Project info
Relevant link
Timeline
Featured in
Role
Tools used
XR Blended Living Space
Graduation project
Solo project
XR prototype
3D animation
Service design
Demo video
Mar-Dec 2023
Unreal Engine
Cinema 4D
Blender
After effects
Shapes XR
BLENITI is an XR blended living space that suggests blended reality lifestyle. By 2030, as XR headsets become commonplace as part of daily life, our living environment has expanded beyond our real homes to include virtual homes. Users can seamlessly transition between virtual and real homes, and they can personalize it. Experience spatial commerce in virtual showrooms that illustrate the furniture’s concept story immersively and redeem it physically with interactive objects to bring it into the real world.
In 2030, as XR headsets have become commonplace, various activities held at home such as remote work, relaxation, and leisure extend into the virtual realm. As a result, virtual homes gain significance establishing themselves as unique platforms for self-expression in our daily lives.
Imagine what future living space could be
Introduction video
Browse product in virtual showroom
Redeem furniture to
physical world
Experience product story immersively
A virtual showroom consists of product collections chosen to match users' requirements and tastes. Simply walk closer to the enticing product to enter and view in detail in concept space for each product.
The product can be purchased for both virtual and real homes. Users can place it in the virtual environment before buying to check if it blends well with the surroundings. After placing it in the virtual home, switch to passthrough mode to assess its placement in a real home setting.
Features
Experience the mood intended to be conveyed by learning about the product's world view and design story in a spatialized concept space. Combine visuals, sound, and interaction to fully sense the product.
Service value
The virtual home that exists in VR and the real home are seamlessly connected to each other. Users can freely switch between virtual and real environments and enjoy a Blended Reality lifestyle. In the process, the AI assistant, which mediates various experiences, conducts user's commands through voice recognition.
Real home
Virtual home
MR
VR
AI assistant
Seamless transition of living environment
Browse furniture in
virtual showroom
Experience furniture’s story immersively at concept space
Preview furniture at virtual home and physical home
Sophie wears XR headset and walks around the virtual showroom to browse various furniture.
She finds a furniture she likes, and gets closer to look in detail.
After arranging furniture in virtual home, Sophie places it in real home in passthrough mode.
Sophie decorates her virtual home with the help of an AI to match the overall mood with the furniture.
Sophie physically sits on a delivered chair and enjoys a blended lifestyle with interactive virtual objects.
Customize virtual home
Redeem physical furniture to real world
User scenario
User interview
8 virtual home user interview 4.12-19
It is Comprehensive Context and Storytelling that makes consumers buy a furniture.
“When I am consistently exposed to showrooms that suit my taste, I unconsciously browse there and often end up making purchases.”
“When the furniture display and styling concept are consistent and narrative, I can imagine myself using that piece.”
“If I can empathize to the story behind the furniture or the design background, such as the brand or designer, my desire to own it grows.”
Narrative story
Exposure to showroom
Display & Styling
VR heavy users are continuously requiring more
Customizing Options for virtual home.
“Although there are many possibilities, virtual home lacks playable interaction elements, so it feels superficial.”
“The current virtual home function is too limited. I want to experience the environment in an immersive way, not just see it..”
“I wish there were more home customization option. I want to create my own home by adjusting various options such as wallpaper, lighting, sound..”
Interaction elements
Experience immersively
Various customizable options
Research findings & painpoint
Physical retail spaces face challenges in effectively conveying a product's narrative.
Current virtual home platform lacks customizing options and interactive features.
Virtual homes remain confined to the digital realm with no tangible integration.
Service goal
Provide seamless living environment that goes beyond reality to virtual which can be highly personalized.
Immersive product space
All product has its own concept space that illustrates its mood immersively. Since it is in VR environment, the users can learn product story in a spatialized concept space by experiencing the visuals, sound, haptic, and interaction to designed to help them fully sense the product in a virtual world.
Immersive shopping experience
Service Journey Map
Persona
Bio
Jade, a 32-year-old fashion magazine editor, enjoys purchasing designer furniture and objects. She's a clear-cut early adopter who doesn't hesitate to spend on her hobbies and sometimes makes impulsive purchases for items she desires.
#High-end
#Collector
#Unique
Goals
Expressing individuality by decorating the home with a unique style
Collecting favorite furniture with the mindset of acquiring 'artwork'
A lifestyle where the virtual and real worlds are blended
Fashion magazine
cheif editor
Jade Kim (32)
Influences
Latest design trend
Hot celebrities
Color of the year
Inspirational showroom
Bio
Vicky, a 28-year-old professional, primarily works from home. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies or reading books alone. She is imaginative, occasionally has quirky thoughts, and is emotional with a strong sense of empathy.
#Imagination
#Fantasy
#Dream
Influences
Goals
Creating a home where everything comes to life just as imagined
Maximizing the mood and atmosphere to suit activities within the home
Home office worker
Vicky Bon (28)
Movies
Fiction books
Old memories
Interaction design process
Opening inventory
The inventory (cart) can be opened and closed with the hand gesture. In this way, users can easily use and put away inventory whenever they want. The rings for the each slots get highlighted when hovered. When user tries to put product to the slot, it automatically gets snapped into the slot, making them easy to store.
Sketch
3D map interface
Initial design of the map was flat, projected above the wrist. But taking advantage of the 3D space, the map can be more easy to understand when it is illustrated as 3D. The map includes player location indicator, label of each furnitures and a button to teleport. Users can click on each furniture to teleport to their location.
Hand menu
Since switching spaces should be dynamic, users can lift up their left hand to find quick menus. When they hover their finger on a button, the label will be appearing.
When users open the service, they will be landing at the main showroom where many recommended products are displayed. They can use hand menu to switch between virtual home(VR), and real space (MR). Product space can be entered by walking close to each product.
Spatial architecture
Landing space
Main showroom
Product space
My space
Real space (MR)
Exploration
Product placement
Open storage
Get recommendation
Register product
Interact with product
Experience
Add to cart
Open 3D map
Customize
Request delivery
Open storage
Product placement
Hand interaction design
Interaction Lo-fi prototype
Opening up inventory
Card payment interaction
3D map interface
Product recommendation
Hand menu
Portal to showrooms
Spatial interaction
Browsing furniture Entering product space
Upon reaching close to the product, the boundary glows to provide affordance that users can enter to that specific product space. The product space shifts automatically if the user gets within the boundary.
UX point
Showroom suggestion
Instead of the traditional method of web browsing and clicking on images of furniture placed in different spaces, three showroom doors appear in the user's home. Users can take a peek inside each showroom and physically walk through the one they choose.
UX point
Preview and place product
Taking advantage of virtual space, users can simply pinch and pull out product from the 2D image. Unlike
When the reference picture shows different inspirations, users can simply drag the product out from the picture to try it out in their virtual home.
UX point
Feedbacks
By installing the product at graduation exhibition, more than 50 people tried the experience I had built in Meta Quest Pro. I was able to collect many opinions and feedbacks towards the project.
I loved the natural interaction—taking actions in the 3D space felt as intuitive as doing them in a physical environment.
It felt like watching a movie! The furniture displayed in a virtual showroom that illustrates backstory made it much easier to immerse into the mood.
I hope this service becomes real someday… Experiencing a virtual chair in real life, alongside interactive objects, made the furniture feel alive.
Through this project, I was able to experience implementing project from conceptualization to a working prototype within 9months. It was a challenge for me to learn how to animate, render, and use blueprint in Unreal Engine, but in the end, I was able to illustrate my service's visual identity and mood as I had imagined. If I had more time,
Study on the methods to discover more ideal XR interactions and interface for each steps in user scenario.
Collect feedbacks and metrics about the interactions in XR and iterate to enhance usability.
Build MR experience for virtual objects that goes along with the real product.
Learnings
Next steps
Challenging myself to learn and utilize new tools for designing a product experience.
Planning and managing time and resources effectively throughout the 9 month process.
Learning the process of creating 3D interfaces, from bodystorming to prototyping in Shapes XR, and implementing in Unreal Engine with Blueprints.