Mixed Reality
Pathfinding

Design Lead
Intel, New Devices Group
2015‑2017

Disclaimer: The majority of work for this project remains under NDA.

Spatial and ubiquitous computing represent the next generation of human-computer interaction. With endless possibilities for how these technologies can manifest in the marketplace, understanding what meaningful experiences look like and forming thoughtful product and platform strategies begins with experimentation.

I was fortunate to lead a team of UX and visual designers, working alongside researchers and engineers, on a long-term pathfinding project to explore hardware and usages for augmented and mixed reality. We created prototypes experimenting with a wide range of technologies, interaction modalities, and use cases across a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial/occupational use cases, including translation, driving, cycling, event spaces, sports, gaming, assistive technology, live entertainment, and wayfinding.

Challenges

We had no shortage of puzzles to tackle, from the technical and ergonomic to the ethical and metaphysical. What kinds of usages are genuinely compelling rather than merely novel? How do you design multi-modal interactions that provide greater immersion into the content instead of monopolizing users’ cognitive capacity? How do you frame user research to provide valuable feedback when users have only a vague concept of the medium? How can we design experiments that are feasible, resource-efficient, and maximize learning and business value? In what spaces can we most successfully adopt users into immersive ecosystems right now? In two years? In five? What are those stepping stones? How will spatial computing affect our safety, security, and mental and emotional health?

Approach

We utilized the scientific method, creating hypotheses and experimenting. We worked with engineering to build robust prototypes, created whatever we could on our own or using third-party hardware and software, conducted primary user research, and made paper prototypes, design principles, vision materials, and anything else that could help us bring our ideas to life and get a feel for the experience. This involved becoming familiar with a variety of technologies, including computer vision, sensors networks, holographic display systems, and more. We pursued a number of sub-projects, focused on specific technologies and use cases.

Outcome

We personally presented our demos, findings, and proposals within the Intel community and to global partners. Over two years our work resulted in a variety of output, including several design innovations leading to intellectual property, definitions for best practices, and performance metrics, as well as developing thought leadership around what makes a compelling experience and a successful product, which was important to both Intel’s product and SoC roadmaps, as well as those of our technology partners.