Pandemic Social Hub

Teammates

Julia Engfer
Gaby Castro
Porfirio Moreno
Casey Montz
Ross Meredith

Role

UX Research
Video Editing

Tools

Figma
Miro
Google Slides

Timeline

4 Months
March - June 2020

The Insight

Video chat isn't interactive enough to effectively combat loneliness during isolation

The Idea

A home-scale projector equipped with a camera and virtual games.

To simulate in-person interaction through an immersive life-size  social platform.

Starting the Project

Research

Product Design

Wireframes

Final Design

Feedback
& Takeaways

Starting the Project...

Photo by Dillon Shook on Unsplash

When the pandemic first hit in 2020, it brought with it new challenges. Our class split into groups to deal with different aspects, our team tackled the issue of loneliness.
"How might we ease loneliness during a period of social isolation?"

Research

Secondary Research

We looked into existing technologies that attempted to simulator real life in some way.

Spatial

Spatial creates the user a 3D avatar from a photograph, that represents them as they move around an environment. It promotes itself for workspaces, with functions like screenshare and intergration with apps like slack.

Outside Simulator

Outside simulator is a simple website created during the pandemic that displays fullscreen, immersive and relaxing videos of various locations.

Mozilla Hubs

Mozilla Hubs is another way to connect with people in a virtual environment, with lots of ways to customize your experience.

Product Design

Sketches

Sketched by Case Montz

3D Models

Modeled by Casey Montz (Console) and Porfirio Moreno (Control)

Wireframes

Final Design

Physical Model

Created by Casey Montz and Julia Engfer

UI Design

I created the concept video (including the corny background music) based off storyboards I made with Di

Reflections

What Worked
How quick we were to adapt to the sudden and drastic change in circumstances the quarantine required us to work in.
What Didn't Work
Not seeing people in person was pretty maddening.
Future Considerations

This project would really benefit from a working projector prototype. It's hard to tell what would truly work or not from just theorizing it.

Cross Walker

Making it across timed streetlights can be a difficult and dangerous venture for people with walking disabilities. Using Abbot Kinney as a model, our team designed an intuitive and discreet solution.

VIEW CASE STUDY

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