Echoes of the Underground
An AR experience in baker street where people would be able to see past relics of the baker street come to life.
The Design Goals
- Produce a prototype of your idea, the project must function.
- Create a 10-15min video demo, highlighting the key aspects of your project, presenting testing carried, and demonstrating the tool in action.
- Assets reference list and Bibliography.
The Outcome
A working prototype of the AR Experience set in Baker Street, built using Unity with Vuforia SDKs.
Project background
Echoes of the underground is an AR experience built for the Baker Street, which is part of the Metropolitan line, the metropolitan line reduced a 90 minute journey to just 20 minutes beneath the congested streets of London.
The AR app would let people read and see the history of the relics from Baker Street come to life by stepping into the old station by simply aiming the camera at some certain locations in Baker Street.
Design Concept
The design was inspired by old relics from Baker street and throughout history, the design elements have an ancient feel to it. The colours used for the design are also inspired by relics and old history documents.
Softwares Used
- Unity
- Figma
- Adobe Photoshop
- Cinema 4D
- Vuforia Engine
Process
The HCD process or the double diamond process is conducted first, by researching the users then defining the problems which helps us to ideate a solution which is then carried forward with a lo-fi prototype, then the prototype is iterated with the help of user surveys and interviews which then leads to the creation of a hi-fi prototype and then finally ends with testing the solution with real users.
User Research ➡ Problem Statement ➡ Ideation ➡ Lo-Fi Prototype ➡ Iterate ➡ Hi-Fi Prototype ➡ User Testing
Research
London Underground serves a diverse group of passengers including commuters, students, and tourists, attracting a high proportion of working-age people, but also catering for all age groups, from children to the elderly. This broad user base is echoed by the growing popularity of mobile phone usage in UK households, with smartphone user penetration expected to reach 93.7 per cent by 2025, according to Statista.
At the same time the frequency and desire to use mobile phones while travelling on transport is high, therefore reflecting the increased reliance on mobile devices in this contemporary society, and opens up a new chapter for the London Underground with the use of AR technology combined with AR experiences, enabling passengers to explore the rich history of the Underground in a new way through their mobile phones, adding both educational and entertaining value to their daily journeys while they wait for their trains.
Design Goals
- AR Camera: Camera being able to trigger 3D models replaced in place of the current object.
- 3D model history: 3D model unlocking the history related to that relic.
- Interactable underground map.
- Gamified experience.
