Artisan Dystopia / Utopia 2070

The artisan gallery in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, had developed an exhibition to mark their 50 year anniversary. The idea of the exhibition was to have it's theme set 50 years in the future. To accomplish this they engaged with local writers to create stories that were set in 2070 and had either a dystopian or utopian theme. Artists were then engaged to create exhibits based on these stories. To further push the theme, the exhibition curator, Kevin Wilson, thought about how people might be interacting with galleries in the future. And as augmented reality (AR) has been an emerging trend, he sort to discover how he might be able to integrate it into the experience.

Most aspects of working with AR was new for everyone involved on the project. I had created prototypes and theoretical interactions, however, this would be the first time I would be designing and implementing a published app. I gathered a number of people to work with me, including students from The Queensland University of Technology (QUT), along with assistance of some professional developers. The curator, the staff at artisan and the artists all had no experience with AR. The initial phase of the design focused on the vision and what a visitor experience might look and feel like. Speaking in these terms helped keep the conversation centered on topics that all stakeholders understood. There was a breakdown on the different types of motivations visitors would have for visiting the exhibition. This was very useful in determining what the experience should cover and how you could present it. From the user motivations three distinct visitor types were created. This helped to create journey plans and break the project into phases. To meet the needs of all three visitor types, the app experience had pre and post exhibition content and experiences. However, due to time and budget restrictions this was split up into three project phases, with phase one being the most important in exhibition experience. In the end only phase one was delivered, however, it did identify important aspects to consider as part of an overall vision for other AR experiences.

Developing interactions and interfaces for an AR experience has a number of unique challenges.

The final design interface took into consideration feedback from testing, making it intuitive and easy to use. Visitors were able to choose whether they wanted to listen to the curator, the characters or both, with out being forced to view all of them. There was an improved consideration with the look and feel of the interface. With the curator, effects, phone UI and in scene 3d UI all having consistent colour schemes. It would have been nice to have also been able to update the printed posters, however this wasn't possible. The final experience for visitors was very positive, in both the ease of use and the experience itself.