with understanding and information retention.

As for the downsides, the card design I chose was not very practical. I was asked if it was possible to replace it with slides. Option to use existing materials would be very helpful with preparations.

The main issue, though, is that the technology is still not quite there yet. Cable tether was very constraining and low contrast made it hard to read longer paragraphs.

By collaborating with tutors I made sure this concept aligns with their needs and teaching methods. They noted that this UI had a potential to present complex topics in a effective way.

Based on research findings I improved my prototype. I updated the design to give it a more modern feel. I also made it modular, so models can be displayed as windows, be moved and resized. Card design now resembles a slide deck, which would make it easier to import existing materials