Blog 11 | AR prototyping and programs - a surprise change in plans

Design 302 | Date: 9/10/24 (Wednesday)

This following blog post will be a follow up on my previous one, looking into my AR prototyping phases and progress. Specifically, looking into how I had fixed/approached the problem of my previous blog post.

What?

I had technical problems with my AR prototype, especially with importing my 3D elements, models and animations. I also have some problems with figuring out which method of WebAR would be best suited for me, but it would also allow for it to support what I wanted to do, looking into the animations and plane tracking. I continued to look into many different types of WebAR that could be done on Unity; however, I was not very lucky. This had me feeling discouraged but not too concerned as I knew I was able to fall back and use Lens Studio to execute my AR prototype there instead if the WebAR wasn’t going to work. It was at this point I went to look for my first prototype to see how I could export it better for the exhibition, learning that we had to have both the final concepts and the paper prototypes. As such, I was planning on figuring out how to have users use the first prototype on their own phones, while looking through the Lens Studio creator area, I found that Lens Studio had an option to do WebAR with their filters. As such, I tested how it worked and found it to be effective as a means of a final concept, now changing my focus on unity into lens studio to execute my AR element. I also talked with experts again, and they mentioned how Lens Studio had Figma plugins and sound aspects that I could implement within my concepts.

So what?

I feel like finding this out was heavily based on luck, as it was a feature of Lens Studio I hadn’t known about and was something I had stumbled upon when working on my paper prototypes and further continued testing with it. Looking into documentation and researching what specific programs can do at the moment would be impactful and helpful for me, as most of my knowledge of both Lens Studio and Unity was limited and, in a sense, outdated from ideas of years ago. Having conversations with experts also proved to be useful as they have more knowledge of programs and what they are able to do, helping cut time for me to know what to focus on when prototyping and creating my final concept.

Now what?

I will make sure not to fully assume things regarding technology and programs, as both of them are also ever-changing with how fast things move. Because of this, researching and testing out programs fully will prove to be important as there are many features and aspects that I can learn to utilise within my project that would make my life much easier.

References

J, D. (1994). Reflective practice for practise. PubMed, 14(1), 47–50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8303152

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., & Jasper, M. (2001). Critical Reflection for Nursing and the Helping Professions: A User’s Guide. Palgrave MacMillan.

Snap Inc. (n.d.). Snap Lens Web Builder. Snap AR. https://ar.snap.com/lens-web-builder?lang=en-US

What? So what? Now what? (2020, January 30). The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what